Women of Rubies
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Esther Ijewere

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I Launched Love and Life Hub To Enlighten Singles And Connect Them With Potential Partners- Nike Folagbade

We can never undermine the power and influence of life coaches in the society, they help us navigate through life, and put us in a state of mindfullness.  Nike Folagbade is a Family life coach of high repute, she has not only succeeded in her field as a Family life coach, but also determined to help singles find the right partner.

Nike Adedokun Folagbade helps men and women experience emotional healing and personal transformation thereby being able to build healthy relationships. She is a Personal Transformational and Family life coach. A vivid encourager, equipper and nurturer who leads the coaching/consultation services at NIKE FOLAGBADE INTERNATIONAL.

She is a Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and a Results Coach. She is also an associate of Family Systems Engineering and an Emotional intelligence/Anger management coach. A SYMBIS facilitator who helps engaged and married couples prepare or manage their marriage well.

Nike was listed among the 2019 100 most inspiring young people in Nigerian. In 2015, she was recognized as the best sexuality advocate and in 2014; she won the third relationship blog in Nigeria.

She is also the Lead Creative director of Hevar Solutions, a business support company for entrepreneurs, personal brands and professionals and the Human Resource Manager at WORITAL, a fast growing book branding and publishing firm.

In 2016 to 2018, she convened EVOLVE SUMMIT, a conference targeted at helping men and women experience healing from emotional trauma and sexual addictions and also discovering the path to purpose. In 2020, she began the HEAL, LIVE AND LOVE SUMMIT targeted at helping men and women experience true healing, their full identity, purpose and building healthy relationships.

She has authored several books, audio tracks and video courses, and featured on several media platforms.

Nike is  currently a relationship contributor on Bella Naija, Punch, Business Day News, Women of Rubies and She Leads Africa. Nike is married to a creative genius, Fola and they both nurture their charming son, KING.

You may also visit her website www.nikefolagbade.com to read more of her soul-healing articles. Her Facebook community also houses many articles and resources with almost 6,000 members.

She shares her inspiring story in this interview with Esther Ijewere

Growing up

I once heard a speaker say that our lives can be segmented into different phases, like 0-10 years representing a time of discovery and age 10-20 representing a time of practice. From the age of 7, I started having a strong interest in love related matters. I enjoyed reading romantic novels, magazines, movies and columns in the newspaper. Oprah Winfrey Show was also a great influence as I envisioned myself hosting a talk show like that someday.I began to write articles in my notebooks till I got busy with school life and daily realities. As at then, I never saw my interests as a big deal, I just felt I would go to school, get a job and build a successful career in Accounting.

While in the university, I felt a strong urge to help people via writing and speaking especially in the area of love and dating. Prior to then, I got bored of the school-church-home cycle. I wanted more out of life so I started to meditate alone. I started to seek and dig within me. I decided to try out new things but it didn’t work out until I saw an inspirational seminar in school which I had to pay for. They invited over 10 motivational speakers, business owners and celebrities to speak on discovering oneself. I was the only one who paid for it amongst my friends. I felt bored at first but at the end of the event, I realized that God had just used one of the speakers to spark up the desire in me to help people. It felt surreal. It felt like a rush of grace as I stepped out and began to truly help people. I started blogging, speaking in my church and discovering more of my skills. I was able to use WordPress, BBM, Facebook and Twitter to reach thousands of people in 2013.

One of the ways that my childhood helped to build compassion in me is that, at a young age, I didn’t know how to process corrections. I always took every misfortune, pain, sickness, failure and criticism as rejection from my parent, God and anyone around me, so I began to seek for love and validation externally. This spurred me into dating for the wrong reasons until I was able to truly discover myself. Now, when I’m helping people, I can see through the lens of their past and how it forms their decision now. It’s been 6 years since I started and I’m so happy to have helped thousands of people to discover themselves, heal from past hurts, choose better relationships, make better marital decisions and grow spiritually.

