The Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode hosted 3-time African Female Footballer of the Year Asisat Oshoala at the Lagos House, Ikeja.
Ambode, on his Instagram, shared a photo of the two of them meeting. He wrote:
3rd time African Female Footballer of the Year, Asisat Oshoala, was our guest at Lagos House, Ikeja. Asisat is a sport ambassador of Lagos and we are proud of her achievements.
Governor Akinwumi Ambode yesterday at the Lagos House Ikeja appointed Asisat Oshoala as the new Lagos State Sports Ambassador.
Here’s what she shared on twitter:
Meet the Newly appointed LAGOS STATE SPORTS AMBASSADOR (Asisat Oshoala) . God bless Governor Akinwunmi Ambode , God bless Lagos State. Itesi Iwaju Ipinle Eko Lo Jewa Logun…..AMBO LE’KAN SI @AkinwunmiAmbode#ProudLagosian#FatherFather@followlasg
Meet the Newly appointed LAGOS STATE SPORTS AMBASSADOR (Asisat Oshoala) . God bless Governor Akinwunmi Ambode , God bless Lagos State. Itesi Iwaju Ipinle Eko Lo Jewa Logun…..AMBO LE’KAN SI @AkinwunmiAmbode#ProudLagosian#FatherFather@followlasg
Olubunmi Ajai (Jopa’s daughter), is a campaigner against domestic violence (DV), she also fights for the emancipation of women from the shackles placed on them by harmful cultures and traditions.
She is a blogger, Influencer and founder of GREENLANDS HAVEN FOUNDATION, a NGO that helps victims of domestic violence with emergency shelter and financial empowerment in the form of loans, grants and skills acquisition.
A former Domestic violence victim herself, she uses her experiences to teach other victims that they have the strength to leave the abuse and live fulfilling lives through her campaigns on social media, using the hashtag #LeaveTolive, which has now become a movement. Olubunmi is also an author and amazing mom .
She shares her journey with Esther Ijewere in this exclusive interview .
Childhood Influence
My childhood did not prepare me for my advocacy. I grew up in a happy home. My father and mother were happily married till my mother died on her 46th birthday. I did not grow up knowing about Domestic Violence in anyway as my father respected my mother and my mother reciprocated the respect. I grew up in a sheltered home, what you would call an ‘ajebutter’ home.
My parents came to England in the early 70s to school and left me and my two younger sisters, Yemisi and Seun, to be with our maternal grandma. Before then, we had been living in my paternal grandfather, Papa Idunmota’s house and I grew up with a lot of family around din those first few years. Then, when my parents came to England, we moved to Maami’s at Surulere where it was just us three, Mammi and our step grandfather, Papa Macauley, Herbert Macualey’s son. That was such an idyllic time of my life.
Most people who grew up with their grandparents will attest to this – grandparents spoil their grandchildren! I had an idyllic childhood but when my parents came back in the late 70s, I was brought up in a stricter environment. My mother was the shouter and beater while my dad was the quite disciplinarian.
I actually did not set out to do advocacy in DV. My initial NGO was set up to help indigent Cancer sufferers with their medical bills but it was difficult setting up a pool of fund. What I then started doing was to do fundraising here in England for charities that has to do with Cancer treatment.
My DV advocacy was a spur of the moment action. Yet another DV victim had been killed in Nigeria and it was trending on social media. I got tired of the talking and no action. From my experience, I knew that one of the factors that makes victims stay on is that they have nowhere to go.
A lot of families will not take back their abused children as it is ignominy for the victims, usually women to come back home. For example, the Yoruba concept of ‘dalemosu’ – meaning someone who has lived with a husband and comes back home is highly discouraged. So, with the help of my Facebook friends, we raised N1m in one week and with that, we rented a flat at Ajah to be our first shelter. We then went on to have other shelters in Ibadan, PH, Abuja, Iju and Sur-lere.
We also tackled another thing that shackles victims – finances. A lot of victims, usually women are financially independent on their abusive husbands. It is pertinent to state here that abuse is not gender specific. A man may also be abused by his wife but our society discourages men from speaking out so, we have very few cases of men reporting that they are abused. The abusive husbands would have initially told the victim to not work or even barred her from working. In some cases where the woman works, some abusive husbands insist on being the custodian and spender of the woman’s money.
To eradicate this financial dependency, we gave loans and grants for business set up. We also trained victims for free in things like sewing, make up artistry and set them up by buying them sewing machines and make up kits. We now hope to set up a formal skills acquisition centre in Lagos where various skills can be learnt.
