Abiodun Alabi is our debut WORrior on this week’s 7 questions.
Abiodun has over 6 years experience as Human Resources Generalist Personnel. Currently, Abiodun is the founder of Motherhoodng, a social enterprise that is setup to raise group of mothers in every city in Nigeria.
Abiodun’s mission is is to run maternal health campaign and sensitisation in communities and social media that provides information to mothers and to-be mothers.
She holds a Bachelor degree in Business administration and Management. She is an associate member of Chartered Institute of Personnel management (CIPM) of Nigeria and Nigerian Institute of Training and Development.
Abiodun, is driven by her passion to support mothers at the delicate stage of childbirth and parenting in their motherhood journey. She answers our 7 thought provoking questions in this interview.
1. What is your biggest fear?
My greatest fear is to look back many years down the line and regret not doing something because I was afraid that it will not be successful.
2. In your darkest moments, what do you do?
I have experienced such times in life and the God factor remain my strength through them all. Also, I analyse the situation, to pick one or two lessons as I move forward, then I consistently soak my mind with positive words by listening to worship songs, positive affirmations that address the situation am going through, seek God intervention and visualize the victory am expecting.
3. What is that one thing you would like to change about yourself?
Trusting people so easily.
4. Where do you see yourself five years from now?
Looking back over some years, I would never have predicted that at this point in my life I’d be doing the kind of great work I do. Given the pace of change these days I would not presume to say that I know what I’ll be doing in the next five years. However, in the next five years I know I’ll be working hard on something that will positively impact womanhood at large, alongside smart and committed people.
5. What keeps you going in?
My determination to make positive impact in life in any way and the goal to be the first role model for my children.
6. What is your stand on feminism? Do you consider yourself a feminist?
I stand for feminism because it is about equal rights and opportunities for both genders. I connect with anything that bring joy or goodness to women’s world.
7. What keeps you up at night?
Quest for personal development and fulfilling my purpose in life.
Send a mail to info@womenofrubies.com if you would like to be featured on #7QUESTIONS
Renowned Zimbabwean author and prominent feminist Tsitsi Dangarembga has been shortlisted for the St. Francis College Literary Prize. The prize is a biennial literary award that first came to life in 2009.
The prize is a celebration of mid-career authors in honour of a third to fifth book of fiction. A jury selects the winner and they are invited to to St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York for purposes of delivering a speech. It is pretty much a prestigious literary event as the winner walks away with a handsome $50,000.
Dangarembga could not hide her elation as she tweeted, “It’s an honour to be a finalist in this competition. I’m so grateful to the judges and all the people who gave so much to make THIS MOURNABLE BODY what it is. Wish me good fortune, folks!”
Tsitsi Dangarembga is one of the finest authors Zimbabwe, and Africa at large has ever produced. She is mostly known for her book Nervous Conditions that was published in 1988. That book won her the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize in 1989. Nervous Conditions was translated into many other languages, making it an international hit.
She wrote the script for the 1993 hit movie Neria. Neria became the highest-grossing movie in Zimbabwe and this was also aided by the fact that the soundtrack was done by the legebdary musician Oliver Mtukudzi.
“Nervous Conditions didn’t get any traction in Zimbabwe,” Dangarembga said when she spoke with DW. “I have always been writing against power and that’s why things don’t always happen.”
She is always determined to speaking truth to power and is also a notable voice when it comes to airing out and expressing feminist views.
With the introduction of higher educational standards, the women of Africa have started experiencing opportunity and freedom to enterprise more, which was against the old believe that African woman can actually strife to best and peak of their carriers, recently African woman has demonstrated the real vigor in typical Africa, they have been performing expediently well in their various chosen field, this brought Africa to limelight which her contemporaries have been striving to attain. So we ask:
Ten African women have shown this and have become the top 10 richest African women that employ thousands of people through ventures and firms which has continually help to keep many families and household in shape, the full alacrity African woman exhibit has always be of notable and paramount importance.
The top ten richest African women are listed below
1. ISABEL DOS SANTOS
Asset Value: $2.7 Billion
Date of birth: 20th April 1973
Country: Angola
Isabel Dos Santos
This woman Isabel Dos Santos is the richest African woman. The eldest daughter of the wealthy former Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos. She is part of the board of directors of several firms in Portugal and Angola of which media firms and major Portuguese banks with oil and diamond interest.
