Anjolaoluwa Abiosun
Nigerian humanitarian and adventurer Kunle Adeyanju completed his London to Lagos charity ride on Sunday, May 29, 2022, after arriving in Lagos through the Seme border between Badagry and Benin Republic.
Adeyanju said he covered 12,000km on the trip that lasted 41 days, including stopover days for some humanitarian works.
The trip was to raise awareness about polio and funds for the fight against polio in Africa.
He started from London to France and Spain then crossed into Morocco and visited Casablanca. He also passed through Mauritania, St. Louis, Dakar, Mali, Bamako, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Accra, Lome, and Benin before getting to Lagos.
On his arrival in Cote d’Ivoire, one personality featured prominently in his photos and online updates. Her name is Zenab ‘Eba’ Diallo, who reportedly donated $1,000 to support his cause.
The duo has been fuelling reports of a possible romantic relationship, and Zenab’s arrival in Lagos on Sunday to receive Adeyanju also gave some credence to the report.
Here’s everything we know about Zenab:
She’s Guinean
Although she was raised in Cote d’Ivoire with her eight other siblings, her parents are Guinean. Her late father was born in Pita, a town in the Fouta Djallon highlands of Guinea, before moving to Cote d’Ivoire after studying in France.
Daughter of a Professor of Mathematics and Medical Doctor
Her late father, Boubacar Doumba Diallo, was an Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny University of Abidjan before his death on November 22, 2020, at 79. Her late mother, Dr Mariama Séïdi Barry, was a medical doctor.
Her grandfather fought in the Second World War with the French Army, rising to become a Captain.
A Computer Mathematician
According to her professional page, Zenab studied Computer Mathematics at Félix-Houphouët-Boigny University, Management and Information System at Grenoble Ecole de Management, a French graduate business school in Paris and Intercultural Management at Paris Dauphine University in France.
She’s a Humanitarian
Like Adeyanju, Zenab is also a humanitarian. She also travels across Africa for humanitarian work.
Her social media pages are flooded with photos of her visit to different countries for humanitarian works. In December 2015, she shared photos of her visit to Mamelodi in South Africa, distributing essential kits at a Maternity and Prenatal Counselling Unit.
A Rotarian since 2008
Zenab has been a member of the Rotary Club since 2008. She has held several positions with the Rotary Club of Abidjan Atlantis before briefly joining the Rotary Club of Abidjan and becoming Charter president of the Rotary Club of Abidjan Ivoire in 2018.
A Paul Harris Fellow
Zenab is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow and a member of the Paul Harris Society.
The Paul Harris Fellow is an honour conferred by the Rotary Club on individuals who contribute or have contributions made in their name, of $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation.
She worked with the AfDB for 13 years
Zenab worked with the African Development Bank for 13 years, from 2000 to 2013, where she was a Senior Database Administrator.
She runs an information systems consultancy firm
She is currently the President of Brune consulting, a consulting firm specializing in organizational methods and information systems in Abidjan.
Zenab and Adeyanju met six months ago
On his arrival in Nigeria, Adeyanju said he knew Zenab six months ago.
“I discovered that she is a lady with a very good heart; she’s very tough,” he told Punch newspaper.
Adeyanju is open to marriage with Zenab
Although Adeyanju described his relationship status as complicated with children, he has not hidden his love for Zenab whom he said he’d like to marry.
“If you ask me, do I like her a lot? The answer is yes. Do I want to be with her? The answer is yes. Whether she will say yes or not, I don’t know. But yes, it is something I’d love to do,” he said.
Now you know everything about Zenab except her marital status.
I would love to see two of them marry, so that together they will do the good.