Category: News

Embracing My Beauty – Tolu ‘Toolz’ Oniru-Demuren

                                               
The journey to accepting my body hasn’t really been a smooth one. Growing up, I wasn’t particularly confident. As a plus-size and curvy girl, you tend to feel out of place – my body type wasn’t the hot thing back then. I just didn’t fit in. I became very self-conscious – I thought my hips were too wide… my bum was too big, and I was on the short side.

As a teenager, you are dealing with a lot, especially when it comes to self-identity and accepting yourself. And you often get confused about what beautiful is. My self-consciousness got so bad at one point that I had to cover up all the time. In the middle of summer, I would wear a light coat to cover up my hips, and people thought I was weird. Clothes shopping was a bit of nightmare, not to talk of shopping for lingerie. Most of the lingerie in plus sizes were quite unattractive; boring styles and colours with super thick straps. Sadly, inclusivity wasn’t such a big thing when I was growing up, you were basically stuck with what was available.

Later in life, I began to notice and research curvy/plus size models like Tabria Majors, Candice Huffine, Anita Marshall and Ashley Graham – her confidence is incredible! In an industry that is notoriously discriminating about anyone above a size 8, seeing this beautiful and curvy ladies flourish was magical. I was extremely inspired to say the least.


Being in the public eye also had a big impact on my ‘acceptance journey’. I have been bashed and shamed about my body on so many occasions, I can’t even count. The first few times it happened, I was very hurt, because there was always so much venom behind the attacks, and I would be at home in tears thinking what did I do to anyone to warrant this? Unfortunately, this comes with being in the public eye, and I soon managed to get thick skin.

On the positive side, as I got more popular I began getting messages from women who admired me for being one of a few plus size women in the public eye. I would get messages from young women who had contemplated suicide because they looked different, and they were being bullied for that. They would write and say how seeing pictures of me boosted their confidence – making them accept themselves and their bodies. These comments made me realize that my presence and visibility in the industry was having a positive impact on at least a few people.

My experience strengthened me and gave me a voice – one which I have decided to use in empowering and boosting the confidence of plus-size women like me – those who are currently in a physical and psychological battle to accept their own bodies.


I am Tolu Oniru-Demuren. You probably call me ‘Toolz’.


Welcome to this journey with me.

Red Media Africa dominates again at the SABRE Awards 2018

 

 

Red Media Africa has emerged winner in three categories of the 2018 SABRE Awards Africa, coming tops in the Diamond SABRE Awards for Excellence in Public Relations in the C-Suite, Gold SABRE Awards for PR Campaigns, and the Practice Area categories.

Recognised for “campaigns that demonstrate the highest levels of strategic planning, creativity and business results”, the public relations and communications agency under the parent brand, RED, was acknowledged with The SABRE Award for Superior Achievement in Brand-Building, and a Certificate of Excellence for Lipton’s ‘Don’t Just Think, Do’ campaign, including a trophy in the Food and Beverage category for Heineken’s ‘There’s More Behind The Star’ campaign – all in 2017.

The SABRE Award showcases the best work produced by public relations firms to demonstrate that PR can develop brand-building ideas, creative content, and strategic reputation management programs that impact the bottom line.

 

Commenting on the award, the chief executive officer of RED, Adebola Williams, said, “We are delighted and overwhelmed by the awards. Winning for the second consecutive year definitely emphasizes and validates our sole mission to create unique and engaging experiences and empower Africa through the media. It has become important to consistently drive new narratives and mutually-beneficial relationships between consumers and brands, and these are the stories we consistently share with our widely-acknowledged campaigns”.

The SABRE Awards which attract close to 5,000 entries globally each year, provide the premier showcase for the best that public relations has to offer.

The winners will receive trophies during an awards ceremony in Gaborone, Botswana, on May 10, 2018. The gala dinner is part of the African Public Relations Association’s annual conference.

Hard Questions: What Information Do Facebook Advertisers Know About Me?

Facebook has provided responses to some of the frequently asked questions regarding how the company manages user data. This was made public by Rob Goldman, Facebook’s Vice President, Ads in the latest edition of Hard Questions, a series from Facebook that addresses the impact of its products on the society.
 
“To build a product that connects people across continents and cultures, we need to make sure everyone can afford it. Advertising lets us keep Facebook free. But we aren’t blind to the challenges this model poses. It requires a steadfast commitment to privacy.
 
“So our promise is this: we do not tell advertisers who you are or sell your information to anyone. That has always been true. We think relevant advertising and privacy aren’t in conflict, and we’re committed to doing both well.
 