Being A Domestic Violence Survivor And Advocate
I really cannot remember the exact moment that I decided to start speaking out about my DV experience. I evolved. When I left my ex, I did some soul searching and realized that I was responsible for some things that happened to me. One of which was that I was responsible for having accepted the abuse. I resolved to never be a victim again and to be the kind of woman that a man would not be able to abuse.
Part of that involves being assertive. I have evolved over the years from being a timid woman who accepted abuse by all, not just her partner but also her friends to being an assertive woman who gives all in a relationship and walks away when that is not reciprocated by the other person in the relationship.
Olubunmi Ajai
What And Who Inspire Me
Jane Tomlinson. She was a cancer patient who had been given the death sentence of having just a few weeks to live. She defied the odd and in the few years that she lived after that sentence, she did herculean tasks that healthy people could not do, to raise money for cancer related projects.
Oprah Winfrey. For her humanist approach to life.
Creating The #LeaveToLive Movement And Identifying With The Plight Of Victims
Ah… I have had to sort of caution myself as I became so invested emotionally in what these victims were going through. More often than not, the victims stay on after I and my team would have put things in place to help them so, I now, I try to rein my emotions in. I get a huge feeling of satisfaction and fulfilment when I help or hear that a DV victim have left their abuser. My advocacy is actually not totally altruistic as I do get a sense of pleasure and fulfilment in knowing that I have been instrumental in a DV victim leaving to live.
Greatest Reward
I have not yet gotten my greatest reward. My greatest reward would be that when I die, it would not just be my family and friends that would miss me. I want to be like Dorcas of the Bible. When I die and the whole world feels my absence, that would be my greatest reward.
Culture As A Challenge
Our culture. That is the greatest challenge that I have. Our Patriarchal culture. Timidity is also another challenge that I have. A lot of victims don’t know that they have the strength to get up and leave the abuse in order to live a great life. And of course, funding.
Where I See My Organisation In Five Years
I have registered a company limited by guarantee here in the UK. It is a kind of charity. In five years, I see myself being involved in anti DV activities here in Britain and in Nigeria. I see the NGO having a permanent structure for the skills acquisition.
I see the NGO being an employer of labour and a source of labour for these victims and also helping them to be employers of labour too. I see the British charity and the Nigerian NGO working hand in hand with each other to bring financial independence to DV victims.
Social Media As a Domestic Violence Awareness Tool And The Role Of Government
I am glad that with social media, a lot of awareness has been created but there is still a long way to go. A lot of victims don’t have access to SM and don’t have the awareness of DV issues. I want to do a documentary series to be aired on TV in Nigeria showing real life victims like me who have left the abuse and gone on to have great lives. CULTURE still shackles victims.
The government, through it’s various commissioners of women’s affairs and of culture need to embark on a sensitization project to sensitize members of the Nigerian society about the dangers of living with an abusive partner. The government also needs to provide emergency shelters for victims such as the one that the British government provided for me when I fled.
Grants should also be made available to victims to enable them be independent financially. Victims, especially female victims also need to know their rights. A lot of women don’t know that it is only the courts that can grant custody, that custody is not automatically given to the man, and that the child’s best interest is what the court looks at. A lot of women are terrified of losing their children and thus stay on in the abuse for the sake of the children
Skills Acquisition Centre And Other Projects
Like I said, I want to set up a skills acquisition centre, starting with Lagos, and then spreading to other states in Nigeria. I also want to work with the social services here in England to help DV victims, especially those of ethnic minority origins.
Giving up, never an option
No. Never. I do feel overwhelmed and wish I could do more than I am currently able to do but I have never felt like giving up. Infact, answering this question is the first time that I will be thinking of that as it has never even occurred to me. Like the singer sang, ‘we’ve only just begun’
Inspiration behind my book “Leaving to Live”
The book is called ‘Leaving to live’ and it is about how I left my life of abuse and went on to live a full live. It is a memoir and it serves two purposes. 1- that is to let people in abusive situations or even any sad situation know that they possess the strength to change their situation. If I can do it, so can they. The other purpose is to raise funding for my project – the setting up of the skills acquisition centre. The book is a honest account of my life with my ex, accepting my faults, working on them and how I then turned around my life by changing my behaviour to be able to earn respect ad find love and joy again.
