Dare Babalola
The daughter of Fuji maestro, Kollington Ayinla, Abibat Banjo Dolapo Ilori, known better as Awele Alagbo, has credited her late grandmother for her inspiring career in herbal medicine.
In a recent interview on the Kola Olootu Live podcast, the herbalist disclosed that she had earlier rejected calls by her grandmother to tow the line of her business, considering her exposure and academic background.
She, however, said she succumbed to the wish of her grandmother after several attempts to convince her, saying the matriarch’s patience played a key role in changing her career path.
Awele, who initially was in the scrap-selling and gold businesses said she was destined to make herbs even before her birth.
She narrated, “Before, I had an iron scrap business, sometimes, I act as a consultant too. I’ve done diverse businesses but it was my first business that I was popular with because I did it for a long time. Now that there is insecurity, I had to drop it. I merged it with my gold business, and they both made me great profits. Then, my grandmother was worried, she always called to know my location. She would call my immediate senior sibling to talk about how scared she was that I was taking a dangerous trip. She now encouraged me to stop travelling alone.”
On how destiny played a role in shaping her career, the herb seller said, “They always told me my mom travelled so much when she was pregnant with me. When she was about to put to bed, she was warned not to undergo surgery. They told me they went to all the hospitals in Lagos but she was unable to deliver me until she went to a man we called ‘Baba Isheri’ and she put to bed using herbs.
“So, she encouraged me to pursue a career in that line. We always laughed at her for asking me to sell herbs because of my educational background. I was travelling abroad for nothing less than five times a year. Later on, I started seeing signs of what I was told so I was paying attention.”
She noted that she started her career with the making of dysentery herbs saying, “I was giving them out for free, I emulated that from my grandmother. No matter how difficult a pregnant woman finds her delivery, it becomes easy once she comes to our house”.
Awele revealed that she came from a herb-making lineage, a reality that humiliated her at the initial stage. She is, however, thankful that she listened to her grandmother’s advice.
She noted that she now makes herbs without consulting any book or Google because of her in-depth knowledge passed from her maternal lineage.
“The day my grandmother died, I was sad, I was willing to part with every last kobo on me to revive her but her time was up. It was my saddest day. She was doing all the hard work. Three days to the day she died, she wanted to give me a new recipe for making herbs on her sick bed but I was more interested in her recovery and shut the idea down. I’m still hurt I didn’t learn it,” the herbalist said on the podcast.
On how her grandmother finally convinced her to drop her businesses and join the herb-making business, the musician’s daughter said, “My grandmother was patient, to make me agree to sell herbs, she sat me down and told me she was going to make a herb that wasn’t going to fail then she gave me diabetes and favour oil herbs. If someone wanted to have a ceremony and they didn’t have money, when my grandmother gave them the favour oil, they came back for thanksgiving. Initially, I didn’t see it as a big deal until I started using it for my clients.”
She added, “When I bought my luxury car, I took it to my grandmother for her blessing, she now reminded me of how I nearly threw away that opportunity. She recalled that my destiny was to make herbs.”