Inspiration behind  Nike Folagbade International

I started blogging in 2013 as a personal hobby but after helping thousands of people and getting certified in Emotional intelligence, Anger management, Family Systems Engineering, Master Neuro-Linguistics Programming, SYMBIS and other coaching skills, I decided to intentionally build a business and not just a hobby hence I registered Nike Folagbade International to anchor my personal brand. Now, we are focused on helping singles and married via coaching, therapy, counseling, mentorship, speaking, blogging, podcasting, authoring books and other medium.

My vision is to build an institution that will cater for families generally which will include working with singles, married couples and helping with intentional parenting. This also means that we will partner with other coaches and experts in different fields to achieve this. We also want to build an online and offline academy that can train people to prepare for a healthy relationship and marriage. Under the sustainable development goals created by the United Nations, we intend to build stronger institutions and promote well- being because if we can have whole and healthy individuals who are mentally, spiritually and emotionally stable, we can have better marriages and children.

The Journey so far

Wow! I have been schooled in the process. There are many challenges and achievements in the process.

Challenges in the areas of:

  1. Persuading young people to invest in their emotional and mental health beyond acquiring business skills because money isn’t all that is needed in a marriage. Many marriages are suffering because of the individual’s ability to make emotional choices that can positively help them live better. We rely so much on emotions but when frustration sets in, emotions fades and people begin to make rash decisions. We also have to clearly help singles know that beyond praying, they also need to learn the right skills like communication, love languages, self- control and build strong values too.
  2. I have had to experience refining processes as we grow as a business. I have had to also experience transformation in my life so I teach from a place of experience and research. I don’t just teach Googled content, I’m an embodiment of what I teach and that means I’ve had my testing moments also.
  3. Getting financial support hasn’t been easy because brands like to partner more with businesses that are focused on teaching business, finance and related industry. We need more support from the government, private institutions and churches to reach more young people. People are going into drugs, prostitution, extra-marital affairs, and fraudulent lifestyle because they don’t have a proper model from home, or have experienced father or mother wounds, need clarity on their Identity and need to also heal from the baggage they currently carry. We can reach more people if we have the funds and support needed. Collaboration is key.

There have been achievements in the area of being recognized by different platforms for awards and speaking engagements. I was recently recognized as one of the 100 most inspiring young Nigerians ranking 24th in 2019 by Avance Media. It puts smile on my face when I see people become transformed in their minds, health and relationships. Seeing my books in the hands of people also encourages me to write more. There is so much work to be done on the African continent too. There is also the financial reward from helping people too, winks.

Helping engaged and married couples manage their home, with my SYMBIS knowledge 

Save Your Marriage Before It Starts (SYMBIS) tool is a pre-marital coaching platform that trains coaches and counselors on how to work with engaged couples on how to adequately prepare for marriage in all ramifications. It also works for the married people who want to relearn what it takes to make their marriages work and be renewed.

The beauty of the platform is that, individuals can log into their personal dashboard to fill the assessment and will be guided by me when they are done. Each person discovers their beliefs in the areas of personality, money, marriage, sex, religion, house chores, health and other vital issues that show up in marriage. It makes my work easier because I simply guide them to fill their assessment which takes about 30 minutes at a go then I give a comprehensive explanation and coaching of how to handle each phases of their lives in marriage. It leads to mind blowing discovery about how they view marriage generally.

I also use Family Systems Engineering skills and assessments to help the married people too.

Launching the Love and Life Hub platform, and helping singles with it

Love and Life Hub is a love and dating platform that is focused on enlightening and connecting singles for the aim of a healthier self and relationship. We have deliberately organized all that it takes for you to discover yourself, learn about dating intelligently, connect with other singles via active interaction, position yourself for an ideal partner and find the right support and guidance needed while dating. It is a combination of courses, coaching, mentoring, connection, webinars, fun, book reviews, resources and support for an active dating life.

