The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. 
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 740 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 12 trips to carry that many people.
Been hearing a lot about new year resolutions on TV the last few days and whenever I do, I just turn up my nose. Who needs new year resolutions, like those ever work right. Basically, I know what I’m gonna be doing in 2015 and it’s packed full already so no room for resolutions that are doomed to fail before they even start. As in I must hammer in 2015, by fire, by thunder! No room for bala bala.
So while I was busy turning up my nose at the new year resolutions of determined folks of the earth, I jejely went to read my Bible and I found mine. And down came the nose. I imagined God must have said Boooyah!
“These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, King of Israel. Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline…their purpose is to teach people disciplined and successful lives. 1:1-3. …fools are destroyed by their own complacency. 1:32b
I wanna hammer in 2015 right? Then discipline is the way to go. With television, internet, food, exercise, reading books, diet, time…DISCIPLINE.
‘No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening-it is painful! But afterwards there will be a peaceful harvest of right ( rich, successful, satisfying, comforting _________ *insert yours*) living for those who are trained in this way’
With this keyed in, *Kim Kardashian voice* let’s go hammer in 2015!
Hi guys, thank you so much for stopping by. I got a lot of feedback on the last post about Ronke on twitter, facebook and here on the blog. Thank you sooo much and I totally agree, Ronke rocks big time. So, here we are, the part two on this lady.
Do you know that girls are the most discriminated of all groups? Now, Ronke has a project called WHO’S THAT GIRL, this project is focused on the girl child, catching them young kinda thing. You guys know how we see strong, confident, powerful women like Abike Dabiri Erewa, Funmi Iyanda, Stella Damascus, Abiola Lufadeju, Ronke Giwa, Bukola Akinwale…and we wonder how they got so powerful, confident and beautiful. Well, the truth is that this category of women make up less than 10% of the total population of women. The remaining 90% are not strong or so beautiful (both on the inside and outside) and they are not so confident. They have very little faith in themselves, poor self esteem and will most likely never take a bold step out of their comfort zone to achieve tough stuff. A lot of women are out there struggling with marital problems, businesses that are barely making profit, abusive husbands, jobs they hate etc waiting for when things will turn around for them.
Photo credit – verastic.com
Now, these 90% of women were at a time girls and at some point, something went wrong making these women lose the crux of their essence. Making them forget the fact that they are special. Ronke’s project is about catching these girls early, before life happens to them, and ensuring they grow into the 10% of women we all hope to be. Ronke has had the opportunity of meeting an 11 year old girl that has been getting molested by her brother for the last 2 years! Meaning she has been getting sexually abused since she was 9 years old! Trust me, this infestation is real.
There are lots of young girls, like this girl, that are getting sexually abused by fathers, mommy’s boyfriends, step fathers and uncles. And they are unable to speak about it or seek help because we happen to be in an environment where if a girl gets raped, she is the first culprit. She must have dressed in a way that attracted that sort of attention, she must have been wayward, she must have been ‘loose’ etc. Now, lets pretend this happened to a girl from a relatively comfortable family. Imagine what it’s like for girls that come from families that both parents and 4 siblings share a room in a ‘face-me-face-u’ sort
of dig.
They are exposed to way more harassment, more dangers, more debasement.
A lot of girls are getting abused now more than ever. Let’s not think its only the un-sheltered girls. I was already in the university when I started getting physically abused by my boyfriend and I couldn’t talk to anyone about it because it doesn’t reflect well on me. It’s one thing to say ‘I was physically abused by my ex’ but my story was that ‘I am getting physically abused by my boyfriend’…and I stayed in the relationship for 3 whole years. You must wonder why I stayed in right? That’s what happens with most people in abusive relationships or situations. Most people are unable to leave without help. Imagine if I had a Ronke Giwa back then, I wouldn’t have had that black eye, that almost-ruptured kidney or the scars and bruises on my body. Let’s not talk about the damage on my emotions, psyche and self confidence. Let’s pay more attention to the gists we hear around us about women that their husbands beat up. Do they leave? No. Are the women miserable? Oh yeah! A lot of them consider suicide and some get murdered during an episode of physical abuse. Same with these abused young girls. A lot of them get suicidal.
photo credit- http://www.fanpop.com
Now our own Ronny is making this bold move to catch these girls real young. If you are getting abused or you have been impregnated and you feel you have no one to turn to, try and make it to the next Who’s That Girl program in January. Or you can get in touch with me at oke_b007@yahoo.co.uk. And if you would like to join Ronke in this fight to save our girls, please get in touch. She is looking for people who can train girls in any craft, independence is key in this fight you know. You don’t need to have millions of naira to make a difference in this generation, lending a hand is sometimes all you need. And Ronke needs everyone that is ready to lend a hand, make a move, take a step, change a life. Let’s start breeding more of those women that are strong, confident and beautiful…let’s increase that percentage.
The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.
