Women of Rubies

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Career Gems

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Yetnebersh Nigussie is a blind Ethiopian lawyer who was recently named a joint winner of the 2017 Right Livelihood Award, also known as Sweden’s alternative Nobel Prize.

The 35-year-old  lawyer was honoured for her inspiring work in promoting the rights and inclusion of people with disabilities. She was awarded 3 million Swedish crowns ($374,000) which will be shared among the three joint winners.

According to her,

“With this award comes international recognition, but with recognition comes responsibility. You cannot sleep once you are recognised”. Women with disabilities in Ethiopia face multiple layers of discrimination. My role is to link the two communities, of disabled and able-bodied women, that have faced historical discrimination.”

Nigussie co-founded the Ethiopian Centre for Disability and Development, a driving force for inclusion, and is now an adviser for Light for the World, an international organisation working to reduce preventable blindness. She lost her sight after contracting meningitis as a baby but said she was lucky to be educated at a special primary school for blind people run by nuns.

“We didn’t know that we would face isolation and segregation, as we were all blind. It was mixed, boys and girls, but all the women were leaders so for me, women were leaders. I didn’t understand until much later that women were considered to be of lower rank in society,” she says.

Her story changed at the age of 12, when she joined a mainstream school for the first time. She reveals,

“I had no friends for six months. Everyone played in the playground and no one noticed me. I was different. But I scored the best grades in school, and then everyone wanted to be my friend so I could help them. I became popular and I thought: ‘If I can excel, if I can bring about my own change, I can help others.’’

 

credit: fabwoman.ng

In a recent post which Content creator and positivity advocate (HIV/AIDS), Mary Ero, shared on her Instagram page, she narrated a short story of how life dealt with her andd how Banky W helped her.

See what she wrote:

“So today this happened. On the surface it might look like an ordinary celebrity /child-of-starstruck-parent photo opp but there is a deeper story here.

About 8 years ago, while about 6 months pregnant with this little girl here, I fell onto terribly hard times. I have chronicled most of it on my social media platforms but to summarise it, I was abandoned by my child’s father, lost my house, was kicked out unceremoniously from my job at MTV for no reason, and to crown it all, diagnosed HIV positive.

Shortly after that, my then best friend, with whom I was staying, decided she had had enough so I was given an eviction notice.

Long story short, I began to reach out to my friends and acquaintances to try to pick up the pieces, get a place to stay, deliver safely and move on. Suffice it to say that practically none of my celebrity ‘friends’ ever came through. These were people who would call me non-stop when I was in MTV but suddenly, I was invisible.

The only people that did were this man, @bankywellington, and @funlolafar. (Funlola I don’t consider a friend but a sister, or worst case my cousin anyway.😊) What was funny is that both of them had no knowledge of the situation I was in. I think this will be the first time Banky will be hearing of it. I just told him I was trying to raise money for a place, I think.

In those days @bankywellington had not even come close to being as successful as he is now. Yet the next morning, before 7am, he had driven from his place in Lekki, to my house in Magodo with cash for me. And as usual, a hug.

Now one reason people are scared to ask for help especially money from friends is that the dynamics of the relationship changes after someone has helped you out. People who give suddenly feel somewhat superior to the receiver or even feel that the receiver is a tiresome distraction. Not all the time but a lot of the time. However, with Banky there was never that awkwardness. I met him several more times as I managed to get back on my feet over the years and he never behaved like anything like that transpired between us. He was always warm, always hugging, always kind.

Today at ICM which I took my daughter to entirely by coincidence, I ran into him doing his ambassador duties at the Samsung stand. This would be the first time he would see my daughter ever. I had no intentions of her taking pics with him but he just grabbed her and asked ‘where’s your camera’? Then he began to tell her how he and I go way back. It was all I could do not to cry a little. As we left, my daughter asked “Is he a famous person”? I said “Yes. But more importantly, he is a good person.”

