The Nation Newspaper

Category: New Woman

  • PURSUE YOUR DESTINY (XII)

    Good day ma’am,

    I just read your piece on the “Mystery of Godliness” and I absolutely love it. Thank you for your inspirational and educative articles. May almighty God continue to bless and enrich you with knowledge.

    Adebola Adeyemi

    Dear Temilolu,

    I appreciate your spirituality, sense of dedication and commitment to our girls. Please keep the fire burning.

    Engr. Bayode

    Spiritual Intelligence (Contd.)

    Spirituality is a personal experience and it stems from a deep connection with a higher force which is our source. When we recognise and understand our source, we then develop a direct and dynamic relationship which would make life easier for us to live and in fact be our guide in the wilderness of life. You’d recall I gave an example of David who boasted of being more intelligent than his teachers because he constantly meditated on the word of God.  Now, I ask again – if you constantly feed on your source and rub minds with God, who or what can rule your world or drive your destiny? No one but you! Therefore, the first key to developing spiritual intelligence is meditation. Through this, you not only have knowledge of your source, you are able to understand it, comprehend it and apply it in your journey through life. In the meditative process you learn about yourself and the power you can harness. Meditation helps you control your thoughts and feelings, sharpens your ability to discern truth from illusion, and thereby make more intelligent choices. It is the torch light of your soul in a dark, dark world as this. Now tell me, how can darkness overshadow a life that is filled with light? A mind without God is the devil’s play ground. If you can master the lyrics of the latest hip-hop songs word for word and still have fantastic grades, then you should be able to memorise hundreds of verses in the scripture which will keep the devil away and catapult your destiny.

    Advantages of Spiritual Intelligence

    1.    The presence of God

    You’d recall I mentioned that constantly meditating on the word of God is one of the keys of spiritual intelligence. One single verse in the scripture is more powerful than the combined anointing of all the powerful men of God in the world. Reading the scriptures is reading God and rubbing minds with Him and when you get used to Him and you carry His spirit, you automatically carry His presence. His presence lights your path and guides you all the way, shields you from every evil, opens doors, shatters obstacles and grants you uncommon favour etc. Your words not only carry fire and power, as you speak, the heavens stamp and authorise it. What more? You imagine a thing and even without sweating it is established! Whoa!

    2.    Accurate dreams and visions

    When you get yourself acquainted with God through the scriptures, holiness becomes your lifestyle and you would love to communicate with Him by praying ceaselessly and fasting. This not only ignites your inner man, it daily increases your spiritual connectivity such that before long, by the time you wake up every morning, you already know what would happen to you in the course of the day. These revelations come naturally and if there’s any evil coming, you are quick to disperse it. Though the devil also manipulates through fake dreams and visions, with time, you can discern the real from the fake. You constantly get a lot of information not only about your future but about people around you, people far away from you, people you don’t even talk to, and in fact revelations of what would happen in the polity and expos of your exams-WITHOUT ASKING. Amazing!

    3.    Divine directives

    No matter the level of anointing the world’s greatest G.O. carries, the battle of your destiny is strictly between you and God. Of course, your pastor can support you with prayers; however, he may never be able to give you the key to unlock your greatness. The key is more often than not God’s divine directive. Also, one divine instruction can save you and your entire generation from ruin that would have been caused by an evil diversion caused by your carelessness and too much dependence on others. Concentrate more on God, learn to carry Him on your head and let Him constantly talk to you! You will turn out a wonderful wonder – even you will be dazed. I know what I’m talking about o!

    4.    Angelic assistance

    When you are saturated with the spirit of God, you will always be surrounded by angels. In fact, I dare say, they will love you to pieces especially when you love God with all your heart. They will be so protective of you, be your spies, arrange for your needs to be met, make a way for you where it seems impossible and even stretch their love and provision to those who make you happy! Now, can you imagine what they’d do to those who are poised to make a mess of your life? Please permit me to stop here (smiles).

    Do you have a star that must shine or a dream that must come true? Do you want to get back at life for kicking you in the teeth? Do you want to be right where you are destined to be? Acquaint yourself with God and let Him place you on the chariots of fire that will carry you to your promised land!

  • The only thing that can limit you is your brain -Olasimbo Sojinrin

    The only thing that can limit you is your brain -Olasimbo Sojinrin

    Olasimbo Sojinrin is at the helm of affairs at an organisation called Solar Sisters Nigeria. She is a community organiser, an advocate for climate change progress and women’s rights in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
    The bespectacled lady began her work in climate change when she joined the British Council in 2004 and managed several partnership projects with secondary school students, including Connecting Classrooms and Green Clubs.
    She later worked as a Capacity Development Manager for a UNDP-assisted project called ‘Access to Renewable Energy’ where she pushed for climate change legislation with policy makers at federal and state levels and supported capacity building programmes for renewable energy service providers and financial institutions. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, she talks about her passion for youth empowerment and women-focused renewable energy access.

    What are you interested in empowering women with renewable energy skills and facilities?

    We understand that women are the managers of energy in their homes. They are the people who need to go and fetch firewood or buy kerosene for cooking or whatever means of lighting that they use in their homes. We recognised women need these products so we can introduce to them which would give them a chance to eliminate all the dangers and ills caused by kerosene. Also, over time, they will be able to save money.