You don’t have to take random courses to upgrade yourself, you can easily learn on love and relationships based on where you are in life and your love cycle, which is why we have created an assessment to show you where you are. We want to simplify the dating process for singles by taking them through 5 stages focused on healing, purpose, attracting a partner, sustaining a relationship and gliding into marriage successfully. We will be using a website, virtual coaching hubs and other system in place for every 90 days for each batch plus we have support coaches who will help with mentoring. The platform launches from August 17th, 2020 and every single man or woman from any tribe or religion can join us at www.loveandlifehub.com

3 women who inspire you to be better and why?

There are many women who inspire me and the list will be inexhaustible but I will just stick to 3 like you have asked.

Debola Deji-Kurunmi inspires me because she shows me what is possible as a woman. She leads from a place of personal transformation that she has experienced and every encounter with her shifts my mind and execution rate. She is my kind of woman who is solid in spirituality, business, marriage and influence.

Dr. Anita Phillips because I love how she mixes mental health with Faith which gives a combination of Spirit-Body-Soul healing.

Joyce Meyer because she simplifies many areas that we struggle with in her books and other resources. We share similar vision too and I’m happy at how she has influenced my mind positively especially with the book; “Battlefield of the mind”.

Being a life coach, creative director, wife and mom, and managing it all

People preach balance and I think that it has led to more confusion for me as I tried to balance every areas of my life in the same degree; I have noticed that, in order to live a multidimensional life, there will be priorities and there are areas that can be delegated. Also, there are times that my focus is more on Spirituality and Family, other times; it can be work and health. At different stages in life, I try to put each area of my life in the right perspective but they can stay at different degree. I’m currently learning to manage every area of my life but I also like to focus on 3 things at a time. Each day, I set my priorities and chase after it. I don’t try to achieve everything in a day. I have also learnt to highlight my goals, structure, time it, set reminders and delegate. I also have a team I work with which makes it easier to manage each businesses including having a supportive husband who helps me thrive in all I do but balancing it is still a work in progress and I’m learning to chill.

For instance, I have coaching hours, I have Faith hours, I have work hours, I have Family hours, I have my rest day and many other structure I’m trying to build but it is not perfect yet. I’m a work in Progress. I’m learning to appreciate my growth and leave out the pressure. Our lives are different.

The pandemic has made a lot of Nigerian women vulnerable, What coping mechanism advice would you give to these women at a time  like this, especially those who are almost forced to go back to abusive relationships out of the need to sustain the family?

It can be very hard I must say. These things happen and I don’t blame anyone. We make healthier decisions as we permit ourselves the risk to grow and find help.

It boils down to Identity and Healing. Many people are currently in toxic relationships because they live a codependent life. They rely on others to feel happy, successful or approved. I love a popular saying that; “If you live for the approval of others, you will die by their rejection”. More women are rising up to discover themselves. Relationships do not define you, it should be built with another person from a healthy standpoint.

If you are in an abusive relationship, you may need support and strength to leave because many times, people know they are in a mess but they are so convinced that there is nothing good that can happen if they choose to start again. For some, they don’t even know where to start from. It is fear and fear can keep you stuck. If you are in an abusive marriage, please, take a temporary leave to cater for your well-being, seek for help and rebuild your life. If you choose to go back to your home, it should be because your spouse is willing to use therapy, spiritual help and every necessary action to stay back on track.

Many toxic relationships are built by broken people coming from broken families. People are a product of their upbringing, environment and experiences. If you don’t discover yourself now, you cannot live a better life.

I have discovered that our mindset is where the change starts, if you start to question the beliefs that drives your life, you will be compelled to find more in life. I started helping others because there was a burden in me to grow and serve too.

I will say to ladies that, you are worth more than you are. If you redirect your life now, you will be thankful in years to come. The woman you are now is not the woman you will be in 10 years’ time but the magnitude of your change is dependent on the level of exposure you have and the transformation you permit. Even if you start by reading a book, watching the right inspirational videos, changing your role models and friends, seeking for growth etc. I know that some coaches or motivational speakers may have hurt you but look for genuine people and subscribe to their programs. I can vouch for myself, my goal is your change and it is evident in my work. Start from where you are, most importantly; speak up.

