Women of Rubies

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The first and second phase of the Women of Rubies sensitization workshop tagged “Empowering grassroots women and giving them a voice which kicked off on 26th of August 2016 at the Alimosho LGA Akoonjo,  and the second one at the Eleganza Sport Center, Lagos East LCDA Sura Market, Lagos Island was a huge success.

Women came out enmasse from different spheres of the community to be part of the  workshop. The women were not only sensitized on the need to be empowered  but also encouraged to save towards the future of their Children by the Keynote speaker; Chinyere Anokwuru of Self-worth Organisation for women, while the Sole Administrator of the Alimosho Local Government; Hon. Ganiu Quadri encouraged them to attend more of such programmes to be enlightened and have a voice in the society.

In Lagos Island, Betty Abah of CEE-HOPE Foundation and the Keynote speaker; Mrs. FalanaDirector, Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, also educated the women on the need to enroll in vocational skill centres and learn more hand work,  Founder of Sisters Interact  Network and motivational speaker; Kathlyn Eyitemi encouraged them to speak out  and report cases of Domestic abuse while using her personal life experience as a motivating factor.

According to the Founder of Rubies Ink Initiative for Women and Children and Editor-In-Chief of Women of Rubies Esther Ijewere-Kalejaiye; the workshop was an impactful learning experience for the  women in Lagos Island and the feedback was inspiring.

Pictures from Alimosho LGA

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Founding Editor of Women of Rubies; Esther Ijewere-Kalejaiye with her team

Founding Editor of Women of Rubies; Esther Ijewere-Kalejaiye with her team

Pictures from the 2nd Workshop at the Eleganza Sport Centre, Sura Market Lagos East LCDA

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To see more pictures and more info  log on to www.womenofrubies.com

Now, this LONG POST is not to fight any gender unless you would rather perceive it that way. I am unapologetic over this post please note. I have never been apologetic over any of my posts anyway.

I am yet to see a man who does not have a female in his life be it his daughter, mother, cousin or even a friend, so it would be very awkward if anyone interprets this post as a fight against men.

It is still January, it’s a new year, this is the time we really need to be hitting hard on very serious and sensitive matters lest this year ends the same way it has always been for many Nigerian women. . Why do we avoid telling ourselves some hard truth no matter how uncomfortable they may sound?

Listen and listen good, In Nigeria, a stay at home mum has dug her own grave already. Are such women for real at all? Listen o, no matter how good a man is, a woman who is totally dependent on her husband in 2017 is a sorry case.

Let me say this, when I was in the Banking industry working as a marketer, 99% of the married men who opened an account through me didn’t use their wives as next of kin. I was forced to ask some of them at some point why they didn’t do that? Their reason,” Ah! If they died, the woman will marry another man”.

I asked – So if you die, who will take care of the kid(s) you left for the woman? They all had no answers.Many Nigerian men hardly have long term plans for their immediate families but their wives are still playing the dutiful wives.

Death is inevitable, a man can die first, a woman can also die first,. In a situation where the man is the sole provider how do such women intend to cope with the kids? They will turn into beggars abi? In Nigeria, most times the moment a man dies, whether he left a will or not, his greedy family members can swoop on his assets. It is pathetic that Nigerian women who can’t mention the topic of writing a will to their husbands, they cant even suggest joint ownership of everything are still the same women who fight with all their might to stay married at all cost in a marriage where there is no future for them, worse still, they prefer to be stay at home mums.

Apart from this death thing, here in Nigeria, a man can take as many wives as he want even the ones married under the statutory law, let us not deceive ourselves as if we have not seen it happen time and time again. Or is it from my mouth you’ll be hearing it for the first time that a man married under the statutory law took another wife and nothing happened? Nigerian women don’t sue their husbands for bigamy because they don’t want to be “husband-less” Don’t blame them, it is because Nigerian women are required to approach the gates of heaven with a penis in one hand. .

