Connect with us

Women

How Rivers Girl Emerged Newcastle Ambassador

Published

on

Lorraine Ichoku, 26 years old,  from Omoku, Rivers State recently emerged an Ambassador for Newcastle City, in the United Kingdom. This was in recognition of her spectacular role in the just concluded London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics games.

In an appointment letter signed by the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, and made available to The Tide, Lorraine was honoured for her inspiring and supportive role in making the London Olympic a huge success. The letter which read in part stated; “As a Newcastle Ambassador, you have ensured that thousands of people have enjoyed the London 2012 experience by the welcome  and spirit that you have shown visitors to your local area. You and your fellow volunteers have been an essential ingredient in a remarkable summer that millions of people across the country have shared and will remember for a lifetime.

“You have sent an incredible message about the warmth, friendliness and can-do spirit of the United Kingdom right around the world. Quite simply, the games couldn’t have happened without you,” the letter stated.

In a mark of appreciation, and gratitude, the British Prime Minister added that the experience from the games would encourage the recipient to continue to make a different in life.

Young Lorraine Ichoku, who travelled to the United Kingdom to pursue a masters degree programme in Public Health under the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Scholarship returned back to Nigeria, recently with a distinctive academic laurel.

She came out with a distinction in her Masters Programme in Public Health at the Northumbria University Newcastle City.

Lorraine who spoke with The Tide correspondents, in Port Harcourt, in an interview recently, said she went to the United Kingdom with a determined spirit to make the best use of all available opportunities that came her way.

Recalling her experience in the United Kingdom, she said, contrary to initial fears or racial prejudice, the environment was quite conducive and friendly and that spurred her drive towards academic excellence.

She said the learning culture encourages the spirit of excellence and she developed a firmer grasp of her objective in the foreign land.

Lorraine who was highly grateful to NDDC for giving her the opportunity, said she had to channel her intellectual energies to attain success so as to press home the advantages of a good and functional education. “While in the United Kingdom, I was very conscious of the fact that I would go back to Nigeria someday. I knew that my entire stay in the United Kingdom would be a waste if I didn’t do well, so I took my studies seriously and it paid off, today. I am very happy for making Rivers State and Nigeria proud, I am indeed grateful to NDDC for paying all my tuition and accommodation fees,” she said.

Lorraine who did her first degree in Bio-Chemistry at Bacbok University in Nigeria, said her purpose of studying Public Health at Masters level was to work in Nigeria and help her people in dire health needs.

Her vision is to ensure that Nigerians, especially those living at the grassroots, have access to good health care, adding that she would not hesitate if she has the opportunity of serving the teeming Nigerian masses living at the level of existence.

“Nigerians at the grassroots deserve better medicare, they are people that plants the food we eat, they bear the real burden of our national life, I will be very happy to render services to them if I have the opportunity. I have always longed to work for my people by providing the services that can improve their well-being,”  she stressed.

She discarded the wrong impression and perception held about Nigerians by most parts of the world.

According to her, “Nigerians in the United Kingdom are doing quite well  their the respective fields of endeavour. At the United Kingdom I met Nigerians who are on top of their careers, in the arts, medicine, law, banking, among others. Nigerians are indeed, great and superlative people.”

However, on return to Nigeria, Lorraine Ichoku was disturbed by the growing level of insecurity in the country, which has resulted in the wanton lost of lives and property. She also regrets that youths are at the roots of the growing insecurity.

She appealed to the Federal Government to address issues of insecurity which has affected the image of the country internationally, while also advising Young Lorraine also advised youths to channel their energies creatively and shun violence and other anti-social activities.

Commenting on her award as a Newcastle Ambassador, Lorraine said she was highly grateful to the British Government for the honour. She said her participation in the London Olympic as a volunteer, provided her with the opportunity of meeting people from all parts of the world and this according to her, enhanced her capacity for self expression and socialisation.

Lorraine Ichoku who also emerged the second best graduating student in her masters programme, said another Nigerian Youth, Kessy from Warri, emerged the overall best. according to her Nigeria youths are endowed with exceptional talents, and such lavishing sense of creativity can best be demonstrated through academic excellence. She sees education as “an ornament  that chastise vices, groom the mind and open windows of opportunities for its  proud and fulfilled owner”.