Isabel Dos Santos has shares in Ciminvest, an Angolan cement firm and also another firm was known as Banco African De Investimentos that made her among the top list, she studied engineering in the well-known Kings College in London and her first enterprise was at the age of 24. Her stake in the Portuguese media conglomerate Zone Multimedia is up to 14%. Isabel Dos Santos also has major stakes in the banks of Portugal like Banco Portuguese De Investimento, Banco Espirito Santo and in Portuguese energy firms like Energias De Portugal. These investments have made her more than $1 billion mark which is why she became the first woman in Africa to be a billionaire.
2. FOLORUNSHOALAKIJA
Asset Value: $1.76 billion
Date of birth: 15th July 1951
Country: Nigeria
FOLORUNSHO ALAKIJA Second Richest Woman In Africa
Next to Isabel Dos Santos is this woman who is 66 years old. Folorunso Alakija she is Africa’ s second richest woman. She is the Executive Director of Famfa Oil, an oil and gas exploration company that is worth up to $600 million.
Folorunso Alakija was the secretary of Africa’ s earliest investment banks known as International Merchant Bank of Nigeria in the 1970s. She proceeded to do her studies in fashion design in the United Kingdom and then formed her fashion house firm within Nigeria known as Supreme Stitches in the years 1985, from where she became the largest designer in Nigeria. Then in 1993, the Nigerian President Ibrahim Babangida awarded her firm, Famfa Oil, a license in oil prospecting after which the firm turned to be one of the most prolific blocks with Famfa Oil having up to 60% stakes in the block. President Olusegun Obasanjo in the year 2000 acquired in an illegal manner up to 50% stake in the block without proper compensation to Alakija or her firm but this was revoked later by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
3. NGINAKENYATTA
Asset Value: $1 billion
Date of birth: 24th June 1933
Country: Kenya
Mama Ngina Kenyatta – Top 10 Richest Kenyan Politicians
She was known popularly as Mama Ngina, who is the widow of the first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta and also one of Africa’s richest women. Even though she had undeclared assets, she remains among the richest women in Africa. She is 84 years old and is welcoming and charitable. Her life now is reclusive and she has gained much respect from the citizens of Kenya due to her position in promoting and defending enterprises that include sectors like education, banking, farming, insurance, manufacturing, hospitality and real estate. She has many stakes, investments, and portfolios that are under her authority.
Mama Ngina Kenyatta is among major shareholders in one of the largest privatized banks in Kenya known as the Commercial Bank of Africa and a chain of hotels known as Heritage. This is an endless list including Brookside Dairies which is an East African leader in the industry with shares that are from East Africa to the Middle East. Others include Media Max which is a media company and Timsales Timber which is among her portfolio. She also has stakes in estate sector where she developed a 500-acre estate which is among the largest gated community in the region.
4. HAJIABOLASHAGAYA
Asset Value: $630 million
Date of birth: 10th October 1959
Country: Nigeria
HAJIA BOLA SHAGAYA – Richest African Woman
The 58-year-old is the 4th richest woman in Africa. She runs enterprises and is the CEO of a diversified Nigerian firm known as Bolinus Group International including real estate interests, oil interests, and banking interests. She is a brand member of the Unity Bank Plc where she is also engaged in photography and communications. Her enterprise activities reach the oil and gas sector, finance and banking which include real estate that has hundreds of townhouses in the choicest neighborhoods of Nigeria with properties in the United States and Europe.
Hajia Bola Shagawa is a board member of a Nigerian group known as the National Economic Partnership for African Development ( NEPAD). She seemed to be aligned with necessary political and military personnel in Nigeria and is very much close to the former Nigerian president Ibrahim Babangida and Same Patience Jonathan.
5. WENDYAPPELBAUM
Asset Value: $259.3 million
Date of birth: 1962
Country: South Africa
WENDY APPELBAUM – Top 10 Richest Women In Africa
The 56-year-old is a South African millionaire that became head of the real estate and insurance firm of her father known as Liberty Investors. She was the only daughter of Appelbaum. Donald Gordon who is a South African billionaire. Her shares were sold for her to rake in her fortune but when she sold it she now made her personal fortune.
