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  • Unique Powers of the feminine (Part 2)

    Easter Greetings to you;

    Why seek the living among the dead?
    He’s alive forevermore! May his re
    freshing presence overwhelm you now and always.

    Here is the continuation of my interview with Dr Abayomi Aiyesimoju( a Neurologist and Homeopath); The Unique Powers of the feminine( This interview was aired recently at a Women’s retreat in Dubai).

    Segilola; You have talked about the spiritual dimension in the concept of the feminine and her powers. What about the earthly dimension?

    Dr Aiyesimoju: Yes, let us look at what we now know about the unique powers in the feminine as this manifests in the physical  body itself in terms of the forming of the human body, its propagation, its sustenance and its functioning.

    In every cell of the body there is the nucleus that contains a mixture of genes from both father and mother. Outside the nucleus but still within each cell are structures called mitochondria. These are the POWERHOUSES in each cell. They are responsible for the production of the energy that runs the whole cell and therefore the whole body. Now the striking and amazing thing is that whilst the genes in the nucleus come from both parents, the genes of the mitochondria, the POWERHOUSES of the body come only from the mother!

    This is passed on this way right from the beginning of human existence through the feminine line to all generations. Further there are also the sex chromosomes that we also need for life. The female has XX the male has XY. In the normal case the Y makes you male. You can have a single X the female chromosome and survive but not with a single Y.

    In the course of reproduction the only X that a male has which it cannot do without to survive can only come from the mother! Thus the life-force here flows through the female channel and vessels. Thus metaphorically speaking the female is the bearer of life energy and life force.

    Segilola; So what are the practical lessons we can draw from these details?

    Dr Aiyesimoju;

    1. Since the female is the bearer of mitochondria, the powerhouses for all generations to come, she might as well keep her mitochondria healthy by obeying the law of movement( physical and mental exercises), healthy well balanced diet, generally healthy lifestyle.
    2. As carrier and bearer of the life force, women might as well strive to consciously connect in purity with life itself through prayers, meditation, gratitude, music, living with spiritual consciousness, purity of thoughts, feeling and intuition. Being open for reception and dispensation.

    Segilola; This is getting more interesting! Can we now talk about the other unique powers in the feminine against the background of what we have said so far?

    Dr Aiyesimoju; It is often said “As above so below” Having come to that realization that the feminine is at the physical level the custodian and channel for energy and medium for the life force that is mediated through her, we can, going by the aphorism that as above so below, conjecture that also at the level of the spirit the feminine will also be a special receiver and mediator of spiritual energies and life forces too…

     

    Continued on www.staging.thenationonlineng.net

  • Unique Powers of the Feminine Part 1

    Africa looses US$95 billion yearly  through gender inequality. Women make up 80% of the labour force in Agriculture in Africa but get less than 1% of the credit….the more I think about it the more it becomes obvious that empowering African women is not only right, it just makes common practical economic sense if Africa is to transform itself”…Dr Akanimo Odon ( Africa Strategy and Business Expert). I really commend the lucid account of Dr Odon, however as much as I believe in empowering African women I also have deep concerns for the strategies being deployed by various governments and organisations. In my opinion the popular strategy of empowering African women through distribution of food items…teaching entrepreneurial skills are secondary, the primary strategy should be focused on the education of the minds of the African women for self awareness and discovery.

    The conventional image of a successful woman today is that she’s a virtuoso juggler, somehow moving fast enough to keep all the many aspects of her busy life in the air at the same time. Conventional it may be, but it’s quite sad. I opine that ‘’Having it all’’ means taking yourself seriously. It means knowing yourself well enough to find your purpose in life. I’m burdened by the reality that an average African woman is oblivious of her purpose in life, little wonder many women are in the rat race desperately seeking financial, intellectual or even Godly power to the detriment of their families. Moreover, poverty(in all ramifications) is the enemy within that rears its ugly head threatening the survival of families and visions. Nobility is fast becoming a rare virtue in our society, many women have either willingly or ignorantly sold themselves as sex slaves, many have been lured into extra-marital relationships…all for the sake of money, power, fame…what a pity! Certainly those that know their God shall be strong and will do exploits while those that do not know their God shall be weak and exploited. . My counsel to every woman is that never pursue any dream to the detriment of your dignity. Be strong enough to seek wisdom, knowledge and healthy support systems.