 

Taneh Beemene / Sylvia ThankGod-Amadi

Continue Reading

Women

The Desire Of Every Woman In Marriage

Published

on

A woman needs a man that is honest,  trustworthy,  nice,  loving and financially stable.
There are no two ways about finance in marriage. No matter the level of love, If there is no money,  it is always difficult.


Referring to the Biblical belief in Genesis 3:Your desire  shall be unto you……..
That is one aspect  the woman expects her husband to take care of.
A woman wants a husband that is not lazy,  at least helping to do one or two things.   A man that is educated and intelligent.
She knows that there is a trait that her husband has.  Traits of taking care of people,  giving freely to people and caring for her family.
A woman wants to love a husband that has family interest at heart. A man that spends time with his family,  remembering his family even as he is away from home.
A woman should not antagonise her husband because of one error or the other. No matter the level of offence he may have committed, you still show some love.


According to the Scripture, it is with wisdom that the women builds her home.
It is not as if the woman will not monitor her husband, but to certain limit.  Don’t be a monitoring spirit.  Don’t allow anything to take your joy.
Don’t loose trust in your husband.
The idea of checking your husband’s phone should be discouraged. The more you check your husband and his phone, the more you loose your joy.


The home should not be a battle ground for a woman and man.  A woman should be able to ask herself if the check on her husband will pay her any good.
Draw a line to a point where you checkmate your husband’s activities.
A woman wants a man that will love her and telling her you love her will be all she desires.

Eunice Choko-Kayode

Continue Reading

Women

What Women Want In Yet-To -Be Husbands

Published

on

What women want in their yet-to- be husbands matters a lot as far as marriage is concerned.
A woman desires a good fnancial prospect. Interestingly, some modern women place a man’s financial potential as more desirable than they have in the past.
Many decades ago, women ranked it lower on the list. It still comes in after items like love and maturity, but perhaps today’s women realise that a good economic partner is good husband material.
Good health has been an important characteristic for women through the 20th century and remains so these days. One might argue that because we’re living even longer, health plays a huge role in the success of a marriage. Women are anxious to know that their partners are healthy to be able to run the family together.
You discover that in most faith based organisations, would- be couples are mandated to go for medical tests to ascertain their health status as it concerns HIV/AIDS, Genotype and other related ones. This according to stakeholders is to ensure that couples raise healthy families.
Ambition has become less important to women over time, though it still being considered even if women nowadays are thriving in the workforce competing with the male folk. It may be because more women are thriving in the workforce, they want a husband who has earning power but are not looking for him to be the sole provider.
More women want husbands with pleasing disposition. They may not want a man who is always moody. A man who is always cheerful is whom they desire.
Surprisingly, a man’s likes do not rank as high on women’s list of wants as it used to. Until recently, women are more willing to accept a man for who he his, despite the inevitable mood he may be.
Sociability from both men and women rank very high on their marriag material list. And for both sexes, it has been steadily moving up the list for many years. The rise of the “love marriage,” a partnership based on attraction rather than practicalities (like wealth or status) might mean that married couples are more likely to be friends and have mutual circles of friends.
A lot of couples want to associate with others and then socialise. Attending parties of other friends forms part of their marriage requirements.
Women have placed education and intelligence top making it one of their most desirable male traits for decades. This timeline coincides with more and more women receiving college education themselves. Once education becomes important in women’s lives, it is a more attractive trait in potential husbands.
Of course when a woman is educated, she is likely to go for an educated man. When they are gainfully employed, their income boost the family affairs faster.
Today, women are much more attracted to men who are interested in home and family than they ever have been. Men who have desire for their home and children is whom they desire.
After a days job, a man will come home to ensure that his children are comfortable. Because most women today are expecting to be in dual-earner relationships, they want husbands who will be happy and willing to contribute at home. More women today even report that they hope he will take the lead at home.
A woman wants a man who is emotionally stable and mature. Growing big physically is not the issue but maturity in the heart.
Men, too, place a heavy emphasis on a potential wife’s emotional maturity, signaling that it is a key quality for a stable partnership. Women seem to look past appearance to the heart of the matter.
A woman wants a man who is not easily provoked. Dependable character is what some women want in marriage.
Women want husbands that they can count on, and this has not changed in recent years. Yes, women look to their spouses to be lovers and friends, they also want them to be supportive and trustworthy. They want to know that their husbands will be there and remain loyal. Men, too, desire dependable character from their yet-to be wives.
Mutual attraction and love from the first appearance is what they want till they become old.
The highest-rated characteristic women seek from men is mutual attraction and love. Some no longer look for a man who will provide everything, afterall they are also educated and are gainfully employed, they want to be in love.
For some women, even when the man do not provide household needs, the love shown on her is enough. When women had no job prospects and needed to marry, they desired love . The women’s movement has not only helped women pursue careers, it has also given them more choice in love.

