More women are taking the and one such example is the Ghanaian Kadijah Amoah who was appointed as Country Director of Aker Energy Ghana Ltd making her the first Ghanaian women to head an oil company. The appointment,took effect on February 1.
A trained lawyer, Khadija Amoah holds a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology, LLB and an M.Sc. in International Business from the University of Ghana.
“I am extremely pleased to join Aker Energy at such an important stage of the company’s history. Building on the Aker group’s 180 years’ industrial heritage, Aker Energy will, together with AGM and AGIC, take the lead to develop Ghana’s oil and gas resources and related industries,” Amoah said of her appointment. “It all starts with the Pecan project operated by Aker Energy, but this is just the beginning. AGM’s plans to explore and appraise the SDWT block and AGIC’s plans to pursue development opportunities stand as testaments to Aker’s commitment to industry development in Ghana beyond the upcoming project,” she added.
The CEO of Aker Energy es expressed satisfaction with Amoah’s presence saying: “With Kadijah’s experience, I am confident that she will lead with success as we move towards the development phase of the Pecan project offshore Ghana.”
Her appointment comes as calls are heightening for firms within the oil and gas sector to deliberately design gender policies to boost women’s participation and presence within the industry.
Congratulations to her!
Being a mother is learning about strength you didn’t know you had, Motherhood is one of the most beautiful jobs in the world. Ibukun Omololu is not just a Mother, but one who is helping other Moms navigate through life life and helping them create work life balance.
A seasoned banker with over 11 years of professional experience. With expertise across critical areas such as Customer Service, Relationship Management, Strategic Sales and Marketing, Treasury Management and Compliance
At Sterling Bank Plc., Ibukun currently heads the One Woman proposition team, providing strategic oversight on the Women Banking Desk of the bank. She functions in adequate capacity, designing solutions tailored to the needs of the women customer segment, enabling access to financial services.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, Ibukun is launching a book to address some wrong beliefs about motherhood and parenting in general. A book she considers a gift to every Mother.
The beautiful banker and gender specialist who holds a B.A in Linguistics from the University of Ilorin is happily married to Adedayo Omololu, and they are blessed with two beautiful boys.
Ibukun shares her Inspiring journey, challenges of being a gender specialist in a society that is yet to fully recognise the role of women and why her book “Behind the little bundles of Joy” is a must have for every Mom in this insightful interview, in Celebration of International Women’s Day.
Childhood Influence
I was a happy free spirited and inquisitive child and the last in a family of 7. I often struggled with being the “girlchild” doing chores at home. It often baffled me when I saw my immediate elder brother relax in front of the TV while I had to go cook or wash plates. I often wondered what made him different from me. I think this sort of made me more inquisitive as I had lots of questions and would not follow the norm. It made me more open to challenge the status quo most times.
Impact of being a gender specialist on my Daytime Job
Being a gender specialist has exposed me to the challenges women face in Nigeria and by extension Africa. This is because we share similar cultures on gender bias. The impact has been negative and our aim at my organisation is to greatly change the narrative by supporting women in any way that we can. Women have been continually told to downplay their potential because they can’t have it all which is largely untrue. Being the Head of Sterling Bank “One woman” Initiative, I have been able push financial education, credit and other financial services that efficiently helps them get ahead. This is a huge way to serve their families and promote economic development especially through entrepreneurship.
My Book; Behind the Little bundles of Joy
I believe motherhood is such an incredible and beautiful gift, but it requires preparation. I have discovered that a lot of women are truly not prepared for it, and It’s easy to take the impact of childbirth for granted as it was in my case which caused a lot of conflict and challenges in my own marriage. The conflict was one part, I also struggled with postpartum depression, a period of infertility amongst other things. These are timely conversations with learning points that we should be having with more younger women. Writing this book is my own way of sharing my mistakes and lessons from my experience. I want single ladies/men, expecting parents and new parents to be able to put some thought into how they can make pregnancy or birth plan more enjoyable through inspiring, real and positive birth narratives. It is important that what is ordinarily a beautiful memorable experience does not become a dark and traumatic one for anybody.
