Gloria Ballason had an exclusive interview with JCB recently where she told us alot about herself.
Gloria Mabeiam Ballason is a lawyer and the CEO of House of Justice, Nigeria, a human-rights radio call-in program, of which she is the host. She is also the Law columnist in a national newspaper. She serves at a regional level as a conflict mediator for the herder-farmer conflict that has claimed so many lives. Gloria's passion for justice for victims of medical negligence and atrocities has led to the establishment of the Molluma Yakubu Loma Center for Medical Law, where she is executive director. Gloria has a degree in Law, a master's in Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, a second master's in International Affairs and Strategic Studies, and is pursing a third master's in Law (LLM). Gloria is a Mandela Washington Fellow, a President Barack Obama instituted fellowship awarded to young outstanding African leaders.
Read the full interview below...
JC- How would you describe yourself?
Gloria Ballason - An ebony angwa girl living to make a difference.
JC- What's your favorite holiday?
Gloria Ballason- A getaway with my favorite people with good music, an inspiring book, lots of laughter and a side event with Amini, Tehillah and Yusha, my nephews and niece.
JC- What is the one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
Gloria Ballason- That I’m mushy and a sucker for love.
JC- Do you like pets?
Gloria Ballason- Not really but I’m happy to share a space with one if it’s as faithful as Shiyal, my childhood dog.
JC - What's your perfect Saturday afternoon like?
Gloria Ballason- Anything between lazying away, watching movies or dressing to the nines to attend a social event.
JC- How do you cope with criticism against you?
Gloria Ballason- I try to pull away emotionally from the criticism to find the facts and to be honest about them. I pick what I can and dump what I don’t need. I’m at peace with myself and have long come to terms with the fact that I am human and will make mistakes but since I’m also one person who pays attention to details and dislike repeating mistakes, I have emerged as my biggest critic that way it has helped to be honest and objective about criticisms. However, I have found life too kind to me. People have always fought my battles. They fight what is unfair and keep me at the safe zone.
JC- What is your approach to resolving conflict?
Gloria Ballason- First, not to allow a conflict situation degenerate into a crisis situation. Second, to own up to faults and remain firm on rights. Third to add the experience to life’s kit and look to be better not bitter.
JC- Describe an instance where your work was criticised.
Gloria Ballason- I was head girl of a missionary high school and remember turning students back to their hostel because they were asked to attend school on a Sallah holiday. I was criticized for being insubordinate but I put up an argument to the effect that the school needed to be a clear example of submission to authority and that since it was a national holiday, we would be wrong to disobey the Nigerian state. Eventually,(surprisingly too) I won the argument and the school made it a policy. It was a light bulb moment that has continued to remind me that truth prevails when we insist it should.
JC- A lot of people look up to you, who inspires you, who is your role model?
Gloria Ballason- I am inspired by the Maker of life and the amazing people in my circle. I like to make my boast in the number of good people I am blessed to have in my life. They are all shades of goodness and greatness, all dimensions of kindness and cut across ages. Anyone with a world as rich and colourful as mine would be on autopilot inspiration.
JC- As a single lady with high profile, how do you cope with relationship, toasters and work?
Gloria Ballason- Let me start with work. My life ambition was to be a medical doctor but I ended up being a lawyer. Care giving is a natural instinct for me; the instinct plays out in the manner House of Justice, our Law organization runs. We use the Law to treat human problems as opposed to just using the law to answer legal questions. On a personal note, I come from a family of energetic and hardworking people who were raised by our parents with deep Christian and life values. I have three siblings- my elder sister Gladys, my younger siblings -Georgia and Gideon all of whom are entrepreneurs. We work till we drop but my father is likely to say to you that Gloria is high strung on truth and justice and very focused on results; I agree with him. The issue of right and wrong are as clear as day and night for me. I like to see things through. I don’t value process over outcome. I think also that I am a bit unusual for our times because those limits placed by culture and society on young women mean nothing to me. I just keep in my face why I was born and live by it.
As to the toasters and relationships I try to be respectful of their feelings. There are many who love you who you feel nothing for and those you want to die for who no sen you; it’s just the way it goes. If you are a lady climbing the corporate ladder on heels and know what to do, you will be like a shinning bulb on a dark night in July attracting everything but I am lucky to be clear about what I want and to not bow to cultural pressures about it. Thankfully my choice of the man that catches my attention is exclusive. I like the comfort money gives but look out more for what it cannot buy. I have learnt enough in my short stay in life those things that are meaningless and what is of true value. So you find men brandishing all sorts at you and thinking those superficial things will bait; it does nothing to me. I belong to those defined as sapiosexuals, my first connection is the mind before anything else and when I meet those I connect with its electrifying. Again, because I have had my peaks and valleys I don’t make permanent decisions on temporal things but I must confess that any combination of intelligence, hard work, good heart and good looks is a knock out for me.
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