    How do you reach out to these women?

    Solar system actually started in 2009 in Uganda and we are still expanding to Tanzania and now Nigeria. Over the last years that we have been in Nigeria, we have been able to have a presence in Nigeria in ten states and the federal capital. What we do is to have staff in each of the state who provide support and help women entrepreneurs. Here, our targets are assisted, trained and supported on how they can be successful entrepreneurs using and selling solar energy products.

    What is this solar system all about?

    Our tag is light and opportunities and we have a range of products.

    Is it free?

    No, we believe in sustainability. We use the strength of our numbers to acquire products at the lowest price and we also have a lot of partnership with suppliers. This gives us a competitive advantage over others.

    Who are your targets and do you work with youths because a lot of them are unemployed?

    We target women, and more recently we are targeting youths.

    We have started going into recruiting youths entrepreneurs. But our focus is women because we believe whatever women are involved in will trickle down to the entire household.

    Are you targeting women in specific locations and is there an age limit for these women?

    We have no age limit. Any woman who is interested in making additional income for her family is welcome.

    What were you doing before you ventured into this?

    I used to work with the Bank of Industry on UNDP projects and during the two years, I was able to interact with a lot of people and this gave me the foundation for this work I am doing. I studied Urban and Regional Planning at the  University Of Lagos as first degree. In addition, I have a Masters Degree in International Affairs from the University of Lagos, Nigeria.

    Are women entrepreneurs where they should be?

    They are not and one of the things we are doing is to see how we can promote access to finance for women entrepreneurs. Women, traditionally and historically, have been marginalised and it has caused us a lot of setback.

    What advice do you have for women?

    The only thing that can limit you is your brain. I used to see positivity in whatever I do. I strongly believe that so many women can make a way for themselves. We have the opportunity to be who we can be.

    What is the focus of your organisation?

    Solar Sisters is building a network of Solar Sister entrepreneurs across Sub-Saharan Africa to bring light, hope and opportunity to their families and their communities. The organisation focuses on eradicating energy poverty by empowering women with economic opportunity. We combine the breakthrough potential of solar and clean cooking technology with a deliberately woman-centred direct sales network to bring light, hope and opportunity to even the most remote communities in rural Africa.

    Investing in women is not only the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do.  Solar Sister creates sustainable businesses, powered by smart investment in women entrepreneurs. When you invest in a woman, you invest in the future.

    It is a social enterprise that provides women with training and support to create solar micro-businesses, providing much needed household income for the women, and much needed light for their communities.

    Solar Sister provides women with education and training to better equip them to operate and maintain the solar technology and to help them achieve success as independent business women. We believe in the value of long-term relationships to create an atmosphere of trust and understanding that enables the sharing of knowledge and technology.

    1.6 billion people on the planet don’t have access to reliable electricity. That’s one quarter of the world’s population. 70% are women and girls living in developing countries. They rely on kerosene lanterns and candles for light. They spend hours each day collecting wood to burn for cooking and heat. They spend up to 30% of their family income on energy that is insufficient, hazardous and unhealthy; unhealthy for the people and unhealthy for the planet. Lack of access to electricity is both a cause and an effect of unremitting poverty.

    The most important step to ending poverty is to create employment and income opportunities. Solar Sister does just that by empowering women with economic opportunities. Leveraging the power of the market place, a one-time investment in a Solar Sister entrepreneur creates a chain reaction of social impact as the Solar Sister entrepreneur turns over her inventory again and again. Solar lamps replace the toxic kerosene lanterns and solar cell phone chargers provide connectivity in even the most energy poor communities.

    Access to clean energy technology enhances education, improves health and safety and provides economic opportunity. Through economic opportunity and the transforming benefits of solar technology, women are able to lift themselves, their families and their communities out of poverty.

     

  • ‘How diseases affect reproductive ability’

    ‘How diseases affect reproductive ability’

    Diseases, disorders and conditions that affect reproductive health at different stages of life continue to generate controversy all over the world. Answers to some of these questions were answered recently at a lecture titled: Reproductive Health of Women and Men: A Biochemist’s Perspective. Yetunde Oladeinde was at the event and she reports

    THE lecturer, Professor Olubunmi Magbagbeola, kicked off her presentation with findings in her academic and research works in the last three decades. The event which took place at the 13th Inaugural Lecture of the University of Lagos was presided over by the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Rahamon A. Bello, FAEng, and there were a number of distinguished scholars in the gathering. First, she began by tracing some of the challenges encountered, prospects as well as how to make use of the potential available. Interestingly, she also revealed that some of her research projects in collaboration with other researchers culminated in the removal of some drugs from the Nigerian market due to their biochemical effects; identification of certain compounds from Nigeria medicinal plants that have the ability to inhibit topoisomerase1 enzyme in cervical cancer, hence inhibiting proliferation of the cells; and production of several products including two Prebiotic infant weaning foods of high nutrient density. The biochemist focused on four major areas of reproductive health of women and men. “In discussing food, we must deal with the question of quality and the preparative techniques. The quality is the nutritive value and it is of prime importance to nutrition. If the food is to be regarded as of suitable quality, it must contain protein, carbohydrate, fats, vitamins and mineral salts. However, no matter how good the quality or adequate quantity, its nutritive value will be greatly impaired by poor preparation.“

    She added: “Good nutritional status is essential for normal organ development and function, for optimum activity, working efficiency, for resistance to infection and for the ability to repair bodily damage or injury. Poor nutritional status exists when a person is deprived of an adequate amount of the essential nutrients over an extended period of time.”