Insightful nuggets from my book
I had to address some cultural myths and societal expectations like the following;
Do not have a child because society or parents place a demand on you for it.
Vaginal delivery and C-section are perfectly normal birth methods, and none is inferior to another.
Support structures starts first from your spouse and it is not demeaning for a man to take care of his baby
A house maid is different from a nanny and what to look out for when picking a nanny or creche.
Other Projects and Activities
Other projects include the financial literacy initiative for all women owned businesses and the fact that women need to know the importance of money and how to keep and save money for emergency, self-care and actualizing their dreams. Not spending their resources all the time even though most times, their expenses is for the family. A significant part of the “One-woman” proposition is about financial freedom for women and how they can be relevant for themselves and the community
Challenges of being a Social Entrepreneur
One of the main challenges is the fact that women have been told too many lies all in the name of culture and tradition so it’s sometimes difficult to help them see that their dreams are worth chasing. Women are not secondary or inferior and have the capacity to achieve so much more especially when the men are our advocates and supporters. We honestly need each other as we are utterly inter-dependent and complement one another. We need to find better ways to live, grow and work together because when the strengths of both women and men are harnessed, the results are better.
Being a busy banker with a very busy portfolio, an author, gender specialist and above all a wife and mom, and managing it all
Juggling my career with a family while trying to build a brand amidst other things has stretched me but I am grateful for solid support structures from my family especially my husband who is one of my biggest cheerleaders, I have a fantastic nanny who helps me with the kids on the home front and a great driver so I am not pulling my hair outrage when Lagos Danfo infuriates you. I also work with some of the best bosses and colleagues on the face of the earth, chief of all would be Toyin Bolajoko who is a big asset to my team and offers me reverse mentoring as well. Lastly nothing good comes easy, so I remain resilient in the midst of challenges.
Being a Woman of Rubies
Let’s just say I love God, I also love to see the best in people, so I have an open mind and I am never judgemental about anybody. I am an urbane person who value people and relationships
3 women who inspire me, In celebration of the Intl Women’s Day
My mother;She is an enigma of elegance, calmness, selflessness and love. I have watched her pour her life into us, her 5 children and every other child she gets a chance to love or nurture. She is the epitome of motherhood and I learnt how to love and value people from her. I can’t go anywhere and people who know my mum won’t stop asking after her.
Remi Owadokun;I don’t know how I can explain the amazon called Remi. She is selfless and genuinely wants to help people develop to be their best versions. She has inspired me, encouraged me, pushed me at some of my lowest moments and has refused to give up on me. This right here is the type of help every woman needs to do the impossible.
Temi Dalley; She is the Head of Human capital in my bank and one of the women who has given me my big break to lead the One Woman proposition. Temi is really passionate about raising more women leaders in the organisation. She encourages me to make the most of work without losing sight of what is important, getting ahead on the business, feeling good and not losing myself in the challenges on the job.
To new moms who need support to navigate motherhood and still thrive.
I guess congratulations are in order, I believe you are at your wits ends wondering how you got yourself into this. I believe you are doing an amazing job despite the fact that you are new to this, hang in there, you can do it. Please remember that your state of mind is also really important so get as much help and rest as possible. You also know that your little one is counting on your help and support to grow with your nurture, your love and your milk too, so take time to bond with your baby through it all, they grow up so fast so enjoy every moment you can and live a day at a time.
Lastly, go get a copy of my book even if it’s only because I asked you to, trust me it would be worth your while and just may save your marriage too.
A certain 19-year-old student of the University of Nigeria has been noted as a genius. It was disclosed that the teenager can speak Korean, Swahili, Shona, Filipino, Spanish, and Indonesian fluently without stepping out of Nigeria.
The disclosure was made by a Twitter user named Maazi Ogbonnaya, who also said the teenager could write, teach and translate the aforementioned languages.
