“I did it because I didn't have a choice" Story of a Self-Made woman

They say the secret of men, or in this case a woman, is in their stories. Read Chinwe's story and see if you can share yours too…

"I had thought that being a graduate would mean all my worries were over, but to my surprise it was as though jobs were running from me. Just when I was about to give up, an old friend recommended me for a job; to replace her colleague who was going on leave. I was hungry to make it, and determined to prove to people that I could be something after all. My employers saw it in me - the career drive that can send an innocent lady to do anything possible - and that’s how I felt.

Now it dawns on me that although I had risen in my career, I feel like I've fallen so low.

I didn’t have a choice- it was either that… or nothing. “You have to go the extra mile to get more out of life”, my boss used to tell me. Other times he would say “sacrifices are part of business… prove to me you are worthy of this promotion; that you can do anything, no matter what it takes, to get what you want.”

He never cared about the repercussions as he saw us as tools that can be sent out and used all because of an extra client in his pocket. I simply couldn’t see it, as I was blinded by pressure and the desire to prove myself.  Sometimes I would return home with tears in my eyes, unable to let people know what I went through to get to where I was. That’s how my life has been. I had to grow, I had to be relevant, I had to do it because I didn’t have a choice.”

That’s all she said before she was overcome with tears- you wouldn’t need a soothsayer to tell you sexual harassment is more prevalent than you can possibly imagine. Chinwe’s story echoes the experiences of several others who are taken advantage of at work just because they are women and are desperate.

This why the SBA Group is organising a conference titled Sexual Harassment in Sales; seeking to answer the question - “Is the Nigerian Business Environments Conducive for Nigerian Female Professionals?

With renowned Keynote Speaker FolukeDaramola, who is a top filmmaker and activist and founder of 'Passion Against Rape in Africa' (PARA), a PAN World Global rape foundation aimed at fighting rape in Africa andPanellists carefully selected from the professional and business sectors, the conference would be one of it’s kind.

The conference is planned as a forum for discussions with professional women, providing them a platform to interact and share their experiences and survival tactics in a very demanding world. Another objective is to provide support for vulnerable female professionals. It would be an excellent networking opportunity for all delegates.

Participation fee is NGN10,000 (Ten Thousand Naira).

If you’re ready to join the cause, let’s hear your story and contribution… Don’t underestimate what it can do!

Contact

SegunAkande: 07036695005

Joseph Edgar 08051000195

Twitter: @Shconference

Facebook: Sexual Harassment Conference

Julius Agwu Opens A Christian Night Club In Lagos

 

 

“It’s God’s calling. God spoke to me do it. We have unbelievers going to clubs, popping champagne and all that, so we want to have a club where believers can hangout too and pop nonalcoholic drinks.  It’s basically an assignment from God. The club is located at Lekki and we are taking it everywhere. God also told me to raise young ambassadors that will fight his battle” he said.

He also told NET he is now on a mission to bring people back to Christ. Hear him,

 

“I was recently declared dead. I realized that I actually died but God brought me back. He is giving me a second chance and people rarely get this opportunity of having a second chance.

 

“He saved my life and I have decided to dedicate my life to him. I have a Christian group now called CEO, Christian Entertainers Outreach through which we will bring back many people who devil has taken away” he said.

Nigerian Army releases photographs of 100 wanted Boko Haram terrorists

The Nigerian Army has released photographs of 100 top suspected Boko Haram terrorists it declared wanted on Wednesday.

The Army Spokesperson, Sani Usman, a colonel, said the release of the photographs of the suspected terrorists was to enable the public to assist with information on the suspects.

“The military is therefore asking members of the public with information about any of them to report to security agents,” Mr. Usman said.

The Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, had on Wednesday in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, launched the circulation of large posters carrying photographs of wanted Boko Haram terrorists including the supposed leader of the insurgents, Abubakar Shekau.

The large posters, with inscription written in various languages of Nigeria, also had phone numbers which the public could easily call or text to indicate which of the characters in the numbered photographs they know or have information of.

The photo posters was launched as part of the counter terrorism material packaged by the Directorate of Army Public Relations.

Mr. Usman had said Wednesday that most of the faces on the poster were those of kingpins of Boko Haram still at large.

He said “members of the public that have any credible information on any of the wanted terrorists should call any of the phone numbers printed on the posters. Mr. Usman said the information given would be treated discreetly and professionally.

