Just 4 Rubies

Nigerians in the United Kingdom (UK) have been urged to support the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration’s change agenda to move the country forward. This was contained in a goodwill message to the organisers and 57 awardees to be honoured at today’s edition of Uncelebrated Nigerians Awards (UNA), at the Mayfair Banqueting Suite, Chadwell Heath, by the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa. She congratulated the awardees, noting that: “Nigeria is no doubt a blessed country with great people. Nigerians in different spheres of life contribute to the development of our dear nation whether they are celebrated or not and whether they are base home or abroad.” She added that the 57 awardees must have contributed immensely to the development of Nigeria in one way or the other to have been recognized with the awards. Dabiri-Erewa charged them not to rest on the laurels and to strive to do more for th...

Wife of the Governor of Lagos State, Mrs Bolanle Ambode (m); guest speaker, Chief (Mrs.) Olateju Philips (L); and Superintendent, American International School of Lagos, Mr. Gregory Rayl (r), during AISL’s 2017 Nigerian Cultural Day, celebrating the Yoruba Kingdom of Nigeria, in Lagos, on Friday, 29 th Sept., 2017

When he married his wife 20 years ago, Mr. Tasie managed a thriving business. The wedding was the talk of the town as there was plenty of wining and dining. The couple’s desire was to live happily together forever. Subsequently, their marriage was blessed with two children – a boy and a girl. One of their children is already a 300 level student in a public university. All seemed well until many years later. Tasie’s business could no longer take care of the family’s needs. To make the matter worse, he came down with a serious illness and had to spend the little that the family could garner financially on footing his health bills. The situation became unbearable for his family members as his relationship with his wife gradually turned sour. It got so bad that the 55-year old and his wife recently asked the court to dissolve their union. The court, after much arbitration, granted their prayer based on irreconcilable differences. On the day that the judgment was delivered, T...

The Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials, COWLSO, has organized a capacity building programme for its members, at its retiree villa, Ogombo, Ajah, in Lagos. Addressing the members, wife of the governor of Lagos State and chairman of the committee, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, noted that capacity building was a major component of modern-day corporate and public service for performance leverage at home and other engagements outside the home. She noted that the training became necessary in order to continually improve the lives and capacity of members for domestic, social and professional purposes, in order to acquaint them with current trends and update their knowledge in relevant and vital areas. “We hold the view that self-improvement trainings like this, will bring out optimal performance for those in paid employment. It will also help to bring out the best in us, in various personal businesses and our social interactions”, she said. Speaking further, Mrs. Ambode obs...

“Some men would laugh at me because I was crying.” Between the ages of 12 and 16, Karla Jacinto, was forced to have sex 43,200 times. She was lured away from her dysfunctional family home, in a small town near Tenancingo, Mexico, and into the dangerous human trafficking ring by false promises, expensive gifts and kind words. “I started at 10 am and finished at midnight,” Jacinto told CNN’s Freedom Project. “Some men would laugh at me because I was crying.” “I had to close my eyes so that I wouldn’t see what they were doing to me, so that I wouldn’t feel anything.” Now, at 24, Jacinto has dedicated her life to saving sex slaves from the trafficking industry, waiving her right to anonymity to help raise awareness about the “growing” issue. “I never imagined that the girl who used to stand on the corner wearing high heels, who was considered a prostitute, would feel so strong,” she said, referring to the transformation she’s gone through. “Nowadays many people ...

A young man has defied all odds after he graduated with a first class in economics in the same city he was imprisoned.  The happy graduate shared a post on social media to tell his story with his friends and followers.  According to the economics graduate identified simply as YBEEEZ, he was sentenced to four years in prison. In his post, YBEEEZ advised people to do make use of second chances.  He wrote: "Graduated with a 1st class in economics in the same city they sentenced me in 4yrs prior. Give yourself a second chance even if they don't." Culled from www.naij.com

“I was told shortly after I got married in 2012 that I had PCOS and I would find it difficult to conceive because I wasn't ovulating, says Moni Onibata. “I refused to let the doctors report sink in but held on to God's promises. Few months after my period flow changed, instead of having the normal blood flow of 5 days, I bled for 60-90 days and had just 2-3 weeks break. How I survived that period, I don't know but God kept me. At a point, my GP said I was anaemic. And then people began to ask when we will be having our babies and my constant answer was, ‘we were not yet ready’”.  “Then came August 2013 during the Holy Ghost Convention of the Redeemed Christian Church of God ( I watched the Live transmission on TV) and Daddy Adeboye asked those who had their babies within the period of the Last convention and that service to come with their babies. While they danced to the altar, I cried to God silently, asking for my own baby. Then my hubby, #kaykums who was ob...