    Magbagbeola then traced how her research contributed to the area of nutritional biochemistry. “I developed interest in Nutritional Biochemistry at the university in my fourth year. As a graduate student at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, my supervisors directed that my research topic should be ‘Effect of Cooking on the Nutritive value of some traditional foods of the Hausas in Northern Nigeria.’ This is the foundation of my research in Nutritional Biochemistry and it covered the period from 1976 to 1985.”

    In the process, studies were carried out on three staple meals of the Hausas, namely koko and kosai, normally taken as breakfast, danwake for lunch and tuwo da miya kuka for dinner. “The method used involved inviting six Hausa women to the laboratory. One meal was prepared by each woman using the traditional cooking method. The weighing and cooking was repeated by each woman. The mean of these weights for all the materials were computed. Analyses for their proximate composition, vitamin content, mineral elements, amino acid composition, and calorie value were carried out. All the meals were found to be inadequate in protein on an average level of intake,” Magbagbeola disclosed.

    She continued thus: “The standard meals and market meals were adequate in mineral elements although cooking was found to cause losses of minerals and vitamins. All the meals were deficient in sulphur amino and marginal tryptophan. Lysine was low in tuwodawa and kuka soup and koko and kosai. Attempts were made to establish the biological value of these meals by carrying out feeding experiments using albino rats. None of the meals could support optimum growth of rats as compared with balanced diet.”

    Protein quality evaluation of locally processed and some imported weaning formula available in Nigeria was also carried out. “Protein quality in terms of ability to support growth and development of infants of three different infant weaning formulas available in Nigerian markets at the time of study were compared. The parameters measured included protein efficiency ratio, net protein ratio, protein retention efficiency, coefficient of digestibility, biological value, blood urea, blood and urine creatinine, urine non protein nitrogen using weanling albino rats.”

    For the advancement of knowledge and the development of the society, she recommended that there should be more collaboration between health care providers and basic research scientists to improve the health of people. In addition, she stressed the need to build capacity and interest in basic science research by professionals.

    Magbagbeola said: “Drugs prescribed by clinicians should take cognisance of their side effects (e.g biochemical effects) on people. The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) should join hands with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to control and rid Nigeria’s markets of already banned drugs and substandard products in other developed countries being imported into the country.”

    •             The don also stressed that in industrialised countries, conventional drugs are being gradually relegated because they are becoming more ineffective owing to multiple drug resistance, adverse side effects and high cost of production. “The use of medicinal plants remedies is gaining prominence, for example Chinese traditional medicines have almost taken over indigenous medicine in form of packaged medicinal products imported into the country. Cheap, efficacious and non-toxic medicinal plants can also be produced and packaged in Nigeria. This will reduce economic loss by importation. The federal government should put in place policies that will encourage production and packaging of these products and discourage the importation of such products.”

    Professor Magbagbeola started her academic career as a Graduate Assistant/Demonstrator in the Department of Biochemistry at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria from 1977 to 1979. She was later employed as a Junior Research Fellow in the Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Idi-Araba in March 1979. She rose through the ranks and took up the Chair of Biochemistry on October 1, 2001.

  • ‘We aim at grooming world class leaders’

    ‘We aim at grooming world class leaders’

    Her first love was law but gradually Bolanle Adewole passion moved to providing top-notch education for children. This gave birth to the The Learning Place (TLP) and also TLP Centre, a centre for children with autism and other related developmental disorders. Adewole later trained in Montessori education in the UK and worked in several schools in the US before relocating to Nigeria to set up TLP in 2004. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, she talks about working with special children, challenges, achievements and strategies for success.

    How and where did TLP start and what was it like at the beginning?

    We started in 2004 with twelve children and two of them were children with special needs.

    That marked the beginning of our work with special children, and six years later, TLP Centre was born to cater essentially for special children with autism and autism-related developmental disorders.

    All what we used to start the business was actually donated by myself and other family members. But what I had going for me was the fact that I had worked in schools outside the country; we actually had just relocated to Nigeria from the US in 2003.

    I was a pioneer staff at the last school I worked, so that exposed me to starting and running a school. That was Franklin Montessori School in Washington DC. But with discipline and consistency in re-investing back into the business, we were able to offset some of those that supported us and also purchase our own property.

    What is unique about the centre and what are some of the achievements?

    We have seen over 950 children go through the school; for the Montessori school learning, after care and holiday care. We’ve had about 200 members of staff gone through us and we are constantly training and retraining. So, you find that the staff that come to us, at the end of the day, end up saying “Truly, this is the learning place”.

    This is because the name itself is not just for children but is a learning ground for everyone. We call ourselves a niche school because we give highly personalised care to children.

    This, we do, through our Montessori teaching method which is a very practical way of teaching, focusing on everything; not just academics.

    This is because education goes beyond academics. We aim at grooming world-class leaders, therefore, we also engage our children in a lot of external activities, even collaborating with schools abroad. Our children have ranked very highly and we always get good feedbacks from all those that have moved on.