 

 

credit: IG, fabwoman.ng

On Thursday 5th of October 2017, an Igbosere High Court in Lagos on Thursday dissolved the marriage of OAP and author, Toke Makinwa and her husband Maje Ayida, citing husband’s adulterous lifestyle, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

She had on March 9, 2016, asked the court to dissolve the marriage on the grounds that the husband committed adultery.

Justice Morenike Obadina, while delivering judgment held that Ayida filed an answer to the petition but did not give oral evidence in support of it.

She said the position of the law was settled as pleadings did not amount to evidence.

Pleadings on which no evidence was led are deemed abandoned. Therefore, Ayida’s evidence is deemed abandoned.

The effect being that the petitioner’s evidence is unchallenged and uncontroverted,’’ she ruled.

The judge said the issue of cruelty which the petitioner (Makinwa) relied on, was established because of the “mental and emotional stress” she was subjected to by her husband.

Toke and Maje

She said Makinwa had sufficiently proven that the husband committed adultery and continued to flaunt his adulterous relationships even to her face.

I hold that the marriage has broken down on grounds of intolerable behaviour.

“I hereby pronounce a `Decree Nisi’ dissolving the marriage between Makinwa and Ayida which was administered at the Federal Marriage Registry, Ikoyi, Lagos, on Jan. 15, 2014.

“The order Nisi shall become absolute three months from today unless within that period sufficient cause is shown why it should not be made absolute,” Obadina said.

Makinwa had told the court that her husband committed adultery with his mistress, Anita Solomon, adding that the relationship produced a child.

She said since their marriage was contracted, the husband had “behaved in a way she could not reasonably be expected to continue to bear”.

She also said the husband was cruel towards her, adding that their differences became irreconcilable.

NAN also reports that during the trial, the petitioner (Makinwa) testified in court and tendered some documents including their marriage certificate which were admitted in evidence.

In her testimony, she said that after their marriage was contracted in 2014, cohabitation with her husband ceased on Nov. 8, 2015, without any child from the marriage.

She also told the court of an instance where her husband threatened separation and even drafted a separation agreement because she discovered that he bought a ticket for his mistress to travel to London.

The first respondent (Ayida) who replied to the petition when served, however, instructed his counsel, Mr T. O. Lawal, not to continue with the defence.

Ayida through his counsel, therefore, foreclosed all evidence.

The mistress (Solomon), who is the second respondent, refused to join issues with the petitioner.

credit: NAN, Pulse.ng

IG user Seun Obajolu is celebrating her 16th wedding anniversary with her husband, Tunde, today October 4th and she has taken to her IG page to share their love story. The couple met in 2001 and Tunde proposed to Seun three days after meeting her.

She wrote;

“We are not the typical love story ! You proposed 3 days after we met, convinced I was the one for you while I’m thinking, “who is this crazy guy”? Yet, still going with the flow but with peace within that I was NOT making a mistake . We were married in 10 months and 16 years on, we are still here! You, sure that I’m still the one for you and I, super convinced that you were meant for me. Our marriage has not been perfect but all of the imperfections has taught us to love each other even better and brought us even closer. Here’s toasting to 16 more years and lots more with you my “crazy lover”, my husband, baby daddy, father and friend Tunde Obajolu Thank you for being my back bone, working with my imperfections and supporting my dreams! Happy 16th year Wedding Anniversary to us!!!!!”. ” 

London-born chef and entrepreneur, Tokunbo Koiki, who spent her formative years in Nigeria, moved back to London at the age of 12. She started cooking at that young age- starting off starting off with fried eggs and plantain and later moving on to tougher dishes like pounded yam and okra stew (which is now one of her signature dishes).

Two years ago, she launched Tokunbo’s Kitchenwhich is a private chef and supper club service that allows Nigerians living in London and people from different cultures to experience and enjoy authentic Nigerian food.