“We know that many of you have questions about how we use your information in advertising – and what control you have over it. I’ll address some of the most frequent questions we get, but first I’ll lay out the basic mechanics of Facebook advertising,” said Goldman.
 
Goldman further listed ways that advertisers can reach users on Facebook with ads:
 
  • Information from your use of Facebook. When you use Facebook, you can choose to share things about yourself like your age, gender, hometown, or friends. You can also click or like posts, Pages, or articles. We use this information to understand what you might be interested in and hopefully show you ads that are relevant. If a bike shop comes to Facebook wanting to reach female cyclists in Atlanta, we can show their ad to women in Atlanta who liked a Page about bikes. But here’s what’s key: these businesses don’t know who you are. We provide advertisers with reports about the kinds of people seeing their ads and how their ads are performing, but we don’t share information that personally identifies you. You can always see the ‘interests’ assigned to you in your ad preferences, and if you want, remove them.
 
  • Information that an advertiser shares with us. In this case, advertisers bring us the customer information so they can reach those people on Facebook. These advertisers might have your email address from a purchase you made, or from some other data source. We find Facebook accounts that match that data, but we don’t tell the advertiser who matched. In ad preferences you can see which advertisers with your contact information are currently running campaigns – and you can click the top right corner of any ad to hide all ads from that business.
 
  • Information that websites and apps send to Facebook. Some of the websites and apps you visit may use Facebook tools to make their content and ads more relevant and better understand the results of their ad campaigns. For example, if an online retailer is using Facebook Pixel, they can ask Facebook to show ads to people who looked at a certain style of shoe or put a pair of shoes into their shopping cart. If you don’t want this data used to show you ads, you can turn it off in ad preferences. My colleague David Baser shared more detail about how we, and others in the industry, use this information in a post earlier this week.
 
Goldman also listed and answered some of the questions frequently asked around Facebook’s advertising practices:
 
If I’m not paying for Facebook, am I the product?
No. Our product is social media – the ability to connect with the people that matter to you, wherever they are in the world. It’s the same with a free search engine, website or newspaper. The core product is reading the news or finding information – and the ads exist to fund that experience.
 
If you’re not selling advertisers my data, what are you giving them?
We sell advertisers space on Facebook – much like TV or radio or newspapers do. We don’t sell your information. When an advertiser runs a campaign on Facebook, we share reports about the performance of their ad campaign. We could, for example, tell an advertiser that more men than women responded to their ad, and that most people clicked on the ad from their phone.
 
Why does Facebook need all this data?
As people use Facebook, they share information and content – whether it’s liking a post, sharing a photo or updating their profile. We use this information to give you a better service. For example, we can show you photos from your closest friends at the top of your News Feed, or show you articles about issues that matter most to you, or suggest groups that you might want to join.
 
Data also helps us show you better and more relevant ads. And it lets advertisers reach the right people, including millions of small businesses and non-profits who rely on Facebook every day to reach people that might be interested in their product or cause. Data lets a local coffee shop survive and grow amid larger competitors by showing ads to customers in its area. And it lets a non-profit promote a diabetes fundraiser to those interested in the cause.
 
What if I don’t want my data used to show me ads?
You can’t opt out of ads altogether because ads are what keep Facebook free, but you do have different options to control how your data can and can’t be used to show you ads. They’re all found in ad preferences.
 
You can decide which of your profile fields you want used for ad targeting in the Information section under “About You.” You can remove yourself from interests under “Interests” and categories under “Your Categories.” You can turn off ads that use data from apps or websites that you visit in the Ads Settings section under “Ads based on use of websites and apps.”
 
Digital advertising is relatively new and has radically changed since the early days of banner ads on the top of a website. But the promise of digital advertising is that it can show you ads for products, services, and causes that may actually be of interest to you. And for small businesses, it levels the playing field and lets them reach an audience that they never could have before. You get better ads, advertisers get a tailored audience and everyone on Facebook gets our firm commitment to privacy.

The harbinger of joy: Chude Jideonwo covers latest edition of The Guardian Life magazine

Joy, Inc. founder, Chude Jideonwo is the face on the cover of this Sunday’s edition of Nigeria’s leading weekend magazine, The Guardian Life.

Titled ‘The harbinger of joy’, Jideonwo takes readers on his journey towards changing the narratives surrounding the pursuit, perception, and understanding of joy and happiness on the African continent.

With his usual passion, Jideonwo draws from personal experience and depth of knowledge on the subject to highlight the importance of joy in attaining emotional development and personal fulfillment.