So when a woman is totally dependent on the man, how would she be able to sort herself out if it is a messy situation she can’t condone? Mfon Abia Effiong wrote on a post and I agree, “Money is a defense”

The last time I checked, Nigeria is still a patriarchal society. Any woman of sound mind who took her time to look through that gender equality bill which our Senators rejected would know that Nigerian women are in “one chance.” What do we spend our time doing sef? Gossiping and back biting even though it doesn’t better your lives when there are real issues which women should focus their attention on. The average Nigerian woman fights to protect her marriage at all cost yet that same marriage she spends all her life fighting for, she is just like a tenant there. Go argue with the rejected bill on gender equality.If you want a copy, I have the pdf one with me.

In Nigeria, if any party should be a stay at home Parent, it should be the man, until women have equal rights as men. Otherwise, in the event of whatever, she stands to lose everything.

Do we think our Senators who rejected that bill were sleeping when they did that? They won’t want to approve that kind of bill because it protects Nigerian women and they don’t want that. They know whether a woman works or not, she has the same rights as the man of the home. They know everything he has ever worked for in his life also belongs to his wife. These things were stated clearly in that bill.

In fact, that gender equality bill would have protected stay at home mums and I would be very willing to advocate that women stay at home and take care of their tender kids as a child rights Advocate since women have nothing to loose, but until then, any woman staying at home regardless if it is her decision or not has dug her own grave already. .

Please don’t come and be writing blablbalablbla here because we prefer to deceive ourselves You are free to “test the waters” with any decision you make as a woman but be very ready to face the consequences.

In this life, a human being of sound mind should be able to think positively and negatively at the same time and we should deploy means of how we won’t fall Victims, most especially if you are resident in a Country like Nigeria and you are a woman.

A Nigerian woman’s brain must be functioning like a wall clock, working every second, you cant afford to “na ge re” (translate in English yourself)

Credit : Bukola’s Facebook Account

29 year old Olatorera Oniru is one of Nigeria’s most assiduous and ambitious young entrepreneurs. the founder of Dressmeoutlet.com, a Lagos-based e-commerce startup that retails fashion products sourced from across the globe. She  strongly promotes made in Africa goods with the goal of retailing only the best 20% African designers. In 2016, she was named in Forbes’ list of “30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs In Africa. In this interview she shares with us her passion and inspiration behind her projects.

Childhood Influence

I would think so. I believe our past moulds our future to create history someday. My past is significantly a part of who I am today. Not sure I can decipher one incidence or action in particular but my entire experiences in life from family, friends, career and decisions have contributed to what I do now.

Meet Me

I’m Olatorera Oniru, Chief Executive of Dressmeoutlet.com, Forbes-mentioned Fashion Amazon of Africa dispatching fashion, beauty and home-goods from Africa to the world. I love life and I’m very passionate about all things Africa.

Discovering My Passion For Fashion

We all love to look good and feel good and so do I. Fashion is art, creativity, innovation and so much more combined. I had worked in the technology space during the course of my career and thus it made sense to combine my experience in technology with my passion for fashion to drive ecommerce in Africa.

Inspiration behind Dressmeoutelet

Dressmeoutlet.com is very customer-centric and quality-focused. We aim to please and serve. We are inspired by the thousands of creative geniuses producing great brands within the fashion, beauty and home-goods space across Africa. We have come across the most unique products from natural skin care to leather bags to runway jewelry. All of excellent quality and proudly made in Africa, ready to be dispatched to homes worldwide. Dressmeoutlet.com continues to source for the very best of this products to retail only the best to our customers at the most affordable prices possible.

It’s all about Work and Family

Career-wise, I am generally occupied with relationship building, growth forecasting, business development and sales maximization for Dressmeoutlet.com. At Dressmeoutlet.com, we have 2 programs we are currently pushing, the Style Champions Program and the Creative Entrepreneurs Program. The former is sales related and the latter is supply and manufacturing related. Outside of work, my family means the world to me.

No fear of failure

There is no giving up here. At least not any in sight or mind or analytical forecasts at the moment. Mainly because I thoroughly enjoy what we are doing at Dressmeoutlet.com and we are deriving results from our hard work. Nonetheless, I do not have a fear of failure or of giving up. If some day, somewhere, somehow I get to feel like I want to take a break or give up, I will. Life’s too short to be stressed out or to do anything that doesn’t bring you joy. It’s important to be passionate about one’s ambitions. Only then can we really drive change, growth and development. I’m happy doing what I do and thus cannot fathom giving up at the moment.