 Nuggets about marriage with us, and why it is necessary to make it work.

First, people marry for the wrong reasons and they leave easily when it doesn’t work out as planned. People marry for sex, money, security amidst other reasons and can easily opt out when those needs are not met. Beyond your needs being met, there are few reasons why you should make your marriage work:

  1. Marriage is a trans-generational decision and you cannot just marry for yourself alone. Whatever decision you make should impact your children and their marriage. The change we desire in the society starts from the family unit but may people don’t understand this hence we hardly build a structure around our marriages. Most people are still suffering from the trauma and patterns of their own family. Be the one to change that cycle by seeking for help and applying the necessary wisdom in your home.
  2. If your marriage will work, it starts with your mindset and the decision to permit yourself to be responsible for it. Don’t always focus on your spouse, be the change you want to see and things will start working well when you have the right mindset, heart and actions in place.
  3. Be humble and teachable enough to take corrections. I think this is one area that I needed to work on too. Your spouse can see you better, they can be the tool of change in your life if you are humble enough to get through life with them.
  4. Engage healthy 3rd parties like professional counselors when needed. Don’t suffer in silence when you can engage a neutral help instead of friends and families.
  5. Learn the right skills and be willing to implement it. Be patient to see the change you desire. Be content with your spouse, people keep thinking they will find a better love out there if they keep flirting. It looks greener on the other side, focus on your home and make it work just like you would do for your business. Be willing to speak your partner’s love language, keep dating in marriage and evaluate your progress periodically.
  6. Be prayerful because marriage is warfare and you don’t always have to fight with words, learn to deal with some issues in prayer and let God rule your heart. I think that some marriages will work better if there is an application of wisdom and a healthy faith life.

 

Being  a Woman of Rubies

I believe that I’m one of the women making the society better through my thoughts and actions. I actively engage many men and women and challenge them to be better than they are currently. I help people live a healthy life emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

 

 

 

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How To Use The Law Of Attraction To Make Your Dreams Happen

People seem to believe that they can simply think their way straight to success. They mistakenly believe that if they just think about their dreams often enough and vividly enough that–poof!–They’ll just seem to come true.

But life is not a magic trick.

If you told a starving child in Africa who had not have a single meal in five days to use the Law of Attraction to manifest a meal for themselves, how well do you think it would work out for them?

Clearly, there’s more to it than envisioning what you want.

If you want to know what it really takes to achieve your greatest goals and ambitions, then here’s a list of steps that will outline how to use the Law of Attraction the proper way.

  1. Focus Your Thoughts in the Direction of Your Dreams

If you were to take a pebble and toss it into a pond, what happens?

As soon as the pebble strikes the surface of the water, you get a series of ripples or waves, which spread outwards in a circular direction, until they get to the shoreline and seem to stop.

The larger the pebble, the larger the ripples. The larger the pebble, the higher the waves.

Two stones of different sizes and weights tossed in at the same time, at different places but in close proximity, will both create a series of ripples, which will eventually merge with one another…

When the two sets of ripples converge, there seems to be a bit of a struggle as to which one overcomes or passes the other.

As far as the human eye can see, if the ripples are the same size, both seem to stop or merge when they collide.

But if one set of ripples is larger than the other, the larger set sweeps over the smaller set and creates waves in the wake of the smaller ripples.

Let’s consider this analogy in relation to our own thought-patterns and mental impulses…

Imagine you’ve got two stones in each hand.

The stone in your left hand is labeled, “failure”

The stone in your right hand is labeled, “success”

The weight of each stone is in direct proportion to the amount of *thought* you give its label.

So… How heavy are your stones?

If your “failure” stone is heavier, then its ripples will simply stop or takeover the ripples created by your stone labeled “success.”

But if your “success” stone is heavier, then that will be the one that takes over.