Ronke’s email address – ronkegiwa14@yahoo.com
I was in the waiting room of Splash FM waiting for my 12 noon appointment with Ronke Giwa. While waiting, I noticed a petite lady cruising the halls, I didn’t really see the person’s face ( what with astigmatism in one eye and short-sightedness in the other…the odds are obviously not in favour). But it isn’t 12 noon yet anyways so it’s okay. Then this lady I had been chit-chatting with suddenly said,
‘That’s Ronke going naw’
I was like ‘sheeeesh!, that tiny lady is Ronke Giwa’ *in my head of course* I raced up to the Ronke that had now stopped to see who was waiting for her. I caught up to her and said,
‘It’s Banke’, hoping the name will ring a bell from my emails to her. Her face immediately lit up in recognition and with a laugh she stretched out her arms and pulled me into the warmest hug. And just like that, she stole my heart. Tiff! *wails* Okay, I’m you typical Olaf, I love warm hugs so don’t blame me. Besides, she is supposed to be all aloof and shee afterall she’s the one with over 14,000 twitter followers as against my own 17 followers…hahahaha! (LOL! for real)
She laughed some more and promised to be back ‘in a sec’. And true to her words, she was back and I had her full attention. I was supposed to interview her but strangely, I found myself yakking all about me.
Ooookay stop, she is the interviewee here not me, helloooo! I stopped, looked at her and I had to ask,
‘Does this happen a lot? People just meet you and instantly get so comfortable?’ And she explained that for all her talking on radio, she is actually more of a listener, she’s just okay having people talk to her, she does not mind one bit! Okay whoa! Is she amazeballs or what. I just got a free therapy session!
Now, let me stop and introduce Ronke a wee bit, for those who do not reside in the Ibadan side of Nigeria. Ronke is the morning show host at Splash 105.5 FM in Ibadan, weekdays. She has been at this for about 5 years now ( I hope I’m accurate with that) and most Ibadan folks are crazy about her. Even my mom loves her! She starts off your day on a light note, filling it with a lot of hope, encouragement and love. She reads a lot and takes it upon herself to share her knowledge with her listeners. And FYI, her phonee is for real! Not acts about that unlike what it is with most OAPs. She has a thing for the girl-child, always looking to help young girls who are in trouble or who can’t seem to figure it out. And she does all this with so much energy. She had a program last year (WHO’S DAT GIRL) where she had a lot of young girls come, got speakers to speak to them, generally being the beacon of hope for a lot of girls that feel like they are alone in this world. Her energy and passion is so obvious even though we can’t see her face. That was what drew me to her, like I gotta speak to this lady.
So, imagine my shock when I saw this petite lady….I mean, who packs this much energy in such a tiny frame. So, we had our sit downs and I got to know her. FYI, she’s a homebody, loves to stay home as against going out and partying, family is everything for her, her sisters are her besties and her nieces and nephews are her world. She loves to travel, read books and meet people. And as we’ve already established, she is very down to earth, no airs about this lady Ibadan loves so much. And you have to wonder, how has she stayed grounded despite the fame, popularity and awards….she didn’t go into this cos she was looking for fame. She is just a girl out to inspire people and make the lives of folks around her more beautiful. And Ibadan folks will attest to this: she’s sure getting that done.
I am glad I got off my butt to go speak to this lady, she is definitely a special one, I can assure you. Speaking to her inspired me a whole lot more and I hope that you will also be inspired by her.
More to come on Ronke, please hang in there.
On my route to work everyday, there is this intersection where vehicles have to take turns to get passed on by the traffic warden. Nothing stressful, a mere two minutes wait thereabouts. Now, there is this handicapped young man who decided to make that spot his beg-for-alms spot. I had often wondered why he wouldn’t take on a job after all he still has both legs and he’s only missing an arm. But hey, I’m not living his life so I can’t judge. But personally, I have this thing for not giving people like that cash. I mean, people on wheelchair have found a way to earn a honest living! Okay, I’m done sitting on the high horse.
So I would never give this guy cash but after a while, I started waving at him. The first time I did that, he responded with a huge smile accompanied by that look of surprise on his face…don’t know why people get shocked when a random, pretty female says hi for no reason other than just to holla… Okay, enough of straying off topic, I’m going to stay focused now. Of course, I drove off right after and that was it. But like a couple of times afterwards, I’d smile and wave at him whenever I find him there.
Some days ago, I was at the said intersection waiting to get passed on. This beggar was trying to get the driver in front of me to drop cash for him and that was sorta taking a while so he did not get to me till we were passed on. I proceeded to wave as I drove up to him but he was looking at the other car driving off so he didn’t see me in time. I kept waving till he saw me and as soon as he did, his face lit up in recognition and he shouted ‘haa, my dear!’
I was actually shocked to hear that and I promptly bursted into laughter! I mean, that was like super-duper pleasant of him right? And I had gotten upgraded. From the nameless, stingy driver to his personal dear. I don’t think my cash would have made as much impression as my smile and wave did on that beggar who didn’t expect strangers to smile at him for no apparent reason. 
You would never know how far your random acts of kindness can go. And in this world of killings, hatred, tsunamis, betrayal, cheating, lies, raping, kidnappings…we need all the kindness we can muster. Being kind to one another is not overrated, the Lord made it clear that all that is desired of man is kindness (Pr 19:22). We make Him so happy when we show kindness to one another. So, let’s try again, say a kind word to that doorman every morning, remember the names of the people who work for/with you and greet them by their names, take a minute to commend the efforts of traffic officials before rushing off, ask about the health of the elderly folks whenever you have to say hello to them, help that random child cross the road…It doesn’t have to be much really. We just need to start pulling other people into the centre of our world as against pushing them into the periphery.
These things, money can’t buy.
A blog full of humorous and poignant observations.
An Occasional Blog of Devotionals Inspired by A Course in Miracles, A Course of Love, The Way of Mastery, Choose Only Love, The Way of the Marys, and The Age of the Heart. . .with Celia Hales - https://www.amazon.com/author/celiahales
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