The news have sparked the interest of social media users where she was displayed, with so many talking about their language speaking ability.
Meet my 19-year old mentee; a current student of Medicine & Surgery, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus who speaks, writes, teaches, translates fluently the following 6 Languages: Korean, Swahili, Shona, Filipino, Spanish, and Indonesian without stepping out of Nigeria. pic.twitter.com/BfiCzurVTQ
— Maazi Ogbonnaya (@ogbonnaya_mark) February 18, 2020
Jada has been married to Will Smith for over two decades. Their status as being deemed as a Hollywood power couple, isn’t without its ups and downs. Their children are, son Jaden, 21, and daughter Willow, 18 currently.
Both couple recently, shared publicly the struggles in their relationship on her Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk, with Jada saying their decision to be so open about it came as they were keen to “get rid” of the idea of their romance being “perfect”.
She said: “What was really important about Will and I doing that show together – two things. First of all was really to kind of get rid of the idea that people in the public eye have perfect relationships. We were kind of sick of living up to that. We were real sick of it, and then second of all really having myself and Will come and talk about our relationship – sometimes you see just women do it alone or you just see a guy do it.”
The actress praised her spouse for being so open about his own “weakness”, as she said it has helped other “successful men” realise what they need to work on in their own relationships.
During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the 47-year-old said: “Us having coming together and taking responsibility for both of our parts and also Will being the successful guy that he is and being willing to share what his pitfalls were in the relationship and in his family, you can’t imagine how many other successful men called and said, ‘Wow, my wife has been saying the same thing for years. Because you said it, it opened my eyes and because you said it, I’m willing to listen’.
“I think a lot of times successful men might feel like, ‘Hey, I know what I’m doing. I’ve had a lot of success in a lot of areas. I know exactly what I’m doing’. So, a lot of times, you know, you can shut your partner down a little bit.”
LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 05: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend the annual Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House on March 5, 2020 in London, England. Their Royal Highnesses will celebrate the achievements of wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women who have taken part in remarkable sporting and adventure challenges over the last year. (Photo by Paul Edwards – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Meghan Markle husband Harry joined the royal family to celebrate the 2020 Endeavour Fund Awards, in honour of the achievements of wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women who have taken part in sporting and adventure challenges over the last years couple of years.
After a series of event this march they will make their final day as senior members of the royal family, which will take place on march 31, Just Jared reports.
Megan looked beautiful in a Victoria Beckham dress and Manolo Blahnik annual Endeavour Fund Awards held at Mansion House today in London.
LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 05: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend the annual Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House on March 5, 2020 in London, England. Their Royal Highnesses will celebrate the achievements of wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women who have taken part in remarkable sporting and adventure challenges over the last year. (Photo by Paul Edwards – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
The royal couple will also be making an appearance on Saturday, March 7 for the Mountbatten Music Festival, Monday, March 9 for the Commonwealth Service and Meghan will also attend International Women’s Day events on Sunday, March 8.
LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 05: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend the annual Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House on March 5, 2020 in London, England. Their Royal Highnesses will celebrate the achievements of injured and sick servicemen and women who have taken part in remarkable sporting and adventure challenges over the last year. (Photo by Paul Edwards – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Dennis Christiana Chiamaka is a twenty year old student of Abia State University, Uturu studying Medicine and Surgery.
She is a google certified digital marketing strategist, coach and trainer, a videographer, a copywriter, a storyteller, a content creator and a movil consult certified graphics designer. She is also a bead maker/beaded jewelry designer.
She runs a multi unit enterprise – Her Domain Creations(HDC), that offers these services.
1.Let’s meet you. Who is Dennis Christiana?
I am Dennis Christiana Chiamaka, born 20 years ago in Abia state, Nigeria. I am a student of Abia State University, Uturu studying Medicine and surgery, a Christian and a volunteer.
