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12-YEAR-OLD GIRL RETURNS HOME FIVE YEARS AFTER ABDUCTION

Ikimot Awojoju, a pupil from the Oyingbo area of Lagos state managed to find her way home after going missing for five years.

She was said to have been living with her guardian after her mother, Faidat Awojoju, passed away. She, however,  went missing while returning from school on July 23, 2014.

Ikimot’s guardian, Ajoke Abass, explained that she stopped active search for her after two years of fruitless effort, but kept on praying for her return.

Ajoke said, “Ikimot’s mother was an area sister to me and we took each other as family members. She already had a child before she got pregnant with Ikimot. The man responsible was not ready to accept the pregnancy and she wanted to abort it. I advised her against it and stood by her throughout the course of the pregnancy until she put to bed.

“I was the one looking after the child, while she was going about her business, because I am self-employed. When Ikimot clocked two years, her father came to apologise and promised to assume responsibility for the child’s upkeep, but he did not keep to his promise after her mother died.

“Ikimot was three when her mother died in 2011 and none of her family members was ready to take over the responsibility of taking care of her and her brother, so, I decided to take it up since I was the one taking care of her before and I was the one that encouraged her mother not to abort the pregnancy; Ikimot was in my custody and I took her older brother to one of my brothers, who is a cleric, to help me train him in the Islamic way.

“On the day that Ikimot went missing, she did not come back from school at the usual time and after some time, I told my children to go and check her in the school. They returned to say that they could not find her. I went to different police stations in search of her.

“I sold all I had to raise the money needed to conduct the search for her. After two years, my husband told me to stop searching and that I should just keep praying for her. And anytime my heart reached out to her, I would give alms to the poor on her behalf.”

Describing the day Ikomot returned, Abass said “On Tuesday, February 26, 2019, I was outside the house playing with my children, when one of my neighbours called my attention to a girl that stood afar off. She asked if I recognised her and I said no, but the girl was smiling at me. My neighbour asked the girl if she knew me and she replied that she used to live with me.

“I took a second look at her and that was when I was flooded with memories of what she looked like. She arrived around 10pm and people were with us till midnight. When I took her into the room, she noted that I had changed the position of the bed, which really confirmed that she was the one, but she no longer understood Yoruba as she could only speak pidgin English and Igbo.

“In the morning, I took her to the Denton Police Station and I explained everything to the officers there. They took her statement and she kept on repeating an address as the residence of her abductor. We went with the police to the address and the woman was arrested.

“At first, the woman claimed that she was Ikimot’s mother, but when she was asked to provide her childhood pictures, she said she did not have any. She was also unable to produce her birth certificate and the girl insisted that she was not her mother.

“I was asked to bring everything that could prove that she was mine and the police also requested that her father must come to the station to corroborate the girl’s statement, which he did. When he came, the girl also recognised him as her father but the woman kept on insisting that she was the mother of the child.”

It was also gathered that another child was recovered from the suspected abductor, Christiana Onuchukwu, who eventually allegedly confessed to the police to have bought the children for N350,000 each.

“The 12-year-old girl, who was released to me on Monday, said she found her way back by asking people for direction,” Abass added.

Narating her ordeal, Ikimot said, “On the day I was abducted, I was on my way back from school when a woman called me. When I went to meet her, she held my hand and took me away. One day, the woman I was made to live with (Onuchukwu) scolded me by saying that she would take me back to my family in Oyingbo and I held on to that.

“The day I wanted to leave, I kept telling people that I was going to Oyingbo and I was told to keep trekking. When I got to a point, I told a man that I was going to Oyingbo and he said that it was not far. He asked me if I had any money on me and I said no. He gave me N50 to board a tricycle.

“When I got to Oyingbo, I remembered that I usually passed through a rail track on my way back from school and I remembered that there was a storey building opposite the house I used to live in. That was how I was able to trace the house.”

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Chike Oti, said investigation into the matter was ongoing.

“The girl has been reunited with her family. The woman that was found with the children has been arrested and investigation is ongoing,” he stated.