Wendy Appelbaum was one of the Deputy Chairman of Women’ s Investment Portfolio Limited which is the first women dominated firm to be listed in the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) with assets that exceed with R1 billion. She made investments in De Mortenson which is a wine estate that is famous in the region of Stellenbosch. She has made philanthropical aid that is more than 23 million US dollar to support the Gordon Institute of Business Science and the Donald Gordon Medical Centre in her father’s memory. The net worth of a Wendy Appelbaum by early 2012 is up to $259.3 million which have made her one of the African women.
6. WENDYACKERMAN
Asset Value: $190.2 million
Country: South Africa
Wendy Ackerman is a retail tycoon in South Africa and also a Non-Executive Director of Pick N Pay Holdings Limited. Her assets are worth $190.2 million and she runs the Ackerman Family Trust. Her husband has up to 50% of the major grocery of South Africa. The company is worth $3 billion and they have outlets in Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Australia, Zambia, Namibia, Mozambique of which Ackerman is the Executive Director.
7. IRENECHAMLEY
Asset Value: $150 million
Date of birth: May 1960
Country: South Africa
The 57-year-old South African woman is a former unionist with assets that are $150 million. She has spent up to 13 years as a negotiator for the National Union of Mine Workers in South Africa after which she later became the Executive Director of MTN which is the largest telecom company in Africa. Now, she is the CEO of Smile Telecoms which is a telecommunications products firm. She has initiated the expansion of MTN across Africa and have played a major role in accumulating Iranian and Nigerian operating licenses for the firm. She was also the director of First Rand Bank and Johnic Communications. Her assets which are up to $150 million made her among Africa’s richest women.
8. BRIDGETRADEBE
Asset Value: $100 million
Date of birth: 26th February 1960
Country: South Africa
She formed the mining firm known as Mmakau Mining in South Africa that has operations in platinum, gold, uranium, chrome mining and exploration. This 57-year-old woman first became a mine worker. She is now the president of an association known as the South African Mining Development Association and she won an award from the Global Foundation for Democracy.
9. SHARON WAPNICK
Asset Value: $43.1 million
Date of birth: 1964
Country: South Africa
The total calculation of her assets is worth more $43.1 million and she double to be among the largest and biggest shareholders in listed loan stocks firms known as October Investments and Premium Properties which were both formed by her father Alex.
10. ELISABETHBRADLEY
Asset Value: $32 million
Date of birth: 1962
Country: South Africa
Her father Albert Wessels introduced Toyota to South Africa in the year 1961. She was the chairman of Wesco Investments that sold their 25% stake in the South African Toyota to Toyota Motor Corp of Japan for $320 million. She remains the Chairman of Wesco Investments, South Africa.
Caster Semenya isn’t new to her gender being questioned and used against her. The athlete recently shared that even as youngster she had to sometimes prove she was a woman as her teammates struggled to compete against her. “They started questioning, are you really a girl? One day, I walked naked into the change room [to prove to them],” Semenya was quoted as saying by The Sowetan.
The athlete was speaking at the Standard Bank Top Women Conference held at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park in Johannesburg.
The athlete, who also revealed she used to be a soccer player, shared some of the reasons she is as strong and fast as she is. She said she grew up with boys and walked long distances to school. She added that she used to train on sand.
“I think my parents raised me well,” Semenya said. “They have never questioned what I do, my feelings, how I see life. They accepted me for who I am. They could see that this one was a little bit different. I did not like being in the kitchen, but being in the garden. I just wanted to give you background why I am tough, why am I fearless, why I do not care about what other people think about me.”
The Court of Arbitration for Sport recently ruled against Semenya in her case against the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) forcing female athletes to regulate their testosterone levels.
Semenya, always resilient, was quoted in May of this year as saying after the ruling: “For a decade the IAAF has tried to slow me down. But this has actually made me stronger. The decision of the CAS will not hold me back. I will once again rise above and continue to inspire young women and athletes in South Africa and around the world.”
Meet Omowunmi Sadik, the inventor of microelectrode biosensors that can detect foreign materials and can be used to spot drugs or explosives.
According to patent number 20060275786A1, the request for the patent was filed on December 7, 2006. Sadik also has patents for additional distinct biosensors
Sadik is a surface chemist, inventor, and college instructor. She was born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1964. In 1985, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Lagos. She also obtained a Master’s degree in chemistry in 1987. In 1994, she earned her PhD from Wollongong University in Australia.
