It bothers me that we have turned parenting into mothering, that is, into a one-woman affair. We have made it look like the emotional and personal needs of children should only be met by their mothers. This is so wrong and it encourages men to be absent and unavailable for their children. Sadly, many women who didn’t have present fathers have gotten so used to this one-sided type of parenting that they see it as normal. Hence, you see them being overly grateful/gushing about every little thing their husbands do for their children. What do I mean? In a group I belong to, someone threw a question to the floor…
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International Boy’s Day
Today is the International Day of the boy and this year’s theme is focused on Empowering, guiding, and providing boys role models for a peaceful world. Over the years, it seemed like more people focused on training girls to be perfect while boys were left to meander through life on their own. As a result, so many men had to learn a lot of things the hard way. Many of them grew up broken and didn’t have anyone to turn to or ask questions. For decades, men were even told not to cry because it was unmanly. So, they bottled up their insecurities and fears. As years progressed, we have…
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Birthday Reflections 2020
AND SO THE CLOCK STRIKES A NEW YEAR! Well, the earth has gone around the sun for a whole year since I last marked my birth. Here I am again, a year older. I decided to mark this year in an unusual matter. I want to openly reflect on how the past year has been for me. The past year has been filled to the brim with lots of ups and downs. There were good times and not-so-good times. Compared to previous years, I have been molded than I could ever account for this last year. I am grateful for the progress I have made. I am remorseful for the…
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World Poetry Day – Celebrating Womanhood
Give me a voice, one that I can call mine Let me bring out my colours from in deep within my mind like a flowering flower springing new petals. I only ask for a choice to be who I am without the tethers of gender hurting around my tender neck. Give me a life, a chance, to crave for and seek the cradle of wisdom like the river seeking the sea. I want to learn to fight without a hand tied behind my back with the chains of culture, what should change that stayed constant. For I am a light, hidden by the curtains of doubt. Yet, none can douse…
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International Women’s Day 2020- Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights for an Equal Future
Every year, March 8 marks the International Women’s Day. A day set aside by the United Nations to celebrate women and advocate women’s rights and gender equality. This year’s theme is Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights for an equal future. This year we are choosing to be that generation that finally realized or achieves gender equality by giving women their due diligence. We finally recognize that women’s rights are also human rights and therefore matter equally. To be able to think this way, we have to truly understand what gender equality is. Gender equality is not sameness in biology or physiology. (This is the fallacious assertion that some people point…
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International Women’s Day Event 2020
The international women’s day which comes up on the 8th of March every year was commemorated today 5th of March 2020 with a program at Abadina College, UI. The program was tagged, “Generation equality: realizing women’s right for an equal future.” The program was majorly geared towards enlightening and broadening the scope of understanding of Secondary school students as regards gender equality and also bringing it into reality. The program was facilitated by two distinguished people; Deborah Adeojo and Daniel Akinyemi, who took their time to painstakingly teach the students what they need to know about gender equality. The facilitators were also able to unteach and debunk some erroneous beliefs…
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International Women’s Day 2020 Loading 80 Percent
March 8 is International Women’s Day. We will be using the opportunity to engage the students of Abadina College, Ibadan on the theme of Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights for an equal future. This is also another opportunity to challenge stereotypes, call for inclusion, amplify women’s voices and to celebrate women. We shall be celebrating all women living beyond limitations, holding up, making an impact, influencing the world, leading positively, motivating the world, transforming lives, standing tall, aiming high, breaking stereotypes, shattering glass ceilings, breaking through concrete walls, striding on sticky floors and escaping career labyrinths. Host: Roseline Adebimpe Adewuyi Speakers: Daniel Akinyemi and Deborah Adeojo Coordinators: Rebecca Bolatito-John and…
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World Radio Day: Driving Women Empowerment and Social Change through the Radio
Today, February 13th is the World Radio day – a day set aside by UNESCO to celebrate radio broadcast, improve international cooperation among radio broadcasters and encourage decision-makers to create and provide access to information through radio, including community radios. From time immemorial, radios have been used to pass information to the general public. Even during wars of the early centuries and times when technological advancements were not as sophisticated as they are today, radios were very common and widely used to broadcast news and disseminate information. Today, radios are much more than communication gadgets. They are hubs of entertainment and art expressions. They are key agents of social change…
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International Day of Women and Girls in Science
For centuries, people have always seen science as too complicated and too logical for the female brain but women like Marie Curie the French-Polish physicist who won a Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry for her pioneering research in radioactivity and mathematician Ada Lovelace, who saw the potential in Charles Babbage’s analytical engine, wrote and developed software for it and became one of the first computer programmers have long since challenged and squashed these stereotypes. Today, although people still ask these questions and think of STEM as a male playing field, a good number of women have taken their place and begun making their mark there. One of such remarkable…
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International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation
Female Genital Mutilation or female circumcision as it is called in the dark alleys and hidden groves of the interior villages where the abhorrent act is practiced has always been a hush-hush topic and because of the shame and myths or superstitious beliefs that surround it, there seems to be very little written about it. Female Genital Mutilation has been practiced by various ancient cultures in a bid to reduce female sexuality and prevent women from being promiscuous. The effects of the process however are much worse. Since it is usually done to young girls, the psychological trauma of the pain of the process usually lasts a life time. Many…