 

 

Credit: herald.ng

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21-YEAR-OLD KYLIE JENNER BECOMES WORLD YOUNGEST SELF-MADE BILLIONAIRE

The youngest of the Kardasian-Jenner sisters, Kylie Jenner, is now officially the youngest self-made billionaire in the world, at 21.

Kylie Jenner has knocked Mark Zuckerberg off the top spot. The tech guru formerly held the position by becoming a billionaire at the age of 23.

According to Forbes:

In mid-November, Kylie Jenner marked a milestone moment with a visit to a strip mall. For the past three years, her Kylie Cosmetics had only sold its makeup online and briefly in pop up shops. But after signing an exclusive distribution deal with Ulta, the beauty retailer, Kylie Cosmetics was rolling its $29 lip kits—a matte liquid lipstick and matching lip liner—into Ulta’s 1,000-plus stores. And Jenner showed up to the Richmond Avenue Ulta in Houston to greet customers, sign autographs on lip kits and, of course, pose for selfies with her fans.

Over the next six weeks, Kylie Cosmetics sold $54.5 million worth of products in Ulta, according to estimates from Oppenheimer. “I popped up at a few stores, I did my usual social media—I did what I usually do, and it just worked,” she says.

Fueled in part by the Ulta expansion, Kylie Cosmetics’ revenue climbed 9% last year to an estimated $360 million. With that kind of growth, and even using a conservative multiple from the booming makeup industry, Forbesestimates Jenner’s company is worth at least $900 million. She owns all of it. Add in the cash Jenner has already pulled from the profitable business, and the 21-year-old is now a billionaire, with an estimated fortune of $1 billion.

Read the full article here.

 

 

Credit: Bella Naija

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TENI & NINIOLA APATA, OTHERS MAKE OKAYAFRICA’S 100 WOMEN 2019 LIST CELEBRATING INCREDIBLE AFRICAN WOMEN

According to OkayAfrica:

This year we have dedicated the OkayAfrica 100 Womenlist to those daughters who embody the fortitude of their continental mothers, paired with sovereignty that is wholly unique to today’s youth culture. Freedom of minds, agency over our bodies, and equity for all is not a choice. It’s the only way.

Youth culture, as we interpret it, does not subscribe to the idea that those who are participants are young in their stage of life. This list of women—carefully curated from over 500 nominations—is one that spans over two generations of changemakers and is not beholden to age. These are individuals who are both youth peers actively working to undo generational oppression in all forms and women who have dedicated their lives to investing in young people.

This year’s list includes amazing women like Ghana’s outspoken model Adwoa Aboah, 18-year-old Olympic short track speed skater Maame Biney, South Sudanese beauty blogger Nyma Tang, Hollywood’s Danai Gurira, Nigerian-American author Tomi Adeyemi, America’s first Somali-American Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and so many more.

These women are shaping and changing narratives for young black women.

OkayAfrica says:

These women are disrupting the status quo socially, economically, and politically. They are creating safe spaces for African women globally, driving technological and scientific advancements, pushing for inclusivity in television, film, art and media and steering us toward a more sustainable way of living.

See the full list below.

Click here to read about the women

 

 

Credit: Bella Naija

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CHUKWUNETA OBY: WHERE HAVE WE GONE WRONG?

One grew up with the notion that certain ailments are more ‘age’ induced than anything else but in the last couple of years, ailments like cardiac arrest, stroke, and others, have killed more young people that I know than the aged folks.

I mean young men in their 40s!

So, when one sees aged folks in their 70s, 80s and even 90s still basking in good health-I am always compelled to ask WHAT IS THE SECRET OF THAT HEALTHY GENERATION?

Yes, I call their generation a healthy one because the advent of science and technology ought to enhance our chances at longevity, but the reverse seems to be the case.

These days…people die young-a direct opposite of what used to obtain in the days of our forebears.

I doubt if there were ailments like cancer, stroke, stress, hypertension, etc in those days and if there were-they were probably not as rampant as what obtains these days…making me suspect that the ‘health woes’ of this generation lies in our lifestyle.

A generation that is supposed to have an enhanced shot at longevity (what with our exposure to science and technology) is experiencing more deaths amongst its young than the supposed Stone Age generation.