Sadik is the recipient of several fellowships to include the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the National Research Council to name a few.
She is also a collaborator with the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, UNESCO in Romania, Turkey, and Japan; and previously a panel member for the National Institution of Health on Instrumentation and Systems Development.
In 2012, Sadik in conjunction with Barbara Karn formed the not-for-profit Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization.
Sadik is currently a professor at Binghamton University in Upstate, New York while formulating technology that will recycle metal ions from waste for industrial and environmental purposes.
A Nigerian, Dr Eleanor Nwadinobi, has emerged President-elect of Medical Women International Association (MWIA) in the United States.
The MWIA is a global association of all medical women doctors in the world, Igbere TV reports.
The association’s spokesperson, Dr Udochi Okoronkwo, said in a statement on Monday that Nwadinobi became the first Nigerian to emerge as president-elect of the 100-year-old association, an indication that she would become the International President by 2022, Igbere TV reports.
She said Nwadinobi, who hails from Umuahia, Abia State, was celebrated during the closing ceremony of the Centennial Congress of the MWIA, organised by American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) from July 25 to July 28 in New York.
According to the spokesperson, Nwadinobi joined the association in Nigeria through its Enugu branch in 1982 and rose to become President of the Enugu branch in 1997.
In 2005, the MWIA president-elect was elected as the National President of Medical Women Association of Nigeria and served on the Scientific, Ethics and Resolution Committee and chaired the Finance Committee.
Nwadinobi is also a co-country representative for the Working Group on Women Youth Peace and Security for UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS)
Pakistan went to the election voting a month ago and among the legislators selected is a lady of African plunge assigned to a women’s reserved seat at the regional parliament of southern Sindh region.
Tanzeela Qambrani originates from the Sidi, a community made up of a larger part of individuals of African descent.
Qambrani’s progenitors originated from Tanzania simply like the ancestors of numerous Sidi individuals, who are accepted to be either the descendants of slaves conveyed to Asia by the Portuguese or traders and pilgrims.
“My father told us that his grandparents had been brought to Sindh now around a century ago from Tanzania. That’s why one of my sisters is married in Tanzania,” she said.
Photo: Daily Messenger
The Sidi have managed to hold onto their roots and cultures but still face racial discrimination.
“As a tiny minority lost in the midst of local populations, we have struggled to preserve our African roots and cultural expression, but I look forward to the day when the name Sidi will evoke respect, not contempt,” Ms Qambrani, told the BBC.
Qambrani, a member of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) of Benazir Bhutto, was nominated by Bhutto’s son Bhutto Zardari, making her the first Sidi to join parliament.
Photo: Twitter
It is not the first time the mother of three who holds a postgraduate in computer science has held political office. She has served as a local councillor in Badin, where she comes from. She, however, says the new position comes with a lot of responsibility and expectations.
“I can already feel the weight,” she said. “I’m a Sidi, and all these middle class, lower-middle class and working class Sidis know that I’m one of them. And this means there will be expectations.”
Mirabelle Ogochukwu Morah is the 19-year old founder of Blankpaperz, a literary platform for young African writers.
As a teenager, Mirabel had read Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Adichie and she was struck by how the writer could capture societal issues in words. So, being a writer, Mirabel decided to start her website just to put up her stories.
Soon, she got all her friends, who are writers to publish their stories on her platform and advocate for societal change through them.
Since its inception, over 100 people from over 12 countries have published on Blankpaperz, with 33, 000 online viewership.
Mirabel hosts events and programs to promote literacy, local leadership and support other social causes. In partnership with other organisations, Mirabel also give out books to promote education.
Mirabel wouldn’t have belived that she could build a community so strong as Blankpaperz but for the books she read growing up.
“..the books I read opened my mind up to the possibilities inside of me. they made me much more confident in myself,” she said.
However, the teenager battled with some feelings of inadequacies before doing it afraid with her platform
“There was always this fear, ‘if I try this, it might fail. What if I’m not good enough? But then, the whole thing was just try. Just be a voice for someone who is voiceless. In as much as you are afraid, you can always overcome the fear,” she said.
