NIGERIAN AUTHOR BUCHI EMECHETA DEAD AT AGE 72

Nigerian author Buchi Emecheta, whose works included The Joys of Motherhood, Second-Class

Citizen and The Bride Price, died on January 25, 2016 in her home in London at the age of 72. Emecheta's books were on the national curricula of several African countries. She was known for championing women and girls in her writing, though famously rejected description as a feminist.

 

"I work toward the liberation of women but I'm not feminist. I'm just a woman," she said.
The topics she covered in her writing included child marriage, life as a single mother, abuse of women and racism in the UK and elsewhere.

"Black women all over the world should re-unite and re-examine the way history has portrayed us," she said. The president of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Denja Abdullahi, said: "We have lost a rare gem in this field. Her works would forever live to speak for her. "It is a sad loss to our circle. She was known for championing the female gender and we would forever miss her."

Lagos-born Emecheta had moved to the UK in 1960, working as a librarian and becoming a student at London University, where she read sociology. She later worked as a community worker in London for several years. She left her husband when he refused to read her first novel and burnt the manuscript, a World Service series on women writers reported.

The book, In the Ditch, was eventually published in 1972. That and Second-Class Citizen, which followed in 1974, were fictionalised portraits of a young Nigerian woman struggling to bring up children in London. Later, she wrote about civil conflict in Nigeria and the experience of motherhood in a changing Ibo society.

SOURCE: BBC

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NIGERIAN STUDENT GETS ACCEPTED BY ALL 8 IVY LEAGUE SCHOOLS

Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna, a high-school student from Long Island, N.Y., has a big decision to make soon. The Elmont High School valedictorian was accepted into all eight Ivy League schools! Schools in the Ivy League are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania and Yale University.


She also gained admission to Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.


Augusta is the daughter of Nigerian immigrants and said her parents instilled in her the value of education. “Though I was born here in America, I visited Nigeria many times,” she said. “And I’ve seen that my cousins don’t have the same opportunities that I have. So definitely, whatever I do, I want to make sure that it has an impact on Nigeria.” She also says her own tenacity and persistence helped shape her into becoming a great student. But as with a lot of students, she did face hardships with some classes. “I’ve struggled with numerous classes in the past,” Augusta said. “But I guess what allowed me to be successful, ultimately, in those classes, at the end, is my persistence and my tenacity.”


Augusta hasn't decided on which college to attend, but with a GPA of 101.6, and a recent invitation to the White House Science Fair, there's no doubt that she'll continue her academic excellence.

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#ETISALATPRIZE2014: ANGELIQUE KIDJO, WOLE SOYINKA, DAREY, NIKE OSHINOWO, KUNLE AFOLAYAN, MAI ATAFO, OTHERS STAND UP FOR ETISALAT PRIZE FOR LITERATURE WINNER, SONGEZIWE MAHLANGU (PHOTOS)

... As Angelique Kidjo, Wole Soyinka, Nike Oshinowo, Others Celebrate Winner. 

Lagos|Nigeria: South African author Songeziwe Mahlangu has been named winner of the 2014 Etisalat Prize for Literature competition. 

The Cape Town resident won the prize for his stunning debut novel 'Penumbra,' a dystopic story of the life of an underachieving young man suffering from mental illness in post-apartheid South Africa. 

In an action-packed finale at Intercontinental Hotel in Lagos, the 30 year-old writer was named as the winner ahead of fellow South African Nadia Davids and Nigerian Chinelo Okparanta.

The CEO of Etisalat, Mathew Willsher, awarded him the sum of £15,000 and an engraved MontBlanc pen. In addition Songeziwe will attend the prestigious Etisalat Fellowship at the University of East Anglia where he will be mentored by Professor Giles Foden. 

A visibly emotional Mahlangu thanked his publisher and his mother for giving him a platform and believing in him. When asked what he would use the money for, he commented, "I will use this money to support myself for the next two years while I keep on writing." 

The 3 final shortlisted books, Penumbra, Happiness like Water and An Imperfect Blessing were brought to life with pulsating re enactments directed by Ifeoma Fafunwa, one of the best directors in Nigeria with a string of successfully directed plays under her belt including the V- monologues. The re enactments were done by a crop of very talented Nigerian Actors led by OC Ukeje, Bimbo Manuel, Bimbo Akintola and a team of very fantastic new actors.