    Every woman is a powerhouse! Discovery precedes recovery. I believe this is the time for every African woman to rediscover herself and take recovery of the waste cities( Social, Political, intellectual &economic). In the light of propagating a new direction for women empowerment, I was privileged to conduct an interview titled; Unique Powers of the Feminine with Dr Abayomi Aiyesimoju, a consultant physician, neurologist and homeopath. He is a world-class consultant and trainer in brain management. I trust that this interview will be literally a journey in rediscovery for every woman…and every man too. Of course, we cannot tackle gender mainstreaming without resolving male participation. Succinctly, when both genders work together in the pursuit of #Womenforprogress, more concrete results will be achieved.

    Interview- Unique Powers of the Feminine

    Segilola; It has been said that the feminine energy is one of the most powerful forces on earth. What do you think?

    Dr Aiyesimoju; I agree absolutely Let me illustrate the truth of this statement with a story:

    A man called Arthur Bremer had planned for years to kill President Richard Nixon. Bremer grew up in a dysfunctional family and had been beaten and yelled at consistently at home.

    He was relentlessly mocked, teased and hated during his entire life. He was a janitor, never married and had never been intimate with a woman. He felt he had absolutely no significance in his life.

    On the day he wanted to kill the President for the sake of fame, he came to a point blank range of the President. With all the determination in him, he reached into his pocket to get his gun suddenly  someone in the crowd knocked him on the arm. According to the account “ Full of rage and disgust for whoever or whatever it was that broke his state and sabotaged his mission and his chance- the biggest moment of his life for which he had planned for years- he turned around to see a tiny little lady, incredibly tiny, and amazingly soft; and heard her say in deep concern: “ oh dear! I am so SORRY! Are you Ok?” and in that moment showed him more love and connection, more true feminine energy, than he had ever received in his life.”

    In the book written about Arthur Bremer titled: “ An Assassin’s Diary” he said that though he was at point blank range, he could not make this soft little lady witness something so horrendous. He didn’t want to make her see this. So even the hardened assassin was touched and swayed by the magic of femininity and love he experienced from the tiny woman…and the President’s life was saved thereby. What a power! What a demonstration of the feminine’s power of influence!

    Segilola; Wow..this is mind blowing! Apart from the power of the feminine to influence as is evident in the story of the tiny woman and the would-be assassin, are there other powers of the feminine we shall be considering?

    Dr Aiyesimoju; The feminine is also proverbially associated with another natural power: THE POWER OF INTUITION!

    -Further, unique to woman is the miraculous power of fertility for bearing the young.

    -As well as the closely connected mighty power of mother-love that can fearlessly face all foes in defense and protection of her offspring.

    Segilola; What do you think is the nature and essence of these powers?

    Dr Aiyesimoju; In order to better understand the nature of these powers of the feminine, we should try and grasp their scope. Goethe in his work, FAUST,  spoke of- The Eternal Feminine leading us upwards!

    With this, it is clear that he included the spiritual dimension in the concept of the feminine and her powers. Without an understanding of this spiritual dimension we cannot fully grasp and use the powers of the feminine.

    To be continued next week.

  • Styling tux the feminine way

    Styling tux the feminine way

    Tuxedo is known to be a classic man’s staple. Over the years the ladies have decided to make it their staple also. The tuxedo dress is super sexy, chic, fierce and gives a boss lady look. It is stylish, modern and classic can be worn for any occasion. Nail the look with nice hair, minimal heels accessories, killer shoes. Complete your look with a sexy clutch.

  • Styling tux the feminine way

    Styling tux the feminine way

    Tuxedo is known to be a classic man’s staple. Over the years the ladies have decided to make it their staple also. The tuxedo dress is super sexy, chic, fierce and gives a boss lady look. It is stylish, modern and classic. Nail the look with nice hair, minimal heels accessories, killer shoes. Complete your look with a sexy clutch.

  • ‘Our feminine charm fetches us more customers’

    Anu Opaleye and Funke Oludemo, both 26 years old run Eagle Express, a dry cleaning outfit in the Festac area of Lagos.  Both ladies, who left a full time job with an e-commerce company to start their business, share their experience with OLUKEMI AYANWUSI in this interview.