Mavis Kusi and Sharon Aforo Acheampong are two young Ghanaian women graduates who have just perfected a device that can incapacitate mosquitoes. The goal is to prevent insects from biting humans to help eradicate mosquitoes completely from Ghana.
The device is composed of IoT technology and is able to repel and collect data on mosquitoes that are within two meters in specific areas
According to various reports, Kusi and Acheampong were motivated by the apparent lack of impact of mosquito repellent products in Ghana. Kusi says the product is sold at a reduced cost and would help people do their business without fear of mosquitoes.
Available information suggests that some outpatient departments in Ghana have identified about 11 million cases of malaria in 2018, up from 10 million in 2017. 428 people died from malaria in 2018. This is a decrease of 29% compared to 2017, when 599 people died.
The crowded terrain of the make-up industry following the popular cliche that “Everybody is now a makeup artist” has definitely not slowed down those who have taken it upon themselves to create a legacy in the beauty industry. The Nigerian beauty industry is undoubtedly massive and has continued to grow as a result of makeup artists that have proven to be exceptional and excellent. These makeup artists come in to make their mark, create a name for themselves and stand out of the crowd and are constantly pulling amazing traffic to the makeup world.
So whether you are a celebrity or not and you are looking for the best of the best or just to keep up with the trend, in no particular order, here are 5 skilled female Make Up Artists you should know in Nigeria:
1. Banke Meshida Lawal, popularly known as ‘Bmpro’.
The CEO, BMPRO Makeup, is one of the biggest brands in the Nigerian make up industry, with over 400k followers on Instagram. Being the highest followed IG make-up artist in Nigeria, she is on speed dial of first ladies and wives of billionaires, celebrities and stars in the country. She is described as the queen of Make Up Artists, having worked with several top celebrities as clients. With over a decade in the beauty industry that started as a hobby from her days at the University of Lagos, she doesn’t come cheap at all. She has successfully created a name for herself, evident in the numerous awards she has won over the years.
2. Lola Maja Okojevoh, CEO ‘Sacred Beauty’.
Lola Maja is highly reputed for not just bridal or facial make-up, but “Special Effects” in addition to eyebrows and eyelashes visual. She started working as a make-up artist at age 14 and has since grown into a brand. She launched her lashes range “Sacred Lashes” in 2010 which later metamorphosed into “Sacred Group of Companies” and has won several awards for tricks she has used in the visual, film and theatre world. She is a massage therapist, beauty tutor, spa and cosmetics brand consultant, has worked on several music videos, tv series, fashion events and films. Creating a name for herself in a rare part of the make-up world is why she is popular.
Well done Lola!
3. Adetola Anita Adetoye, popularly known as “Anita Brows”
The creative director of “Anita Brows Beauty”, started makeup as a hobby and self –taught herself through “Youtube” by posting pictures and videos of her work on social media which attracted potential customers to her services ranging from wedding ceremonies , television commercials, photoshoots and many more. Her star studded clients include the likes of Tonto Dikeh, Toke Makinwa, Annie Idibia and many more. Over the years, she has created a name for herself and was recently listed as a game changer in Forbes 25 under 25 list.
4. Elaine Shobanjo, Make UpArtist Extraordinaire, Funder of ShoMya
Elaine Shobanjo is one of the most talented ladies in the Makeup business, and she has caught our attention by how she has managed to move from working in the financial sector in London to pursuing a career in makeup artistry. She is often regarded as beauty and brains as she topped her class studying Economics and later Finance before quitting and delving into make-up. She has somehow managed to combine motherhood and a career successfully. Despite being armed with degrees from the world’s most prestigious institutions she chose an unusual path and decided to pursue her passion. She has worked with several celebrities, a beauty consultant for Television and has won several awards excelling in the Makeup world.
5. Omontese Akhethuamen , CEO “BeautyCook Studio”
Omontese Akhetuamen is a make-up artist with an edge. Her studio, established in 2005 managed to bring in a one-stop centre for beauty matters, skillful in the art of gele-tying and hairdressing, her brand specializes in hair, make-up and beauty- products. She is one of the most followed make-up artists on Instagram and has managed to make a name for herself in the past decade by making up several celebrities and having them as clients. So for your one shop look, Omontese’s beauty studio has got you covered and we love a woman who knows her onions, walk in and walk out looking it all!