In examining the impact of the lifestyle of this generation on our lifespan-we must not fail to look into issues like excessive pursuit of materialism(and its attendant stress),unhealthy consumptions and sexual perversion.

Is it not in this age that we hear of stuffs like anal, two/three-some sex?

I still question the reasoning of people who indulge in such…as if the ‘normal style’ is not risky enough!

I observed a few days retreat at a friend’s house-a few years back…a house that boasts of every modern ‘treats’-inside the fridge…ice cream, cake, chocolates, beverages, but not a single fruit!

In fact, the only cooked food I found in there was a frozen eba. Yet, he would be the first to tell you that he does not ‘swallow’ at night, does not consume red meat-plus other health dos and don’ts that he observes.

I think back to our aged folks in the villages who ‘swallow’ at any time of the day, eat all sorts of meat and still lived to a ripe old age.

Where could we have gone wrong then, if we are still dying young, despite our vast knowledge of modern health dos and don’ts?

A doctor friend once told me that a vast majority of young men (between the ages of 35-50) are impotent…according to some medical findings. And their type of impotence is such that they can’t even fertilise an egg without medical assistance or sustain an erection for more than a few minutes.

Again, one is forced to compare this dampening reality to seniors that are known to still ‘fire down’…even with off-springs, to show for their ‘labour.’

Think of what obtains now with female fertility and compare it to the time of our mothers-whose major headache was how to cater for the numerous brood they seemed to churn out with so much ease.

Their days even seemed to witness less complicated childbirths, despite the non- availability of sophisticated medical procedures.

This is a generation that seems to have it all when one considers how easy science and technology has made our existence…yet it would seem like the older generation had a better quality of life.

Does our modern lifestyle still accommodate communal existence like in the days of our fathers? Any wonder why there’s so much loneliness out there, despite claims of the world now being a global village?

I tell whoever cares to listen that boredom is a modern phenomenon-it never used to exist in the days of old because their setting had what I call THE HUMAN TOUCH-which our generation is losing at an alarming rate.

Science and Technology has inadvertently made us too ‘comfort-zoned’ for our own good. Easy life is what leads to boredom. We don’t go out of our way to do things for and with each other anymore.

These days, infusing the human touch in relationships becomes an inconvenience of sorts.

We send money and ‘technology toys’ to perform acts that require the human touch…why waste time and energy to go visit an ailing loved one when you can just Whatsapp “get well soon.’’

Ever wondered why people have so many friends on the social media but still feel lonely in real life?

Some of us even make more efforts with our ‘virtual relationships’-than we bother with our real-life relationships.

High time we realised that certain things cannot just take the place of the ‘human touch’ in life.

The human touch is what our forebears never joked with and that explains why issues like boredom, loneliness, suicide, depression, etc were alien to them!

 

 

Credit: Chukwuneta Oby, Guardian Woman

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FEW SECONDS AFTER BEING BORN, BABY GRABS DOCTOR’S SHIRT AND REFUSE TO LET GO

A newborn baby has been nicknamed “Baby Strong” by social media users after he grabbed the doctor’s shirt seconds after he was born and refused to let go.

The baby boy was born in Ph??ng Châu International Hospital in Vietnam. As the doctor attending to the baby was about to leave and get changed, the crying baby grabbed a string in his robe and held onto it.

The doctor stood confused as he watched the baby crying while holding on to him with a grip that was unnaturally firm for a newborn baby.

Ph??ng Châu International Hospital shared the adorable photos to show the bond between the newborn baby and his first care giver and social media users loved the photos.

 

Newborn baby grabs doctor

 

Reacting to the photos on the hospital’s Facebook page, some social media users suggested the baby was complaining to the doctor that he did not want to be born. Other joked that the baby was hungry and was refusing to let go until he was fed.

The baby has been nicknamed as “Baby Strong”, “Boss Baby” by web users.

 

Credit: LIB

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GEORGIA TEEN ACCEPTS TO 31 COLLEGES WITH ALMOST A MILLION DOLLARS IN SCHOLARSHIP OFFERS

A Georgia teen has gone viral on social media after she was accepted to  31 colleges with almost a million dollars in scholarship offers.

