About us

A Mother's Love Initiative

A Mother’s Love Initiative (AMLI) is a non-profit organization dedicated to addressing the challenges of raising stable and balanced children in Nigeria/Africa. AMLI recognizes that the future of the nation depends on the general well-being and development of its children. Over the years, AMLI has been at the forefront of campaigns and interventions that address burning societal issues challenging the mental health and general well-being of children and directly impacting their psychosocial ability to safely grow through life and education. Our interventions are psychosocial, Research, and Advocacy base.
Nigerian/African children face numerous challenges that impact their general well-being, development, and overall prospects for a stable and balanced future. These challenges stem from a variety of factors, including social, health, educational, psychological, emotional, and nutritional aspects.
We look forward to the day the Nigerian Girl and Boy child can go to school (Access) at the right age (Maturity/School age enrollment) and learn (Foundational Learning), we give every child hope, opportunity, and agency for their future.

OUR FOUNDING STORY

In 2017, A Mother’s Love Initiative saw the need to take a decisive action against practices that negatively impacts the mental and general well-being and by extension the hurried child practices in Africa. A social problem that has permeated the African society and bears the root cause to myriads of intergenerational and developmental problems facing the African child in the present day. Discussing these challenges in African context is novel because everyone knows that the African society is not yet fit for African child but have failed to acknowledge and relate the mental health of children as fundamental to the sufferings of the
African Child.

Championing a campaign to create awareness on the mental and general well-being of children and by extension stop the hurried child syndrome in Africa via research, psychosocial support and media advocacy gave rise to a new wave of thinking among child development experts and gave the African child a voice, an array of hope towards an assured futured. A Mother’s Love Initiative does not not only caters for the wellbeing and the future of the African child but also ensure that the family system is re-engineered to accommodate a blend of healthy indigenous practices and modern practices that relevant to the progress of the African society.

Creativity
On our journey towards making a case for the African child, with specific reference to Nigeria, we realized that everyone was guilty of the problem from the bottom to the top of the social class. We were aware of the challenges of advocating for a stop in a practice that benefits the system economically and socially, in the immediate and short term. But we knew the long-term consequences harbored grave implications. To keep the momentum going, we adopted a sandwich approach in our communication strategy toward reaching out to key stakeholders in our homes, schools, workplaces, the international community, and the government. We presented information that not only acknowledged the struggles and positive resources resident in African child and their environment but also pointed out the negative consequences of practices that negatively impact the mental and general wellbeing of the African Child. We achieve this using both traditional and scientific methods. This strategy facilitated the optimism levels and a solution-oriented view of our target audience (i.e., the African child & Family) thereby increasing our engagement with the public through advocacy and collaboration with other relevant stakeholders in the society.

Social Impact of the Idea

Empowering the Future: AMLI’s Child and Family-Centered Project has immediate, short- and long-term benefits to the social fabric of the African society. This project underscores the reeducation of the Africans on the significance of their collectivistic culture and its direct and indirect impact on the psychosocial well-being of the African child and family. The Project seeks to rebuild social relationships between parents and their children’s developmental outcomes, improve the quality of school life, and reposition the narratives of the African child on a global scale. The Project also aligns with the sustainable development goals set by the UN and other benchmarks by reputation international bodies.

A MOTHERS’ LOVE INITIATIVE

Theory of Change Narrative

For the well-being and future of the African Child

  • Children should and must be protected because they are vulnerable, dependent, and developing.
  • The mother’s love for a child should and must be preserved and encouraged.
  • The role of play and creativity should and must be enshrined in every human environment.
  • Every child should and must have the same rights and opportunity to be happy.
  • Every law of nature should and must be preserved and protected to ensure a balanced and sustainable
    future.

To preserve, protect, enhance, and sustain the well-being and the future of every African Child

To provide preventive and remedial interventions to individuals and families raising a child to ensure that the child is stable and balanced in order to make the child useful for self, for family, and the community resulting in the rebirth of Hope for a happy future. This will be achieved by;

  • Creating awareness on the need to raise a stable family and a balanced child in Africa.
  • Providing support services to individuals and communities who have psychosocial problems in Africa.
  • Giving institutional/ community support to economically disadvantaged children in African society.

