Tuesday Ted Talk on the New Nigeria Women platform
Let’s ride.
As I glare deeply into my dark smooth black skin, my black hair, my sharp-pointed nose, my soft palm, my bossom like the edible watermelons from the Pearl of Africa; a deep smile accentuated my face further revealing my dimple punctuated cheek. There is no other definition of beauty apart from me. Black is beauty!
It is a popular fact that women struggle so hard to accept their bodies, the colour of their skin, height, length of hair, hair texture, eyes, lips, breast, buttocks. It seems there is always something out of place in our bodies that requires fixing. We want to remake, we want to remould, we want to alter; the more we worry about all of these, the more we lose our uniqueness, our beauty, and our own peculiarities.
It took me a long time to finally embrace and accept my femininity without fears and agitation. Since then, I’ve been accepting me for me, I’ve never relented; though I’ve fallen, I’m rising daily. I’m soaring higher. There is a certain level of satisfaction that comes from the recognition of your worth and dignity.
Have you ever danced naked unashamedly behind locked doors? Have you enjoyed the comfort of your body? Have you fallen in love with your body? Do you constantly exhale the deep confidence that comes from within? Breathing the air of freedom! Loosed and broken from the shackles of ‘you are not good enough mindset’.
Do you like the face that stares back at you when you pick up the mirror every morning? Are you comfortable in your black skin?
What is exactly is wrong with being black? Till we all come to the point of reckless acceptance; embracing our inadequacies, caressing our vulnerabilities and transforming them to strength. Sieving out the stones of archaic orientations and deep-seated gender discriminatory practices against the realization of our full potentials, we cannot thrive!
History however so gracious had blessed us in Nigeria with great women. I’ve read about the great feat of these heroines; Queen Amina of ZaZau now called Zaria, Moremi of Ile-Ife, Efunsetan, Emotan, Idia, the fierce Funmilayo Ransome Kuti, Margaret Ekpo, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Abiodun Olujimi, Aisha Alhassan, Natasha Akpoti, studying the lives of these great women. I can’t but conclude, these ones didn’t and are not living their lives struggling to accept their femininity.
They, like the mother eagle, had soared higher charting the path for generations of daughters they would never see, that we might walk with our heads high up, hairs down and hands-on our huge hips ready to take actions in strategic places in the new Nigeria. Our land is surrounded by the river yet a cup of clean water is thousands of our children cannot afford. We have the best set of brilliant brains yet we are ruled by the ‘system’.
It’s time to start using our creative minds for possible solutions. We are womb men; we should birth ideas, solutions, and strategies. Which problem are you strategically positioned to solve? Where is your sector; Agriculture, Economics, land, Sports, Technology, Education. Earning a living is no longer enough! I and my family is a mediocre mindset! We need a shift in paradigm. We need to initiate solutions for the progress of the country.
Today, African ladies are sold in exchange for bread all over the world. We build expertise in prostitution. Our minors are trading their bodies for crumbs. Our beloved green continent is used as a landmark authority in corruption, child-trafficking, thuggery, administration. We are the poverty capital! How unfortunate!
When shall Africa rise again? When are we going to be bothered about the pitiable state of our continent and about the growth of our country?
Talking of leadership, over fifteen years of democracy, Nigeria hasn’t produced a female governor. Africa has the lowest turn of female participation in politics, no doubt we are thriving in entrepreneurship but the low participation in politics is worrisome.
Have you ever asked yourself, why you are disinterested in the politics of your country? If we must envision a great Africa, we must begin to show interest in the governance of our land. For so long a time we’ve hidden behind the masks of religions, family life, and profession to keep away from a system we should be part of?
Rwanda, Seychelles, and South Africa are leading with the inclusion of capable women running the affairs of their country. It’s time to be intentional and deliberate about the growth of your country, your local government, your town, your community, your house.
The time is now! We must build now!