The Awards keep rolling in

I think it’s the amazing awards that do not stop rolling in. We just got invited to Mauritius this month to receive a Young Achiever Award. This year alone, we have been nominated and presented with up to 10 awards and recognitions globally from Most Innovative Company to African Achievers Awards to Top 5 young entrepreneurs in Africa and many others. That’s the greatest aspect of pushing our dreams at Dressmeoutlet.com. Let’s not forget the hundreds of amazing customer testimonials we have amassed. The partnerships and potentials for scalability of Dressmeoutlet.com are significant and we look forward to even more growth ahead.

Focusing on performance & Results

I don’t focus too much on challenges. It takes a lot of time and energy to recount challenges. We all know there are significant setbacks in Africa but the good news is that each and every setback can be eliminated and we can grow and become a greater continent.  I’d rather focus on performance indicators, on scaling up and on generating results.

Advice to young Female Entrepreneurs

Know your passion, drive your passion, be  your very best in all your undertakings and excel. Africa needs you to be great. We all can be great but first, you will have to push. Push your dreams. Grow beyond everyone’s imaginations, innovate and conquer the world.

 

I am a Woman of Rubies

I want everyone to be successful. I want to see men supporting men, women supporting women and humans generally supporting humans. I want to see Africa blossom into one of the world’s greatest continents with poverty significantly alleviated.

 

Woman, Push your dreams!

“Push your dreams! Don’t let anything stop you from doing anything great for the world. The world wants to see you shine while making the world a better place.

Every time it is my birthday, I spend time reminiscing and this particular birthday I look back in gratitude on the journey to getting where I am today. For some people, they always knew what they wanted to do and become. For me, it was not straight forward. It took many years of stumbling, exploring, failing and trying again and again until it finally became clear. The journey to find my niche saw me stumbling through different careers, businesses and professions. From working in an Asset management company, to moonlighting as a makeup artist. Then I worked at a telecommunications company working in a department called financial systems that utilized my Accounting and Technology skills. What was supposed to be a dream job was actually my most boring work experience and I found succour when I escaped to do an MBA which has proven to be a good move till date. I fell in love with the retail and fashion case studies such as Kate Spade and Tory Burch during my MBA and decided I was going to start my own fashion brand. From running a fashion brand for a few years that I had to walk away from to working with a consulting firm where I got to support SME’s, I began to get a clearer picture of what I wanted to do with my life. The journey to finding my niche took me over 10 years of failing, trying, stumbling and making mistakes. I lost relationships, friendships and business partners along the way. I finally realized why people would rather stay safe than go on such an arduous journey to find their path and I made up my mind that when I found the way, I would help other people do the same. People ask me regularly ‘how do I know what business to start?’ or ‘how do I find my niche?’ Some even ask ‘how do I know what I am meant to do on the earth?’ I decided to find answers to the questions by interviewing various inspiring people from different sectors and industries who have found their way. You can watch the inspiring video trailer. https://youtu.be/K978EIMcNxI My goal is to document this process and make it easy for someone who is seeking to find their own niche or path in life. I also decided to take it a step further and create the ‘Find your niche challenge (www.talealimi.com/findyournichechallenge)’. This is a free 5 day virtual challenge which will take place in a private Facebook group. Where I will give the participants daily tasks and exercises to help them identify their niche at the end of the 5 days. If like me, you have been stumbling and trying to figure out what your niche is so you can get fulfilment doing what you love and getting paid for it, I will like to invite you to participate in this challenge. To participate, register at www.talealimi.com/findyournichechallenge and get started  on the journey to find your niche in 2017.

Thato Kgatlhanye is a social entrepreneur, author, speaker, and founder of Repurpose Schoolbags. She has a B.A in Brand Leadership Management from Vega School of Brand Leadership.

