After several first-hand experiences of the injustice occasioned by the loopholes in our criminal justice system, Oluyemi Orija couldn't put up with this holy discontentment. Her response was setting up Headfort Foundation. Barely two years after, Headfort Foundation has not only remained committed to prison decongestion and human rights advocacy but has in the process gained international recognition. We are glad to introduce Oluyemi Orija as Project Inspire's Change Maker for the month of September as she shares with us how it all beganPROJECT_INSPIRE: Can we meet you? Oluyemi :I am Oluyemi Orija, a lawyer, an entrepreneur, and a human right activist. I hail from Ekiti state, Nigeria, a graduate of law from Ekiti State University. After my law degree, I proceeded to the Nigeria Law School in Lagos and I served Nigeria at the legal department of Urban Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom state Nigeria. I am the Managing Partner of Headfort Chambers, a corporate and commercial Law firm. I worked with four law firms before starting my private law practice in 2015 and in 2018, I introduced a Corporate Social Responsibility to our scope at Headfort Chambers. We started going to prison at intervals to take the briefs of indigent and wrongly incarcerated inmates and thereafter represent them in court free of charge. In less than 6 months of introducing this initiative to our firms scope, it became bigger in scope and reach. It was then we decided to register the initiative as nonprofit; now Headfort Foundation. Since the registration of Headfort Foundation, it has secured the release of 121 inmates. And we continue to expand.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: Tell us briefly your childhood experience.
Oluyemi :I came from a small village called Omuo Ekiti, in Ekiti East local Government. Growing up was not particularly fun as we had no basic amenities, neither was there any enjoyment for us and my sibling as children. No TV, no electricity, nothing. My father was a teacher and then a civil servant, so no abundance of anything other than the fact that we were always happy with the little we had because we didnt even know there could be more. We thought all we had was all that there is in life until I went to a boarding house in Kwara state where I met children from rich homes. I saw life in another dimension and I told myself that the sky is only a starting point for me.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: What’s your educational background?
Oluyemi :I started out my primary education in a public school in my village. The name of the school is Seventh Day Adventist Primary School. I could not read nor write at primary four (4) and it was at that point my father decided to enroll me in a private school. I was immediately demoted to primary 2 (two) at the private school; Blessing Nursery and Primary School. I picked up very fast to the point that I had a double promotion from Primary 2 to 4. After my primary Education, I proceeded to Federal Government Girls College, Omu Aran, Kwara State for my secondary education. It was at this point that most of my values were formed. After my secondary education, I got admission to study Law at the University of Ado Ekiti now Ekiti state University. I got my LL.B degree in 2011 and I proceeded to the Nigerian Law School in 2012 and I was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2013.
PROJECT_INSPIRE:What are your contributions towards making Nigeria a better place?
Oluyemi :I have practiced law as a profession in four different law firms in Nigeria. I have had the opportunity to appear in court several times and witnessed first hand lots of negative things going on in our criminal justice system. I told myself that whenever I have the opportunity or capacity to start my private practice, I will do my quota to decongest the prisons. Many citizens in Nigeria and other countries of the world are not aware nor interested in what goes on in prisons. Nigerian prisons are overly congested, and a vast majority of inmates are either innocent or minor offenders awaiting trial for months and years. While, as God may have it, I began my private practice and fulfilled the promise I made to myself by beginning Headfort foundation. Through this non-profit organization, we have helped a number of inmates regain their freedom from unlawful detention free of charge and we are currently working on 85 more cases. We do not stop at securing their freedom but we also ensure that they are properly reintegrated back into the society. We also sensitize secondary school students on the reality of police brutality, the consequences of crime, and their human rights, this we also do via our social media platforms knowing full well that most Nigerians do not know their rights. This is the way my team and I at Headfort Foundation have been making Nigeria a better place.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: What have your achievements been?
Oluyemi As a person, nothing has been more fulfilling than the fact that I have been able to put a smile on the faces of 100's of people. I have been able to make families happy and bring hope to them. This gives me fulfillment and the reason to keep doing what I do. So far at Headfort ,we have helped 121 inmates secure freedom, and this is huge because the work put into getting one person released is enormous. Our goals and objectives are being achieved one after the other. We are changing the narrative with this message: Not everyone in prison is a criminal. We are helping innocent and indigent inmates get freedom for free, and we have done this to the point that we have been recognized by National and International media, like Aljazeera.
PROJECT_INSPIRE :What motivated you to do what you are doing?
Oluyemi :I got the motivation to do what I do when I became a lawyer and I started practice, I was consistently sent to court by my employer. In Court, I witnessed inmates arraigned for minor offences, as minor as someone stealing five thousand Naira, someone breaking crates of egg, two people fighting and most of these people were illiterates. They were indigent! They didnt seem to understand the implications of the process they were going through. Many pleaded guilty to crimes they did not commit as they were told by the police. They couldn't afford a lawyer. It was in the midst of these experiences that I resolved within me to do something to help the situation whenever I had the opportunity and that's exactly what I have been doing since 2018.
PROJECT_INSPIRE:Tell us more about your non-profit organization.