  1. Put Some Actions Where Your Thoughts Are

Many people make the mistake of looking at the Law of Attraction as if it were a stand-alone solution to making their dreams a reality. They believe that they can make a vision board and use positive thinking to achieve success.

But these folks need a wake-up call, because positive thinking is not enough. It will never be enough.

If we THINK positive, but we still FEEL negative, then how will we ACT?

Your thoughts, actions and feelings are like a three-legged stool. Positive thinking is powerful, but only when we think of it as one of the three necessary legs that reinforces the stool we’re sitting on.

If we don’t want the stool to wobble or break, we’ve got to make sure we give each leg the care it needs to keep us from falling down and getting hurt.

The key here, with making the Law of Attraction work for you, is to focus on being as congruent as possible between your thoughts, feelings, and actions.

What’s the best way to do that?

First, remember that the way you THINK has got to be in line with the way you ACT. Because the way you act is going to have an impact on the way you FEEL.

And the way you feel is going to help reinforce the way you think, or it’s going to help you re-examine the way you think. Which is going to circle right back around into helping you decide the way you choose to act in any given situation.

The Bottom Line

It’s not the Law of Attraction or positive thinking alone that drives our success in life — it’s about being in positive congruence between the way we think, act, and feel that drives our success in life… And at the very least, keeps us from falling off the stool.

If we want to make big things happen, we’ve got to take action.

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Tale Alimi: 5 Reasons Why Your Small Business Never Scale

This is the kind of headline you see and get a panic attack, especially if you have been working so hard and trying to keep hope alive! I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news, but I have seen it so much and experienced it myself after working with over 5,000 small businesses either in a training, coaching or consulting capacity. I hear the hope in their voices, see the eagerness in their eyes, maybe just maybe they are about to create a business that will change the game from their kitchen to Wall Street like Carols daughter. I don’t have the heart to tell them it is not going to happen, so I decided to write an article and tell you (now I am not talking to anyone directly, but I am talking to everyone who needs to hear!) These are the reasons:

1. The danger of a single channel: God bless Instagram! Maker of millennial millionaires and torture to generation Xers who can’t seem to get a hang of how to translate this single channel to millions. The next time I have a strategy session with a generation Xer who laments to me about their lack of business growth due to an inability to monetize Instagram, I am probably going to pull my hair out!

Instagram is an amazing social media channel to reach customers and it should be harnessed. However if you are looking to scale your business in a Country where over 70 percent of transactions are still done off line, you have to explore multiple channels to reach your customers.

Go where your customers are and believe me, they are in multiple places aside from Instagram. (I share more details about channels in my new book small to scale. Details on how you can get the e-book for free is at the end)

If that’s your only marketing channel, surely you are neglecting 70% of your market and you want to scale?

2. Your money is our money: after paying school fees from my business revenues, I am low on cash flow! Alas this was the lament of a client who was the breadwinner in her home. Can you blame her? Her Children have to go to school, after all why was she working so hard… 95% of businesses in Nigeria are micro businesses and they struggle to grow because they are really just vehicles for the business owner to take care of their family needs. I am sure you have heard several times that you should separate your business finance from your personal finance and instead pay yourself a salary. But how many of us are practicing this strictly? How do we grow or scale a business when we keep eroding the capital to meet our personal needs?
I know, I know, it’s not your fault. It’s the state of the economy and other life realities….

3. Doing it the way they do it: hey ‘Tale, have you noticed that XYZ Company seems to be making a lot of money? Really, I replied. How do you know? Well, they just bought a new bus or opened a new store. This is how “Me too” strategy is killing a lot of small businesses who are attempting to copy others without really knowing what is happening behind the scenes.

There is nothing wrong with bench marking with your industry colleagues, but making major business changes or decisions based on something you heard or think you understand is unreliable. Your business decisions should be driven by a clear strategy and not by trying to do it the way they do it without clear direction.