    TLP is not about me; it God’s school and that’s why we’ve continued to flourish. For example again, where we are presently is actually our own property and to the glory of God, we got that in four years of existence.

    Was it easy breaking even in four years?

    We didn’t require any loan, and that was because we always reinvested back into the business. You see, if you don’t invest back into your business and you expect it to grow to the next level, it never will. It’s important you understand that you always have to maintain standards and keep improving. The world is revolving and you cannot be left behind. Simply put, your business just stays the way it is. But the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. For example, we make it a duty to invest in our members of staff to make sure they are of international standards.

    What is your secret to success and how would you describe the maintenance culture in Nigeria?

    That’s one thing I’ve noticed in Nigeria; the maintenance culture is deplorable. People start a business, you attend the launch and the business place is nice and sparkling, but you go back within a year to find that the paint is already fading; the reception is beginning to rip around the edges and so on.

    Those kinds of things should not be overlooked; you have to maintain regularly because it is cheaper to maintain than to totally replace when it wears out finally. In fact, if you fail to keep up with standards in any business, you soon begin to notice your clients begin to move to places that look cleaner and brighter. I worked for several years at schools in the US, and I learnt a lot.

    So, at TLP, part of the best practices that we put in place is to always put back into the business, maintain and train staff, make them happy, take the children out to explore, and more.

    For a number of people, personnel is a challenge; those trained usually leave for greener pastures, what has been the situation at your end?

    Incidentally, they have not always gone away. I’ve found out that the ‘move ahead’ syndrome is the thing with Nigeria; we always want to look for where an extra N5, 000 can be added to our pay.

    So, at TLP, we try to beat other employers at their game by increasing salaries and adding more benefits for our members of staff so they understand that we really care. Apart from getting professional development, they get personal development as well and therefore stay on without being forced to.

    What excites you about the methodology that you use?

    We have been using the structured teaching method and it requires breaking down their tasks into very small components and getting them to work with the small components. This leads them to acquire independence! Children generally learn better when you give them simple tasks because it’s easier for them to assimilate. The structured teaching is widely known now, globally, but this was introduced recently to Nigeria.

    It’s been wonderful. Initially, we weren’t quite sure what we were getting ourselves into because though we had gone to learn how to work with children with autism, we didn’t know what would be the outcome or reality. But I tell you, we are overwhelmed right now with the intensity of what has happened to the children at the centre.

    We’ve seen improvements to a very high degree! We have children who came here not talking, but are talking now.  I have seen structured teaching in action. My son is on the spectrum. Since I came back from a seminar on structured teaching in Chicago, I have not for once made his breakfast! He goes downstairs and makes his cereal by himself from the start to finish, because of what I have taught him based on structured teaching. He now takes his bath by himself and fully dresses up by himself! These were skills he didn’t have before we travelled. He’s making an impressive progress. More so, in the self-help skill area, he’s making significant and impressive progress too.

  • Fate of untrusting climber

    Imagine you are 20 ft. up in the air, climbing a wall with nothing keeping you from falling except a harness, rope and your climbing partner who is down there holding that rope. The first thing that comes to mind is how sturdy is this rope that is holding me up and the next thing that comes to mind is if your partner would prevent you from falling.

    It is, therefore, up to your partner to pay attention to what you are doing and to adjust the rope accordingly. It is also up to you, the climber, to trust that you will be eased gently down the wall to the ground when you have reached the top. The crux of the matter is that a distracted partner could mean not only a bumpy ride down the wall, but also your safety in jeopardy. At the same time, an untrusting climber could hang indefinitely on the wall, refusing to move.

    It is literally a leap of faith when you let go of the holds and allow yourself to be lowered down. Just like in the love relationship, the climber and partner must work together, stay present, and communicate clearly so that the climbing experience will be enjoyable, so that none of the parties concerned ends up in a casualty ward. So it goes with intimate relationships. It is not uncommon for one or both people to feel vulnerable and wonder whether or not the other person will be there when needed.

    Pamela had been in three different relations in three years and they all crumbled living bitter memories behind. At a point, she made up her mind not to entrust her heart with anyone again. However, her parents kept on bothering her about the need to settle down because they believed that age was no longer on her side. It got to a point when she just had to have a change of mind and give another heart a chance.

    Shortly afterwards, she found a heart that was as sober as hers and gradually they began the emotional journey and discovering the better sides of each other. It was great fun and she thanked God for giving her the opportunity to have a rethink about heart matters. Everything worked as planned and in a short while they got married. The first two years was like a miracle and everyone admired this lucky twosome.

    However by the third year, Pamela began to notice some gaps and the worse was that her Romeo thrived on lies. Almost everything he had told her in the past were lies; he continued to tell more lies and there were times when she could not tell what was true and fake in the things he did or say. This, she discovered, was a disaster. How do you continue to forge ahead in a relationship with a full time liar?

    The decision to opt out was also very tough. Where was she going to begin from and anything she said against him would be backed up with lies that would entangle and destroy everything she had built? Building trust in a relationship is the best thing to do but sometimes this can be very difficult. A lot of people think they know how to go about their relationships, but most times it doesn’t work as planned. Building trust is a very important part of a relationship, and without it relationships can be very stressful.

