By Sam Biodun Ogundipe in London

For many people, a birthday is a time to celebrate another year of life with family, friends and well-wishers.

For Mrs. Folashade Arike Ayoade, PhD, Secretary to the Government of Kogi State, however, birthdays have gradually become occasions for giving, reaching out and remembering people whose circumstances may not allow them the privileges many others take for granted.

Her 61st birthday was no different. But this time, the celebration took a new direction.

After a stopover at Rehoboth Children’s Home, Phase I, Lokoja, where she continued her tradition of identifying with vulnerable children, Mrs. Ayoade proceeded to the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Koton-Karfe, where she commissioned and dedicated a church as part of activities marking her birthday.

It was a departure in setting, but not necessarily in spirit. According to Mrs. Ayoade, her decision to associate her birthdays with acts of giving dates back 21 years.

“I made a covenant with God 21 years ago, when I was 40 years, never to celebrate my birthdays outside the orphanage.”

What started modestly has, over the years, grown into a personal tradition of reaching out to the less privileged.

Recalling how it all began, Mrs. Ayoade said that on her 40th birthday, she left guests who had gathered to celebrate with her and went in search of an orphanage, arriving with just a bag of rice.

“To the Home, it was more than a bag of rice as they had nothing to feed. That experience with the orphans broke me as we all wept profusely.”

That experience, she said, remained with her and shaped the way she subsequently marked her birthdays.

From orphanages to widows and other vulnerable groups, the focus of her birthday celebrations has increasingly been less about the ceremony and more about giving something back.

At 61, the destination was different.

A New Setting, Same Spirit

Before proceeding to the custodial centre, the SGS and her entourage paid a courtesy visit to the Palace of the Ohimege of Koton-Karfe, His Royal Majesty, Saidu Kawu Salihu, to pay homage and inform the traditional ruler of her mission in the community.

The Ohimege thanked the State scribe for the visit and congratulated her on her birthday anniversary, while wishing her greater wisdom, good health and God’s protection in her service to the state.

From the palace, the entourage proceeded to the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Koton-Karfe, where the birthday celebration took on a more solemn and reflective character.

The dedication of the church provided a place of worship and spiritual reflection for inmates of the centre.

For the birthday celebrant, the occasion offered another opportunity to connect a personal milestone with service to others.

It was also a reminder that those within custodial facilities remain part of the larger society, with needs that extend beyond their physical circumstances.

A Message of Hope

The sermon at the event, delivered by Pastor Rotimi Nathaniel, Pastor in charge of Region 24, Reedeem Christian Church of God, Lokoja, centred on hope, purpose and the need for the inmates to make the most of their present circumstances.

Addressing the packed hall, the cleric encouraged the inmates not to be discouraged by their present situation but to use the period for sober reflection and personal transformation.

“Don’t be discouraged with the moment as God has a purpose in your life.”

He also reminded them that difficult moments do not necessarily define the whole of a person’s life.

“Everything that happens in life has a reason and equally has a solution.”

The message appeared to complement the significance of the occasion: a birthday celebration being used to bring attention to people whose lives are currently being lived within the confines of a custodial institution.

The event attracted government officials, traditional and religious leaders, friends and well-wishers.

Among those present were the Chief Whip of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Asema Baba Haruna; a representative of the Minister of Interior; former and serving commissioners; senior government officials; clergymen, including Pastor Olajumoke Israel, popularly known as “One Man Battalion”; and the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Treasures Eateries, Dr. Mrs. Femi Akande, among others.

For Mrs. Ayoade, the decision to dedicate a church at the custodial centre represented another phase in a birthday tradition that began with orphanages and later extended to other vulnerable members of society.

The difference this time was the setting.

The underlying idea, however, remained familiar: using a personal milestone as an opportunity to give, connect and make a modest contribution to the lives of others.

At 61, therefore, the significance of the celebration went beyond the number of years.

It was about a journey that has, for more than two decades, linked birthday celebrations with acts of giving and concern for others.

From the orphanage where a bag of rice once became a deeply emotional birthday gift, to the correctional centre where a place of worship was dedicated, the story of Mrs. Ayoade’s birthdays appears to be evolving around one simple principle: that a personal celebration can also become an opportunity to touch another person’s life.

For her family, friends, well-wishers and the Management and Staff of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of Kogi State, her 61st birthday was therefore an occasion to celebrate not only the woman, but the values of service, compassion and responsibility that have come to accompany her personal milestones.

Sixty-one was more than a number. It became another opportunity to give, to inspire, to remember—and to leave something meaningful behind