4. I can do “bad” all by myself: one of the greatest tests I have seen small businesses fail is the hiring test. I know the excuses…I can’t afford to hire the type or quality of staff that I need, so I will do everything by myself. Okay it might not be an excuse, it is your reality right? Some years ago, one of my clients hired a COO who earned twice the salary of the CEO. I had to ask why that decision was made. I was told that the person came with many years of experience working in a multinational and that they wanted their small business to grow and operate at that standard. Suffice to say, the business experienced exponential growth in a few short years. The next question I am usually asked is; what if I make the wrong hiring decision? My response is; like in everything in life, correct your mistake quickly, learn from it and hire right the next time. However what I see a lot of businesses doing is returning to status quo. At least I will have one less person to pay the business owners rationalizes, how about the loss of revenues from trying to do it all by yourself and dropping the ball?

5. Planting an oak tree in a flower pot: the thought of the analogy sounds ridiculous right? But that’s what I see so many small business owners trying to do! People want to build million dollar factories with a few hundred thousand naira and expect that by some miracle and pure resilience, things would translate as such. I am not saying you shouldn’t start small, I am a big advocate of starting small and scaling.

I am currently building my third business with the principle of starting small, however what is different is the approach and the structure that would ensure that it scales. When you want to build a business that will scale, you build it with that mindset from day one. This will include your vision, your business structure, your capital structure, your business model and your team.

You have to lay the right foundation for the type of building you want to construct. If you have laid the foundation for a bungalow and you attempt to build an eight story building on it, do you know what will happen? Then you know why many small businesses won’t scale….

Learn how to avoid these mistakes in my new book- “Small to scale-The blueprint for transforming your small business into a high growth company” I am giving it out for free in ebook format to the first 10,000 people who subscribe to join the waitlist of our new finance matching and business support platform-Owoafara. Join at www.owoafara.com/join

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Cancer Survivor Marries Supportive Boyfriend Who Was There For Her During Treatment

For many women, they are always single even while dating until a ring is put on their finger and taking marriage vows on their wedding day as the start of sharing each other’s struggles.

But for American couple, Jillian Hanson and Max Allegretti, by the time they were exchanging their vows at the altar, they had already overcome more than most couples face in a lifetime.

Hanson was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer at the age 25, and knowing the struggle that awaited her, she decided to put an end to their relationship, New York Post reports.  The pair became engaged on Hanson’s last day of chemo on and were treated to the wedding of their dreams free of charge on Friday, October 18. Photo: New York Post. Source: UGC Max loved her so much, and he was not going to leave her the time she needed him the most in her life just because she thought it was the best thing to do. “He told me he would never leave my side and he never did,” she said. By the time Jillian Hanson and Max Allegretti were exchanging their vows, they had already overcome more than most couples face in a lifetime.  The pair became engaged on Hanson’s last day of chemo on February 28, 2018 and were treated to the wedding of their dreams free of charge on Friday, October 18.

“This hardship made us grow closer together as a couple, and that is exactly why he is my person,” said Hanson “My hair thinned and fell out, and my skin turned white as a ghost but the love of my life remained by my side. He took care of me every day and reminded me how beautiful I was,” she added.

A venue was secured, hair and makeup services, a wedding cake, a photographer and a videographer free of charge for the couple’s big day. Photo: New York Post. Source: UGC Hanson and Max stayed together throughout her treatment, which began in October 2017 at Memorial Sloan Kettering hospital. Max traveled more than an hour each way to be with Hanson at her mother’s house, where she recovered between treatments. He also made sure to take his ailing girlfriend out to movies to normalise the situation.

Max loved her so much, and he was not going to leave her at the time she needed him the most in her life. Photo: New York Post. Source: UGC He later proposed to the woman of his dreams surrounded by nurses and family as the whole thing was caught on camera by hospital staff, which was the ultimate high for Hanson. But a shocked Hanson was in for one more surprise: Lauren Grech, a wedding planner whom she had met at a fund-raiser the year before, gave the couple one last treat: a pro-bono wedding. Grech secured a venue, hair and makeup services, a wedding cake, a photographer and a videographer free of charge for the New Jersey couple’s big day.