Oluyemi :Headfort Foundation is a nonprofit organization that focuses on decongestion of Nigerian prisons. This purpose is achieved by the representation of innocent and indigent inmates charged for minor offences pro bono. We are young women; resilient lawyers who make up the team of Headfort Foundation and so far, we have been able to secure the release of 121 inmates and have about 85 cases pending. We also take out time to organize sensitization programs for youths on various topics such as reality and effect of police brutality, fundamental human rights and consequences of crime. Recently our organization saw the need to organise projects to help reintegrate the ex-inmate back into the society. In our prison, there is no segregation between hardened criminals and minor offenders, they are mixed together and this has made innocent people go into the prison and come out as hardened criminals. So we have launched our Ex- inmates Support Initiative where we now counsel and empower ex inmates. We are hoping that we get lots of support in this area so that we can provide more help and also keep the society safe for everyone.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: What has been your major challenge since you began your non-profit organization?
Oluyemi: The major challenge has been funding. Presently our major source of funding is from the proceeds of our chambers and I can tell you that it is very limited. We need to pay lawyers to go to court, we need money to perfect the bail of inmates, we need money to pay office bill, salary and so much more. We have projects designed without money to execute them. This is really a big challenge but we are not discouraged. We keep doing the ones we can do with the little resources we have. Another challenge is that most people do not believe in the necessity for what we do. Often, people ask why we want to get criminals out forgetting that not everyone in prison is a criminal. Many are just victims of police brutality and other circumstances. We are not discouraged by this mentality . It is the reason why we have to continue to sensitize people that our focus is on wrongly incarcerated inmates and minor offenders who cannot afford legal representation. We are not helping CRIMINALS get off the hook.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: Many young people have great ideas, but lack of funds is always a stumbling block. What’s your advice in this regard?
Oluyemi :My advice is that they should keep doing what they are doing with whatever little they have. Soon enough, someone will see their work and decide to contribute. Even God only blesses the works of our hands. Also, they can keep reaching out to organisations that fund their type of project, collaborate with other people in their field because two heads are better than one. Partnerships help make life easier.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: How have you been able to raise money to implement your ideas?
Oluyemi :Headfort chambers, our for-profit-outfit, has been the major organisation funding our work. However, we have other kindhearted Nigerians who donate to us monthly. Mr. David Aderinokun has been very supportive of our work, he was the first person ever to give us a substantial amount. African Alliance Plc is another organization that not only donates to us but also encourages us to keep doing what we do. I use this medium to thank Mrs. Funmi Omo, the Managing Director of African Alliance Plc for the moral support we have enjoyed.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: Could you please share with us one or two experience(s) you have had in the course of your campaign that has/have impacted on you?
Oluyemi : Before my involvement in criminal justice advocacy, I never knew how bad illiteracy can be until I met a young man in prison one day. He was convicted for a crime he did not commit. He was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment after pleading guilty. He didnt know the implication of pleading guilty, as a matter of fact, he did not understand what was being read to him but he has been told by the police to plead guilty. The police had lied to him that by pleading guilty, he would be set free to go home but that never happened. This experience opened my eyes to how illiteracy can lead to the death of an innocent person. What if the offence he pleaded guilty to was one with a death sentence?
PROJECT_INSPIRE:What are your prospects in the next 5 or 10 years?
Oluyemi :We have a project called Lawyers without borders and it is designed under our legal aid objectives. In the next five years, I want to see that project materialize not just in Lagos but in the 36 states of Nigeria. It is a project that will help lots of indigent people and I tell you, it will help decongest our prisons drastically. Another thing is that I want is to see Headfort Foundation become a household name in the next five years, with national and international partners. We hope to begin airing on national television and radio our Justice for You Program to enable more people get accurate information about their fundamental human rights. That way, even if you one has never been to a formal school, you will understand what fundamental human right is all about and when it is breached, you will know the step to take. Finally, an idle hand they say is the devil's workshop. In the next five years, I want to see our Ex-inmate Support Initiative which is under our Empowerment Objective help 100s of ex-inmates reshape their lives ,start all over and achieve great success.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: What do you think is the major cause of unemployment among the youth today, and how can we get over this?
Oluyemi :The major cause of unemployment is lack of strategic planning for youths in respect to nation building and also corruption. If we have projects for nation building and they are implemented, this will definitely create employment opportunities.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: What would you say is the role of the youth in national development?
Oluyemi: Across the globe,youths are responsible for bringing about new innovations in all spheres of life. We need this replicatef in Africa and Nigeria especially. It is time we stop waiting for things to happen,we should make them happen. We have to be actively involved in every aspect of governance. We need to start belonging to political parties.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: The final word for the Nigerian youth.
Oluyemi: Keep doing that legitimate thing you know how to do. People are watching! Keep being legit, there is no such thing as fast money, it will boomerang.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: It has been such a pleasure speaking with you,Oluyemi!
Oluyemi : Thank you for having me.
Oluyemi can reach me through the following handles;
Twitter: www.twitter.com/oluyemiorija
www.twitter.com/HeadfortF
Instagram:www.instagram.com/headfortfoundation Facebook:www.facebook.com/headfortfoundation
Many thanks to our guest editor Mr. Ibeh Miracle.
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @BUSAOSOWO FOUNDATION
Email:bofinitiatives@gmail.com
Very good one.
ReplyDeleteThis is really educative.
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