Former Senator representing Ogun West Senatorial District, Iyabo Anisulowo, has concluded arrangements for her 75th birthday anniversary with a book launch which chronicle her life.
Anisulowo made this known at a press conference held at the conference hall of Penpushing Media Corporate Headquarters located in Leme axis of Moshood Abiola way, Abeokuta.
The former Minister of Education explained that the book authored by her is titled “My Story of Grace and Grits’, and will be made public as part of her birthday scheduled to hold Saturday, March 21, 2026.
She disclosed that the new autobiographical book will be unveil in Ilaro, the headquarters of Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State, adding that it provides deeper insight into her life beyond what many people know about her publicly.
The celebrator stated that part of contents in the book include her plights in the hands of kidnappers, and how she was successfully rescued from captivity of her captors, as well as her experience while serving as Minister under the late military dictator, General Sanni Abacha among others
Anisulowo explained that the birthday celebration is an opportunity to thank God for the experiences that have shaped her life over the decades, while recalling major events surrounding past milestone birthdays, including her kidnapping shortly after her 65th birthday and the coronavirus pandemic during her 70th celebration in Abuja.
‘This landmark is 75 years old. I am looking back 10 years ago. Remember after my 65th birthday celebration, I was kidnapped. At 70 it was COVID. I celebrated in Abuja, but everyone was covering our noses’, Anisulowo stated.
‘We were having masks on our faces that day in Abuja. Because my children insisted that I must celebrate 70. Now, it is 75. It’s just to give glory to God. We are counting all the experiences that I’ve had over the years’, she added
‘It’s a special chance to be alive at this time. Maybe people may not have the privilege of dining and winning with me again. I wouldn’t know because most people die about this age now,” she said.
Anisulowo on the motivation behind writing the book, explained that many people only know her superficially and may not fully understand her personality or the experiences that have shaped her.
“Many people know me on the surface. Some people feel I’m a very strong person. That I have a very strong personality. But yes, on the surface. But people who have actually come close to me, they know who I really am’, she stated.
‘But for the majority of people and those who have not come across me at all it’s a little bit difficult. So, I decided to write my story while I will love that well-wishers and my friends to read’, Anisulowo stressed
Anisulowo, who is from Ogun West, revisited the long-standing political concerns of the Yewa people in Ogun State, describing their marginalisation as real and persistent.
The renowned politician explained that the issue triggered her decision to contest for the governorship in 1999, making her the first indigene of Yewa to secure a party ticket for the race alongside figures including former Governor Olusegun Osoba.
She attributed the challenges faced by the Yewa people partly to their geographic location and ethnic diversity, noting that the area includes people from different Yoruba subgroups such as Egba, Ketu, and Egun communities.
“There is no doubt about it. Even up till now. Here are people who are marginalized and it’s because we are border people. You see, there are so many people around us and even we have so much infiltrated people who are not from Yewa’.
‘The Egbas have a large number in Yewa. We have the Ogus, the Ketus, the Anagos, and the Yorubas. This diversity has not helped us in the past. You know we were the front liners in fighting the cause of the Yewa people. Our marginalization started from the demarcation.”
“The demarcation, I mean, we had two local governments for a very long time. And if not for God and myself. We wouldn’t have got the two more local governments that we had when I was Minister of State for Education. And so, in fact at a time the Egba people go to represent us in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. When it was part of our senatorial district, it was a tug of war to be able to remove Ifo from our senatorial district,” she added.