    Why did you both choose to go into the dry cleaning business? It started when we both resigned from Jumia Nigeria due to the workloads and other reasons best known to us. Since we have both worked in an e-commerce company for more than a year, we thought it wise to set up something for ourselves. We did not want to work for people anymore so we came up with the idea of washing. It was funny at the beginning because we thought how can we be graduates and we are washing clothes to earn a living?  We started small in our father’s little garage.  We started on March 1st 2016 and we are still using the garage till date.  We chose the name Eagle Express Laundry Services because we thought it could attract people. We actually sat down to think of so many things to do but I think dry cleaning was just the easiest and fastest option we had to start a  business. Initially, we thought about a bakery. That will cost a fortune, so we dropped that.  We did a study around our area and discovered there was no dry cleaning business close to where we stay in Festac. So we were like ‘let’s just take the opportunity.’

    What were the challenges when you started?

    The first month was very challenging because it was difficult to get people to patronise us. We only had family and friends patronising us. We didn’t have external customers but after a while, we were able to get other people to patronise us and we covered back the investment that we put into the business.  We followed this progress by buying equipment such as washing machines and some other stuff.  It was in May that we started to run smoothly and the business began to move.  And because we are ladies, we use our charms to get more customers. Now we share fliers, do face-to-face advertisement and that has helped us to improve our clientele. We are gradually looking to recoup the money we invested into the business. We had problem when we first started and had problems meeting up the demand. Sometimes we were late to deliver to our customers since we were not able to iron our cloths on time because we did not have our own generator. But right now, we are not depending on electricity from the discos anymore

    Quitting a regular job to delve into the unstable waters of entrepreneurship, what kind of preparation prepared you for the risk?

    We didn’t really have any entrepreneurship background as we didn’t take any entrepreneurship courses; we just took a step of faith.  We had friends who owned businesses and they kind of advised us on the necessary things to do. Our parents also supported us because when we were in Jumia, we were working round the clock and they were relieved that we were starting out on our own.

    What was the reaction when you told people you were into dry cleaning?

     The reaction of people to us starting this business has been very encouraging and very positive. I think people were really looking up to see more youths starting their own businesses. Even our Reverend in Church, Venerable Akerele, was really supportive. In terms of capital, our families and close friends were also there for us because we were not ready to go to banks to get a loan. We didn’t want to start up a business with a big debt dangling over our neck. In fact, when we tell people in Yoruba ‘I’m an alagbafo’ (washerman) they laugh and are like, ‘are you serious?’  We have no single regret ever since we moved into this business. Yes, we have not started making millions yet but we look forward to earning much in due time.

    What specific strategies are you putting in place for expansion?

    For now, we are trying to build the one we have right now in Festac. We want to create more awareness for our investment here.  Once we have achieved that, we can then expand to other locations around Lagos. So from Festac, we are thinking of probably moving to places like Okota that is not too far from Festac . Places like Ikeja, Yaba and Victoria Island are our possible axis for expansion.

    Do you have people working for you or you both are solely responsible for the business administration at the moment?

    When we started, we were doing it ourselves because we were advised that at the beginning, it is better to start small instead of having to pay people. Now we have people working with us as wash men and iron men.  Even now, if there are many fabrics on ground, we still join them to wash irrespective of the fact that we are the CEOs. We still wash because at times these wash men will come up with excuses.  Since we have already given our words to customers, we need to wash the cloths ourselves. Also, naming our enterprise Eagle Express, that means we have to be timely so there is no time to waste. We are into the business to drive it forward, so most times we go into the laundry room and wash. Mostly we do hand wash because most of our customers don’t want machine.

    Based on your experience, how would you advise young people who want to start a business enterprise?

    They shouldn’t give up. It is better to be self-made than anything else. My advice to them is just start with anything little, even if it is N1000 recharge card.  We are not saying everyone should quit their jobs but even if they have good jobs, I think young people should still be self-made.  We are at the phase of being self-made and we are enjoying it. We both are go-getters and we are committed to getting it right.

    Being age mates and the same gender, how do you resolve conflicts and arguments when they arise?

    It has not been easy. We do fight but it is on a friendship zone.  One of the conditions our parents gave us is that we should not quarrel. Both families have been close for a long time so we were told not to sever the relationship based on our business interest.  We learn to respect each other and we both don’t give a non-challant attitude to our business.  We both had different thoughts and views on how to start-up the business, but we resolve not to bring our friendship into the business because, at times, familiarity causes unnecessary issue to just come up. We have gotten to a place where we can separate our friendship from the business and when we have issues, we are able to resolve it in an amicable manner.