She is also the CEO of Rethaka (Pty) Ltd, a woman-owned business based in Rustenburg, South Africa. She started Repurpose Schoolbags at the age of 18, after studying and discovering that most of the school children in her community carried plastic bags to school. She designed a new set of school bags using recycled plastic shopping bags, and integrating solar technology and batteries to provide light for studying after dark, as the bag charges during the day.

Thato runs the company with 17 employees and numerous plastic bag collectors. She has been featured on CNBC Africa and Forbes. She has also won the ELLE International Impact Award.

We celebrate her

Queen Edet is a young, hardworking Computer Engineering student. The undergraduate of the Yaba School of technology was all over the news last week when one of her friends posted a picture of her packing crayfish, a business she started just to see herself through school not minding the stress, humiliation and sometimes low patronage. According to Queen while growing up, she enjoyed helping her grandmother who was into crayfish business. Little did Queen know that hobby and passion was going to turn into a viable business today. She shares her touching story in this inspiring Interview.

Meet Me

My name is Queen Sunny Edet, a 23 year old Computer Engineering student of Yaba College of Technology, Lagos. I hail from Okobo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. I’m the last in the family of 6.

Childhood

My childhood has everything to do with what I do now because I started assisting my late grandmother with her crayfish business, at a very tender age, that’s where I learnt the business from.

Inspiration

My grandmother use to trade crayfish in Calabar, and I assisted her with the measurement and tying, when I was young. During vacation from school, I always wanted to travel to Calabar so I could help her in her crayfish business and I enjoyed it. As time went on, I discovered I had much passion for it but I never thought I could venture into it as my own business, considering the fact that crayfish has a distinctive smell. I have a passion for it because passion beats shame.

Patronage

To be honest, the reception has been poor. People don’t patronize me, including my friends, they rather laugh at me for selling crayfish. When I just started this business, a girl called me and asked ”You sell crayfish for real? Of all the business in town and as pretty as you are?” I replied ”yes, I do and I love it”. At a point, I started feeling bad because of the mockery and the fact that buyers were not coming but I later sat down and said to myself ”Queen, so you will not eat because of what people are saying about you?”. I dropped the shame and kept on moving on.

Combining School with Business

It has been stressful because sometimes the little deliveries I make, warrant me missing classes, notes, and even impromptu tests. It is God who has been helping me pull through and also helping me strike a balance so I can excel.

Challenges

I have problem keeping crayfish in the hostel because I don’t have a place to stock them and sometimes, I have to go to a hotel once the crayfish arrives my location, so as to do the measurement and tying, and then bagging them in a ‘Ghana must go” bag before carrying it back to my hostel. It presents a lot of discomfort to my roommates because of the smell and also because I don’t usually have customers, it has to stay there for long. It is also stressful, jumping from one ‘danfo’ to another just to make a delivery and return to school for lectures. It’s not easy at all.

Reaction when story went viral

I was overwhelmed with joy but at the same time speechless. I call that Grace and favour from God. When God has chosen you, no man can bring you down. He chose me out of a million that sell crayfish to favour me, it’s never too late when God is involved in your life. I remain grateful to God, and uncountable thanks to my friend/course mate “Uche” for taking advantage of the social media on my behalf.

Public response

The responses have been wow!! . I’ve received cash donations from great people of this nation to support my business, calls of encouragement, and even calls from people who say they want to invest in my business and above all, I now have daily supplies, the demand tends to be greater than the supply. All thanks to God.

Family Support

Yes, my family has been really supportive. I get support and words of encouragement from them. I can still remember my dad declaring great words upon my business when I started, those words keep me going every time I feel like giving up or when someone laughs at me.

Advice to Undergraduates/Young People

Do not wait to be done with school and then start hunting for jobs. Do not think of what your country has to offer you, rather think of what you’ll do to help reduce unemployment in your country by starting a trade or however you may put it with your “blessed hands” and become your own CEO and an employer of labour before and after school. Just take a bold step today, build from the level you are, forget the hindrances and do not forget to take advantage of the social media platforms. I mean you don’t necessarily need a shop since most of the sales now is done online. You can never tell what awaits you there and learn to use the right words at all times Remember you are the expression of your own words and build a positive mindset towards your life, school and business, remain focus be passionate in all you do.