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Waje Covers New Issue of Modern Woman Magazine

For Modern Woman Magazine‘s second edition, the spotlight is shone on the sustained success of a dedicated humanitarian, an amazing Pop; R&B singer and songwriter, and she’s none other than – Waje.

The superstar, whose vocal range is said to cover three octaves, cemented her position as one of Nigeria’s biggest acts to watch when she released her single, “For A Min“.

With a music career of over a decade, Waje, whose real name is Aituaje Iruobe, is in a league of her own. Her debut album titled “W.A.J.E” was released on the May 1, 2013, via a historic live Google+ hangout with fans joining in from around the world, which trended globally at no 4 on Twitter.

She proceeded to release 2 albums afterwards, the latest being the “Red Velvet” album.

In case you didn’t know she’s the first child and daughter of the family, well, now you know. And as a teenager, she sang in choirs, gained a scholarship at the Word Of Faith group of schools because of her gift. She studied Social Work at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Played in concerts, camp meetings and fellowships. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston, Waje honed her music skills and was soon a popular performer in the state.

In 2012, the singer-songwriter started a platform WAJE SAFE HOUSE with the goal of collaborating with NGOs every quarter to amplify their causes which included being THE VOICE for women and children by tackling issues around Education, Health, Good governance, Gender-based violence and many more.

WAJE has collaborated with the following NGO’s:

  • One.Org: “Poverty is sexist” and “make Naija stronger”, and she continues to be an ambassador for One campaign.
  • She performed at the foundation launch at the African Leadership Academy in S.Africa.
  • She was invited with other African leaders to attend the Mandela lecture given by President Barack Obama.
  • She was featured on CNN African voice for The African Women project in 2014.
  • In 2018, she was selected as one of Lancôme’s heroes in Nigeria.
  • She featured on Forbes Woman Africa in 2018
  • UN: She performed at the United Nations youth climate summit 2019, UN women day of global activism, giving a lecture on the importance of the most marginalized population affected by conflict and natural disaster.
  • Purple: The 50/50 campaign.
 EIE: As an RSVP ambassador championing good governance in Nigeria at the 2019 elections
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  • WAJE has received over 20 awards and nominations worldwide including a Channel O Music Award, 4 World Music Award nominations just to mention a few.

Credit:
@themodernwomanmag
Cover: @officialwaje
Project Curator: Tolani Aremu
Glam: @artistry_by_tolani
Millinery: @christinesatelier
Creative Director: @emmanuelarewa
Photography/ Art Dir: @spotlightpi

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Esther Ijewere Is Set To Break Boundaries With New Initiative #GetTalkingwithEsther

The Social activist, and convener of several development projects took to her social media page  few days ago to announce her new initiative “Get Talking with Esther”. The multi-award winning author and columnist said the show is aimed at helping people find their voice and communicate their thoughts through words, and promote positivity on social media.
Esther started her career over 10 years ago as a social activist, and she has since taken her gift to other areas, doing humanitarian work and giving hope to the helpless and downtrodden in the society. Her Initiatives include; Walk against rape, Women of Rubies, Men who Inspire and Rubygirls, all under the umbrella of Rubies Ink Initiative.
According to Esther; “ I am very expressive, I love to write and read from people, I love to celebrate people and give them hope, I love when I can feel people’s thoughts through words, and “Get talking with Esther” is just about that.  A #Tweetchat session that will give you the ambience of a show.
Basically, using my platform, years of experience, and skillset for social good to give everyone a voice. We are going to be fixing broken tables, Bringing “Under the table” conversations to the front burner for positivity. Sharing life experiences, healing and learning.
The show kicks off on August 8th, with family therapist and life coach; Praise Fowowe as the first guest.
Those who follow the chats have the opportunity of winning free gifts, food, and cash prizes weekly. #GetTalkingwithEsther is supported by Greenbliss Apartments and Abimbola Oki’s Dpotters Catering services.
To get more scoop on the initiative, kindly follow @estherijewere and Tweet using #GettalkingwithEsther
Click this link to follow and be part of the show  https://twitter.com/EstherIjewere?s=09
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Meet Londy Ngcobo, Global Ship Navigator & Africa’s First Female Dredge Master

