Nigerian fashion designer Nkechi Harry Ngonadi of NHN couture is TW Magazine‘s March/April Issue cover star!
In this Issue of the Magazine, she speaks to TW on how she was called to the ministry of God through her clothing line NHN Couture.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka, has announced that she is taking up an appointment in her father’s administration.
Ivanka, in a statement on Wednesday, said she will be a Special Assistant to the President but will not take a salary.
This came as her unofficial role has grown in recent weeks, and she was granted security clearance and an office at the White House, according to reports.
“I have heard the concerns some have with my advising the president in my personal capacity while voluntarily complying with all ethics rules.
And I will instead serve as an unpaid employee in the White House Office, subject to all of the same rules as other federal employees.
Throughout this process, I have been working closely and in good faith with the White House Counsel and my personal counsel to address the unprecedented nature of my role,” Ivanka said.
Ivanka’s role as ‘First Daughter’ in support of the President is unprecedented.
Ivanka’s husband, Jared Kushner, has recently been confirmed a Senior Adviser to the President.
The White House also released a statement about the new role to be played by Ivanka, saying that it is “pleased” by the move.
“Ivanka’s service as an unpaid employee furthers our commitment to ethics, transparency, and compliance.
And it affords her increased opportunities to lead initiatives driving real policy benefits for the American public that would not have been available to her previously,” the White House statement read.
When her increased security clearance and White House office were announced, Ivanka acknowledged that “there is no modern precedent for an adult child of the president”.
The official title made Ivanka’s existing role more formalized but she had been present for family events like the various inauguration celebrations as well as closed-door meetings and sit-downs with foreign leaders.
In February, she met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House, as part of a roundtable discussion on female entrepreneurs.
She also met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visited the White House in February.
When German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the White House earlier this month, Ivanka was seated right beside her.
When Trump held a listening session about domestic and international human trafficking on February 23, he started his remarks by thanking Ivanka for her role.
Ivanka’s involvement in business roundtable discussions has been attributed to her business background at her personal fashion label and her father’s real estate empire.
Morna International Children’s Foundation in collaboration with GreenLeaves Connect Development Initiative has launched a project tagged: “Ten million boys against violence” on the 8Th OF March, 2017 in Ikotun, Alimosho Local Government area of Lagos state. It was a Seminar for young boys in Secondary and Primary Schools with over 250 boys in attendance.
This is a long term project on all forms of violence against women and girls in Nigeria. The project was conceived Out of our concern to end violence against women and girls and violations of their human rights which is an is common problem globally. The focus is on young boys and Youths; to catch them young.
Ten Million Boys Against violence is going to be in the form of campaigns, rallies, seminars and workshops in every quarter of the year and would spread across every state in Nigeria.
Bukola Afolabi Ogunyeye
Executive Director / Founder
MORNA International Children’s Foundation (MICF)
Phone number: 08175625915
Email: info@mornafoundation.org
Website: www.mornafoundation.org
ABOUT MORNA INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION (MICF)
MICF is a registered Non- Governmental Organization. She campaigns against Child Abuse, it’s prevention and assist Victims of Sexual Abuse and promotes the rights of the Nigerian Child. Her vision is to build a word where Children are respected and protected from all forms of abuse.
MISSION STATEMENTS
- MICF’s mission commits to nurture and empower Children on their fundamental Human rights.
- To provide public awareness on the current state of Child abuse and neglect in Nigeria.
- To spread programs that focus on advocating prevention and early intervention in Child abuse and neglect through public education.
ABOUT GREENLEAVES CONNECT DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE (GCDI)
GCDI is a registered Non-Governmental Organization focused on youths and women empowerment, Child abuse, and the sustainable development goals.
She also promotes the rights of women and girls in a Patriarchal society like Nigeria.
Betty Irabor, Editor in Chief celebrated her 60th birthday with a soul train themed party and it was a night to remember.
Betty Irabor was joined at the event by her husband Soni Irabor and daughter Sonia Irabor.