If I Have the Opportunity to Meet the President

I will ask him to empower students like me out there, who are working hard to make ends meet and need motivation to continue what they do.

I am a Woman of Rubies

I am unique because I have chosen to go into a unique line of business that girls within my age bracket wouldn’t want to go into, not minding the shame. I am using my blessed hands to make money and be an employer of labour in my nearest future instead of waiting to be out of school to hunt for jobs. Those who want to patronise me can reach me on 08058120848

Lotanna Amina Egwuatu holds a Bachelors degree in Engineering from Covenant University and a Master’s of Science degree from Lancaster University, United Kingdom , After her masters at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and training with several jewellery schools in New York, she returned home to start her own Jewellery  brand “Mina Stones” . Lotanna is actively involved in projects aimed at growing the Nigerian gemstone and jewellery industry. She shares her tale and journey with us in this interview.

Growing Up

Growing up as the third child in a family of four children, I was raised by a hard working mother and a strong willed father. They taught me the value of Hard Work, and reinforced in me the belief that with God all things are possible. As an adult, these principles have guided all my activities, especially the pioneering work I’m doing right now, by creating awareness of Precious stones in Nigeria, and their use as Jewellery.

Meet Lotanna

I am Lotanna Amina Egwuatu, born and raised in Abuja. I attended Queens College Yaba. I obtained a B.Sc in Information and Communication Engineering from Covenant university after which I did a master’s program in E-business and innovation at Lancaster  university, UK. After my masters I started Gemology courses with the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). I have trained with several jewellery schools in New York and I’m currently studying and working on building my brand – MINA STONES. I work with natural gemstones and precious metals to create handmade fine jewellery and accessories.

Passion for “Stones”

God is my inspiration. He gifted me with a passion for precious stones as well as the talent/ability to make fine jewellery from these precious stones and metals.

Personal Projects

I have some personal projects that are very dear to me. One of which also has to do with gemstones and jewellery. I’ve seen the potential in this field and I’m trying in my little way to see how we can collectively benefit from it.

In collaboration with the Raw materials research and development council in 2015, we organised the first ever gemstone and jewellery expo in Nigeria. I also have a calling to orphaned and less privileged children. I provide financial support for the school fees and overall wellbeing of these kids and by God’s grace in the future I will be able to do a lot more and especially with respect to building them up as grounded individuals and supporting their education on a greater level.

Letting Go….

I have felt like giving up several times. Those times were difficult for me , but I learnt to let go and let God. He gave me this passion for a reason.

Positive customer feedback inspire me

When I hear people tell me how beautiful my pieces are or a customer just keeps going on and on about how they are in love with their jewellery. It makes me deeply happy. I’ve received gifts from artisan miners who were grateful for my attempts at trying to grow the industry. That also made me happy. That they were seeing what I was doing and also felt the need to appreciate me made me really happy.

Nigerians know little about stones

The major challenge is the fact that Nigerians know too little about precious stones (Gemstones). I’ve had to explain over and over that natural gemstones are not man made crystals or imitations. They are mined from the earth. I’ve realised many people especially in Nigeria know only about Diamonds. But there are so many other types of precious stones like sapphire, emeralds, morganite, zircon, topaz, onyx, scapolite e.t.c and most people do not know anything about them.

Advice to women with same vision

Believe in yourself and be persistent. Challenges will come but it’s how you handle them that really matters. People will discourage you, some will encourage you. What’s most important is that you strongly believe in yourself regardless of external opinions. You can do anything you set your mind to. Only believe.

Doing something positive makes me a Woman of Rubies

I believe every woman has a unique purpose to create impact and change their world for the better in some way. I also believe in doing something no matter how small in the direction of your dreams. Right now I am actively involved in projects aimed at growing the Nigerian gemstone and jewellery industry.

Women should support one another

Our time has come. In the world we live in right now, a woman can become anything. So, let’s do just that. Let’s rise to our highest potential, and achieve great things.

Let us all do our own part and do away with the many distractions around us. We have a lot to do and I believe we get there faster when we together. As the Ubuntu Philosophy says – “I am what I am because of who we all are”. Let us all begin to look at the bigger picture.