“At Joy, Inc., we are building a movement that inspires people to be the best version of themselves by discarding all limitations – internal and external – and living their truth. ‘Being human together’ – that’s what we call it,” Jideonwo says.

Out on the newsstands today, the cover feature is put together by The Guardian Life creative team which includes Chidera Muoka, Niyi Okeowo, and Nkem Okorafor.

Adebola Williams, Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji, Bolanle Olukanni, others to speak at Handle It Africa Conference 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adebola Williams, the chief executive officer of RED; Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji, founder/CEO of RISE Networks; Bolanle Olukanni, television personality and Bukunyi Olateru-Olagbegi, chairman, Modern Democratic Party are among the speakers at the second edition of Handle It Africa Conference.

Themed Social Media: Expanding Influence, Broadening Thoughts, the event is scheduled to hold on 4 May, 2018 at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The conference features exciting panel sessions designed to enlighten participants on the effective use of social media and also share insightful knowledge on maximizing the benefits of social media platforms. Participants can also explore the opportunity to meet, network, and collaborate with young, upwardly mobile individuals who are leading the charge and creating impact in diverse sectors. 

The sessions will feature speakers who have successfully built strong personal and corporate brands by leveraging on the power of social media.

Other speakers include comedians, Kenny Blaq and Lasisi Elenu, amongst others.

Handle It Africa is pioneered by Olufemi Oguntamu of Penzaarville Africa.

For more information about the conference and registration details, visit http://www.handleitafrica.com/

 

#SunlightShero! What a fantastic home makeover!!!

Sunlight has rewarded all three winners of the just concluded #SunlightShero letter writing competition, as participants were encouraged to write an emotional letter extolling their mothers’ qualities and explaining them as ‘Sheros’.

Precious Akowe from Benin, Abdulbasit Abubakar from Kaduna and Titilope from Lagos were selected as the best entries through the number of likes on social media. They were rewarded with complete home makeovers and weekend getaways with their mothers.

Watch the reactions, including the home transformation videos and be blown away!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DErdlw0EwGo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GWZFyyL_rY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l5iBnlAW_I

Sunlight has more exciting competitions planned for the near future so follow them on Instagram: @Sunlight_Nigeria and @Sunlightdishwashng

Facebook: @SunlightNigeria @SunlightDishwashng

Twitter: @SunlightNigeria @SunlightDWNG

Obudu Conservation Centre Chief Executive Officer calls for sustainable environmental practices in Nigeria

As the world gears towards this year’s World Environmental Day on June 5, Nigerians have been urged to be more proactive in matters relating to environmental and wildlife preservation so as to maximize the potentials of the sector. This plea was made recently by Nela Duke, the Chief Executive Officer of Obudu Conservation Centre, while speaking about the state of environmental preservation in the country.

Duke’s call is coming as several global bodies continue to highlight Nigeria’s seeming disinterest in matters relating to sustainable environmental practices. Water Aid, an international charity body focused on improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation recently ranked the country third on the list of countries still practicing open defecation. The United States Environmental Protection Agency also declared Nigeria the second biggest emitter of methane – a potent greenhouse gas capable of damaging the climate when released during natural gas production and distribution.

“We need to start taking issues about our environment seriously. Over the years, Nigeria has been saddled with lots of environmental issues including deforestation, desertification, and pollution, all of which can be attributed to the nonchalant way we relate with the environment,” Duke said.

“There is a need for us to understand implications of these actions and subjects like climate change, global warming and more importantly, show support to organisations and bodies making efforts to right these wrongs,” she added.

The Obudu Conservation Centre was set up in 2002, and has since been actively involved in wildlife education, community management, tourism, and research.

Data Abuse Bounty: Facebook now rewards for reports of data abuse

Today, Facebook launched the Data Abuse Bounty to reward people who report any misuse of data by app developers.
 
Facebook committed to launching this program a few weeks ago as part of its efforts to quickly uncover potential abuse of people’s information. The Data Abuse Bounty, inspired by the existing bug bounty program which Facebook uses to uncover and address security issues, will help the company identify violations of its policies.
 
According to Collin GreeneHead of Product Security, Facebook, “We’ll review all legitimate reports and respond as quickly as possible when we identify a credible threat to people’s information. If we confirm data abuse, we will shut down the offending app and take legal action against the company selling or buying the data, if necessary. We’ll pay the person who reported the issue, and we’ll also alert those we believe to be affected.”
 
This program will reward people with first-hand knowledge and proof of cases where a Facebook platform app collects and transfers people’s data to another party to be sold, stolen or used for scams or political influence. Just like the bug bounty program, Facebook will reward based on the impact of each report. While there is no maximum, high impact bug reports have garnered as much as $40,000 for people who bring them to Facebook’s attention.
 
