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Showing posts from October, 2017

Agony of a Child Bride!!!

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My Name Is Fatima Mustapha. I Am 21 Years Old. I Am From Makarfi In Kaduna State. I Would Like To Share My Divorce Diaries With You . I was married off at age 11. In my village, most of us were married by age 12 to preserve our purity. I am still not sure what that means. I never thought it would happen to me because my parents allowed me to attend school instead of hawking and I loved school alot. In my school nobody made me do extra work because I was a girl. I loved school because I loved coming first and being ahead of the boys in my class. I was in JS2 when my mother started talking about getting me married. I honestly thought she was joking until my uncle brought his friend to our house as my suitor. My suitor, Malam Faruk was a shoe seller and cobbler in Zaria. He was 42 years old and my parents felt he would make a good husband. I did not understand what they were all talking about. I really did not understand what I would do with a husband. So that’s how Malam F

My Quest to Be ‘Cool’: Dealing With Low Self Esteem

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I was born in Sekondi to a nurse and a farmer. At about 5 years, we moved to Komenda, a small town in the Central Region of Ghana. Even though I was one of the best students in primary school, I always felt ‘little’ when we travelled to cities like Cape Coast, Accra and Takoradi. I felt everyone there was more beautiful, more intelligent, spoke better English and was generally better than me. I had a similar experience in secondary school, always looking down on myself and feeling I was not good enough. Oh how I wished I were an ‘Accra girl’ because I thought they were so cool! Yet, when my family finally moved to Accra, I still didn’t feel cool. On top of this I didn’t even have a boyfriend! If only I could get a boyfriend, then I will be cool like the other girls… I thought. In University, I met some really wonderful friends, some of whom were from ‘rich’ families and I thought being friends with them will make me feel cool. I didn’t. I had the opportunity to start tr

One Month Before Stroke, Your Body Will Send You These Warning Signs – Don’t Ignore Them!

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Yes, and this is the principle motivation behind why in this article we are going to discuss strokes, the most well-known cautioning signs and how to ensure yourself. To begin with, you ought to realize that there are 2 noteworthy sorts of strokes: ischemic and hemorrhagic. Ischemic strokes are more normal and are brought about by a narrowing or obstructing of veins to the mind, bringing about seriously diminished blood stream. Hemorrhagic strokes are less basic and are created by seeping in the cerebrum. Will I make a straightforward inquiry – do you know what is stroke? Indeed, stroke is an ailment that inâuences the conduits prompting and inside the cerebrum. What’s more, it’s the no. 5 reason for death and a main source of incapacity in the United States. A stroke happens when a vein that conveys oxygen and supplements to the mind is either hindered by a coagulation or blasts (or bursts). At the point when that happens, part of the mind can’t get the blood (and oxyge

Psychologists’ Advice: Never Say These 5 Phrases to Your Children

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Everything we say and do have an impact on our children. According to psychologists, our word and deeds may affect our children’s adulthood. But, do you know why is that so? Children are like sponges; they receive everything. Their brains are still in  development , and they have excess synapses at a rate of about  15,000 synapses a neuron  which twice more than adults’ brains. The things in the environment we are exposed to many times are  reinforced  in the brain by a lot of neural links to those things. As our parents are the ones, we are mostly exposed to while we are growing up, the way they talk and treat us have a huge impact on us. In other words, the way our parents talk to us is how we talk to ourselves. If our parents were giving is support and courage, we would do the same to ourselves. And, if they were critical or angry toward us, we would be so hard on ourselves. Why is this important? The manner in which we talk to ourselves has an influence on our self-confi

My Dad Believed When No One Would

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He wanted me, there was no mistaking it. He didn’t say it in words but you could cut the pure desire in his eyes with a knife and still wouldn’t cut through. This was the classic case of action speaking more than words……He wanted to know ALL about me….couldn’t think straight I suppose….he would invite me to his office and talk to me about almost everything under the sun……Some I understood because I have always been wiser than my years. You see, I was only 16 and in those days, 16 was really 16 or less in exposure. It’s wasn’t like nowadays. I had just been allowed to use make up and my gosh, did I experiment? It was not unusual to see different types of “artwork” on my face. And perhaps, because I was young fresh and UNTOUCHED, the contrast was exciting to him. Did I mention that I was a PYT(Pretty Young Thing) if I may say so myself…….. I will admit I enjoyed the attention and we would spend hours talking about almost everything. I lived a pretty sheltered life and had attended a

I Lost My Father At 12 - Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde Recounts Her Life Struggles

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Nollywood actress, Omotola Jolade-Ekeinde, has been rated as the "Angelina Jolie" of Nigeria. The rating was done by an American cinematographer, Keith L. smith.  Omotola shared the post on social media with a caption to celebrate the girl child. She in her post recounted how she lost her father at a tender age of 12 and being trained by a community of Ondo men. She wrote on her experience as a girl child growing up without a father, the harassment she went through and the responsibility of taking care of her widowed mother till she passed on. "On today's girl child day I'll do an unusual post true to me. As a child I lost my father age 12. Sponsored by a great community of Ondo men, the #Ekimogun club, so I could continue my education. At age 15, I started struggling to help my widowed mother. I started working in the Entertainment Industry. "While going to school, and working,  I faced many challenges as a female child... talk of being loos