    Unfortunately, trust is often taken for granted when it comes to intimate relationships. After taking the emotional leap, lovebirds come to the realisation that things are not going the way they wanted or dreamt romantically about. We usually trust or don’t trust that the agreements we’ve made with one another will be kept. These may include staying faithful to one another, continuing to deepen your connection, or “being there” for each other no matter what, among other possible agreements.

    Interestingly, when we really look at the day to day lives we lead with our partner, the big question we need to ask ourselves is if there is really a strong sense of trust? Weaknesses in trust can range from intense to more subtle. Even when there is no real evidence to indicate it, many still worry about their partner cheating on them from time to time.

    Creating trust and intimacy with your partner is very important if you want it to be successful. Almost every one of us has had a past relationship that left us feeling wary of loving or trusting anyone again. Tune into your current situation and allow yourself to move on from those old hurts. This may require acknowledging the ways that the past comes up for you in the present.

    Sometimes we hide habits, tendencies, even desires that are important to us because we don’t trust that our partner will approve of them. We undercut intimacy by keeping this barrier up to hide what we think won’t be loved. In effect, we don’t feel lovable as our true selves. Make it a goal to appreciate yourself – “warts” and all – and then allow every part of you to be seen by your partner. Chances are your love will be more accepting than you think.

  • ‘My talent show gives poor kids a chance’

    ‘My talent show gives poor kids a chance’

    Raliat Abdulsalam is a business analyst and accountant with over 14 years of varied work experience in the oil and gas sector, Information Technology sector and in the civil service where she worked at the Federal Capital Territory Water Board. She is currently the Operations Director of RT Independent Oil & Amp; Energy Marketing Company Limited, an indigenous oil marketing company, as well as Managing Partner of RHS Automated Logistics, a firm involved in the downstream product marketing and distribution in the oil sector. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, she talks about life in business, motivation, as well as her passion for developing young talents in sports and the arts.

    Tell us about your talent show

    My love for community development and giving back to the society made me to start an initiative for children involved with football as a sport and it is called the Lekki Junior Strikers Academy. This organisation reaches out to both the privileged and the underprivileged children from ages four to 15 across Lekki. We started with very few children but have grown to fifty children, and it is currently searching for an affiliation to an international football club to ensure the continuity of training for the very skilled kids who want to be professional football players.

    Kiddies Talent Show is a show that not only searches for talent but nurtures the talents.

    It’s a show that has never been done in this country. I am not saying that there have not been other talent shows for children but this is different.

    While it’s a talent show based on kids, but it’s also based on kids with their different abilities and different talents or innate abilities that every child has. It deals with music, arts: performing arts and theoretical art like painting, drawing, hand tricks, craft and comedy.

    In fact, everything that the child has which most of us overlook as parents. We also look out for the oratory skills in every child; that is children that are imaginative enough to tell stories and act it out, which is a huge talent. These are kids that end up becoming artist, work in radio stations and pick people’s imaginations; so these are the things we are looking at because we don’t want to restrict the child to traditional talents which is already known.

    We are looking at alternative talents that every child has, but parents or the economy are not looking at to promote. Today, because music and acting is reigning, everybody wants to become a musician or an actor but what about the painters? I pass by the road side and see young guys that are artists that put their work on the wall for all to see. If your child has that ability and passes through our organisation, we are going to nurture it and we will help give them enough exposure, that is the future we see and that is what we are all about.

    When did the Kiddies Talent Show start?

    It will be funny to tell you that we started this talent show in 2013 and we staged the first season in the same year. It is a television reality show that we put out there for the world to see, that we have untapped talents in Nigeria.

    How was the idea conceived?

    One of the directors of the company approached me because he knows I am involved with sports programmes with kids and he came up with the idea of doing a beauty pageant for children. I am not a beauty pageant kind of person for children because I am a Muslim and I felt that it could be exploitative to expose children that way. I might also be exerting on parents, so I went back to him and told him I wasn’t interested.

    I got thinking that instead of a beauty pageant, why can’t we do a talent show where we can promote the act even after the show is over. So we sat down and formed a committee to set the ball rolling and so far we’ve been very lucky to achieve a lot.

    How successful was the first show?

    Considering the fact that it was the first time ever and we put it on television we should say 100% because I wasn’t expecting it to go that way.

    You know how difficult it is to put such a programme on television considering the cost, but we had a few sponsors that believed in our dream and of course we all invested our time and money to make sure it was a success and it was.

    We sold 1,500 forms. It was all over Lagos, and people heard on radio, courtesy some jingles which were sponsored by companies that partnered us. Our first auditions were at the National Theatre, then we showcased it on Silverbird Television and Lagos Television.

    I want to use this opportunity to say kudos to Lagos Television (LTV), they gave us massive support; we didn’t pay much as a result. We also got support from LASSA, LIRS, and the Lagos State Commissioner for Education gave us access to public schools.

    The amazing thing about the Kiddies Talent Show is that it is not restricted to certain kids; it is for everybody, whether you are in a public or private school. A child just needs a little bit of push and you will be shocked at what a child can do.

    People will like to know what has happened to some of the first season participants.

    In our first season, we reduced the numbers from 500 to 250. Then along the line, we went down to 24 because we didn’t start auditions on time and we needed to finish before schools resumed their session.