PRINCE ADEYEYE OGUNWUSI IS NEW OONI OF IFE

A new Ooni of Ife has emerged. He is Prince Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi.

Ogunwusi is of the Giesi Ruling House.

The appointment of the new Ooni was contained in a statement late on Sunday by the Secretary to the Osun State Government, Alhaji Moshood Olalekan Adeoti.

The appointment was ratified by the Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.

Adeoti said in the statement: “This choice follows the completion of the due process by the kingmakers and the communication of their decision to the Government.”

Ogunwusi succeeds Oba Okunade Sijuwade who died on July.

Until his appointment wasannounced by Aregbesola, Prince Adeyeye Ogunwusi from the Ile Opa family compound has been involved in real estate, manufacturing and finance.

lagostoday.org

Why Education Should Top Development Agenda

A few people would dispute the importance of education in our lives and those of our children. For good reasons, in virtually all industrialised countries, education is compulsory for everybody for at least 10 years.

In developing countries, however, 780 million women and men remain illiterate. Moreover, about 60 million children of school age are not at school.

Yet, instead of making a concerted global effort to bring all children to school, less than four per cent of official development assistance funds basic education. Over the past seven years, UNESCO and UNICEF report a decline in basic education.

Many think education is an aspect of social development that comes as a by-product of economic growth. This is wrong. Education is an absolutely necessary precondition of economic development.

Bill Clinton’s famous mantra, “It’s the economy, stupid!”, may be a useful slogan for an election campaign, but it is misleading in setting the priorities for sustainable development. It’s not primarily the economy, nor money, that makes the world go round and determines progress in human well-being. Much more important than the content of people’s wallets is the content in their heads. And what is in our heads is formed and enhanced by education which, in turn, helps fill the wallets, improves health, improves society and the quality of institutions, strengthens resilience at all levels and even makes people happier.

I could discuss the ample scientific statistical analysis to prove the transformative role of education in development. But more convincing may be historical success stories.

Finland was one of the poorest corners of Europe in the late 19th century. In 1868-1869 it suffered the last great famine in Europe not induced by political events. Almost half of the children died in this hopelessly underdeveloped and poorly educated economy based on subsistence agriculture.

After that tragedy, the Lutheran Church, supported by the government, launched a radical education campaign: young people could marry only after they passed a literacy test. The number of elementary school teachers increased by a factor of 10 over just three decades and by the beginning of the 20th century, all young men and women in Finland had basic education. In 1906, Finland was the first country in Europe to grant women the right to vote and the subsequent economic development, based primarily on human capital, made Finland one of the world’s leaders in technology, innovation and, as a result, competitiveness.

In the early 1960s, Mauritius was a textbook case of a country stuck in the vicious circle of high-population growth, poverty and environmental destruction. Following the advice of scientists such as James Meade, the government launched a (strictly voluntary) family planning programme together with a huge push on female education. This led to rapid fertility decline plus economic growth, first through the textile industry based on semi-skilled female workers, then in upmarket tourism and more recently in banking and high-tech information technology. Mauritius is the only such success story in sub-Saharan Africa. The country managed to escape the vicious circle of poverty and underdevelopment through investment in human capital.

Japan, Singapore, South Korea and finally China have similar stories but the timing is different. The Chinese experience shows that such success is not confined to remote and tiny island or city states. The highly elitist appreciation of education in Confucian tradition became transformative for the country once it was combined with the (originally) protestant approach of a broad-based education. Again, these countries built their stunning success stories primarily on improvements in human capital and without significant raw materials or international assistance. Economic growth followed the education expansion.

There is little doubt about the cause and effect between education and human well-being. Neurological research shows that every learning experience builds new synapses making our brains physiologically different for the rest of our lives. Education expands the personal planning horizon and leads to more rational decisions and less fatalism. It clearly empowers people to access more information, contextualise it and make conclusions that are more conducive to personal and societal well-being.

Well-educated people are better at adopting good habits such as physical exercise, safe sex or quitting smoking. Education has many other effects on health from lowering child mortality to postponing disability and cognitive decline in old age, besides the commonly cited effects on income and employment. There is even the surprising finding that education makes people happier despite the fact of making them more aware of potential problems. Unsurprisingly, universal education reduces vulnerability to natural disasters and helps people adapt to climate change.

About a decade ago, I discussed some of this evidence with the Nobel laureate, Gary Becker. He said: “Well, when I think about it, I cannot think of anything for which I rather would be less educated than more educated.”