Our activities are directed and guided by its core values which are reflected in our organizational culture, process, and systems. We at a Mother’s Love Initiative pledge to consistently;

  • Embrace COLLABORATION with relevant stakeholders and take full competitive advantage of its opportunity
  • Encourage RESOURCEFULNESS by supporting creativity and Innovation
  • Embrace ACCOUNTABILITY in all our actions and decisions, ensuring transparency and responsibility throughout the organization
  • Ensure DEPENDABILITY by creating value-added services to enhance organizational goals
  • We strive for EXCELLENCE and set the pace for others to learn and replicate
  • Promote MOTHERLY LOVE in our immediate and distant environments and Advocate the rights of a child to PLAY across all boards and systems

OUR MANAGEMENT TEAM

Hanatu.A.Enwemadu
Esq

Founder/Executive Director

Aniekanabasi Coleman

Admin/Finance Officer

Davis Elekwa

 Programs Coordinator Abuja

Johnson Ibrahim

Senior Program Manager

Mr. Uchechukwu M. Ginika Esq

Legal Adviser

Mr. Bobhope N. Iregbu

Media Expert

Mallam Salihu Yahaya

Education Specialist

Segun Arinze

AMLI Ambassador

Mr. Adeyemi Adebayo​

B.A. (Ed.) | Msc.

Mr. Adeyemi Isola ADEBAYO is an accomplished educationist with practical classroom experiences spanning over three decades at Nigeria’s primary, secondary, and adult education strata. He attended Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, and obtained a B. A. (Ed.) degree from the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife (1991), specializing in English. He also has an advanced degree of Master in Managerial Psychology from the University of Ibadan (1998).

He joined the services of Lagos State as an Education Officer in 1993. As a teacher, Mr. Adebayo won several notable awards, including the Ministry of Education Best Teacher (1996), and the Lagos State Education Excellence Award (2006). He was a Head of Department for many years and was appointed a Vice Principal in 2009.

He was a member of the State School Improvement Team (SSIT) of the Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria [ESSPIN] from 2009-2013. He was the School Improvement Specialist on the Developing Effective Private Education Nigeria [DEEPEN] program from 2014 to 2018; both programs were UK/DFID-funded international education interventions managed by Cambridge Education. He is a Cambridge Education Certified School Improvement Support & Mentoring Services Specialist.

Mr. Adeyemi Adebayo has served in different capacities at the Lagos State Ministry of Education such as the Director of Private Education and Special Programmes (PESP) in 2019 – 2021), Director of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) (2021 – 2022), Director of Special Duties & Innovations (SD&I) (2022 – 2023) and Director of Basic Education Services (BES) (2023-2024) when he retired from public service. He is currently the Chief Operating Officer at Teckplus Digital Solutions, Nigeria.

He has skills in education intervention design, data collection, school management matters, school audits, teacher professional development strategies, and anchors conferences. Similarly, he has been an Ashoka partner since 2014 and consults on several World Bank educational interventions in Nigeria. He is also a specialist in private education development matters

ENIOLA SHAKIRAH OLAJOBI

ENIOLA OLAJOBI is the Founding President of the Association of Nigerian Educational Psychologists (ANEP) and has been working as a practicing Psychologist for over a decade.
As the Team Lead for The Neurobide and CEO of Brainy Educare, she specializes in cognitive profiling, emotional health education, and brain training for optimal performance in both children and adults.

Mrs. Eniola is a certified Assessment expert with a Certificate in Educational Testing duly accredited by the British Psychological Society and the Federation of European Psychologists. As an accredited management consultant, she also has a certification in Entrepreneurship Management from Lagos Business School of the Pan Atlantic University and a School Leadership and Management Certification from Harvard Business School and Harvard Graduate School of Education. 

She currently serves as a consultant at the Universal Basic Education Board, Abuja, and a learning facilitator at the University of Lagos Consult. She has been at the forefront of staging unique programs targeted at motivating people for lifelong learning. She has given several keynote presentations and lectures as well as hands-on workshops on emotional health, emotional wellness, emotional hygiene, and emotional first aid. She has recently published a series of emotional wellness kits for children and teenagers, the first of its kind.

