On Saturday 7 April, all roads led to the very first Mums and Daughters Conference powered by Raising Confident Girls Initiative. The theme was ”We Grow Together”. The day started with a red carpet experience compered by Linda Orajekwe, who interviewed mums and daughters as they arrived. The first 30 families to arrive received a book gift titled ”The Courageous Girl’’ by Mofoluwaso Ilevbare.
Next, our delightful MC, Mrs Regina Ogbodo asked everyone to get to know each other. The welcome address was shared by the founder Mrs RiRi Okoye who also shared the vision: A world where every girl is confident and the mission: to provide support and useful information to help raise confident girls in our communities.
The first speaker was Taiye Aluko, who spoke openly about building strong relationships with girls. She said mums should avoid comparing siblings because that causes lack of confidence. Her mum often compared her to her extroverted twin. Mums are wiser than their daughters but girls are smarter. In order to build strong relationships with our daughters, mums have to be strong which takes a journey of self-discovery and transformation.
Yinka Enahoro was the next speaker and talked passionately about Love Languages. She gave a descriptive summary of all the
love languages. She informed the audience that she had taken the love language exercise with both her children and it helps them relate better with each other. She also said that because her daughter knows her
love language which is Affirmation, she actually goes out of her way to affirm her mum. Yinka does the same with her daughter who’s love language is Acts of service. She also said that love languages can change depending what stage your daughter is at in life.
Audrey Abayomi was our final speaker. She shared in detail about Societal Pressures and how to avoid them. As a psychologist, she was able to break it down and communicate hard facts about the impact not just for girls but mothers too. Mums have to figure out a way to love ourselves first. We have to be confident in who we are and not follow fads because our girls are watching and will copy us and peer pressure cycle continues. She shared an interesting story of sushi. Audrey said she has never eaten sushi but she just doesn’t like it. Raw fish is distasteful to her. Maybe if she tastes it she might like it. But right now, she doesn’t like or wants sushi. This is how our girls can relate it to someone who doesn’t like them. It’s because just like sushi they have never tasted our girls. They don’t know our girls intimately. So girls should not be worried if some does not like them. They are just sushified and the audience roared with laughter.
The next session was Question and Answers led by Regina our brilliant MC. The audience found this session really insightful and an eye opener and it was reflected on the feedback forms. The audience was able to really open up to our guest speakers and ask some pressing questions. One particular young girl wanted to know why her mum always says. ‘Are you Okay, Are you Okay’’ in the Nigerian context as if the daughter is stupid. The mothers were told that this kind of questioning can have long-term effects on a girl’s confidence. RiRi Okoye also mentioned in the Q&A session that an extrovert is not necessarily confident and an introvert is not less confident either. They are just girls personality traits. A lot of time was spent really tackling questions and these will be shared on our platform in due course.
After the Q&A sessions, mums and daughters had fun with Ifeoma Agbasi who delivered a session on ‘’How well do you know your mum and how well do you know your daughter?’’ Some mothers were quite surprised at how little their daughters knew them and vice versa.
Damie Onasanya and Ini Obinna- Onunkwo led the Fashion and Dance off show and there were plenty of prizes to give away from sponsors such as from Hugs & Stitches, Design Essentials, Lillian Collins Spa, Zaron Cosmetics and N Lounge & Spa. The event ended with a vote of thanks, cutting of cake and dance dance dance.
Special Thanks to everyone including:
Sponsors: Teeky Arena, Hugs & Stitches, Little Weavers, Majestically Rare Events, Design Essentials, HTT Communications, Suave Events, N Lounge & Spa, Zaron Cosmetics, Lilian Collins Spa
Media Sponsors: Connect Nigeria, Bella Naija, The Guardian Nigeria.
Comperes: Regina Linda Orajekwe
Speakers: Taiye Aluko, Yinka EnahoroAudrey Abayomi
Universal Volunteers – Ushers
And to all our Mums and daughters that showed up on the day. We really enjoyed your presence
About Raising Confident Girls
Raising Confident Girls Initiative knows that there are several issues with raising girls in the 21st century and our desire is to provide support and solutions to the challenges. Our vision is a world where every girl is confident. Our mission is to provide support and useful information to help raise confident girls in our communities. Please visit www.raisingconfidentgirls.org
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This article was first published on 13th April 2018
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