Angelique Kidjo later closed the show with breathtaking performances of her all time-hit songs including Wobolombo, Agolo, Eva, Mama Africa among other hits. She also featured the Winner of the Etisalat sponsored Nigerian Idol season 4 winner, Evelle who had earlier performed her hit song, Kilimanjaro.

Notable guests include renowned Nobel Prize for Literature winner, prof. Wole Soyinka, Hakeem Belo- Osagie, President of the Association of Nigerian Authors. Prof Remi Raji-Oyelade, poet and former president of the Association of Nigerian Authors, the Iyaoge of Lagos, Chief Opral Benson, Odia Ofeimun, Award winning actor, Kunle Afolayan, Nike Oshinowo, Darey Art Alade and Kelechi Amadi-Obi. 

Other guests include Reze Bonna, Sam Onyemelukwe, Tolu Ogunlesi, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, Gbemi Olateru-Olagbegi, Bantu, Hauwa Mokan, Kemi Lala among many others. 

Mahlangu now joins Zimbabwean NoViolet Bulawayo as the second winner of the annual pan African prize that promotes the work of published first time authors.

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OE WOMEN WATCH | MEET ESTHER IJEWERE-KALEJAIYE, THE INITIATOR OF WALK AGAINST RAPE (W.A.R.)

International Women’s Day is a global event dedicated to women’s accomplishments and leadership. It is officially recognized by the United Nations as “a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.” This year's International Women’s Day fell on March 8. Please join Olamild Entertainment this week as we celebrate phenomenal African women making positive impact around the world.

Esther Ijewere – Kalejaiye is an enterprising social activist, youth advocate, Wife, Mother of two, Author and the executive director of Rubies Ink Initiative - A social enterprise outfit devoted to youth advocacy, public relations, social enterprise solutions amongst others.

An Olabisi Onabanjo University trained  Sociologist. As a social advocate, she is the brain behind W.A.R-Walk Against Rape, an advocacy initiative created to lend a voice for the victims of rape and demand justice for the perpetrator's, an initiative endorsed by the Lagos State Ministry Of Women Affairs. Esther is also the initiator of Project Capable ,a youth mentoring initiative geared towards creating a can  do mentality in the lives of secondary school students, which comes up annually,using celebs and accomplished individuals to inspire and motivate youngsters to rise to greatness.

Being an emerging young leader, Esther is the youngest recipient of The Idea Builders Women Mentoring Women Award, winning Mentee of the year 2010. She also won the award for “Best Use Of Advocacy” from her Alma Mata; Olabisi Onabanjo University in 2012 , for her contribution in fighting and creating awareness on Rape.  She is a Fellow with Vital Voices Global Leadership USA; an organization founded by Hillary Clinton and aimed at empowering young women change makers all over the world. She has toured several secondary schools, serving them counsel and sharing with them messages  of hope for a greater life. One of her major interest is advocacy and counseling on issues surrounding  women, child sexual abuse, family values, and youth empowerment.

Taking the walk to another level, she unveiled her first book on rape and violence against women, titled Breaking the Silence. The book which is a guide to enlightening young women on knowledge needed to survive sexual situations, also enunciated that every woman was prone to being sexually assaulted at some point in her life, stating the possibility of a woman being prone to sexual assault at some point in her life. Breaking the Silence is also a guide for girls and women to know places to avoid and to know that there is indeed a law to warn perpetrators.  So far, it has helped to create an avenue for people to come out without feeling bad or fear being stigmatized to tell their stories.

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GRAMMY AWARD WINNER ANGELIQUE KIDJO IN LAGOS FOR ETISALAT PRIZE FOR LITERATURE

2-time Grammy award winner, Angelique Kidjo arrived Lagos yesterday 14^th March 2015 ahead of her performance at the grand finale of the second edition of Etisalat Prize for Literature Today, Sunday, March 15^th 2015 at Intercontinental Hotel, Lagos.

