Many have asked who Bisayo, Nigeria’s Queen of Country is.
Who is she?
Born on the 20th of January 1983 to the family of Dennis Olufemi Busari and his wife, Mary Adeola Busari, Bisayo is the last daughter and last child of both educationist parents who hail from Akungba Akoko in Ondo
In the early eighties, being a child of a teacher was regarded a thing of pride, as teachers were seen as the symbol of integrity and discipline in the society and Bisayo learned quickly how to leverage this privilege to her advantage.
At the age of three, she started her primary education at the Saint James Pry School Ugbe Akoko, where her mother was a teacher, but soon relocated to Akure, she was enrolled into the Fanibi Community Primary School where she was to restart her primary one education due to her smallish stature and inability to pass the physical test of touching ones ears with the opposite hands, a proof of growth for children before being enrolled into school in those days.
At this time, Bisayo was only five years old and luckily her ability to read and write, as well as solve multiple arithmetic in spite being underage for enrolment was an ample proof of growth sufficient for her to be registered into the new school, and at the age of seven she had started contributing into national discourse on the National Television Authority platform and on the Ondo State Radio Vision Corporation.
In 1993, Bisayo gained admission into the Fiwasaye Girls Grammar School where she completed her secondary education and immediately proceeded to start her university education in the Faculty of Arts Department of English in the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, and in 2003 she began her legal career in the Faculty of Law in the same university.
When asked what inspired her choice of law, Bisayo traced it to her childhood desire to fight for the destitute and marginalised people based on the political climate where she grew and the numerous injustices she watched on television, read in newspapers and heard of when issues were being discussed by her father, his visitors and other adults.
In fulfilment of her childhood desire to speak against all forms of injustice, Bisayo became an active member of the Girls Guide Association and completed her badges through the ranks. She also joined and became a member of the Man O War and Literary and Debating Societies across the state.
In the archive of Ondo state where Bisayo spent her early years, she is remembered as the little girl poet who spoke daily on television and radio about societal issues, politics, and morals. She also performed her poems in place of worship, at public events, and ceremonies where she gave expressions to her thoughts which prevailed over her quiet nature.
After her university education and legal studies at the Nigerian law School in Enugu, while undergoing the mandatory one year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Bisayo led a team of 70 indefatigable lawyers to take up cases pro bono and was able to regain freedom for prison inmates who were awaiting trial and had served longer time than any sentence, if found guilty. She was also able to get amnesty for persons on death penalty based on the circumstances of their cases.
With an unquenchable desire to grow in the legal field, Bisayo became an active boardroom member rendering legal advisory and secretarial services. She is a barrister at law, a mediator, and an arbitrator. She is also a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators United Kingdom. She sits on the board of many companies in Nigeria and she’s currently the head of legal department and company secretary to All Grace Energy Limited, an integrated Oil and Gas Company and the Lead, Corporate Strategist for Green Energy International Limited.
BIsayo has completed her Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration with the University of Oxford and CIArb UK to earn a Fellow status and has won many cases across the courts of Nigeria with a niche of not losing any case in her years of active courtroom practice.
She has worked for the Seriki of Egba Land Alhaji Lateef Adegbute and took over the brief of the Federal Government on its River Basin Development Project and government hospitals such as Lagos University Teaching Hospital.In 2010, she took over the firm of late Senator Sikiru Shitta Bey and managed the Estate of the astute legal luminary.
BIsayo amongst her many ventures, delved into the oil and gas industry where she managed a petrol filling station and learned the business ways of oil moguls. She also became the company secretary of Energy Group of companies and managed the downstream sector for a couple of years before venturing into diverse aspects of the economy.
She was the Group Company Secretary for University of Sao Tome, Energy Bank Ghana and Energy New Press in Abuja before moving to the Upstream section of the Oil and Gas to pioneer the legal department of the Operator of the Otakikpo Marginal field and Ubima Marginal Field in 2015.
Named in 2018 and 2019 among the “100 Most Influential young Nigerians’’, Biisayo was also celebrated on a global platform as the Guardian Woman in the Guardian June 2023 newspaper publication, and she still maintains her traits of philanthropist acts including clothing babies in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, hospitals and rural areas, as well as offering scholarships, providing medical outreaches to supply and administer free medical services to the underprivileged and organising empowerment programs to transform the financial status of women and men in the society.
BIsayo is a woman of many parts, an author, a specialist in strategy, leadership and management from Harvard Business School, and awarded by various youth organizations as a mentor and an inspiration.
Over the years, Bisayo’s undeniable love for Nigeria her country and Africa her continent gave birth to the establishment of her NGO, One Nigeria Citizenship Appreciation Initiative (Project One Nigeria) and the social enterprise aspect of the NGO, Project One Productions which was registered officially in 2016. While the NGO is set up to advance political education, promote citizenship appreciation and instil the right leadership values in Nigeria, her campaign is also focused on increasing pride in national identity. The social enterprise on the other hand is established to fund all her projects which are self-funded. Under the umbrella of this organisation with patriotism, integrity and self-reliance as core values, more Nigerians are more aware of their rights, and responsibilities as citizens of Nigeria.
Her passion to tell the Nigerian story birthed her 1st book “Project One Nigerian“, a book that highlights the powers of identify, location and identifying purpose . It also contains all the past speeches of Nigeria’s Presidents up to 2017 the year of the book production. Her 2nd book “The Wealthy club” is a book written to navigate millions of Nigerians and readers out of poverty.
Bisayo Busari, Project One Nigerian: Unlock Your Potential through Your Identity, https://www.amazon.com/Project-One-Nigerian-potential-identity/dp/B08TFH2553
BIsayo’s unwavering love and passion for Nigeria soon became more noticeable through her display of the Nigerian flag colours in her attires and fashion apparels ranging from wearing of the I-AM-A-Nigerian branded T-shirts, Nigerian designed mufflers, hand-bands and other combined outfit reflecting the Nigerian Green and White colours which she wears and displays when making appearances at public events, especially when outside the country.
People both home and abroad have described Bisayo’s act of patriotism, display of love for Nigeria and Nigerians especially with the deliberate use of Nigeria’s colour in her fashion when she’s outside the country as a way of creating a positive narrative about the country and its people.
In 2018, her Nigerian group of friends and volunteers at her NGO nicknamed her the Nigeria’s Queen of Country, while those in other African countries adopted the name Queen of Alkebulan, a nickname characterised by her evidential patriotism to Nigeria, her gracious way and selfless leadership.
When asked why Queen of Alkebulan, many noted that it was the original name of Africa prior to the coming of the Whiteman and Abisayo is an ardent lover of the African continent and Nigeria, her country.
She has since answered the nickname the Nigeria’s Queen of Country, and this name is in line with the enormous roles her NGO plays in promoting patriotism in and outside Nigeria.
Bisayo is married to Oluwarotimi Akinnadeju, she has four children and is successfully combining motherhood with her career, as well as playing active roles in the Nigerian political space.
Meet Bisayo Busari-Akinnadeju, Nigeria’s Queen of Country.
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bisayo-busari-akinnadeju-fciarb-uk-32361943