Being a Woman of Rubies
I am not one for blowing my own trumpet so, I would like to leave that to the reader to decide if I am worthy to be called a Woman of Rubies or not.
Final Word For Women Who Are Presently Going Through DV But Are Afraid To Break Free and Speak Up
Please know that you have the strength to get up and go. Don’t give any excuses. Don’t stay for the kids. You deserve to be happy. Your kids deserve to be in a happy environment. If your enemy died of the abuse, your kids might be shunted around or abused. Stay alive for your kids. Stay alive for you. You can do it. Leave to live.
Just as in most parts of the world, Africa has its (unfair) share of people who still think women have no business being in sports. However, most women who believe they have a chance in the industry are waging a war against this mediocre group by participating in sports either as professional players/athletes or administrators.
It might be hard to conceive, but 10-year-old Jessica Quachie from Liberia is indirectly fighting the good fight by playing football and helping change perceptions through it.
(Photo: BBC)
Quachie was born in West Point, Liberia’s biggest slum community where she started playing football at the age of six. Speaking with BBC, she said playing with boys gives her energy, and it was in one of the street matches with boys in the neighborhood that she was spotted by the Monvrovia Football Academy.
In 2015, the academy took her in as a pupil and trainee. She quickly became a diamond in the rough, not minding that an overwhelming majority of the trainees in the academy are boys. In addition to tournaments in Liberia, she has played with boys in international competitions, like one in Abidjan which had football agents and scouts from 11 European clubs in attendance.
(Photo: Monrovia Football Academy)
Although she won’t be joining any foreign club now due to FIFA’s ban on international transfers for players who are under 18, Quachie has had the privilege of showing off for scouts from Manchester United and AS Monaco.
Now able to read because of the education she’s getting through the academy, she’s working on becoming an excellent player. She also wants to make it clear that women can participate in sports and excel in them. Say whatever you will, Quachie is bent on achieving this through a career with her dream club, Real Madrid.
Iceland has kick-started 2018 by introducing a law making it illegal to pay men more than women in a bid to close a pay gap that exists in almost every country around the world.
Under these brand new rules, companies and agencies that employ over 25 people will need to obtain a Government certification of their equal-pay policies or face excessive fines.
Champions of equal pay at the UN Women Global Equal Pay Coalition in New York, an event co-sponsored by the Missions of Iceland, South Africa and Switzerland (Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown via Flickr CC)
The bill, which came into effect on January 1, makes the Nordic island nation the first country in the entire world to outright ban pay discrimination on the basis of gender.
It forms part of government plans to completely eradicate the gender wage gap by 2020.
Iceland has become the first country to make it illegal to pay women less than men
The government has introduced the Equal Pay Standard – if two people are doing jobs with the same score but not the same pay then the employer has got to fix this http://bbc.in/2qkXLxO
Dagny Osk Aradottir Pind, a board member of the Icelandic Women’s Rights Association, describes it as a “mechanism to ensure women and men are being paid equally.”
“We have had legislation saying that pay should be equal for men and women for decades now – but we still have a pay gap,” she told Al Jazeera news.
“I think that now people are starting to realise that this is a systematic problem that we have to tackle with new methods,” Pind explains.
“Women have been talking about this for decades and I really feel that we have managed to raise awareness,” she adds:
“We have managed to get to the point that people realise that the legislation we have had in place is not working, and we need to do something more.”
For the last nine years, Iceland has been ranked by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as the most gender-equal country in the world – followed by Norway, Finland, Rwanda and Sweden.
Yemen is the lowest-ranked of the 144 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report, which uses economic opportunity, political empowerment, health and survival to measure inequality.
In the wake of the increased rate of human trafficking being experienced by Nigerians trying to migrate to Europe via Libya, Actress and Producer Stephanie Linus has recently arrived in Italy to give support to rescued people and raise her voice against such human rights violations.
This timely intervention is in partnership with the world-renowned international medical humanitarian organisation “Doctors Without Borders” (MSF).
Over the next few days, Mrs Linus will visit the rescue ship “Aquarius” to witness their activities and operations. Later she will have meetings with some of these vulnerable women; participate in rehabilitation exercises for the rescued women, media parleys and stakeholder meetings with the aim of alleviating their sufferings and preventing more girls and women from falling prey.
Doctors Without Borders is one of the most impactful humanitarian organisation that rescues thousands of people who faced hazardous conditions trying to enter Europe through the sea yearly. In 2017, the Aquarius (a rescue ship) has rescued 15,078 people.