I am a google certified digital marketing strategist, coach and trainer, a videographer, a copywriter, a storyteller, a content creator and a movil consult certified graphics designer. I also train other people on the above digital skills. Oh, I’m a bead maker/beaded jewelry designer too, I also have a non-digital skill.
I show individuals how to make active income using their smartphone and working professionals how to make passive income using their smartphone.
I run a multi unit enterprise – Her Domain Creations(HDC), that offers these services.
You can visit my social media pages @christiana_makky and @herdomaincreations on Instagram and Dennis Christiana on Facebook.
2. Who and what inspires you?
I get inspired by my dad a lot. Then, there are some young ladies in Nigeria who are making waves and still supporting each other(women supporting women) that inspire me. Women like Bestie Atti, Grace Ihejiamazu and Laiza King. I met Ijeoma Ndukwe(@nwanyiakamu_global on IG) not too long ago and that woman is a great source of inspiration to me too.
3. Your biggest fear?
I actually have 2 big fears. The first one is the fear of rejection and second one is the fear of disappointing my parents.
4.You are a google certified digital marketing strategist, videographer, copywriter, storyteller, content creator, movil consult certified graphics designer, CEO Her Domain Creations..What motivated you to go for all these skills? Where there any fear initially? If yes how did you overcome them?
My main motivation at first was the quest for independence, financial independence but as soon as I started, I discovered other things that motivated me. Along the way, I started seeking relevance, you know, I always want to have something to bring to the table, I want to be a person of value. To be honest, I’m not done yet because I still have so many skills(digital and physical) I would love to learn. I’ll definitely attain mastery in one or two of them but I intend to keep going for more, making myself a better person daily.
The fear of rejection as I said earlier is one of my biggest fears, I also have the fear of failure once in a while, the fear and feeling of not being enough. I overcame and is still overcoming these fears by staying around positive people who talk me out of these fears and into faith and strong convictions. As a Christian, my Bible helps me a lot whenever the fear of failure creeps in. I also have affirmations I say to myself daily, that help me overcome my fears.
5. You are a medical student yet you are an entrepreneur with lots of skills . How do you keep up with your several interests and fortes?
As a medical student, I must say that it is really not easy to keep up with academics and being updated on skills especially in a school as stressful as mine. No matter how I try to stay away, I only get more interested in all these skills so I met someone who taught me something that helps as regards time management, planning.
By planning I mean allocating time to my academics, business and other aspects of my life and carrying out their activities during the time allocated to them in each day. I’ve not mastered this right now because I’m still in the process but that has helped me a lot.
Another thing is that I have accountability partners who help me checkmate my activities and ensure I achieve my goals while balancing the different areas of my life. This is also very important because I could slack on my own but because I have someone/people I report to daily, I try not to mismanage my time.
6. Your best quote?
Perfection is not attainable but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.
7. What was growing up for you like? And did your childhood in any way prepare you for everything you do now?
Growing up was beautiful for me I would say. I can’t say that I suffered or I had nothing because I have parents who want the best for their children and would never want to see them lack or beg. Even when they’re not in their best financial situation, they try their very best to provide for my siblings and I, making sure we are always comfortable. So, I grew up depending fully on my parents and having my needs always satisfied.
Yes, I would say that childhood prepared me for everything I do now because I grew up having almost everything and begging for nothing. Yes, till today I don’t know how to beg because it wasn’t part of me in the beginning. I’m not trying to shame anyone who begs or anything but you know what I mean. I grew up wanting to be independent believing that after school, I’d have to leave my parents and cater for myself. I wanted to continue with the life I grew up with, the one my parents created for me and even start my own family in that manner. I’ve always wanted to get to the point where I’ll be able to manage most of my financial needs without involving my parents even while in school. You know, the point where I wouldn’t have to depend on any uncle, aunt or even friends. I have not gotten to that point yet but that’s where I’m headed.
Reading medicine and becoming a doctor has always been my childhood dream but as I grew, I realized that I can be a doctor and be other things too. I can make money as a student while waiting and preparing to be a doctor so, why not go for it? Having extra sources of income apart from the one my certificate brings wouldn’t hurt😉☺.