    The 24 kids were put in a boot camp for two weeks after which 10 finalists were selected from the two different categories. We have the junior category (6-12) and the senior category (13-17); so you are looking at five finalists who won something.

    The first prizes were one million, second  500,000, but we had to cut down the prizes at the end of the day because we did not have enough financial support. Instead of our promised one million, we paid half a million to the first two prizes, 250,000 for second prizes, and our third prizes were 150,000 each while the fourth and fifth got 100,000 each.

    Our first winner in the senior category, 15-year-old Deborah Umoren, is a musician and we’ve been able to sign agreement with Key Productions to record a single for her which will help launch her career.

    Within that first 10 category, we have 6-year-old Gift Benedict who displayed great oratory skills, so we’ve signed an agreement with Inspiration FM for her to read stories. She writes her stories herself and acts them out expertly.

    There’s Mustau Adeleke, who is on scholarship from one of the parents that watched the show, Mrs. Isiba, because she was overly impressed with him when he produced a battery that could charge a phone without having to plug it on the wall. Everybody was moved by that and the scholarship covers his university education.

    We have also enrolled him as an intern with Lego so when he is on holidays he has somewhere to go to and continue to improve on his construction skills.

    When they were in the house they formed a theme song which will also go into production. Hopefully, during the short holiday period they will go into the studio and try to work things out and we are still looking for more sponsors so that we can engage more kids.

    What are you looking to improve upon in the second season?

    We plan to reach out to more people and we’ve decided to go into schools because if you look at our environment the child has a triangular life. We decided that for us to have a wider audience and have a talent that is worth looking at on television, we’ve decided to go to schools and talk to the PTAs because the schools know the talents that are out there and it’s a platform in which you can reach out to children.

    To improve on the quality of our talent show, we need to go beyond what we did before. This time we’ve started earlier to raise awareness for season two and we plan to be more competitive this time.

    When is season two coming up?

    The season two is going to start in January and we are starting auditions by January 31. We are looking at using either the National Stadium or Teslim Balogun Stadium, both in Lagos.

    The auditions will span five weeks – only on Saturdays – because we want to give everybody the opportunity to attend, including those in boarding houses. After auditions, we now go into elimination rounds and this time we are improving the elimination round by grouping the kids that have the same kind of talents together.

    And for each show in the elimination round which is for three weekends, you will see the different groups and the judges and public will vote through so that by the end of the day we’ll have various talents from the different groups.

    And I can assure you we are working with security outfits to ensure the safety of the kids, so parents don’t need to be worried. It is important to also say that no child will be allowed to audition unless parents’ or guardians’ consent has been sought and he/she is physically present.

    Finally, what has been your biggest inspiration?

    I have a giving nature and it is tough in this environment to give because when you think about giving you don’t expect to make money from it as putting smiles on people’s faces is enough.

    I draw fulfilment that after the first season of the Kiddies Talent Show, we changed the lives of a lot of kids. I am imagining in the long run how many people’s lives would be changed and that already gives me the push and the power to move on.

    Everyday, my prayer is to give hope to at least one child and sometimes when you look around, the children with the real talents are those who can’t afford proper academic life.

    I know by enriching people’s lives I’m automatically enriching my own and I thank God because he is my biggest inspiration and without him I don’t think any of these things would’ve come to fruition. I also thank my darling husband and wonderful kids for their support.

     

  • Empowering victims of human trafficking

    Empowering victims of human trafficking

    There have been so many campaigns against human trafficking all over the world. Unfortunately, the act continues with over 80 per cent of victims being women. This trade in humans is usually for the purpose of sexual slavery, forced labour, as well as commercial sex exploitation. In spite of the campaigns and international conventions, this violation of the victims’ rights is one of the fastest growing activities. A few years back, it represented an estimated $31.6 billion of international trade.

    It is therefore important for all hands to be on deck to curtail the trend. A former reporter, Bukola Oriola, is joining forces with the National Agency for The Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP) to educate Nigerians at home about the ordeal of human trafficking in the United States. In her 2015 Lagos upcoming week-long tour of public and private colleges, tagged, Bringing The Story Back Home, Oriola hopes to enlighten higher institution students as they are the armour bearers in the community. The event is planned to help them understand travelling abroad does not necessarily mean a better life or greener pasture, but that they should be aware of the challenges they or their loved ones may face in search of a better life.

    “The reason I have chosen this audience is because they are the youth and they are armour bearers in the community. They form the perfect niche to spread the message to the younger generation and also leverage it to the older folks in the community. More so, they are passionate and are talented, always looking for opportunities within and outside the country. It will be of immense help to this sub-group to understand the fact that going abroad by visa lottery, marriage, further education, or other means can be a potential trafficking trap,” Oriola stated.

    Oriola, who is a survivor of labour trafficking, has chronicled her experiences in form of a book entitled, Imprisoned: The Travails of a Trafficked Victim to both expose one of the ways that a person can become a victim and how victims can reach out for help. This tour, scheduled for September 2015, is not set to discourage the Nigerian youths from pursuing their dreams of finding opportunities abroad, but to equip them with adequate knowledge that will prevent them from becoming victims or finding help if they become victims of human trafficking.

