By Christopher Oji
Mareena Samuel is the managing director Karflex Group of Companies.
She is also the managing director of Madiflex International Limited, M & S Wears Limited, Mareena Pharmaceuticals Limited and Karflex Investment Limited. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in French Language and a master’s degree in Translation and Interpretation from the University of Benin and University of Lagos, respectively.
Over the years, she has garnered a myriad of business expertise and experiences while serving on the board of several companies in Nigeria, including Capstone Microfinance Bank Limited, where she currently serves as chairman of the board.
She addressed several issues, including philanthropy, her NGO, women’s empowerment and gender equality, among others, in this interview with Daily Sun recently.
Why did you set up the Marius Uchenna Ashibuogwu Foundation?
Ten years ago, my son, a medical doctor, Dr. Marius Uchenna Ashibuogwu, a promising and ambitious young man, died. His life was cut short in his prime, and I wanted to do something he was passionate about. So, I swung into action to keep his memory alive by initiating the Marius Uchenna Ashibuogwu Foundation (MUAF). With the foundation, it would remind me of things he was passionate about.
He lived an exemplary life. He was an epitome of love and he was passionate about humanitarian service and charitable deeds in his short sojourn here on earth.
He impacted and emptied himself immensely on vulnerable children and the less privilege in society.
His dream was to own a foundation that would be a bridge of hope to humanity. During his lifetime, he was given to helping the less privileged. He gave free medical treatment to a lot of people who couldn’t afford to pay their medical bills.
He gave free medical treatment to patients where he was doing his internship, at the Nigerian Air Force Medical Centre, Air Force Base, Ikeja.
He was fondly called DJ Doctor Marius because of his love for music. He organized Christmas parties for the poor, just to make them feel loved and part of society. On his own, he organized medical outreaches with his friends to treat people with different ailments.
He desired to own a foundation in order to support the less privileged. To keep his legacy alive and immortalize his memory, we started the foundation.
What particular incident influenced your decision to honour your son’s legacy?
Doctor Marius, my son, was a loving child who cherished giving. Even as a child, he always shared his lunch with his friends and most times came home hungry. When I asked, he would always say, “Mum, they need it more than I do.” He was compassionate and filled with human empathy.
I remember he desired a world with equal opportunities and life for everyone. So, I thought of what to do to carry out my son’s aspirations.
Also, as a young girl who grew up in a Catholic home, all the tenets and teachings of Christ on love in the Legion of Mary are engraved in my heart. I used to go to the Military Hospital, Yaba, to pray for the sick. During the holidays, I went to old people’s homes to bathe them and wash their clothes. I was already involved with humanitarian deeds. When you make someone laugh or smile, you have made their day.
What empowerment scheme have you embarked on and to what extent has the foundation impacted on the community?
We have impacted some communities with our medical outreaches. The foundation has contributed to educational development: we were able to build a 10-classroom school in a rural community in Benue State, MUAF Children’s Academy, it will be inaugurated as part of the projects to mark our 10 years anniversary celebration. We have also built a toilet facility at Gbaga in Ogun State, also for a school. We have completed a classroom platform and wall reinforcement project for Achievers Brighter School in Bariga, Lagos.
Also, we are empowering the women in Asejere Market, Makoko, Yaba, by donating two industrial fish driers. The foundation was a lead in fund mobiliser for a hole-in-the-heart child, but, unfortunately, he couldn’t make it. We have donated wheel chairs to some physically challenged people. The list is unending. We were part of Lagos State food bank during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.
God has been faithful and good to us. Lest I forget, we shared food and gifts to the homeless in the U.S. and also visited the home for the elderly in the U.S., where quality time was spent with them.
Our companies, which are incorporated in Nigeria as private limited liability companies, have a combined 500 staff strength. I can say that my company is a consummate philanthropists and humanist with great passion for the less privileged.
We are replicating what my son stood for, because our foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is to save lives, alleviate sufferings of the common man, promote good health in rural communities and reduce the impact of infant mortality in Nigeria.
How have you been funding your programmes?
We have done all these with our money, no donation from anywhere or anybody. I just save towards any project we have and I work towards it. My husband has been my backbone. He has always supported me.
Do you partner with other NGOs?
Not at all, but we are considering that now. I just wanted to get to a level with good capacity and so much done, so when we are looking for partners we will come with so much done.
Tell us about the 10th anniversary of MUAF…
We will start the 10th anniversary celebration with a mental health awareness health walk from our head office in Ikeja to Maryland School compound. It will be followed by mental health talk to students of Immaculate Heart Secondary School. We intend to talk to the students about depression, drug addiction, alcoholism, personality concept and so on. We are also giving them books written by MUAF on sex education for teenagers. We are going to launch the school platform at Bariga and also the industrial fish driers at Makoko, Yaba.
What bigger picture are you projecting within the next five years?
My greatest joy would be seeing MUAF replicated in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. We are already making waves in the South West. I would love to see our projects, donations and the completion of signposts in every nook and cranny across the nation. We started in Nigeria and we hope to extend it to other countries and make it International. That’s one of our dreams and bigger picture for the foundation.
What are your low and high moments?
My low moments would be whenever I want to handle a project that relates to touching lives or helping humanity to achieve some sense of livelihood and I can’t finance it.
And anytime I see a need in people’s life and I can’t assist. It brings my morale down. It’s a desire and I wish to do much more than I have done at the moment, but because of financial constraints, I can’t achieve my heart’s desire in that aspect.
Also, giving hope to the less privileged for a better living makes me happy.
After my son passed on, I felt the only way to keep his dream and name alive was to start his dream posthumously. He lived with no religious, ethnic or gender bias. He saw everybody as one. MUAF is focused on a mission to save lives, and alleviate sufferings, engaging in medical and educational sponsorship for the less privileged. Our intention is to bridge the gap of comforts for the needy. At MUA Foundation, we envision a society where sustainable health, education, economic and social rights of the less privileged, especially mother and child, are protected.
Society has focused more on the way girls are raised, but how do we strike a balance between a male and female child?
There must be a balance in the way male and female children are raised. A society that values women and men as equal is safer and healthier. It is essential for economic prosperity. Raising them with the same ideals is the best way, rather than make the man look more superior to the woman. Gender inequality has serious and long-lasting consequences on females. This can bring about exposure to violence, discrimination, low self-esteem, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Women go through so much yet they are relegated; how do we break the bias? A woman who knows her onions should never allow herself to be relegated. Gone are the days when a woman was relegated to kitchen roles by their menfolk. Women should be allowed to partake in socio-political engagement and reduce the obvious gender bias and discrimination against women and other social undertakings. To ensure gender parity for a better society, women need to explore numerical superiority in every sphere; that is how we can strike a balance.
How would you describe a strong woman and the role women should play in the society?
A strong woman must show strength, love, sacrifice and courage. A strong woman must be self-sufficient, well aware and financially independent. Women have important roles to perform. They are the pioneers of a nation. Women are the keys to sustainable development and better quality of life in the family. Women perform the role of wife, partner, administrator, director, re-creator, disburser, economist, mother, disciplinarian, teacher, health officer, artist and queen in the family at the same time. Apart from this, the woman plays a key role in the socio-economic development of society. The roles of women are primarily recognized in the social, political, economic, cultural and religious spheres.
What is your advice to women?
Women should not see themselves as inferior to men but as helpmates to their husbands. They should honour their husbands and also work hard to assist the family. No woman should be idle, waiting for her husband to provide everything. They should work hard as much as they can; just do some decent things to assist yourself and the family