Celebrating Black History Month at UFA with Tolu Oni

It’s more than the dinner invitation.

Tolu Oni is a soft-spoken gentleman, his voice has a sing-song quality that one could listen to for hours. He has a fantastic, contagious laugh. He is a husband, a father to three children, and he’s the Manager of Cybersecurity & Governance at UFA. As Black History Month comes to a close, I wanted to sit down with Tolu and find out what he and his family do to recognize the month, our conversation quickly turned much deeper as we talked about diversity, perception, and belonging. And I’m so glad that it did.

Tolu began with a bit of history. He was born and raised in Nigeria. He obtained his International Certification in Cybersecurity and was working for Coca Cola, when he began toying with the idea of moving to the U.K. or the U.S. “I hadn’t really thought much about Canada, and then a college friend of mine moved to Canada and he began sharing stories with me,” says Tolu. “The more I read about the country the more I was interested. Canada’s respect for human rights and it’s multiculturalism appealed to my wife and I, and we thought it might be a good place to raise our kids.”

Tolu and his wife, Ruth, had friends that lived in Calgary and so in 2012, they packed up and made the move west. He says that there was a lot to get used to in Canada, apart from just the cold weather. “Nigeria is very conservative, and the workplace atmosphere is very different, here most people are very open, and it reminds me of the expats I used to work with back home,” he says.

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Tolu and Ruth with their children; Elizabeth, 3, Ayo, 10, and Bomi, 8 

But that’s not to say that he doesn’t have a few interesting stories of times when people were not necessarily open. “One time, I went to a car dealership to look at a car. The salesman asked me where I worked, this was before UFA, and I told him. He acted so surprised and said, they gave you a job? I was not happy,” he says. “Of course, they gave me a job. IT is IT everywhere in the world and I have an International Certificate, working for some extremely large companies.”

He went on to share another story about a time that he and his then, vice president, were making a joint presentation to an executive vice president. Following the presentation, the executive asked him in a condescending manner, “How come you know so much about security?” He said it was a moment that was shocking, but a reminder that ignorance exists everywhere, even in the well-educated.

Tolu has many more stories like this, but he says he doesn’t blame the people. “I think a lot of people have just grown up in a bubble. I don’t think it comes from a malicious place, I think it comes from a place of ignorance or not knowing. We don’t know what we don’t know and that’s why its so critical to be introspective as people, and as organizations.”

It's one of the reasons why Tolu is excited about what’s happening at UFA. “From the first day I started, I’ve always felt welcome at UFA. The conversations have always come from a place of curiosity and genuine interest,” he says. “But that hasn’t always been the case. In my history, companies have talked about being diverse and inclusive, but it was just checking boxes. It’s like being invited to dinner, but you’re not expected to eat.”

“Granted, UFA may not be the most diverse place, but I believe we are working at being better. Personally, I have always felt respected and I’ve never felt out of place, but I can’t speak for everyone. It’s a continuous journey and there is always room for improvement.”

With Black Lives Matter and the #MeToo movement, diversity and inclusion have been in the news and on people’s minds more so than ever, but Tolu says in his opinion, it’s not just a black thing, it’s not just a woman thing and it’s not affirmative action. “I’m lucky because I have the psychological safety to express my feelings at UFA, and my hope is that everyone feels that way. I am focused on the idea behind movements like Black Lives Matter, but I want for all people to feel safe and for all people to feel like they belong. It’s not about denigrating white people or tokenizing minorities. We need to ask ourselves how do we position this person for success? How do we help them be successful in their role, because we also want to make sure that people are being judged on merit and not just the way they look.”

Tolu adds that there are many cultural nuances that we need to educate people about. “For example, a black woman doesn’t want to complain, for fear the she’s seen as the angry black woman,” he explains. “We need to be able to understand those gradations.”

Tolu also believes the employees take cues from their leaders. “I’ve worked for bullies and their team may get the job done, but they perpetuate that leadership style. Our leaders need to set the tone, it’s from the top down, with a ripple effect, and in the end its what builds culture.”

To celebrate Black History Month, Tolu says it’s all about education. He says that discussion in their house is a ‘full contact sport’ and their three kids; Ayo, 10, Bomi, 8 and Elizabeth, 3, are all encouraged to ask questions and to challenge. “We have spent this month having many talks about civil rights history, not only in Canada and the U.S., but also in Nigeria. We need to understand the past so that we can change the future; in my opinion, that’s the best way to honour Black History Month.”

“We all have a past, we can’t change that. What we can change is how we move forward, with openness and curiosity. We need to have uncomfortable conversations. We need to ask questions and we need to believe that everyone should be given the same opportunities. We need to make sure that everyone invited to dinner, is also invited to eat.”


Celebrating Black History Month at UFA with Tolu Oni

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