Continue Reading

Women

Echoes Of IWD : Need To Invest In Women

Published

on

As this year’s Internatinal Women’s Day (IWD) has come and gone, there are calls from different quarters on the need to invest in women so that we can achieve accelerated growth.
It was, indeed, a thing of joy when Rivers Women Unite For Sim, took delivery of large quantities of sanitary towels and some bags of rice provided them for this year’s celebration.
Many young women expressed joy that they got such gesture since some of them have financial problems getting sanitary towels whenever they are on.
Some secondary school students were also lucky to have a share of the benefits. They also got some sanitary towels.
The Rivers State Commissioner for Women Affairs organised a platform to celebrate and honour the women for the remarkable jobs they perform in their homes and society.
Addressing women on the occasion, the Hon. Commissioner for Women Affairs, Dr. Roseline Apawari Uranta, noted that women from time immemorial have been great pillars in achieving remarkable heights and stressed that IWD across the globe is pivotal all women for the roles they play in bringing, nurturing and sustaining life.
Dr. Uranta said that IWD, which started in 1911 and celebrated annually on March 8, is a global day that provides women a platform to address economic inclusion, participation in political and public life.
She said the day was set aside to look into lack of access to education for the girl-child, gender-based violence, child marriage, child trafficking, harmful cultural practices as well as other challenges facing women around the globe.
The Hon. Commissioner, who described March 8 as a day to celebrate the socio-economic, cultural and political achievements of women, emphasised that it is a day that offers women the opportunity to reflect on progressive achievements.
Noting that it is an opportunity to call for change, she stressed that it is also an opportunity to celebrate acts of courage and every achievement made by ordinary women who did extraordinary things and are remembered in history.
She noted that the IWD2024 theme:”Invest In Women, Accelerate Progress”, is timely and apt because according to her, to achieve gender equality, we must ensure that the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women do not elude them.
Her words: ” We must see investing in women as a human right issue and consider investing in women as a social tool to eradicate poverty since women are helpmeet in the homes while a handful are breadwinners in their respective families”.
The commissioner urged women to uphold the deliberate act of investing in themselves, be it furthering formal education, developing a new skill as well as learning a trade.
“Shun idleness, always find something positive and productive to do, regardless of your age, social status and financial capabilities”, she said.
In a paper presentation, Dr. Dabota God’swill Jumbo, reiterated that investing in women would attract good and positive dividends to herself and the society at large and noted that it is essential in addressing poverty, hunger and climate change.
The guest speaker said women need more opportunities in elective and appointive positions, hence the need to encourage and support them in politics.
According to her, when you invest in women, they will be able to create safer environment devoid of gender-based violence.
In a goodwill message, the spokesperson, Rivers Women Unite For Sim, Mrs Charity Deemua appreciated the organisers for making it possible for women to gather and celebrate themselves.
She commended those who created a day like March 8 of every year to celebrate women and regretted that the girl-child was seen as a second-class person decades ago.
The former commissioner, Rivers State House of Assembly Commission, described those who taught it wise for women to celebrate as conquerors, tough and strong.
International Association of World Peace Advocates, a world-class organisation with the United Nations, honoured different categories of women.
In Cross River State, 150 women were empowered with about N15m to boost their small and medium scale businesses.
According to stakeholders, the women empowerment is vital in addressing social, economic and political challenges and will make them self-reliant.
An NGO, Association of Professional Women Engineering Technologists (APWET), said it’s aim is to promote professional excellence among engineering personnel, advocating for women and girl-child education.
With what we saw in terms of response to women’s call on issues affecting them from relevant authorities, we are optimistic that the women will do better whenever they are empowered.
If we must kick out cervical, breast and other forms of cancer in women, underage marriage, prostitution, we must invest in women.
There were goodwill messages from National Council for Women Societies (NCWS), International Federation of Female Lawyers (FIDA), Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN), Nigeria Copyright Commission (NCC, Nigeria Association of Female Journalists (NAWOJ), among others.

By: Eunice Choko-Kayode

Continue Reading

Trending