When a 32-year-old South African lady becomes Global Ship Navigator and Africa’s First Female Dredge Master, breaking through as a Businesswoman and a Global speaker, the story is sure to make a headline.

Today we celebrate Londy Ngcobo with over 13 years of experience in the Maritime industry, which includes a background in Maritime Studies, International Merchant shipping experience, Advanced dredging from Netherlands IHC, and her current role as a Maritime Compliance Manager all which has led to her well-known title The BLACKMERMAID.

Londy is an award winner passionate about Women and Youth Empowerment.  Her wealth of experience has equipped her with the ability to focus on providing sustainable tools for women in leadership and all in walks of life.

She is also the founder of an organisation called Mamas Escape Club an Award-Winning Best Support Group providing tools for mothers to thrive through life challenges.

She encourages the youth to think outside the box, mentors the youth through her personal capacity, various institutional advisory boards and groups. Through her public speaking social events, radio/tv shows, blogs, podcasts. Londy has impacted lives by instilling bold global thinking and business agility to those who have had the privilege to see her in action.

Culled from Transportevolution

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In Career Gems By

Real Reason Sudan Criminalized Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

Sudan has Criminalized carrying out Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), making it punishable by three years in jail.

According to UN, about 87% of Sudanese women aged between 14 and 49 have undergone some form of FGM. In Sudan it is not uncommon for women to get the inner and outer labia, and usually the clitoris, removed and FGM can result in urinary tract infections, uterine infections, kidney infections, cysts, reproductive issues and pain during sex.

Before now, there has been a global trend towards banning the practice. However, according to a Unicef report carried out in 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East, the practice is still being widely carried out, despite the fact that at least 24 of these countries have legislation or some form of decrees against FGM. FGM was already illegal in some Sudanese states but these bans were widely ignored.

BBC Sudan analyst Mohaned Hashim notes that there have been previous attempts to ban FGM across the whole country but parliament under long-time leader Omar al-Bashir rejected the recommendations. Women were at the forefront of the movement that toppled Mr Bashir in April 2019. Campaigners accused the former government of discriminating against women in various ways – including preventing women from wearing trousers.

In November, Sudan repealed a restrictive public order law that controlled how women acted and dressed in public. The FGM amendment to the criminal law was approved on 22 April, Reuters news agency reports and under the amendment, anyone who performs FGM either inside a medical establishment or elsewhere faces three years’ imprisonment and a fine.

Source: BBC

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Inspiring Story Of Elizabeth Owusua – Lawyer By Day, Nurse By Night

Elizabeth Owusua has accomplished her childhood dream of becoming both a nurse and a lawyer as she now serves in both capacities, day and night. Elizabeth notes that during her childhood, she had hopes of becoming a nurse, lawyer as well as a fashion designer but says she never thought her dreams would finally become a reality because of her humble beginning and the hardship she faced.

She was, however, quick to note that her training at Mfantsiman Girls helped shape her entire being greatly.

She narrated:

“I went to the Nursing and Midwifery Training College at Korle Bu where I graduated with a Diploma in Nursing in 2008 and started working as a nurse in 2010 after national service”.

From there, Owusua noted she continued to Central University College to top up for a Bsc Degree in Nursing alongside work and graduated in 2013

In 2014, Owusua applied to Gimpa Law Faculty for an LLB and got admitted which she did along with working night shifts at the hospital and gained admission to the law school in 2017 after graduating from Gimpa and finally was called to the Ghana Bar in October 2019.

Talk about resilience and Grit! We celebrate this leading lady.

 

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