The party had so many celebrities and socialites including Rita Dominic, Stephanie Linus, Michelle Dede, Dele Momodu, Prof Pat Utomi, Olu Jacobs, Joke Silva, Tony Rapu, Nkoyo Rapu, Florence Ita Giwa, Hakeem Belo – Osagie, Mo Abudu, Ruth Osime, Chief Medina Ibru, Jimmy Shonuga, Adesuwa Onyenokwe, Victor Okigbo, Funmi Victor-Okigbo, Nkiru Anumudu among others.
Ozzy Agu, Meg Otanwa, Azuka Ogujiuba, Dr. Vivian Oputa, Eku Edewor, Peace Hyde, Monalisa Chinda and more were also spotted at the event.
The party which was hosted by Bovi had unforgettable moments like Musical chairs competition, Lip Sync Battle, and eventually a 70s inspired dance-off.
See the photos below.
The Fab Guests!
Betty Irabor
Lanre DaSilva-Ajayi & Tara Fela-Durotoye
Ndidi Obioha & Stephanie Linus
Michelle Dede & Rita Dominic
Mo Abudu & Ruth Osime
Mo Abudu, Ruth Osime & Nkiru Anumudu
Stephanie Linus, Azuka Ogujiuba & Aisha Igbinovia
Nkiru Anumudu, Mo Abudu & Ruth Osime
Monalisa Chinda
Sonia Irabor
Rita Dominic
Stephanie Linus
Beverly Naya
Liz Osho
Dr. Vivian Oputa
Meg Otanwa
Omoyemi Akerele
Vimbai Mutinhiri
Peace Hyde
Azuka Ogujiuba
Vanessa Banigo
Michelle Dede
Ozzy Agu
Time to Boogie!
Photo Credit: Genevieveng.com
Our lady also doesn’t seem to understand that the woman was widowed when she was barely 33 years of age and had seven children to cater for!Another lady (who lives in the US) tells me that she has often had to go for therapy over there-to enable her deal with what she claimed was her mum’s cruelty to her-as a young girl.
According to her… her mum would always throw her out of the house and ensure she stays hungry for days. She downplays the impression that she was a wild girl, to whom domestic chores is alien. She would rather call on the boys in the neighbourhood to help her shift the furniture in their sitting room for an emergency ‘disco’ session, once her mother steps out of the house. And that’s even on the days that she elected to stay at home, otherwise, she’s known to leave home to wherever ‘it is happening’ for days.
All these were happening in an era when shame would almost kill a mother, whose Ada (first daughter) is not as homely as the other good girls in the neighbourhood.Two sisters, whose parents divorced, are still nursing some deep-seated resentment towards their mother.
According to them, she left them with their dad when they were barely 10 years of age. And she never looked back. The younger one has outrightly refused to deal with her and the older one does so with obvious aloofness. Their angst is understandable but it also helps to spare a thought in the direction of that woman.
I was told that the marriage began to nose-dive when the years began to roll by without any fruits of the womb. And his meddlesome female relative began to dictate what happens in their home. She’s alleged to be the type that, if there was an outing, would send the man’s wife to the back seat of the car-as she occupies the front seat.Things began to deteriorate so much so that by the time the children arrived…it was like “she dared give birth to girls only!”
The marital ‘nose dive’ continued until the extended families decided to divorce them-traditionally. In those days (in some Igbo tradition)…the woman is told to leave her husband’s home with just her clothing.
I suspect that it’s probably in a bid to ‘stay strong,’ without her girls, that she went so far away and tried rebuilding her life. Those who are in the know also said that she was an exceptional mother-to her girls.
Over the years, one has come across a lot of ladies that have unimaginable resentment towards their mothers, for either what they did or failed to do.In their rights, their feelings are justified but it should also occur to us that most of our parents raised us the best way they knew how. If there is anywhere motherhood is sacrifice, it is in this clime!
Nobody sets out to be a bad mother to the best of my knowledge, but circumstances “arm-twist” people. Some of these women had so much on their young shoulders and probably couldn’t be the super-mum that every young girl idealizes.
You can handle this better by resolving to be, to your own children, everything good that your mother is/was not. Not by burdening your soul with resentments. Some people travel abroad and suddenly realise that their mothers didn’t try at all.
Advanced societies have support institutions for the family, but here, the “straightening out” is done with cane, tongue-lashing and maybe…hunger!I remember those days when I would go play without doing any house chores. My mother would use silence and hunger to straighten me out. I would be the one hovering around the woman with lines such as‘’Mama, did you call me?’’ ‘’Mama should I do this or that?”, anything to make the woman have mercy.