The Co-chair, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mrs. Melinda Gates, in this interview with BUKOLA ADEBAYO says good leadership and increased funding of health sector, especially northern Nigeria, is what the country needs to reduce poverty rates and improve its present health indices. Excerpts… In Nigeria and many other parts of Africa, family planning is seen solely as a woman’s need. As a family planning advocate, how can we change this perception? I think one of the things that I’m seeing in other places in West Africa that are working, for instance in Niger, and which Bill and I highlighted in our report, is cultural change. To get people to use a tool like a new form of birth control, you actually have to get cultural change. And one of the things Niger did was they actually started with a husband school. They taught the husbands first why the women would be healthier, would die less in childbirth, and why their children would be healthier if they allowed their wiv...

“The path to success usually isn’t as straight as we imagine it to be. On the six-hour one-way walk to my college, my goals sometimes seemed impossibly far away. In moments like these throughout my life, I thought about the social change I wanted to create; I knew my effort would be worth it.”, says Blandine Cosmos. She narrates, Three years ago I finally graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Business Information and Communication Technology. This moment was especially sweet because of the obstacles I have overcome on every step of my education journey, starting at age 4. At that age, I was living in a refugee camp after our family was forced to leave our home in Rwanda . I left home every morning when my brother and sister left for school. I would spend the morning touring the whole refugee camp looking for bits of news. At the end of the day, I would share these observations with my sister, and in exchange she would tell me what she learned at school. I could not bear t...

Today, I am worried about our sons, today’s young men. I am truly worried and every mother should pause, take a closer look at her sons and daughters and answer this question: Are you empowering your son for the journey ahead of him? Answer truthfully, after all you are alone and you don’t have to let anybody hear you. I think Nigerian mothers have not done well raising future husbands and fathers. Let’s admit it; we have not scored above average; that is if we achieved average at all. Take a closer look at your beautiful daughter and your handsome six-footer son. Who is better prepared for the task ahead? I know some of us had realised this and have done better than others but most Nigerian mothers need to buckle up. Our sons are not what they should be and we cannot have the society, the country we desire when we put unprepared men and overgrown boys in positions of authority. I’ll explain myself. In too many homes, the wives are the bread winners. Too many women are p...

The Deputy Majority Leader of the Federal House of Representative, Nigeria, Hon. Umar Buba Jibril has cleared the air on the recent NGO Regulation Bill to allay the fears of concerned Nigerians over what many have described as callous and outrageous conditions meant to stifle the humanitarian work of good Nigerians. According to a Press Statement signed on Friday, 22 nd September, the legislator explained through that the bill is to check the excesses of some callous and fraudulent NGOs that collected funds for North East IDPs and disappeared.   The noted that “Churches, Mosques, Esusu, Market Women Associations are not affected” and that “religious bodies and organizations are NOT NGOs.   Our quasi financial institutions at local levels are NOT NGOs! These organizations have existed for centuries to serve businesses and commerce of our market women and traders.” “Now NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) and CSOs(Civil Society Organizations) are volun...

The measure of success of a person's life can be said to be directly proportional to the choices and decisions he makes. I have come to realize, after many years of being an entrepreneur, that the areas I had failed was neither due to bad luck, witch-hunting or tough competition but largely due to poor choices.  A strategic entrepreneur should not make decisions based on emotion or whims but on reality... The areas I had succeeded also, upon careful introspection, were due to strategic planning and action which can be replicated. To cut the long story short, it is important to ask 'what do I need to do in order to make a great decision'? Though this list is not exhaustive, it's a good starting point... 1. Data collection- Get all the facts and lay your cards on the table 2. Be open minded and have a broad perspective 3. Ask advice of mentor figures or those with experience 4. Consider your gut feeling or instinct 5. Set a road map of where you want to g...

Many people who are reading this may have a high acidity level in his or her body. This is due to the typical first world diet of processed foods, refined sugars, and GMOs. However, many people do not know that an acidic body is a breeding ground for cancer, excess weight, pain and many health issues. Fortunately, making your organism more alkaline is very simple and easy. Making alkaline environment is in fact the opposite of acidic environment. Here are 10 simple natural ways that you can practice every day and they will alkalize your organism. At same time you will gain more everyday energy and vitality: 1. The most important thing is to start your day with smile and with a large glass of water with the juice of a freshly-squeezed lemon. Lemons actually have the opposite effect on your body even they may seem acidic. Drink first thing in the morning to flush the system. Another option is to drink one or two glasses of organic apple cider vinegar and water daily. You shoul...

Wonder Woman’s box office success. “ Woke bae ” Justin Trudeau’s 50–50 cabinet. Women’s soccer  scoring goals for equal pay . Pink pussy hats in the streets. For many young Westerners, it’s easy to feel like the world has been swept up in a hot new wave of feminism, unlike anything seen in our lifetimes. Suddenly, it’s not just development nerds and gender studies majors who are talking about inequality and intersectionality — our dinner table conversations, political debates, and twitter feeds are filled with it. But as much as this might feel like a new or revitalized phenomenon, my day job at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation constantly reminds me that women coming together to push for real change in their communities is far from news — it’s a tale as old as time. Last year, as our foundation began ramping up a focus on gender equality, our team was tasked with devising a strategy to speed up progress for women and girls across the global south. When we reviewed the...