Data Abuse Bounty is the first of its kind so it will change as Facebook learns and gets your feedback. For more information, please visit: facebook.com/data-abuse.

Time to wake up Nigeria and give ears to Nature

When the death of Sudan, the last white male rhinoceros was announced on Monday March 19, 2018 the world literally held its breath. Influencers, celebrities and several others especially environment protection and conservation fanatics lent their voices with most clamouring for the need for humans to change their attitude towards conservation of the wildlife, environment and nature generally.

Trust Nigerians to act unbothered. Who would blame us though?

We have a barrage of issues daily besetting us. Why should the death of a “mere animal” bother us when hundreds of people die daily, no thanks to incessant tribal wars, religious insurgency, underfunded hospitals amongst other ills. While this may be true, what is often forgotten is that there portends a danger far more catastrophic than bad leadership should we continue to neglect tending to and caring for our environment.

When critically considered, we are doing ourselves more harm than good, focusing all our attention on economy, leadership, education, though all of which are important, pale when compared to how directly issues like erosion, congested air, deforestation, river pollution and animal extinction affect our lives. The fact, whether or not we admit, remains that our quest for good leadership and a better country will one day be met but by then, at this rate, it may be too late to have the beauty of our environment back. Would we then now start another protest for the environment?

This is something for us all to think about and if you are out there wondering how you can take care of your environment, let me share with you quick ways, according to an article published on www.conserve-energy-future.com.

  1. Stop smoking. If you don’t smoke, you lessen air pollution and improve your lung health.
  2. Change the way you clean the house. Use sustainably made items or all-natural products that aren’t made with dangerous chemicals. It’s better for your health, doesn’t pollute the air, and is less harsh on personal items.
  3. Conserve water. Wash your clothes and dishes only after you have a full load. Save water by turning off the faucet, taking shorter showers, and make use of nature’s water by collecting rainwater to water your lawn.
  4. Unplug things. If an item isn’t in use, that doesn’t mean it isn’t requiring electricity while plugged up. When an item is unplugged, it’s not using any power at all. This saves more energy for future use while being cost effective.
  5. Learn to upcycle. There are so many crafty ways to reuse things you already have. Research to learn fun new projects that can bring new life to old items so that you don’t have to throw them away.
  6. If you can, avoid using plastic water bottles and paper. Anything you do use that is recyclable, be sure to dispose of it properly.
  7. Contact government officials and support petitions and other companies that promote change.
  8. Be kind to others. Donate things that you don’t use anymore instead of throwing them away. You avoid trashing valuable items while making it available to someone else for less money. On a similar note, purchase items that were gently used instead of buying new material that has been mass produced with no regard for the environment.

Filmhouse Cinemas, Lekki, lit with celebrities as Accelerate TV premiered its debut drama series ‘Corper shun’

The halls of Filmhouse Cinemas, Lekki, Lagos State, were lit with celebrities, colour and fun fair, as Accelerate TV premiered its debut drama series, Corper Shun on Wednesday the 25th of April.

Stars from the series, including Ayo Mogaji, Damola Olatunji, Efa Iwara, Etinosa Idemudia, Emmanuel Mordi, Chiagoziem Nwakanma and Oyepelumi Alawoki among others were at the event.

Other stars, including Gbemileke Oscar Oyinsan of Inspiration FM, Amanda Dara, Nengi (thenengers) Adoki, Adenike Adebayo and many more stars showed up all glamourous to the event.

To kick things off after celeb pictures and interviews, the premiere was led by @Simidele’s wonderful and soulful rendition of the NYSC anthem, the audience was in awe as she sang and played the guitar just before the screening began.

AccelerateTV.com which is inspired by Access bank is an online platform which focuses on Entertaining, Educating and Empowering the youth. This show was created to shine a light on team work and empowered youths from differing ethnic groups coming together to try and make a difference.

Directed by Tunde Olaoye (of the successful Jenifa’s Diaries) and produced by Accelerate’s Bolanle Olosunde, Corper Shun is set around Nigeria’s National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). The show heralds the experiences of five corps members who were thrown in a service year mix with an over-zealous Zonal Coordinator and a huge government task.

Their entire service year depends on the fulfilment of this task, but with Mr A.A.A as Zonal Coordinator, it is left to chance, whether they will complete their service year or not.

Get ready to reminisce on the best moments from your service year and laugh your head off at the same time.

Watch all episodes of Corper Shun as they drop every Thursday on Accelerate TV.

 

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