Now, we need to educate the economists and policymakers to make it a much higher priority in the development agenda.

Wolfgang Lutz is Founding Director, Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital

Culled from WEF Agenda blog

Nigerian group petitions GAVI, seeks suspension of Okonjo-Iweala’s appointment

A Nigerian civic group has petitioned the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunization, GAVI, requesting that the organization suspend the recent appointment of Nigeria’s immediate past Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as chairperson of its Board of Directors.

In the petition signed by its chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, the Civil Society Network Against Corruption, CSNAC, said its call for a review of Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala’s appointment was based on the circumstances surrounding the suspicious refund of $2.2 million paid by Nigeria to GAVI.

While noting that the appointment of the former minister as chairperson of the Board of Directors of GAVI brings to fore a case of conflict of interest in the refund of the money, the group noted that, “the appointment also shows that she was being rewarded for her “loyalty” to the organisation at the detriment of her country.”

The refund made without consultation with the Ministry of Health also exposes the gross abuse of office by the former minister, according to the group.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported how GAVI rewarded Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala after she worked against Nigeria’s interest in a controversial refund of a $2.2 million allegedly mismanaged by Nigerian officials.

“In view of the above, CSNAC is therefore by this petition, requesting that the recent appointment of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as chairperson of the Board of Directors be reviewed and suspended until all the spurious allegations against Nigeria under this audit are proven by GAVI and the circumstances surrounding the suspicious and unpatriotic refund of the $2.2m are resolved,” Mr. Suraju said.

Giving its narration in the petition, the group said that, “In the wake of media reports of indictment by the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunization (GAVI) against the Federal Government of Nigeria over alleged misuse of funds through the Federal Ministry of Health and National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) for the purpose of children vaccination in the country, we petitioned the NPHCDA to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), demanding a thorough investigation into the allegations that has globally dented the image of the county.

“Following our petition on this matter and reportage of same by local and international news media, we received a response, accompanied with evidences, from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), controverting claims that were contained in the GAVI’s Cash Program Audit (CPA).

“Through voluntary support of volunteers, partners and members of our network, we undertook independent investigation of the allegations contained in the CPA report and, confirmation of assertions and proof provided by NPHCDA. These included independent and unannounced visitation to site of incinerators in Borno, Adamawa, Gombe, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Niger, Kano, Kaduna by these volunteers. However, our investigations revealed findings at variance with basis of fraud allegations contained in the report of GAVI, through its Cash Program Audit (C.P.A) on cash grants allocated to Nigeria from 2011-2013.

“We also found a letter written by the New York office of UNICEF, a UN agency and an internationally reputed organisation, officially debunking claims in the GAVI report, as it concerns their transactions with NPHCDA under the contract. The Federal Inland Revenue Services did wrote to acknowledge receipt of taxes deducted by NPHCDA, as against position of GAVI. The Corporate Affairs Commission further provided evidence controverting malicious claims NPHCDA award of contract to fictitious and unregistered company, as contained in the CPA report.

“The Alliance further continued with its smear campaign of Nigeria by misinterpreting the Letter of Understanding dated October 17, 2014 written by the former Minister of Health Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu as an admission of guilt in the alleged mismanagement of $2.2m, whereas, he had demanded a joint post audit reconciliation of the disputed CPA report and also committed the government to refund any unused fund discovered after the joint reconciliation with GAVI.

“Our several requests to GAVI for evidence to corroborate the spurious allegations in its indicting report were rebuffed. Despite huge facts that emerged from our investigation and that of the EFCC, controverting GAVI’s claim to fraud in its dealings with Nigeria under the audited period, the immediate past Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, under a questionable manner, unprecedented in the history of the country, went ahead and discreetly refunded the controversial $2.2m to your organization without recourse to NPHCDA or the EFCC,” the petition read.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/

NATIONAL NO BRA DAY

National No Bra Day is observed annually on October 13. This is a day to leave your bra at home.

National No Bra Day is meant to promote breast cancer awareness and to help raise money for research. Many women who have survived breast cancer are unable to go without a bra as they need it to hold their prosthesis after surgery. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and National No Bra Day should serve as a reminder for all women to be screened for breast cancer.

OBSERVE

Make an appointment for a mammogram. Use #NoBraDay or #NationalNoBraDay when posting on social media.  Make a contribution to the American Cancer Society or Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

HISTORY

Within our research we were unable to find the origins of National No Bra Day.http://nationaldaycalendar.com/