After many years of cooking for family members and close friends, Tokunbo finally decided to turn her passion into a business by launching Tee’s Food Corner, a pop-up Nigerian street food stall in London.

While speaking with Okay Africa, Tokunbo said:

“There are about 1 million Nigerians in London alone, but if you ask the average Londoner about Nigerian food, they don’t even know what it is. I didn’t want to just open a restaurant for Nigerians and other Africans.

I want to introduce Nigerian food on a gradual basis to a global audience. Whether it’s London or Barcelona, I can travel the world introducing people to the colorful flavors of Nigerian food.”

Since the launch of Tokunbo’s Kitchen, Tokunbo has managed to feed over 5000 people – having successfully operated at different street food festivals, pop-ups and chef residencies.

 

Photos Credit: Tokunbo’s Kitchen

A recent study from Oxford’s department of Economics, has revealed that students who watched the movie ‘Queen Of Katwe’, before their national exams performed better than the students who didn’t.

The movie, which starred David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong’o, and Madina Nalwanga, followed the real life of Phiona Mutesi, a Ugandan girl living in a slum in Katwe, who learns to play chess and becomes a world champion.

 The goal of the study by doctorate student, Emma Riley, was to examine whether exposure to a positive role model could inspire students to try harder in school.

For the study, 1,500 secondary students in Kampala – one week and one month away from taking their national qualifying exams – were taken to watch either Queen of Katwe or a placebo film, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

According to the study, students completing their final year of school who watched Queen of Katwe were more likely to get the required grades to get into university; and younger students completing their 4th year of school also improved their overall scores.

The benefits of this experiment were the most pronounced for female students and students at lower-ranked schools. Concluding the study, Riley said:

“This paper stresses the importance of role models for raising students’ aspirations about what they can achieve and calibrating the potential returns to education.

Through this, a role model can have significant effects on students’ educational attainment.”

 

 

 

Credit: konbini.com

Actress and entrepreneur, Annie Idibia, took to her IG page to celebrate her mum whose birthday was yesterday October 2, 2017. She also thanked her for all her sacrifices and prayers for the family.

She wrote;

”Dear Mother..
Thank You For Being So Selflessness All The Time.. Thank You Ma For Making My Life So Much Easier… For Being My Favourite Girl In The World.. For Loving Me Unconditionally.. For Putting Me And My Needs First B4 Yours Till Date.. My Biggest Cheerleader..My Number 1 Fan..Your Love And Prayers Is What Have Gotten Me And My Family Here.. Thank You For Being A Big N Major Part Of Our Lives…Thank You For Being The best Grandma Any Child Can Ask For..Thank You 4 Being The Best Mother inlaw Any Man Can Ask For..Thank You For Being The Best Mother In The World And Thank You Sooooooo Much For Being A Good Woman And All The Good Qualities You Taught Me.. Thank u “sista” For The Prayers,Day And Night. I Wish You Good Health And Long Life So You Can Contiune To Reap The Fruit Of All Your Labour. I LOVE YOU MOTHER. My “sista” Happy Birthday.❤❤❤”

The BBC has revealed its list of 100 inspirational and innovative women for 2017, and amongst the amazing women featured, Nigeria’s very own Tiwa Savage and Anne-Marie Imafidon make the list!

The annual series – which shines a light on issues affecting women all over the world – is this year encouraging women to make a change.

Also featuring on the list are 7 other Africans – Adelle Onyango (Kenya) Anita Nderu (Kenya) Chaima Lahsini (Morroco), Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Liberia), Marieme Jamme (Senegal), Naomi Mwaura (Kenya) and Talent Jumo (Zimbabwe)

Speaking on the list, BBC says:

This year, the women on the list will be part of the 100 Women Challenge, tackling some of the biggest problems facing women around the world.

Coming together in four teams, the women will share their experiences and create innovative ways to tackle:

The glass ceiling – #Teamlead
Female illiteracy – #Teamread
Street harassment – #Teamgo
Sexism in sport – #Teamplay