    Who are the people you look up to for motivation and inspiration?

    People who inspire us are those we know personally; they are not necessarily people who are in the lime light.  When it comes to business, a friend of ours named Jerry inspires us a lot. Jerry is not just a savvy business man, he is very versatile as well and his business interest cuts across many sectors.  He was actually the one that inspired us to start the business. He was there with us from the beginning, he taught us what we needed to do, the amount we needed to setup and all that. So, he is our inspiration when it comes to business.

  • I CAN’T DATE ANYONE I DON’T KNOW –NOLLYWOOD ACTRESS OMOWUNMI DADA

    I CAN’T DATE ANYONE I DON’T KNOW –NOLLYWOOD ACTRESS OMOWUNMI DADA

    Nollywood actress and aspiring filmmaker, Omowunmi Dada, was a year older recently but she says that her best is yet to come. With two nominations for the Best of Nollywood (BON) Awards, Best Supporting Actress and Most Promising Actor, it appears that the thespian is geared towards taking her place in the industry’s hall of fame. She speaks with OVWE MEDEME about her budding career, aspirations and life as an only daughter, among other issues

    LOOKING back now, how far would you say you have come?

    I think that it has been His grace. I’m not where I used to be but there has been a great movement. There has been growth. I can only be hopeful for better things to come.

    What is your next step?

    I intend to continue to live better. Basically, for me, it is a new year. I’ve learnt the lessons to be learnt. Life has thrown some challenges to me and I have survived them in the last year. I hope to get better.

    Today, most of your colleagues are going into filmmaking. Are you considering toeing that line?

    Yes, I definitely do have plans of becoming a filmmaker. People will get to hear all about it when the time comes.

    You recently received two BON nominations…

    I was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress and for the Most Promising Actor. They are actually my very first award nominations for my career and I’m very excited about it. Most importantly because I look at the list and the names of the people I am nominated alongside. It is such a huge honour to share the same space with people like Liz Benson, Uche Jombo and Iyabo Ojo. These are people we watched growing up and being nominated with them, I feel elated. I’m excited.

    What are your hopes for the award?

    The fact is that I’m excited that my work is being recognised, people appreciate what I do and there is a movement. I do hope to win the awards because it is an award that is not voters-based. Winners are picked by a jury and I trust their sense of judgement. I believe that whoever takes the plaque is a winner and the others who are also nominated are all winners. So definitely, if I get to win, I’m excited. if I don’t, I’m still excited because winning basically means that you’ve been able to impact people and people recognise your effort in your career path and whatever it is you do. So already, I’m a winner.

    As one who has been in the industry for some time, how timely would you say the nominations are?

    It’s not too early and it’s not late. There is always a time for everything in life. There is a time to sow; there is a time to reap. There is a time to prepare, there is a time to get ready and there is a time when people would celebrate with you. I think it’s coming at the right time. I trust God, I believe in His plans and I believe in His purpose for me. I believe in whatever it is He does in my life. If this is the time that God has said something like this would come to me, then it is the right time. I got an award previously but it was a honourary award by a school which named me as their creative role model of the year. I was awarded alongside Tunde Kelani and Bolanle Austen-Peters of Terra Kulture.

    Presently, are you working on any production?

    I’ve been working on various productions and other ones are coming up. I recently was part of a Pan African movie titled Sink or Swim. It had people from Nigeria and other African countries. It had Seun Akindele, Zack Orji, Ali Nuhu and others from Nigeria. It also had actors from Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania. It was directed by a Nigerian. It’s a movie on human trafficking and illegal migration.

    What was the experience like?

    Being on that set was very challenging. We shot a lot of scenes at night and it was always very cold. During the day, it was so hot and at night it becomes very cold. I remember that inside my normal costume, I would wear like three or four cardigans just to get some warmth. It was fun.

    Working with people all across Africa was a wonderful experience for me, coupled with the fact that I got to learn a lot about the movie industry in other countries. I got to learn some of their cultures too. It helped me to understand my brothers outside Nigeria. It was interesting.

    You seem to do more of soap operas than feature films. Is that deliberate?