Kayla Willis, a senior at Westlake High School in Atlanta, got accepted into 31 colleges and was offered almost $1 million in scholarships after applying to over 40 schools without paying costly application fees.

The excited lady took to Twitter to show off all the schools that accepted her and wrote: ‘I kinda didn’t want to post this, but someone said “the whole world needs to know how great you are” so here we go twitter!’

Black American teenager gets accepted to 31 Colleges with almost a million dollars in scholarship offers

 

Speaking with Fox 5, she said: “My goal was to have options. I didn’t want to limit myself. I also asked the question, how can I go to school for free?”

“I’m here to encourage. If you are proactive and persevere, you can achieve any goal,” she told Fox 5. In an interview with NBC affiliate 11 Alive, she said, “I really wanted people to see what they could do because a lot of people doubt their selves.”

 

 

Credit: LIB

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CHIMAMANDA ADICHIE TO SPEAK AT YALE’S 2019 CLASS DAY

According to Yale Daily News and the Class Day Planning Committee member Shuyu Song, the writer was selected based on her ability to give a meaningful and memorable address to the class.

In recent years, most of the Class Day speakers have been politicians, including former US secretary of state John Kerry and former US VP Joe Biden.

“The committee cannot imagine a better speaker to commemorate our four years at Yale than Adichie,” members of the 2019 Class Day Committee wrote in an email on Sunday.

“She is an inspiring global citizen whose words, teaching and social activism have had an indelible impact on the diaspora and broader contemporary culture.”

Song also said:

“Given Adichie’s extraordinary experience and poignant literary commentary, we have no doubt that her participation in Class Day will be a memorable part of this day of celebration and address concerns that are relevant to our class as we reflect on the changes that we have witnessed on this campus in the past few years.

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MEET FATIMA TOGBE, FOUNDER OF FIRST MUSLIMAH MAGAZINE

Fatima Togbe, whose full name is Kike Fatima Togbe-Olory, is the founder and executive director of Hayati Communications Group, a media & entertainment agency that primarily focuses on improving and empowering the lives of Muslim women across West Africa. She launched Hayati Magazine in 2012, Hayati Retail in 2015, Hayati Fashion Week in July 2017, and Hayati Magazine Français in October 2017.

Hayati Fashion Week (HFW) is an annual series of events when modest fashion collections from Nigeria and other African countries are shown to the press and general public. HFW was founded by Fatima Togbe in 2017.

The inaugural event took place in 2017 and was sponsored by the Medicaid Cancer Foundation (MCF). Other sponsors include Dunes Center, Pandora, Nestle brand Maggi, Vlisco, and Arith & Paul.

Hayati Fashion Week was created as a response to the lack of representation of modest fashion on major Nigerian fashion platforms. It has provided designers, models, artists and other businesses who cater to the Nigerian modest industry, a platform to showcase their creativity, passion, and work, directly to their desired audience. The event features Runway shows, exhibitions, and a networking soiree.

Fatima appeared in two for Vlisco‘s 2017 campaigns (S2-2017 and S3-2017), which celebrated the different and unique ways African women wear Vlisco. She has also represented Nestle brands, Golden Morn Nigeria and Maggi as their brand ambassador.

Hayati Fashion Week (HFW) is an annual series of events when modest fashion collections from Nigeria and other African countries are shown to the press and general public. HFW was founded by Fatima Togbe in 2017

The inaugural event took place in 2017 and was sponsored by the Medicaid Cancer Foundation (MCF). Other sponsors include Dunes Center, Pandora, Nestle brand Maggi, Vlisco, and Arith & Paul.

Hayati Fashion Week was created as a response to the lack of representation of modest fashion on major Nigerian fashion platforms. It has provided designers, models, artists and other businesses who cater to the Nigerian modest industry, a platform to showcase their creativity, passion, and work, directly to their desired audience. The event features Runway shows, exhibitions, and a networking soiree.

