Erelu Bisi Fayemi

Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi (born 11 June, 1963) is a Nigerian-British feminist activist, policy advocate, social change philanthropy practitioner and writer. Quotes I want a Nigeria safe for all women and girls. A country that nurtures the girl child to a meaningful future. A Nigeria where the voice of girls and women are heard. Where women and girls are seen as part of the development and growth of the nation. Where women are given leadership roles and responsibilities. Where women are not seen only as meant for cooking and child-bearing. A Nigeria where the rights of our women and girls will always be protected by the Government. A Nigeria where whosoever molests our women and girls will be brought to book. A Nigeria where women and girls will be able to reach their full potential. A Nigeria where cancer will be understood as not an attack from witches. A Nigeria where ladies will be given employment without ‘trade by barter. A Nigeria where our women and girls are treated with due respect and not as sex slaves. A Nigeria where our women and girls will not be discriminated against in the corridors of power. A Nigeria where our women and girls place will not be limited to the kitchen. A Nigeria where one day a female President, State Governors and Senate President will emerge. The Nigeria we want We are tired of saying the same thing over and over again We are tired of nursing our raped and battered children back to health. We are tired of mourning our sisters beaten to death by their spouses. We are tired of searching for our children who have been snatched away from our arms and have not returned. We are tired of singing, dancing and clapping for political leaders only to end up with nothing to show for it. We are tired of not being able to go to our farms for fear of being raped. We are tired of being tortured and dispossessed when our husbands die. I don’t have enemies. I know there are people who hate my guts but calling them ‘enemies’ is exaggerating their importance. I hate prayers that ask God to ‘kill my adversaries’. How will they see me in all my purple glory? No matter how rich you are, you can only sleep on one bed at a time. I don’t worry about things I can’t afford. I focus on what I have or what is within my means. The best things in life are indeed free, examples are smiles, sunshine and sleep I hate exercise. I do it anyway. I no longer feel bad about not liking breakfast. I found out that there are many like me I hate feeling like a stuffed sausage, so I avoid Spanx, girdles, body magic, and so on. Worn all of them, been there, done that, not anymore. You can wear an outfit that costs a million bucks, but your best accessory is a smile Talking about outfits, why would anyone talk about how much their outfit or accessories cost? Tacky and classless. If you are sending me a T. shirt it has to be X Large. If it is from China, make it 2X. Life is too short. Never tell a woman she ‘looks fat’. Not only are you guilty of body shaming, not only does it make you a nasty person, she already knows. Some of her random thoughts All around the world, there are groups of men sitting around tables making decisions that impact all our lives and these men are largely male, white, straight and wealthy. The biggest crisis we face today is a crisis of leadership. Please don’t say I don’t have the time or the bandwidth. Right now, we just don’t have the luxury of not being leaders. Think about the highest level you can attain in your profession or by using your expertize, and go after it. You are America’s potential.” Tiffany Dufu, Chief Leadership Officer, Levo League. My father taught me that men could be kind, could be compassionate and could support women’s dreams and aspirations. I think the government has been trying to help the fashion industry through various schemes. Look at the Bank of Industries for example, it has an initiative with the Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria (FADAN) and has also been supportive of individual designers. But what we need to do is to try and ensure that there’s more synergy in what the government is able to offer and what the private sector is able to offer, because I also know that some private entities have been supporting fashion designers. For instance in Nigeria, we have the Nigeria Fashion Week, the Lagos Fashion Week, and some of them have supported Africa Fashion Week in Nigeria. In an interview For me, the most important thing is comfort. Fashion can be elegant, chic and you can define what elegance means to you. But for me, fashion has to be first and foremost comfortable. For someone like me, when I dress up to go for an event, I will probably have to go for four or five events in a day, and probably change in-between or probably not. So, if you are going to be wearing something all day it has to be something comfortable, both the dresses and the shoes. Another thing that is important is appropriateness. There are things you wear for different occasions. You don’t wear a ball gown to lunch. You don’t wear a mini skirt to dinner. Though people have their different choices. I go to events and I see people dressed in some things, and I marvel. There are certain things you should not wear to a wedding or to a funeral. I see lots of people making mistakes around that. So, being appropriate is quite important. She talks about the kind of thing she likes to Wear Many lessons. But the things that I could share for the purpose of this interview is that we should always hold on to our faith because when all else fails it is our faith that gets us through and when you have faith you have all. There are lots of things that will be said to you as a person and about you, the most important conversation is the conversation you have about yourself, about who you are. If you know who you are whatever anyone says to you or about you, it doesn’t make any difference. Also, hold on to your friends, to the people who really care for you, because it is only time that would tell. She mention some lessons about life Your passion is the strong emotion that drives you regardless of the obstacles in your way or how many times you are discouraged. People will trust you as a leader because they can sense, taste and feel what you stand for. Your skills, education or knowledge amount to nothing if you don’t know how to channel them into leverage to get things done or to seek access. Your anger over an issue or situation fuels a drive for change, transformation, solutions and impatience with the status quo. External links Category:Living people Category:1963 births Category:Activists from Nigeria Category:Women authors from Nigeria