My prayer remains that every lady experiences motherhood…if only to realise that it is not easy at all, especially with a ‘handful’ of a child. These are women we know nothing about their emotional issues, who are operating in a culture that has idealised them into super humans.
“Forgive your mother, not because you don’t have a right to be upset about the way she has handled some things in her life and in your life. Forgive your mother because until you do, there will always be a void in your heart-’’ Iyanla Vanzant.
Culled from : Guardian
One organization taking female empowerment beyond the usual “talk and no work” fluff is the National Association of Black Female Executives in Music & Entertainment, Inc. (NABFEME).
On the 8th of March, 2017, marking the International Women’s Day 2017, the NABFEME Africa team launched the first chapter of the organization right on the rooftop of Maison Fahrenheit in Victoria Island, Lagos.
The event which had in attendance some of the biggest names in the media, fashion and entertainment industry provided a platform for female executives and other stakeholders in these industries to network and have progressive conversations around the interests of African women.
The opening address was given by the founder of NABFEME Johnnie Walker, former Vice President of Def Jam Records and Head of Black Music at Dreamworks. who recounted how the NABFEME dream was birthed also talked about how NABFEME AFRICA will address the peculiar issues of the Nigerian media and entertainment sector.
Next was Chichi Nwoko, General Manager of Kwese Free Sports TV and Executive Producer at Hey, Whats on. Ms. Nwoko serves as the Network Leader for NABFEME AFRICA and she spoke on the importance of NABFEME to women in the media and entertainment industry in Africa and how the organization will help raise the profile of female executives in the industry.
She also informed the gathering about the different training, networking and career advancement opportunities NABFEME AFRICA has in place for female professionals in the entertainment, media, fashion, health and finance industries including the annual NABFEME International Women Leadership Summit which holds later this year.
NABFEME AFRICA will also launch new chapters in Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa later in 2017.
A 29-year-old woman, Remilekun Orefunwa has shown what it is to be resilient as she was declared the best-graduating student of the 2015/2016 academic session of the Lagos State University.
Remilekun, who is pregnant with her first child graduated with a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 4.74.
Remilekun had sat for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination seven times before gaining admission to study at LASU.
She wrote UTME seven times and applied to OAU three times without success. She was finally able to gain admission to LASU to study Accounting Education in 2012.
While waiting to get admission to a University, she started ICAN and qualified as an Associate Chartered Accountant in 2010.
As part of the efforts to mark this year’s Mothers’ day celebration, Baileys Nigeria has launched an extension of her “Love is”… campaign tagged “Why tell others when you can tell mum?”
The campaign, set to ignite the child-to-mother love and also encourage people to celebrate and express their love to their mothers more often, was carried out via a social experiment carried out in Lagos Nigeria as Baileys invited a cross section of Nigerians to express how they feel about their mothers.
According to the psychotherapist who carried out the survey, people’s inability to tell their loved ones that they love them is one of the common social issues being faced on a regular basis. Against this backdrop, the experiment was carried out with a view to help people connect more with their mothers and mother-figures by showing appreciation and love for them.
This was carried out by having mothers and children in two separate rooms where the children talk about how they feel about their mothers as well as their various unspoken confessions of love for them. This is driven at letting the mothers know that they are seen, loved and appreciated. All through the conversation, the children were ignorant of the fact that they are being transmitted live and their mothers are watching and hearing all that they are saying from another room.
Some of the emotional comments as made by the invited people include: ‘She is a very strong woman’, ‘She is hard working and loving’, ‘She is a sweet mother’, ‘She is the best mom anyone could have’ among many other loving comments being made. This undoubtedly stirred an emotional outburst as mothers shed tears of love while the children also couldn’t hold back their tears during the process of the social experiment.
Baileys is calling out to people to indulge their mothers and celebrate them using the hashtag: #PledgeToIndulgeHer.
Please find below the video link to the social experiment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6CQ1zRHVdY
On the March 19, 2017, the Cece Yara Foundation officially opened its new, ultramodern state of the art Child Advocacy Centre at No 2A Akin Ogunmade Street Gbagada phase 2.