8. What keeps you up at night?
I value my sleep so if I’m awake at night, I’m doing something important. I’m either reading, doing work related stuff(taking a course, creating content, etc) or praying.
9. What is your study routine like?
I try to read/study at least 3 hours daily(this is a habit I am still cultivating because I’m not perfect at it yet). Most times, I read 1hr 30 mins-2hrs during the day and 2-3hrs at night. I have a reading timetable which is fitted into my daily time table.
10. One accessory you can’t leave home without
If my phone counts as an accessory, my answer would be my phone(my phone is my mobile office, why would I ever leave it?). If my phone doesn’t count, I always make sure I have my earrings on before I leave home so that would be the answer.
11. Where do you see yourself/your brand in the next 5 years?
I’ll take this question as two questions and answer separately.
First of all, how do I see my myself in the next 5 years? I know and believe that I as a person am a brand of my own. To start with, in the next 5 years I’ll be a practicing medical doctor, you know with my MBBS and I’ll be a well known woman in the digital world. The successful CEO of Her Domain Creations, yes, I’ll be a queen in my niche. A well sought-after doctor who isn’t only book-oriented but also a giant in the digital world, I’ll be The Digital Doctor.
The second question, how do I see my brand in the next 5 years? Apart from being a brand of my own, my business is also my brand. Her Domain Creations(HDC) my brand is a multi unit production enterprise, this is what I had in mind when I started. In the next 5 years, I know that HDC will be a well known name with different units successfully established. We will most definitely have a physical location with about one, two or three branches in different states in Nigeria.
HDC will be one of the best digital companies in Nigeria who partners and works with national and multi-national companies to improve the digital space of this country.
I’m excited to see what the next 5 years would bring.
12. If given the chance to be the president of Nigeria for a day, what will you change?
There are so many things I’ll love to change but most importantly, I’ll restructure the system of education. The system of education because it is one of the most important sectors of the economy that influences the thoughts of people especially the children and the youth.
I’ll improve the system of education so that the youth wouldn’t just see the school especially higher institution as a place to enter, get certified and come out depending on the government for jobs. I’ll make sure they are taught that education is beyond the walls of the school and that even as students, they can provide for themselves through legal means.
13. If you were given the opportunity to address a group of girls five years younger than you, what will be your advice to them?
Five years younger than me would be 15 lol. If given an opportunity to address a group of girls five years younger than me, I’ll tell them to start where they are because location is not a barrier, start with whatever they have (I started with my smartphone), keep putting in the work consistently and believe in themselves always. I’ll also make sure to let them know that they can be more than one thing at a time that is, they can be doctors and still be graphics designers, content creators and even chefs.
Aya Chebbi is a young Tunisian blogger, women advocate and peace activist. She received her degree in International Relations from the Higher Institute of Human Sciences of Tunis. Aya is the African Youth Coordinator at World Peace Initiative, an international organization that promotes peace around the world.
For Aya Chebbi, the idea that we are equal stops at the ground beneath her feet. The soil of Tunisia, her country of birth, was chiefly owned by men. That is until the 2011 revolution. At the time, Chebbi was still a teenager in class learning about George Orwell’s 1984, a dystopian novel about a state in perpetual war, policed by an omnipresent government.
“It was interesting because the year of my graduation was the revolution year and we were studying 1984 by George Orwell. It was funny because everyone in the class knew what we were talking about but we couldn’t say anything about it and then the revolution happened and we were like now we know what Orwell’s 1984 means, now we know Animal Farm.”
“We were sitting for exams in January and the revolution started end of December and they decided to shut all the schools because of the trouble we were making, but that was one of the dictator’s mistakes because we had more time to organize rallies,” recalls Chebbi.