Mrs Linus has been at the forefront of advocacy over sensitive issues that affect the rights of women and girls. She has done this through several channels such as her advocacy movie – DRY, her role as UNFPA Ambassador; her charity organisation Extended Hands Foundation and many more.
Talking about a high drive for outstanding entrepreneurial endeavour, a British-Nigerian woman, Sade Agboola has set up a women-only drivers taxi company in London.
The single mother of one from South London started the innovative means of daily commuting to offer women a safe and reliable alternative to minicab services and public transport in London.
The 35-year-old said: ‘The idea came from mine and the experiences of my friends and family. When travelling on London transport a lot of women feel uncomfortable.
Agboola’s company, Annisa car, which will only be accepting women and children as passengers, will commence operations within the South of London with plans to extend its services across other parts of the city of London in due course.
The entreprenuer’s idea of public commuting is coming at a time when Uber, the popular ride-hailing mobile-technology-enabled cab service, faces serious challenges in London.
Agboola was expectedly ecstatic as she shared her thoughts on the birth of the enterprise and the value that is on offer.
“It is quite entrepreneurial but I never thought about it like that, I had the idea a couple of years ago and since December 2016 I’ve been doing a lot of research and work to put it together.
“I have been amazed that no one else has thought of this idea before. Also a lot of mums have children and struggle to get back into work or find a job that gives them that flexibility and hopefully by having women-only drivers and guardians we can provide a flexible and supportive environment for them.
“Whether people choose to work with us full or part-time is up to them, but we will be offering holiday pay for people working on a freelance basis so they know we support them.”
Meanwhile the business has already been attracting considerable patronage with some of the passengers already leaving positive reviews on the new taxi company’s website for excellent service delivery.
Tennis star Serena Williams and daughter Alexis Olympia are the cover stars for the February 2018 issue of Vogue magazine. They were photographed by Mario Testino for the new issue.
In the magazine, Serena talks about motherhood, marriage, and making her comeback.
Talking about life after her pregnancy, the magazine revealed that Serena has been having a tough couple of months.
Though she had an enviably easy pregnancy, what followed was the greatest medical ordeal of a life that has been punctuated by them. Olympia was born by emergency C-section after her heart rate dove dangerously low during contractions. The surgery went off without a hitch; Alexis cut the cord, and the wailing newborn fell silent the moment she was laid on her mother’s chest. “That was an amazing feeling,” Serena remembers. “And then everything went bad.”
The next day, while recovering in the hospital, Serena suddenly felt short of breath. Because of her history of blood clots, and because she was off her daily anticoagulant regimen due to the recent surgery, she immediately assumed she was having another pulmonary embolism. (Serena lives in fear of blood clots.) She walked out of the hospital room so her mother wouldn’t worry and told the nearest nurse, between gasps, that she needed a CT scan with contrast and IV heparin (a blood thinner) right away. The nurse thought her pain medicine might be making her confused. But Serena insisted, and soon enough a doctor was performing an ultrasound of her legs. “I was like, a Doppler? I told you, I need a CT scan and a heparin drip,” she remembers telling the team. The ultrasound revealed nothing, so they sent her for the CT, and sure enough, several small blood clots had settled in her lungs. Minutes later she was on the drip. “I was like, listen to Dr. Williams!”
But this was just the first chapter of a six-day drama. Her fresh C-section wound popped open from the intense coughing spells caused by the pulmonary embolism, and when she returned to surgery, they found that a large hematoma had flooded her abdomen, the result of a medical catch-22 in which the potentially lifesaving blood thinner caused hemorrhaging at the site of her C-section. She returned yet again to the OR to have a filter inserted into a major vein, in order to prevent more clots from dislodging and traveling into her lungs. Serena came home a week later only to find that the night nurse had fallen through, and she spent the first six weeks of motherhood unable to get out of bed.
Read excerpts below.
On her daughter: We’re not spending a day apart until she’s eighteen. Now that I’m 36 and I look at my baby, I remember that this was also one of my goals when I was little, before tennis took over, when I was still kind of a normal girl who played with dolls. Oh, my God, I loved my dolls. Women are sometimes taught not to dream as big as men. I’m so glad I had a daughter. I want to teach her that there are no limits.