Upon her arrival, the ‘Agolo’ and ‘Mobolombo’ hit maker went on a media tour in different radio stations in Lagos including Cool FM, Classic FM and Smooth FM. 

She will be one of the major centre of attraction at the award which will see one African among the three finalists shortlisted win a whopping sum of £15,000 and a high-end device, in addition to a book tour to three African cities.

 The three finalists, Songeziwe Mahlangu (South Africa), Chinelo Okparanta (Nigeria) and Nadia Davids (South Africa) also gave a review of their books at the recently held book reading and signing for Etisalat Prize for Literature competition. 

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NIGERIA: WALK AGAINST RAPE ON MARCH 10, 2015

We hereby specially invite to our annual Walk Against Rape Campaign on the 10th of March in commiseration of the International Women's Day. We also use this medium to make a compassionate plea to you for support . We need donations for the following items for the successful hosting of the campaign :

- White Tshirts (Branded for the Walk)

- Face towel / Handkerchiefs

- Banners (For the Walk)

- Cardboard paper, Placards and markers

- Rape Information handbooks (For secondary and primary school students and other participants at the Walk

- Mobilisation - Inviting your friends and Family to come out and lend their voice to the cause

- Publicity - Help us use your social media platforms (BBM, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Google plus, LinkedIn etc) to help create awareness and ff us on twitter @walk_rapeng and Facebook : Walk Against Rape

If you are interested in supporting us with any of these items kindly send us a mail : walkagainstrapengr@gmail.com or call Esther - 08068653263 or
 Kola - 08056012327

Let's come together and say NO to RAPE!

Esther Ijewere-Kalejaiye
National Coordinator
Walk Against Rape Campaign Nigeria.

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BE YOUR OWN BOSS! YOU CAN NOW SIGN UP TO BE A PART OF BEAUTY BUSINESS ON THE GO BY HOUSE OF TARA

Beauty Business on the Go (BBOG) is an initiative by Africa's leading make up brand, House of Tara in partnership with FCMB. This initiative is aimed at recruiting and empowering 5,000 women to become beauty representatives and as such create job opportunities for themselves.Attendees will be offered financial advisory, trainings, marketing support and other skills necessary to grow their business.This seminar is targeted at men and women who would want to start their own Businesses as Beauty Experts and will inspired and mentally equip reps on how to start their own Beauty Business on the Go.As Beauty Representatives, they will get to sell multiple beauty brands as either a part time or full business.

Free weekly trainings and seminars for interested persons which has already commenced will span through 9 states including Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt, Benin, Enugu, Ilorin, Ibadan, Kano, and Kaduna.At a press conference held recently at the House of Tara International HQ, the CEO, House of Tara International Tara Fela-Durotoye said that "Beauty Business On-the-Go is very important to me, even if we didn't make money [which we do], I would still do it because we are empowering people and making them entrepreneurs". She continued as she laid emphasis on the financial importance of being a rep “In a tough economy, people would still buy food and cosmetics because makeup makes us feel good. So what better product is there to invest in?"

Speaking about the job creation opportunity, Ada Iwugo, Commercial Director of House of Tara also said, "This model will potentially create 20, 000 jobs across the country in a relatively short space of time"To become a House of Tara beauty rep and enjoy financial independence, go to http://beauty-reps.houseoftara.com/ to sign up now.

About House of Tara

Set up in 1998, House of Tara is a pioneer in the beauty and makeup industry in Nigeria and Africa as a whole and a trailblazer in the areas of retail, distribution channel management and education. Known also as an industry enabler, the brand; being the first to set up a beauty school in Nigeria has over 3,000 reps spread across the country and 20 stores to its name.

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DID YOU KNOW THAT THE ORIGINAL YORUBA WORD FOR WIFE IS AYA NOT IYAWO?

Did you know that the original word for wife in Yoruba language is AYA and not IYAWO? The latter is quite commonly used nowadays than the former.

I would take you through how Iyawo came about;Wura who was at the phase of choosing a spouse was faced with the task of selecting the most suitable one for herself, she was the first child and the daughter of the King of Iwo (A Yoruba town)Yoruba deities like Sango, Ogun, and other known male deities went to Iwo to seek her hand in marriage.

