Daniella's lower lip twitched as they pulled up at Moses' family house - a beautiful maroon bungalow. After two years of dating, Moses was finally ready to introduce her to his mother before taking their relationship a step further. She was scared and nervous at the same time.  "Would she like me?" she asked Moses for the umpteenth time.  "Of course," Moses said, turning off the ignition and looking at her.  She made a face at him and rolled her eyes.  "I'm serious. Anyone would love you babe," he said, leaning in and kissing her cheek.  She forced a smile as she pushed open the car door. She wasn't fully convinced by Moses' answers. She'd heard so many stories about the ridiculous things prospective mothers-in-lawput their daughters-in-law through. She was afraid of what her own case might be.  As soon as they walked in through the door, she met the woman's disapproving gaze. The intensity of her stare seemed

"Please sir, I would like to create a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) awareness program for girls. It is an initiative to introduce girls from the junior secondary school to the wonders and possibilities of science, math, technology and engineering ...," the principal read aloud, his eyes widening. Then he glanced up from his letter, pulled off his thin glasses, placed it on the table as he stared at the younger man standing in front of him. "That is my problem with you corpers. You come here thinking you can turn everyone's head with white people's nonsense then you go home disappointed when nothing really changed. This is Africa. This is Nigeria. This is our village. Here, girls don't like technology. Name three Nigerian female inventors you know. You probably can't but I'm sure you know the girls on music videos or you know how much girls love cooking competitions. Okay, I'm even going far. In our school here, haven

African Union has made 31st of July to commemorate the Pan African Women's Day. We know the essence you live and we celebrate the unique woman in you. To all African women who are keeping the African spirit alive; to all women with the spirit of Pan-Africanism; we wish you all a hearty happy Africa Women's Day. Go mama Africa; Go the mother of pearls; Go and make Africa even better. We really appreciate your effort towards the shaping of the future of the African continent and your commitment towards the advancement of Africa.   Keep breaking glass ceilings, breaking through concrete walls, striding on sticky floors and escaping career labyrinths. No falling off the glass cliff. Never.   Girls, Ladies, Women, tell us what you have done in your life that you are proud of!!!

Thanks to The Kectil Program for the learning opportunity through the years. I am grateful for this grace to be selected to be part of the Nigerian representatives for the Kectil Leadership Conference for leaders from developing countries at Georgia Tech University. This journey has been an amazing one. It has been particularly helpful for me especially in my leadership journey as a woman. It seeks to develop leaders without gender bias. It is indeed all inclusive. It has been a program that seeks to ensure a safer and more sustainable world for women. My knowledge has been enhanced through this conference through my interaction and learning from other young people between 17-26 years cutting across different parts of the world. I could confidently say my leadership skills have been sharpened and a lot ahead to do ahead of me. I would like to share a bit of my experience during the one week conference. I was able to learn about 15 different countries of the world through over one ho

Society puts so many ridiculous expectations on women and sometimes experiencing it or thinking about it drives me crazy. One of the those I really hate is how you, as a woman, is expected to know how to handle a baby perfectly even when you have never had one around you all your life. Nobody takes into account your circumstances. All they see is a failure. A woman who is not worthy to be 'wifed'. My life experience paints a better picture of this situation: I have a twin brother and we have no younger one so I have never known what it's like to be actively involved in looking after a little one because we never had anyone else in my house. Growing up and having to experience life like this has not given me any opportunity or occasion to learn how to handle a baby properly. This skill, like cooking, is not something anyone is born with. You learn from people and when you have yours, you become better at it because you have lots and lots of time to practice. This is why I a

"Congratulations Mr Jeremiah. It's a girl." Jeremiah hissed at his wife turned, walked out of the hospital and drove off leaving mother and his fifth daughter to sort themselves out. Tears ran down Angela's face. Why was their having girls her fault? Why couldn't he just accept that children were not hers to give but nature? **** Jeremiah and Angela had been married for seven years. After their fourth daughter, Jeremiah had started withdrawing and becoming distant. When she asked him what was wrong, he didn't say anything to her. Sometimes, he would get upset at her question and leave the house again. He wasn't much of a drinker so Angela was surprised when he came home one day, drunk. Their last daughter was barely five months old. "What is wrong?" she'd asked him, kneeling and crying. He'd shaken her off and gone to bed. The next day, she complained to her friends at work. They told her, "See its just because we like