    Oriola is also the founder and producer of the Enitan Story: Imprisoned Show. The Enitan Story is a local non-profit organisation in Minnesota, United States, with a mission to advocate for victims and empower survivors of human trafficking. Imprisoned Show is one of the organisation’s programmes dedicated to educating the public about human trafficking around the world. Since the launch of Imprisoned Show at one of the local TV stations in Minnesota, she has produced over 20 episodes featuring expert opinions, events, public presentations, students, members of the local law enforcement, non-profit organisations, attorneys and advocates to help victims reach out for help. “I believe that education is the greatest tool for preventing this heinous crime in our communities. One of the episodes on Imprisoned Show featured the Hubert Humphreys fellows at the University of Minnesota from Malaysia, Vietnam, and Nepal. Evaluating and discussing various forms of providing services, in addition to advocacy, will further help both government and nongovernmental efforts to effectively combat the crime. It was also documented as President Barak Obama’s accomplishments in fighting human trafficking in the United States in 2013.

    Oriola is a consultant for the Office of Victims of Crime (OVC) and was among the 20 survivors’ forum at the White House in January 2014, which was the National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month in the United States. The event, which was put together by the Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Centre (OVCTTAC) was the first of its kind event by the federal government to effectively engage the voices of survivors in its programme to provide a better life for victims and survivors of human trafficking in the United States. The government has rolled out a five-year strategic plan which was made public on January 14, 2014 at the Forum and Listening Session.

  • Mystery of Godliness

    Mystery of Godliness

    Compliments of the season to the most amazing lady ever! I just wanted you to know that you are so much loved. You are a treasure!!! Your write-ups have been a great source of blessing for the youths. I am a writer and publisher that has been greatly inspired by your write-ups. I am also privileged to be a pastor. Indeed, you don’t know what you are capable of doing until you try. You are great, going somewhere great, to show forth great things. Presently, I’m re-reading your write-up “PURSUE YOUR DESTINY.” I can’t have enough of your write-ups. Even when I don’t have anything to read, I go on re-reading your write-ups over and over again! You write as if that’s all you do-so passionate and fascinating. Do you do any other thing?

    I really want you to keep up your standards with the ladies, no matter what the world is saying! I am proud of your standards, I’m proud of you! Your ministry is impactful! Your blog is inspiring! Your writings are flawless! Happy New year to a priceless gem!

    Your permanent fan,

    Mr.G.Adebambo

     

    Great, great people of God,

    This is the year the lord has made for you and I, we shall shine, rejoice and be glad in it. There is none like unto our God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in our help, and in his excellency on the sky. He is an amazing God! He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people. What a priceless gem!

    This time last year, I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d be used on the pages of newspapers by God to impact lives. However, it was a period when I had developed a consecrated and holy life and gotten to the point where I carried a heavy presence of God and could hear from Him. It was also a time when I had to meditate so much on how to scale through one of life’s vicissitudes! However, in spite the brooding which usually crept in whenever I allowed it, the spirit of God suppressed the gloom in my troubled soul and instead powered my imagination. Imagination is very powerful and once it is incubated by the Holy Spirit, it becomes inspired by God and you get uncommon results.

    As a teenager, I wanted to please my late dad at some point and practically sweep him off his feet and make him proud of me so I decided to write my debut book for girls. Because of the way I was celebrated even when I didn’t set out for all the attention I got, I developed a Joseph’s dream to be a household name and be popular with Nigerian girls. However, that dream never materialized as it was taken over by other things. I thereafter founded an NGO to influence the lives of girls positively in my own little way but I could comfortably say nothing much happened until I woke up early March last year and imagined myself featuring weekly and contributing to the lives of girls in different newspapers. If anyone told me I could write so much, with different contents in different newspapers and be so celebrated by you my wonderful fans, I would have sworn it could never happen. You’d recall I always say there’s nothing special about me and that I am just a human being like you who has a seed of greatness planted in him. The only difference is that I yielded my spirit to God and allowed Him take absolute charge of my life and because He said He has created us for His glory, I just must manifest His glory. And that is why He can enable me write in my mind even when I am in the middle of a conversation. It’s so amazing! I tell you, sometimes, I don’t know where what I write comes from. Even when I am not in the perfect frame of mind, when it is time to write, the Holy Spirit carries me on its wings! There’s still so much I have not shared on the pages of these newspapers that could take many years. And you will agree with me that the more I carry God, the more He increases my wisdom, knowledge, understanding and ability to write till eternity! This to me is one of the mysteries of godliness. Do you know you can do better? There is a treasure in you which only the light of God can unearth. Life is a mission. You are here on an assignment. There is no true life until you find out who you are. Do you know who you are? In the divine agenda for your life, do you know where you are?

    Your success in life can be determined by the power of your imagination. If you are ruggedly determined, no power can stop you! Embrace God with all your heart this year and let His power ignite your imagination and make you a trail-blazer in the world that was created by your father in heaven. School on Sunday resumes next week. May God bless you all and make you VERY GREAT!

  • Going back to the drawing board

    BRIDGET is not the kind of gal that you find around these days. Even on campus when her friends painted the town in different colours, got wild with all kinds of escapades, her story was different. She actually kept her virginity till her final year on campus when she met the one she fell in love with. “I thought that I had found love. I thought we were going to spend the rest of our lives together and I trusted him with all my heart.”

