PRINCESS AFOMA OJEI-ADIGWE SPEAKS ON FAMILY CASE IN COURT, SAYS ‘IT WILL END PEACEFULLY’
By Trek Africa Newspaper

Popular actor and farmer, Princess Afoma Adigwe-Ojei has assured her teeming fans, friends, and Nigerians at large that the ongoing court case involving her family will soon end and end well bringing the family together bonded. The court case which is due to an alleged defamation of character is being sued for 4 billion naira.
In the special interview with Trek Africa Newspaper, Princess Afoma Adigwe-Ojei also delved into her passion for farming and women development.
Trek Africa: What informed your decision to establish Uplifting Women Through Farming?
Princess Afoma: The organisation came in to being due to my relocation back to the village with my husband. On getting home, we set up a palm tree plantation and the plantation is twenty seven years. While in the village, l discovered the hardship the women are facing in the village, then l started thinking of setting up Uplifting Women Through Farming, to see how they can move from crude ways of farming to modern ways of farming. So that was the first idea that came in to my mind.
So, l set the organisation, so I could be the bridge between the rural women and the government, and the international agency to assist by uplifting the women through their farming skill by having the modern ways of farming .
I started this from my husband’s place before l now extended to some other villages before l went national, and international ,so it has been a long journey going to twenty four years. Glory be to God Almighty, at least, l have been able to modernise a lot of women at the grassroots through a lot of intervention and l think that is the reason l set up the organisation to be able to assist them in different ways such as legal, in the environmental, health care and also in education because to go modern one should be able to upgrade her life styles In the organisation, we have been able to do that and l focuses more at the community, the grass root because that is where you find many women that need to be uplifted.
Trek Africa: Why focusing on women?
Princess Afoma: I focus on women because if you look at the society especially in terms of funding, women have no access like the male folk, so l decided to focus more on women to bridge the gap of financing , that is the reason l have been talking about setting up a bank for women in agriculture which l am trying to gather a lot of professionals in the financial sector to partner with the NGO, very soon we should be launching the takeoff of our license which has been a long journey but hopefully, some of my partner in South Africa are trying to make it more easy in setting up women bank in agriculture. But l am still looking at setting it up in Nigeria being the headquarters of ULWTA.
Another reason l focused on women is because women need funding and without funding the farming aspect will not be completed, so a lot of women had problems in getting funding because women do not have anything to use for guarantors, like having a landed property.
It is always difficult for some of the women at the grassroots to get funding some of them are not computer litrate and they are not educated they always rely on the third party to help them in getting funding, even in getting some farming input, some will apply and it does not get to them and you will find out that they are being restrained in getting things that could help them do their farm work.
Trek Africa: Nigeria is currently facing food insecurity and hunger, how best can the country overcome this challenge?
Princess Afoma: Now when you said that the country is facing food insecurity and hunger, insecurity has been our problem especially in the North where most of these food items come from, so what do expect, but the only way that the federal government can overcome these challenges, one security has to be put in place, the moment we overcome this insecurity , then the farmers can have the mind to go back to farming. So, government need to make the issue of tackling insecurity a priority, when there is security, our farm lands are secured, farmers are secured, they can now go back to their farms and be able to produce.
Another thing is to get the royal fathers to be involved in ensuring that there is security in their domain, they have to know the strategies, it is their domain, they need to tell us the best way to go in terms of security, with that we will be able to get it right. Then the issue of transportation should also be looked into because if the cost of transporting farm produce is high it will negatively affect the cost of food items in the market.
Trek Africa: How has your family background contributed to what you are today?
Princess Afoma: Every family has to start from the grass. My father used to be the Odoziani of Issele-Uku, Delta State, that will show that everything we do start from home even if you have lived in the city, or you have lived abroad, home is home. l was born and brought up in Lagos, but home has always been home for us, so l will say that we started from a background that is based at home, and then the contribution I think my family has given , first of all l will give it to my late husband, Prince Chris Adigwe who gave me the opportunity to run the NGO and to be able to assist the rural areas. He set up for me a plantation which makes me a farmer and definitely most of my family members were scared especially some of my siblings ,due that l was always travelling from one village to the other canvassing for the support for the rural women farmers, but l will give it all to my senior sister in London. Mrs. Okafor who is also supportive of my NGO. So, I think when l started, it was scary, for my family travelling going as far as Bakassi in Cross River, Escravos in Delta to campaign for support for women farmers at the rural areas, l think, l got some fair support from the family.
Trek Africa: There was a report that shows your family is in court, what happened and what is the way forward?
Princess Afoma: Yes, my family is in court, but as we all know that there is no perfect family, but at times when a family seems to bring out their misunderstanding or someone in the family bring out the family name in the public view, you will not shy away from it. My niece, Chichi Ojei, took us to court and sued us for defamation of character for 4 billion, since June this year we have been going to court due to the case, the next one is going to be on the 28th of November 2024v, and hopefully we will be there, and her mother Mrs. Vivian Eki Obaseki Ojei the one giving her the backbone, definitely, we will all be at the court on that day, we believe that the whole issue will come to an end peacefully.