Never one to shy away from challenges, Chebbi started speaking out against the injustice suffered by Tunisians, during the revolution, through her Proudly Tunisian blog posts that were published on openDemocracy and Al Jazeera, among others. Tunisia has made historic leaps since then.
According to UN Women, about 47% of the local council positions in Tunisia were occupied by women, following the May 2018 elections. The increase is attributed to the 2016 electoral law that includes alternation between men and women on candidate lists for all elections. At 30 years old, Chebbi has played a significant role in shaping the narrative of women and youth in her own way.
“I started working for children’s rights advocacy, where we would go to children’s hospitals and community service centers. I spent two years working with different children’s organizations like the Red Cross and all sorts of grassroots national and international organizations that had a children and youth focus. I think after 2011, I started to believe in movement building and saw that it is possible to organize, not only nationally, but across borders,” Chebbi says.
That realization opened her up to a whole new world through her travels across Africa. She began to reflect on the challenges that young people faced all over the continent and found it absurd that, with the advent of technology, there was no real movement to galvanize the collective power of the youth in Africa.
Chebbi began to remedy this curious challenge by starting a mentoring program, which came from the understanding that youth often struggled while transitioning from school to work as they did not know what to do.
She founded the Youth-Programme of Holistic Empowerment Mentoring (Y-PHEM), to coach the next generation to aspire to be positive change agents, before going on to start the Afrika Youth Movement (AYM), one of Africa’s largest pan-African youth-led movements, and Afresist, a youth leadership program.
“Afresist is documenting youth work in Africa from an Africa and youth perspective. I was really [upset] with the international media’s reporting of the youth-led movement in Africa. So, I started blogging out of frustration of what international media was saying about us and began retweeting pieces for international media, saying you have to correct this narrative.”
As the first African Union (AU) Youth Envoy and the youngest diplomat at the AU Commission Chairperson’s cabinet, Chebbi’s passion and goal is to change the negative rhetoric about Africa.
“I think that is very important. Like we say all the time, we have to own our narrative as Africans and say our story and social media provides a great narrative for that but we allow other western scholars to come in and tell our story. I think it has to be a collaboration, which comes from us, and that narrative has to be shaped by us as well.”
Juliet Ibrahim and her sisters share some bonding pictures.
Juliet Ibrahim and her sisters are giving us some sisters-goals, and we are like..
The beautiful sisters Juliet, Nadia and Sonia Ibrahim each took to their Instagram to appreciate each other all dressed up and rocking their best smiles.
We know one another’s faults, virtues, catastrophes, mortifications, triumphs, rivalries, desires, and how long we can each hang by our hands to a bar. We have been banded together under pack codes and laws.#sisterhood.
She captioned another photo with some sweet words:
All sisters share a special bond between them. Growing up together, fighting over petty things, at the same time, being there for one another when the situation demands – are a few of the aspects of this special relationship. Most of us do not realize how much our sisters mean to us, unless and until we are separated from them. And it’s not just their support and comfort that we miss, it is the laughter and the fun times that we had together, that is perhaps missed the most.
@eleanorgoodeyphotography after reading my book @atoasttolifebook was inspired by the special bond my sisters @ssoniaibrahim and @lalahnadya and I share and decided to use her lenses to capture those emotions for your viewing pleasure. #sisterhood #atoasttolifebook #atoasttolife #love
Juliet Ibrahim also wrote one of the photos:
We know one another’s faults, virtues, catastrophes, mortifications, triumphs, rivalries, desires, and how long we can each hang by our hands to a bar. We have been banded together under pack codes and laws.#sisterhood.
While Sonia captioned a photo:
Looking back on our lives, i have found out that, some of our happiest moments have been when we were engaged in spreading happiness to others… #live#laugh#love#sisters#family
In another photo, she wrote:
Just because its Tuesday… in good and bad times, we always lean on each other… #family#atoasttolife#love#sisters#africanandproud
Check on it!
Photo Credit: ssoniaibrahim | julietibrahim | @eleanorgoodeyphotography
Looking all beautiful