    So, what happened? “One day I went to see my dear Gbolahan and he told me that he would be travelling for a training programme. I was excited because he told me that he would be away for only two months. I did almost all the shopping for him and went with him to the airport the night he travelled. I was happy and looked forward to seeing him soon. As soon as he left that night, I felt a vacuum in my heart. It looked very boring without him and I started counting the minutes, days and months.”

    On the eve of the day Gbolahan told her he was going to come back, he sent her a letter. A love letter? No, it wasn’t. It was a letter betraying her emotions. He simply told her not to wait for him anymore because he had found love elsewhere. He had travelled with this new found love and they had tied the knot already.

    Ha! Could this really be her Gbolahan? Had he always been like this or was something amiss somewhere? Well, the truth of the matter was that he never really loved her. It had been a journey of lust and when he found a younger babe, he decided to drop her for ‘good’. It’s been over eight years since Gbolahan left but Bridget is still stagnant, still in love with this emotional Judas. In the process, she appears to have lost everything. All the guys who would have done anything to have her by their sides then cannot look in her direction anymore. She is indeed a shadow of her former self just because someone trampled on her emotional side. But this shouldn’t be the case.

    She should have learnt the principle which says that when one emotional door closes, then you need to open another door. It could actually turn out to be better than what you want to die for if you give the love opportunity.  Bridget was like the rose flower, but that is no longer the story now.

    The rose flower is indeed very attractive. It is pretty and great to behold. Of course, that is why beautiful ladies are sometimes linked or described in this context. However, when a rose is trampled upon, it loses it value; it is no longer great to be admired or cherished anymore. Interestingly, this applies to some of our beauties who seem to have lost their identity and the things they placed a high premium on turned out to be a source of great disappointment.

    Just before they get hooked to their Prince Charming, they are like roses, beautiful, adored and admired by all. Now that they have found their dream man, Mr. Right, or is it Prince Charming? then you would expect them to blossom, fly higher to cloud seven.

    But to their dismay, the reverse is usually the case. Now, that they are faced with another version of the Beauty and the Beast tale, they go back to the drawing board. Unfortunately, it may just be too late. Their emotions like the rose have been trampled upon and sometimes they never really get out of this love woods again.

    It could be tough finding your bearing in a relationship where the guy is neither here nor there. The experience is what experts call an emotional roller coaster. The stress of living through an “on again and off again” relationship is better imagined than experienced.

    Unfortunately, if you are trapped in this kind of situation then you need to take a decision now. Naturally, it should be goodbye to the wishy-washy noncommittal man.

    It is indeed a tight emotional rope to walk on. Just when you think you have finally come to the end of the difficult part of the rope, it snaps off and you are back to square one. It therefore becomes very difficult for you to express yourself.

    At this stage, what you are going to have is a situation where you would always be wondering and withholding your love because you’re not sure if he’s really going to be there for you, or not.

    You are also going to be in a confused state; a state where you may not be able to predict what to do next and everything gets messy before you know it. Yes, the crux of the matter is that he is being reckless with your heart and your love. A man who loves playing the abracadabra game with your heart should not be taken serious at all.

    The truth is that if you go on like this, and don’t figure out what to tell him and how to handle his behaviour, you’re going to stay stuck in this situation. Interestingly, love can bring out the best in you and your partner. But this can only happen when your love is aligned. If you’re in an “on again, off again” relationship then you’re by definition not aligned with your partner in your love.

  • Teenager wins talent hunt competition

    Teenager wins talent hunt competition

    It was a night of glitz and glam. The venue was grand finale of the star rising competition which took place at the Civic Centre in Lagos. Here, ten finalists consisting of solo performers and groups of dancers and instrumentalists contested keenly for the star prize.

    After a very keen competition, Precious Udo, a solo performer, emerged as the new star winning the first position. Two other solo performers, Timothy Attah and Alex Louis, got the second and third prizes respectively. For Precious, it was the moment she had been waiting for after putting in a lot of effort before and after the auditions. She joined the school choir at the age of ten and that was where she discovered her talent in singing. At the moment, she is an evolving song writer, singer, guitarist and she recently launched her own album titled AMEN.

    Like Udo, Alex and Timothy also contested as solo performers. Other contestants included the Lillies Stars instrumentalists, Four and half men (Grace High School) instrumentalist, Baja girls cultural dance and Oyinkansola Ebony and Nonso Ifionu dance.

    In an excited mood, the initiator of the talent hunt, Kay Ovia, admonished the children to be hardworking, dedicated and strive for excellence in whatever they do. “It is a great privilege to seek and get this opportunity to mould their skills. At the end of the day, the children would be motivated and talented in their different areas.”

    She added that “At this time, we are motivated by the talents we have seen so far. We are motivated by children that have already on their own motivated themselves to the highest level of excellence. Apart from entertainment, these children are also active in other fields and subjects like English, the sciences and current affairs”.

    The amazon went on to talk about future plans for the children and the project. “Our intention is to establish the centre across Nigeria. This centre will act as a catalyst to protect our children into the open stage of the whole world. And by the time they are there, who knows, the sky may not even be their limit.”

    While wishing all the participants success and a brighter future ahead, Ovia stressed the need to be dedicated and have a focus. “The team would be there to guide, inspire and teach the young ones how to go about achieving their dreams as well as carving niche for themselves in life,” she disclosed.