Dr. Bukola Ogunkua

(PhD)

Timi Oyebode (PhD) is the Founder &Head Counsellor at Attitude Development International, an organization focused on promoting Professional Counselling & Counselling Education in Africa. She is a Seasoned, Passionate, and Certified Professional COUNSELLOR/ PSYCHOTHERAPIST & MEDIATOR with over seventeen (17) years of experience working with individuals, couples, and families. Her focus is on Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Self-Discovery, Trauma, Abuse, Addiction and Sex Recovery Therapy.

Dr. Timi is passionate about family, young persons, healing, and restoration from trauma. She is an Associate chartered Mediator & Conciliator with Institute of Chartered Mediators & Conciliators (ICMC), Faculty at Mediation Training Institute (MTI), Member of various Counselling &Psychotherapy Association including International Association of Counselling(IAC), Canadian Association of Psychotherapy & Counselling (CAPC), Counselling Association of Nigeria(CASSON), Africa Network of Professional Counsellors (ANEPCO).

Dr. Timi Oyebode is the Founding President, African Network of Professional Counsellors. Also the Vice Chairperson Lagos chapter of CASSON- Counselling Association of Nigeria. Hence, when it is about Trauma, Abuse, Addiction, Self-discovery, Sexuality, and Marital challenges, Dr.Timi Oyebode is the Counselor you want to meet. A regular guest speaker at various programs, TV, Radio, and conferences both local and international. A recipient of various awards.

You can follow her on:

Dr. Bukola Ogunkua

MD, MPH, MHS, LPC, FAAETS ( Public Health Physician, Research Trauma Expert, Counseling Psychologist, Psychiatric Rehabilitation Practitioner, Activist and Consultant)

Dr. Ogunkua is a medical doctor, population health researcher, and child trauma expert with the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, and a licensed professional counseling psychologist. She is currently the co-chair of the African Union Taskforce on child sexual exploitation, abuse, and violence. She serves on the advisory board of the Child Sexual Violence Research Institute.

Dr. Ogunkua has extensive experience and training, including a Doctor of Medicine, a Master’s in Public Health, a minor in Health Management and Policy, and a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology. She also holds licenses and certificates in biostatistics for behavioral health, psychiatric rehabilitation, and brain-based techniques in neuroscience research. This exciting combination of credentials in medicine, public health, psychiatric rehabilitation, counseling psychology, neuroscience, and population health research allows her a holistic approach to the care she provides as a child and family resiliency practitioner.

In her 40+ years of healthcare and clinical practice, she has leveraged her education, experience, and training in medicine, public health, and counseling psychology to create a successful national and international behavioral health practice. In 1999, she founded Suburban Healthcare Systems, a behavioral health workforce development firm that provides coaching services to numerous clients in government, public and private sectors around the US and overseas. She has worked in the health and behavioral healthcare systems in the tri-state areas of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.

Dr. Ogunkua is often engaged directly by school districts, community mental health organizations, child protective services, and other institutions to integrate trauma-informed practices in the workplace to improve human performance. She strives to significantly increase family resilience, child wholeness, and total health outcomes through her firm.
She is a child sexual survivor and advocate whose passion is to prevent childhood trauma, reduce the incidence of mental illness in children, and end child sexual abuse. She is an avid gardener, a chef, and a homesteader. She is married and has three successful adult children and four grandchildren.

MRS. BANKOLE OLUSOLA

Mrs. Bankole is a graduate of guidance and counseling from Ekiti State University and master’s degree from the University of Ibadan in the same discipline.

She is a passionate and seasoned educator who serves as the director of Bankys Private School situated in Abuja. With national and international exposure to relevant best practices in education, she is a resource speaker at educational functions empowering 21st century educators and equipping them with ethical educational values.

She has mentored and still mentors School leaders, Parents and Teachers on the field. She is driven with the belief of raising the bar on education in Nigeria to rank among global players and such facilitated her servings as a committee member in the Northern Zone of Association of Christian Schools International [ACSI].

She served as the Chairman of NAPPS (National Association of Proprietors of Private School) FCT Chapter, 2018 to 2022.

A mother and mentor to four girls, she jointly leads the educational frontier with her husband, Engineer Ilesanmi Bankole, challenging status quo and pioneering future bench marks.