Ada Mark Legacy: Celebrating An Amazon With The Bold Heart
The world does not celebrate ideas, but achievements. It does not celebrate dreams but impacts. While some impacts may be easily forgotten, others outlive generations.
Ada Mark Ogbole, the Idoma-born amazon cum CEO of Ada Mark Foundation for Girls is fast becoming a national legend through her leadership sagacity, quest for the emancipation of the girl child, mother to all posture and philantrophic gesture for the less-privileged and vulnerable.
Despite her self-effacing and unassuming style, the societal impacts of Hon. Mrs. Ada Mark Ogbole have continued to earn her respect and affection of the grassroots and the attention of Nigerians across the globe. Indeed, Nigerians who appreciate commitment to nation building and service to humanity will always hold this mother and administrative guru to a very high esteem.
Ones view about “Aunty Ada” as she is fondly called by youths depends on the perspective with which you look at her. In my view, however, she is better described as “an advocate of gender equality who dominates her world with well reasoned arguments” and a “patriot in the attainment of the vision of a better society”.
Having been elected at the age of 26 to represent her constituency at the Federal House of Representatives and her continuous drive for the re-positioning of the girl-child and women for greater achievements through sports, capacity building, empowerment and education, her Pisces horoscope personality and leadership sagacity have indeed been brought to bear and this gives the younger generation of African women hope that the quest for true leadership and gender inequality in Africa, will soon be over.
What a man can do, a woman can do even better. That is just the best way to describe the guts of Aunty Ada. She is detribalized, accessible, determined, jovial, strong willed and above all, a very good listener. I am proud to identify with this woman of amiable mien, whose enviable impacts in the lives of Nigerian Women and youths cannot be over emphasized. Her commitment and passion to the cause of the common man has been further illuminated by her immense support for the victims of the Agatu Massacre.
I am fully convinced that the exodus towards an equitable society as exemplified by Aunty Ada, would continue in the right direction and her impacts never be forgotten in a hurry, when Nigerians would celebrate 100 years of independence on 1st October, 2060. On that day, Nigerian women and other Africans who have received the positive impacts of her selflessness will have the cause to smile and tell the world that the journey for the girl-child emancipation started with the Ada Mark legacy.
Comrade Omaga Elachi Daniel is the Executive Director, Beyond Boundaries Legacy Leadership Initiative and writes from Abuja.