Wura mistreated them, Wura was very rude and uncouth. She meted the worst behaviour one can think of onto her suitors.Everyone of them failed to accomplish the prospect of marrying her because they could not withstand her behaviour, they all abandoned their mission on their first day, that was how tough Wura was. However, when it was Orunmila's turn, before he set for Iwo, he sought wisdom from Olodumare through Ifa. He was duly informed that no matter the treatment Wura might subject him to, he must not react accordingly, he should have patience and lots of endurance. He was highly warned to expect humiliation from Wura but must not be provoked.When Orunmila got to Iwo, Wura looked at him scornfully, she did not welcome him, she hissed at him, called Orunmila all sorts of name, she did not even give Orunmila any food or entertained him. Orunmila just ignored her attitudes. The first day, second day, till about the seventh day.

 To cap it all, Wura took Orunmila's Opon-Ifa [divination board] and used it as firewood, she took Orunmila's Pouch [Apo Ominijekun] from him. This angered Orunmila greatly but he still conducted himself alright. he refused to react to her behaviour having been warned the consequences of not heeding advice.In the long run, the King noticed that Orunmila was humble and well behaved, he was amazed that Orunmila did not react or show any sign of anger towards his daughter despite the humiliation. Orunmila's behaviour gave him the assurance that he would take good care of Wura his daughter if she became his wife.

All along, unknowingly, Wura's behaviour had been a test for all the prospective suitors. The King eventually summoned Orunmila and handed Wura over to him as his wife and he divided his property into two. He gave Orunmila half of it, Orunmila thus became rich and had Wura as his wifeUpon Orunmila's arrival back home, his people welcomed him enthusiastically for his accomplished task, they asked for some details of his new wife, his answer was direct: Iya-ti-mo-je- ni-Iwo (the result of my indignation at Iwo town). This eight syllable word, "Iya-ti-mo-je- ni-Iwo" became known as Iya-Iwo, and now Iyawo.

By: Bola Olalekan

**As Oral History Specifies**

Photo credit: Oluwasparkle

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A SMILING CHRISTMAS: REACHOUT22PROJECT GIVES BACK TO AJEGUNLE COMMUNITY

“When others are celebrating during the festive season, they are salivating…But now, with ‘Smiling Christmas’ their story has changed” – Omoyele Isaac success

Omoyele Isaac success is the founder of the Reachout 22 Project. ‘The Smiling Christmas’ is a concept of Reachout22 Project for vulnerable children. It was developed to put smiles on the faces of vulnerable families through the provision of Christmas supplies such as food, clothing, and gift packs.

Isaac Success and Omobolanle Bisiriyu with the children

On December 22, 2014, the Reachout22project team members as well as volunteers stormed the streets of Ajegunle with holiday surprises for several families in the impoverished neighbourhood. The team visited the homes of students whom they had tutored during the 2014 school year and surprised their family with Christmas supplies such as rice, vegetable oil, maggi, non-alcoholic wine, tin tomato, clothing, and gift packs. The students who benefited from the holiday surprises were then taken to the park, cinema, as well as a shopping mall.

Speaking on the event, Omobolanle Bisiriyu (Project Manager) said: “We believe that this would give them healthy self-esteem as children because most of the families where beneficiaries of Reachout22 project come from find it difficult to feed especially during the festive period.” Speaking on the event, Belynda Oduware (Project Welfare Director) stated: “We reached our goal of making this Christmas a Smiling one for vulnerable families…No doubt it was a memorable experience.”

 

The smiling Christmas concept was supported by Rubies n Sapphire, Planet Heart Foundation, Olamild Entertainment, MyPassionMyLife Media, World Impact League NG amongst other Individuals.

 For enquiries about the Reachout22 Project for vulnerable children, please use the contact information stated below.
Facebook: Reachout22 Project
Twitter: @reachout22proj

Phone: 08064222169, 07042434971, 07052824587

 

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Smiling Christmas Beneficiaries at the park

 

Reachout22 Team/Volunteers give back

Reachout22 Team & Volunteers wishes everyone a PEACEful christmas

IBK Spaceshipboi helps to present gifts

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