| Ayo Ayoola-Amale | |
| Birth Name: | Adebisi Ayo Adekeye |
| Birth Place: | Jos, Nigeria |
| Nationality: | Nigerian |
| Occupation: | Conflict resolution professional, ombudsman, poet |
Adenosine Ayo Adekeye is a Nigerian poet and lawyer born in Jos, Nigeria.
At a young age, she joined the peace movement[1] later becoming the lead of the Rotaract club and Girls Guide. When she was a teen, Girls Guide groups were set up with the focus of working on social justice issues, such as violence against women and girls. She was a member of the Rotary Club and Women in Nigeria (WIN).
Her father was a lawyer who served Nigeria as the National Security Adviser, Security Adviser to the Vice President, and Director of the State Security Service.[2] Her mother, who held the title of 'Princess,' was a businesswoman.[3]
At the age of 10, Ayoola-Amale moved to Northern Nigeria as a result of her father's official posting, where she grew up in an exclusive government-reserved area of Kano. Young Ayo loved books, and she read voraciously and widely. She was a pupil of St. Louis Secondary School, Bompai, Kano.
She studied law at Obafemi Awolowo University, and was called to the bar in 1993. She later attended the University of Lagos, where she earned a LLM degree, and the University of Ghana graduating with an LLM (ADR).
Ayoola-Amale is a lawyer, conflict resolution professional, ombudsman, certified facilitator, and the lead at First Conflict Resolution Services, Inc.[4] She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK.[5] She was a Senior Lecturer and Head of Department of Law, Faculty of Law, Kings University College, Wisconsin University and Ghana Technology University College, Accra, Ghana
Ayoola-Amale has worked in the field of law in Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal. She was partner and head of the commercial law department at Ayo, Ajibulu and Co., Legal Practitioners and Notaries, Lagos, and Bayo Ayorinde and Co., Legal Practitioners, Lagos. Ayo is Ombudsman and Mediator for Mediators beyond Borders International, U.S.A.[6] She has presented papers at various local and international conferences on Conflict Resolution, Property and Commercial Law and practice, Peace Education, women's Peace and Security, etc. She was the legal advisor of the Ghana Association of Writers (GAW), Accra.[7]
She founded the Women International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Ghana Section, and is currently the President.[8] Ayo is the International Association of Educators for World Peace (IAEWP) Senior Vice-President for Africa and Regional Chairperson for Africa of the Diplomatic Commission of IAEWP (NGO ECOSOC, United Nations) IAEWP[9] was the 1987 recipient of the Peace Messenger Award from the UN. She is the past National Chancellor of the IAEWP Nigeria Chapter and former International Vice President for West Africa.
Ayo is the Global Harmony Association (GHA) Vice President and GHA Africa President.[10] She was also the ex-CEO of Pearl-Allied Group of Company, Nigeria (1996–2008). She is a member of the International Team of Dedicated Experts, One Humanity Institute, Auschwitz-Oswiecim, Poland;[11] a member of the Advisory Council of Leaders, International Cities of Peace, USA;[12] a member of the International Advisory Board of the World Constitution and Parliament Association (WCPA),[13] [14] and a member of the International Advisory Board of the Sri Ramanuja Mission Trust, India.[15] [16]
She is the Ambassador of the Love Foundation, UK, and was part of the Love begins with Me UK interview series, parts 1 and 2.[17]
She serves on the Central Advisory Committee of the Existential Harmony & Interdisciplinary Research Project and the World Conference 2015.[18] She was the National Secretary of the Coalition of NGOs Associated with UN-DPI Ghana and the Legal Adviser for the Ghana Federation of the Disabled (a voluntary service she renders for humanity).[19] Ayo is also an executive member of the National Peace Council (Universal Peace Federation International Ghana Chapter).[20] She was the regional representative for the World Mediation Organization.[21] Currently, she is a Fellow of WMO. Ayo is a Member of the International Editorial Board of Poetry and Peace Journal, International Society for Intercultural Studies and Research (ISISAR), and has contributed chapters to Global peace books. She is a chapter contributor to ISISAR Journals, Handbook of Research Examining Global Peacemaking in the Global Age, Global Peace Science, etc.[22] She has attended several mediation and peacebuilding conferences, both nationally and internationally.
In 2010, Ayo founded the Splendors of Dawn Poetry Foundation, and she, along with Nigerian poet and writer Diego Odoh Okenyodo,[23] co-founded the West Africa Poetry Prize (WAPP) in 2013, of which she is a director. She is the editor and co-publisher of the anthology "Notes of a Baobab" from the stable of Butterflies and Elephants on Moon, Forum of Science and the Arts, and a member of the editorial board of Wuerzart Literary Journal,[24] Germany. She is the CEO of Heritage & On the Pathway Series: Every Child's Fables, Poems, Nursery Rhymes, and Plays.
Ayo Ayoola-Amale is the author of six volumes of poems and a play and has performed her poetry at national and international events. Some of her literary works include Broken Dreams (2011), a play, and Life Script, a collection of poems with some published online. She is the Vice President, Africa of the Poets of the World,[25] Executive Member, World Poetry Movement, International Pen, Mbassem Women Writers Forum, and FIDA. She was the legal advisor of the Ghana Association of Writers.
In May 2013, Ayo and the Splendors Performance Poetry Team were participants at the Yari Yari Ntoaso: Continuing the Dialogue International Conference in Accra, Ghana.
In 2013, Ayo was the organizer of "100 thousand poets for change" in Accra. She was a guest poet at the Medellin International Poetry Festival, the Kistrech Poetry Festival in Kenya, and international literary festivals.[26] Her poems have appeared in national and international anthologies, journals, and magazines and have been translated into several languages.
She took the surname Amale when she got married. Presently, she is a resident in Accra.[27]