COWLSO Conference to Focus on Ingenuity of Women - Bolanle Ambode

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Wife of the governor of Lagos State and chairman of the Committee of the Wives of Lagos State Officials, COWLSO, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, has said that this year’s National Women’s Conference, the 17 th in the series, would focus on the ingenuity of women as innovators and solution providers. She spoke in Alausa, Ikeja, while interacting with pressmen on the forthcoming conference, slated for 24th to 26 th October, 2017, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, adding that brand new cars, among other tempting prizes, would be won at the raffle draw of the gala, on day two of the programme. She hinted that the conference with the theme ‘She Creates, She Transforms’, would be declared open by the wife of the vice-president, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo and declared closed by Governor Bindo Jibrilla of Adamawa State. According to her, ‘This year’s conference theme is expected to focus on the ingenuity of the Nigerian women, in the pursuit of innovative and practical solutions aime

EmPOWER Girls: Emergency Response and Resilience Planning

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Today is the International Day of the Girl-Child! And the theme for this year is "EmPOWER Girls: Emergency Response and Resilience Planning". How true that we as individuals and as a nation must give all it takes to protect our girls! We must treat them with utmost care and respond swiftly to issues of their safety and wellness. As families, communities and nation, we must show resilience and total committment in planning for thier future. And we must empower them with education and life skills that will make them excel in their choice career, in marriage and in nation building. Let's unite to give them a Voice! Let's assure them that they Matter! They are our Daughters! They are our Assets! They are our Joy; our Pride! They are our Future!

Why not Aisha Ahmad?

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Kingsley Moghalu was 46 when he was appointed as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2009. A Lawyer, he has a Ph.D in International Relations. He had barely left his job at the United Nations, after 17 years when he was appointed Deputy Governor. He had not worked in a bank for one day, from what I know, so could not have risen to the position of Executive Director. He was Deputy Governor for Financial Stability at a time and in charge of the Operations Directorate at another. Kingsley Moghalu was one of those favoured to suceed Lamido Sanusi as Governor, before the crisis and the appointment of Godwin Emefiele thereafter. I t was no surprise when Kingsley Moghalu resigned months after he was returned to the Financial Systems Stability, FSS Directorate from the Operations Directorate by Governor Emefiele. Is it not ridiculous that a lady with 20 years of banking experience will be deemed unqualified to serve as Executive Director where people from different fie

Aisha Buhari Urges Governors’ Wives to Champion Reproductive Issues

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The wife of the President Her Excellency Mrs. Aisha Buhari has called upon wives of the state Governors to champion the cause of advocacy and commit to support Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn Child, Adolescent Health plus Nutrition (RMNCAH+N) programmes in their various states. Mrs. Buhari was speaking at the one day RMNCAH+N stakeholders meeting held in Abuja, which had wives of governors in Nigeria in attendance, Her Excellency asked the Governors Wives Forum to dedicate a section of their meeting agenda to updating themselves on advocacy activities in each of their states. The wife of the President noted that although Nigeria is one of the countries with the worst health outcomes for women and children globally, significant progress has been made over the years, but a lot still needs to be done, this she hopes to achieve by creating a strong coalition with the wives of Governors that will create awareness on the importance of improving RMNCAH+N, promoting advocacy for bet

Breaking the Culture of Silence!

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I screamed as he held me against the bed, his strong hands covering my mouth. I had just turned five some days ago. The pain was intense. I tried to push him away, but I couldn't and I gave up just as I had done some weeks ago when I tried to lift the sofa in the living room. When he finally got down from the bed, he spat on the ground, pulled up his trousers and left the room in a hurry. I wiped the tears with the back of my hands and tried to sit up. But my thighs hurt so badly and so I lay there numb. He walked back into the room and stood in front of me. 'Sarah!' I didn’t answer. He called my name again and as if my crying button was suddenly powered on, I began to wail. He rushed to my side and rolled me over, pulling out the bedspread smeared with my blood. I continued to scream. He slapped me. I stopped screaming. 'Listen to me. If you tell anyone about what happened here, I will kill you.' He barked, his big eyeballs boring

Why State House Clinic Should Be Probed – Aisha Buhari

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First Lady and wife of Nigeria’s president, Aisha Buhari has called for a probe of the State House Medical Centre over poor health facilities in the hospital despite the huge budgetary allocation to it. Mrs. Buhari who condemned the “lack of facilities” at the hospital during a programme in Abuja on Monday equally lamented the total or dearth of some necessary hospital facilities such as syringe, drugs and equipment needed for saving lives. She lamented that she wanted to do an x-ray at the clinic few weeks ago but was told the X-ray machine was not functional. Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, The call by the wife of the President for a probe on the hospital is in line with her husband, President Muhammadu Buhari’s drive to free every sector of the Nigerian polity of corruption. Recall that ever since the administration of President Buhari who, upon election, vowed to kill corruption in Nigeria, so many high-profile corruption cases have been exposed with billions recov

Women’s Brain More Active Than Men’s — RESEARCH

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LARGEST functional brain imaging study to date has identified specific brain differences between women and men, according to a new report in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. The researchers compared 46,034 brain SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) imaging studies provided by nine clinics, quantifying differences between the brains of men and women. Men and women brains, according to Founder of Amen Clinics Inc., Psychiatrist Daniel G. Amen said that the study shows that brains of women were significantly more active in many more areas of the brain than men, especially in the prefrontal cortex, involved with focus and impulse control, and the limbic or emotional areas of the brain, involved with mood and anxiety. “This is a very important study to help understand gender-based brain differences. The quantifiable differences we identified between men and women are important for understanding gender-based risk for brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.