WHY I STARTED WOMEN OF LOVE INTERNATIONAL - ESSE AGESSE

In the 90s Miss Esse Agesse was a force to be reckon with in the entertainment industry, she ruled the music scene with her danceable tunes then all of a sudden she disappeared from the music scene to take care of her family and relocated to Ireland. Poddesk sat down with Esse for an exclusive interview recently where she talked about her family, music career and  her foundation Women of Love and what it is all about enjoy

1. Tell us about yourself – education and childhood memories? 
I am a mother, a sister, a daughter, a writer and a Gender activist... Let us not leave out a gospel musician because music will never be out of what I do. Currently I work with a BPO as a Training and Development Co-Ordinator. 
I studied Economics as a 1st degree at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka Nigeria and my Masters in Business in Internationalisation at the Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT), Waterford, Ireland. I am a certified Project Manager and Trainer.
I am the 2nd child in a family of 9, 7 children and my Parents. My loving father and elder bro (Emma Agesse of Daily Time) are late. I grew up in a close knitted family, with much love but no money and we were happy just because we had each other. I never had a silver spoon, but my father never compromised on our education. He would sell the clothes on his back to send us to school. We are all well educated in my family all 7 are degree holders.


2. When did you first start singing? 
I started singing around 89/90 while rounding up from Uni. I released my first album ‘familiar stranger’ around 1992.

3. What did your family do to encourage you?
 My family did everything to be honest. My late brother would organise events for me and make sure that I met the right people in the entertainment industry, as entertainment journalism was his forte. Although my father knew I was crazy about music, he didn’t let me go into it fully until i was at the last leg of my university, however after that he never stood in my way. He taught me the Uwheru heartbeat song as he called it for my second album (I am a native of Uwheru in Ughelli Delta State of Nigeria)... I will always be a Delta girl no matter where I am in the world 

4. We have not heard anything from you lately concerning your music, are you still into music? 
Very much so my sister, I have not released any album since 2010, but I still sing. I honestly have not put myself out there musically in a while but I still sing, more in the church settings.

5. Tell us about “Women of Love” WOL Intl?
 Is all about Promoting women and children empowerment (with particular focus on the girl child), health and well-being of women regardless of age, ethnic origin, ability, belief or political affiliation recognising the value of our many differences and how we can all work together to make our communities a better place to be. We have organised seminars for women in and around Cork, where we have our headquarters and we also encourage people who have one way or the other promoted women empowerment and education of youths and children an Award for excellence in their different fields. We want to encourage people who have the same beliefs as us, especially in the field of the education of the girl child.

6. When and why did you start 'WOMEN of LOVE’? 
We officially started around 2010, however we fully started seminars and events in 2012. We are involved with supporting women and children to the best of our abilities.

7. Tell us about your just concluded event the “Women of love” seminar/fundraising for girl child network, what was the aim? 
The aim was to bring to the notice of the world the deplorable situation in the Education of girl children in Africa and we used the opportunity to raise funds for Organisations that already have structures on ground to help with the education of girl children in Africa.

8. How did you become women or should I say girl rights activist?
 I witnessed a situation where it was discovered that a 12 year old girl was impregnated by a full grown old man years ago. I was so angry and helpless because the family didn’t want to press charges as they were happy enough to be paid off. Poverty does a lot to people. If I could have taken the young girl under my wings and sponsored her education at that time I would have. WOL international is about women empowerment and education of children, most especially the girl child. We focus on encouraging people or organisations who uphold our beliefs. We hope to be established soon in Nigeria where we can start empowering programmes to educate the girl child.

9. Could you tell us a bit about your normal daily routine and how do you de-stress after a rather busy day or week?
 My days are centred around my work as a Trainer in a busy Communications Organisation and the rest I spend working with WOL Intl and my children. The girls are in University now so its just my teenage son most of the time with me and we are believing God that he will soon join his sisters once he finishes secondary school. I am blessed to have my children. I also on my days off try as much as possible to spend time with my sisters. I am very involved with my church and community.

10. Any advice for young girls out there? 
Always choose education over sex (there will always be time for sex). No education is lost and it is important to have self-esteem. Young women should respect themselves. Going to school is not a curse or problem, it is a blessing. I also encourage girls to explore their God given talents, Example music, design, photography, writing etc. We all have gifts and sometimes we tend not to explore them.

11. Any message for your fans out there? 
I thank my fans for their support, patience and understanding. I am amazed when I get mails from my fans on face book encouraging me. I am grateful that after all these years i still have a followership. I am working and someday soon there will be something new on the shelves. I promise to always keep singing no matter what.