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5 YOUNG BLACK ACTIVISTS MAKING HISTORY

Young people have always been at the center of major civil rights movements. From fighting for a seat at the table in conversations about gun control to pointing out racism and homophobia through art, here are five young black activists who deserve a round of applause for their activism.

Mari Copeny, 11 Among the crowd of young activists holding politicians accountable is 11-year-old Mari Copeny, also known as Little Miss Flint. Since penning a letter to former president Barack Obama to draw his attention to the Flint water crisis, she has continued to use her voice to bring awareness to the families in her community who have been affected.

She’s vocal on social media, tweeting at politicians when she disagrees with them, including the president, and making sure people are still talking about the Flint water crisis and its long-lasting effects on residents. Additionally, Mari worked with nonprofit Pack Your Back to distribute more than 10,000 backpacks filled with school supplies to students throughout Flint.

Naomi Wadler, 12 When Naomi Wadler stepped onto the stage at the March for Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C., last year, she gave a voice to young black women who have died from gun violence, including Courtlin Arrington, Hadiya Pendleton, and Taiyania Thompson, who “don’t make the front page of every national newspaper.” She captured the ears and hearts of many who were itching for intersectionality in gun-reform discussions.

Naomi, who was featured in Teen Vogue’s 21 Under 21 last year, recently told Smithsonian that she’d like to run The New York Times someday.

Marley Dias, 14 Frustrated by the lack of representation in children’s books, Marley Dias decided to take action. In addition to calling out this problem in literature, the 14-year-old launched the #1000BlackGirlBooks drive, started her own zine for elle.com, and wrote her own book, Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You!

Kenidra Woods, 18 As an activist for gun reform, Kenidra Woodsfounded the Hope for Humanity Project in response to the gun violence in her community. Kenidra, who appeared on Teen Vogue’s gun control cover, in 2018, is one of several black teens who have fought for black voices to be elevated in the conversation for gun control after the 2018 school shooting in Parkland.

Additionally, Kenidra has been outspoken about her struggle with mental health. The teen, who says she was sexually abused as a young child, started the CHEETAH (confidence, harmony, enlightenment, encouragement, tranquility, awareness, and hope) Movementto help others who have suffered from self-harm and suicidal ideations.

Fatima Jamal, 28Disgusted by the phrase “no fats, no femmes” in LGBTQ+ dating profiles, Fatima Jamal decided to use her voice to speak out. Fatima recently spoke with them. about the difficulty she faced securing funding for a film that explores this topic. The black, trans, independent filmmaker is passionate about fighting the “gay community’s inescapable legacy of white supremacy, and its idealization of certain types of bodies, manners of acting and more,” according to the profile.

 

Credit: Teen Vogue

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CRYING IS THERAPEUTIC IN MANAGING STRESS – EXPERT

Dr Victor Fayomi, a General Practitioner at a private hospital in Gwagwalada, FCT, says crying is therapeutic in managing emotional stress.

Fayomi said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

Heavy hearts, like heavy clouds in the sky, are best relieved by letting off a little water. Let your tears flow and where they go, let your sorrow follow.

Overtime, crying and shedding tears were considered bad and usually associated with ill health, grief and sorrow. However, this is not totally true.

Tears have also flowed as a result of good news, sound health, joy and laughter, he said.

Fayomi said the first sign of life, of a healthy one which must be seen within life’s first minute, was the aggressive cry of a new born baby.

He said it was better to let the tears flow in grief, disappointment, sorrow and when a loving relationship suddenly hits the rock.

Fayomi said bottling up ones emotion could actually break down ones health, saying that sorrow which had not vent in tears might make other organs weep.

Crying does not only reduce emotional stress, it also helps to improve our mood.

When we cry, our nasal passage is also cleared as crying helps to loosen up mucus in the nose.

Children will usually also fall asleep after crying, it stands to reason that crying helps put children to sleep, he said.

Fayomi said crying should not be seen as a sign of weakness, adding that it should be done when the need arises.

In an attempt at staying healthy, be sure to make your crying occasional; that is, only when indicated.

Too much of it, and when too often, may signify a sign of depression.

The key is this, cry only when indicated, do it moderately, get refreshed, lighten your mood and move on, he said.

Credit: Pulse
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