    I do soap operas as much as I do feature films. But in recent times, some of the series that I’ve done take my time and I’m not the kind of actor who likes to jump from one set to another. I like to finish up with one and then move to another one. The thing is, most of the movies I’ve done are not yet out. So it looks like I do more of soap operas. I’ve done some Africa Magic Original Films. One of the movies that got me nominated, Ojuju, is not out yet, though it has been too major festivals. I have a lot of movies coming out soon. Public Property got me the nomination for Most Promising Actor and it’s not out yet. It’s not like I have a preference for series but I take it one step at a time.

    Which do you find more challenging?

    They are both challenging in their different ways. For movies, you  research on a character and you have to bring the best of that character within a short period of time. And then, when you do the movie, it might not take too long so you are at liberty to move on to other things. But for series, if you are on that set for example, you are almost practically locked down, especially if you are trying to retain your character. When I get a script, I become that character.

    Financially, how rewarding has your career been?

    It can only get better. I’m happy doing what I am doing.

    How do you make out time for yourself and your family?

    I do find time. When I’m not on set, I’m always at home. I’m always with my family but they understand the nature of my job. They understand that at some point in time, I won’t be around but I always keep in touch. Civilisation and technology has actually bridged the gap. Now you can talk to anybody anywhere in the world and you can keep in touch. When I’m not working, I like to stay at home, read and have fun with everybody. I like to cook. I am the only daughter in my house. I have three brothers, though some of them are married. I am the last child so most times, I do all the cooking.

    You must have been pampered a lot…

    Unfortunately, I wasn’t pampered. My mum is a very strong disciplinarian so I was treated like the others and my brothers were always bullying me. I didn’t grow spoilt at all. Growing up, we just used to mind our business, stay in our house, read our books. We were never on the streets playing.

    How much of a tomboy are you?

    I’m very much in touch with my feminine side. If I wear certain things, my tomboy side would show and maybe the way I relate sometimes. Guys are the live-and-let-live type but ladies can be troublesome but one thing about me is, if I wear jeans and sneakers and T-shirt, I would feel like a tomboy. But I am very much in touch with my feminine side; I’m a lady. I love my heels, I love my handbags, I love my accessories.

    How would you react if a guy walks up t you and asks you out for a date?

    Do men still just walk up to ladies and ask them out? I can’t date anyone I don’t know. I have to know you first. We need to have been friends for a while. I need to know your kind of person because a relationship is not something you jump into and jump out of, except if you are just going into a relationship for the fun of it.

    Have you ever gone into a relationship for the fun of it?

    No, I haven’t.

  • How safe is your feminine heart?

    IT didn’t raise any red flag in Mrs. Bunmi Adekeye’s mind when she began noticing how quickly she got tired after doing every little activity. She had no symptoms.

    So when she travelled to the United Kingdom to seek greener pastures and was asked to go for a routine medical check-up as part of the requirements for employment, it was with shock she received the news that she had a life-threatening hole in her heart.

    Too scared to deal with the information, she bought a few drugs and ignored it.

    By the time Bunmi, a mother of three, was brought to the hospital five years later, she was in a wheel chair with irregular heart palpitations, a climbing blood pressure and she couldn’t carry on a conversation without sweating.

    A battery of tests revealed Bunmi had a malfunctioning heart valve, which trapped the blood in her heart and stopped it from flowing. As a result, the large blood vessel that pumps blood from the heart to the rest of the body was beginning to bulge like an overfilled water balloon. Left untreated, the artery might burst and kill her.

    Bunmi, at 39 years of age, had to undergo an open heart surgery, but more importantly, she needed to find a heart donor that would match.

    N9million and six successful surgeries later, she is almost as healthy as she was before her illness, only this time, she would spend a large chunk of her money paying for quarterly medical check-ups each year for the rest of her life.

    Dr. Eunice Alegbe, a medical practitioner at Health Sinai Diagnostic calls Bunmi lucky; “What she went through is actually something that is becoming a regular occurrence. I cannot count the number of times patients come to the hospital at the last minute after they have tried every other means. And when they come, they want us to perform some kind of miracle!

    “Sometimes, they show up at the beginning, you run a check-up and you will not see them again. Next thing you hear is they have passed on. The lady was just fortunate to be in an environment where she could quickly access good medical treatment, if not I do not know what her story would have been.”

    Ignoring the symptoms of an ailment can be unhelpful. Even if a woman needs to pray for a miracle, it would be great if she identifies them and starts praying on time.