On making a comeback: To be honest, there’s something really attractive about the idea of moving to San Francisco [where husband Alexis is based] and just being a mom. But not yet. Maybe this goes without saying, but it needs to be said in a powerful way: I absolutely want more Grand Slams. I’m well aware of the record books, unfortunately. It’s not a secret that I have my sights on 25. And actually, I think having a baby might help. When I’m too anxious I lose matches, and I feel like a lot of that anxiety disappeared when Olympia was born. Knowing I’ve got this beautiful baby to go home to makes me feel like I don’t have to play another match. I don’t need the money or the titles or the prestige. I want them, but I don’t need them. That’s a different feeling for me.
On motherhood: Sometimes I get really down and feel like, Man, I can’t do this. It’s that same negative attitude I have on the court sometimes. I guess that’s just who I am. No one talks about the low moments—the pressure you feel, the incredible letdown every time you hear the baby cry. I’ve broken down I don’t know how many times. Or I’ll get angry about the crying, then sad about being angry, and then guilty, like, Why do I feel so sad when I have a beautiful baby? The emotions are insane. Obedience brings protection; that’s what my mom told me. That’s straight from the Bible, and she wrote it down on paper and gave it to me. I was always obedient: Whatever my parents told me to do, I did. There was no discussion. Maybe I had a little rebellious phase in my 20s, when I tried liquor for the first time. Maybe having a baby on the tennis tour is the most rebellious thing I could ever do.
Nollywood actress and producer, Funke Akindele-Bello has been cast in the upcoming Marvel movie “Avengers: Infinity War.”
As seen on the movies full cast list, the actress will play a member of the Black Panther’s guards, the Dora Milaje.
The Dora Milaje are superior women recruited from every tribe of the fictional Wakanda who serve as the personal bodyguards of the Black Panther.
She play a member of the Black Panther’s guards, the ‘Dora Milaje’ – who are a team of women who serve as the personal bodyguards of the Black Panther.
It’s Africa to the world and we can’t wait to see Funke on the big screen when the movie premieres in May.
Hello WORriors! It’s #WomanCrushWednesday and our Woman Crush is Onyeka Onwenu!
Onyeka Onwenu (born 17 May 1952) is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, actress, journalist, politician, and X Factor series judge. She is the youngest daughter of the Nigerian educationist and politician D.K Onwenu. Dubbed the “Elegant Stallion” by the Nigerian press, she is a former chairperson of the Imo State Council for Arts and Culture, and currently the Executive Director/chief executive officer of the National Centre for Women Development.
Onwenu possess a BA in Internationa Relation and Communication of the Wellesly College of Massachusetts, USA, and a master’s degree in Media Studies from The New School for Social Research in New York. She worked for many years at the United Nations in New York before returning to Nigeria in 1980, where she completed the mandatory one-year National Service, at the NTA where she made an impact as an articulate, incisive and fearless reporter. In 1984, she wrote and presented the internationally acclaimed BBC/NTA documentary called Nigeria, A Squandering of Riches which became the definitive film about corruption in Nigeria as well as the intractable Niger Delta agitation for resource control and campaign against environmental degradation in the oil rich region of Nigeria. She has also served on the board of the NTA.
Onwenu began her music career in 1981 while still working with the NTA, releasing the album “For the Love of You”. Originally a secular artist, she now sings mainly gospel music, and continues to write and sing about issues such as health (HIV/AIDS), peace and mutual coexistence, respect for women rights and the plight of children. Her latest effort titled, “Inspiration for Change,” focuses on the need for an attitudinal turn around in Nigeria.
She is in partnership with Paris-based La Cave Musik, headed by Nigerian cultural entrepreneur Onyeka Nwelue, and UK-based Jungle Entertainment Ventures, headed by musicologist David Evans-Uhegbu. La Cave Musik is set to release her collection titled Rebirth of a Legend in November.
In 2013, she was named as one of the three judges on the Nigerian version of The X Factor. In recognition of her contribution to music and arts in Nigeria, she has been celebrated by professionals like Mahmood Ali-Balogun, Laolu Akins, Charles O’Tudor, and former PMAN president Tony Okoroji among others in the arts industry in Nigeria.
A member of the People’s Democractic Party, Onwenu was in the running to become Local Council Chairman of her native Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State, but was appointed Chairperson of Imo State Council for Arts and Culture by former governor Ikedi Ohakim. On 16 September 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan appointed her the Executive Director/chief executive officer of the National Centre for Women Development.
Onwenu has featured in numerous Nollywood movies and in 2006 won the African Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. In 2014, she was in the movie Half Of A Yellow Sun with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton.