The event opened with a short press conference, where its Founder/Director Bola Tinubu, Assistant Director Grace Keteve, and Lola Vivour Adeniyi, Coordinator of the Domestic & Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT) spoke about the foundation and its achievements thus far.
The press conference and brief address to various dignitaries and guests was followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony headed by the Director of Education Lagos State, Kehinde Azume, representing the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, the wife of the Minister of Works and Power Abimbola Fashola, Senator Oluremi Tinubu ably represented by the Commissioner of Police Fatai Owoseni, Acting head of service, Adesoye Folasade, and the Director Office of the Public defence Olubukola Rotimi.
The dignitaries, guests, and media personnel were given a tour of the state of art facility, and introduced to the in house team that handles the incoming cases to the centre. Facilities within the centre include:
- A private calming room furnished with toys, games, and other age appropriate furniture where the children can play.
- A forensic interview room is available where the child can make disclosures without the fear of being heard by their parents.
- An observation room where the children in the forensic interview room can be closely monitored and observed by the parents, trained counsellors, police, psychologist and medical experts behind the one way mirrors.
- A medical examination room where preliminary tests can be carried out to verify the claim of abuse.
Built to effectively accommodate children and adolescents, the centre will cater to the physical, mental and psychological, needs of sexually abused children and also helping them and their families through the process of healing and rehabilitation.
The Cece Yara advocacy centre also offers legal advice and support to survivors and their families. Being a first of its kind in Nigeria, the centre provides a warm and child friendly environment where children can speak and express themselves freely in order for them to give as best a description of what transpired to their parents, counsellors and investigators.
The Cece Yara foundation and advocacy centre are a well thought out cause, aimed at especially catering to those in the grass root regions who do not have the ability to seek or get the help they need. The centre caters for the needs of children regardless of the age at which the abuse occurred, and also those who are adults now and were abused as children and are seeking counselling.
“The growing number of child sexual abuse in Nigeria is alarming and that is the reason why the Cece Yara Foundation was established. We assist in the investigative process of cases brought to us and promise complete confidentiality,” Bola Tinubu said.
See photos below:
Bola Tinubu
Bola Tinubu (M), Lola Vivour Adeniyi (R), and Grace Keteve (L)
Lagos Police Commissioner Fatai Owoseni and Bola Tinubu
Wife of the former Ekiti State Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, Associate producer; Adesuwa Onyenokwe, Actress; Damilola Adegbite-Attoh and Producer, Peju Fadirepo
A new film to be produced by Maysquare studios and Adesuwa Onyenokwe – publisher of the popular Today’s Woman magazine and the producer of the show Seriously Speaking is set to cause a bubble in the film industry.
Themed around abuse against women, the producers held a significant unveiling event to kick start the process at the Silverbird Galleria in the presence of partners, film enthusiasts and the media.
The film, inspired by true life events, will have prominent actors such as Damilola Adegbite Attoh, Kanayo O. Kanayo and comedian Akpororo. Also starring in the movie for the first time after a very long time will be international on-air personality and television host, IK Osakioduwa and popular radio show host, Yolanda George Adams fondly called Aunt Landa amongst others. The film will be shot in May in Lagos, Abuja and the United Kingdom.
Speaking at the launch, the wife of the former governor of Ekiti State, founder of the African Women’s Development Fund and women’s rights activist, Erelu Bisi Fayemi stressed that the message was timely and that there was no better time for the production of the movie giving her commitment to supporting the project.
Also speaking at the event, the founder of WFM, Toun Okewale shared a real life experience and passionately expressed her support for the project while calling on attendees to also support the film and what it stands for.
The producers of the movie, Peju Fadirepo and Adesuwa Onyenokwe noted that the project was not just a movie but a movement adding that the film will be extremely entertaining and hilarious without losing its salient and timely message.
See photos below!
Group Head, Creative Industry, BoI, Uche Nwuka, Wife of former Ekiti State Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi; Associate producer, CHATROOM, Adesuwa Onyenokwe; Actress, Damilola Adegbite-Attoh; Director, CHATROOM, Chike Ibekwe; Producer, CHATROOM, Peju Fadirepo; and Chief Executive Officer, WFM 91.7, Toun Okewale Sonaiya,
