Toyin Saraki
| Toyin Saraki | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 September 1964 |
| Alma mater | SOAS, University of London |
| Religion | Christianity |
Toyin Ojora-Saraki (born 6 September 1964) is a healthcare philanthropist and the Founder-President of Wellbeing Foundation Africa.
Early life and Education
Toyin Saraki had her elementary education in Lagos, Nigeria after which she went to the United Kingdom and attended Roedean School, Brighton. She then obtained her L.L.B degree from the London School of Oriental and African Studies and her L.L.M from King's College London, both of the University of London. She returned to Nigeria and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1989.[1]
Charity and Philanthropy
As Founder-President of Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), Mrs Toyin Saraki is a Nigerian philanthropist with two decades of advocacy covering maternal, newborn and child health, gender-based discrimination and violence, improving education, socio-economic empowerment and community livelihoods in Africa. She is an advocate of Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 in Nigeria, reducing the rate of maternal and infant mortality. She also launched a successful social media campaign through Wellbeing Foundation Africa in 2012 called #MaternalMonday to raise awareness on key issues in maternal, newborn and child health in Africa.
She contributed largely to the establishment of the Lifestream Charity in 1993 and is a global advocate of the UN’s Every Woman Every Child campaign. Toyin is on the board of the Global Foundation for the Elimination of Domestic Violence and the board of the Africa Justice Foundation.[2]
Toyin Saraki is the Newborn Champion for Save the Children Nigeria and was the inaugural Global Goodwill Ambassador to the International Confederation of Midwives in 2014.[3] [4]
Personal life
Toyin is married to former governor of Kwara State and Current president of the Senate of Nigeria, Senator Bukola Saraki and has four children.
Corruption Investigations By the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
On July 28, 2015, Toyin Saraki was investigated by anti-corruption agency the Economic And Financial Crimes Commission and questioning about alleged shady contracts during her husband’s tenure as governor of Kwara between 2003 and 2011. The investigation centered on alleged contracts with companies said to be linked to her during her husband Bukola Saraki's terms as governor.[5]
The People's Democratic Party, which her husband left to join the All-Progressives Congress, confirmed that its Kwara branch petitioned the EFCC to investigate Toyin and her husband's activities while Bukola Saraki was the Kwara state governor from 2003 to 2011. Rex Olawoye, the PDP spokesman, said that “it has become imperative to inform the members of the public that we have every reasons to believe that a petition recently submitted to the EFCC by the PDP Kwara state chapter, is largely responsible for the invitation and eventual criminal prosecution of the former Kwara First Lady and wife of the Senate President, Mrs. Toyin Saraki.”[6]
References
- ↑ "Toyin Ojora Saraki; A Life Devoted to Service". Konnect Africa. Retrieved 2013-09-13.
- ↑ "Brief Biography of Her Excellency, Mrs. Toyin Saraki". MidlandsBiz. Retrieved 2009-02-17.
- ↑ "ICM’s Inaugural Global Goodwill Ambassador". International Confederation of Midwives. Retrieved 2014-03-06.
- ↑ "Maternal Health Advocate H.E Mrs. Toyin Saraki Announced as ICM Inaugural Goodwill Ambassador". Every Woman Every Child. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
- ↑ "EFCC interrogates Saraki’s wife over alleged corruption"
- ↑ "PDP exonerates APC, Tinubu in Toyin Saraki’s EFCC ordeal, Says Own Party Behind Probe"