As Nigeria joins the world to mark this year’s International Women’s Day, Chigaemezu Regina, founder, Dare Women for Change Initiative and Convener of the Women’s group, Capacity Building Network, unveils her new book, ‘Becoming Phenomenal: Every Woman’s Guide To Developing Unmatched Confidence’.
The book is designed to help women who desire to be more and do more but are faced with the challenge of how to start and dare their fears. It aims to identify the limiting lenses that hinder women from harnessing their potentials and leading her through the pathway of becoming phenomenal while developing irresistible confidence as a means to sustaining her journey to relevance.
Regina, a Women Capacity builder, said: “Working with girls and women as an advocate for development and empowerment, I have found that beyond the untold lies the society sold to us as girls, we grow into women, only knowing mostly conscious of our inadequacies and limitations. And hence, limit our becoming to wives and home keepers.
“Another striking thing I have found out is that the few who desire to become more than home keepers are scared to stretch their abilities and lack good knowledge on how to start. Unlike the male folk growing up, who were sold superpowers, girls were taught otherwise and grew into women who relegate to a societal decision over their lives and becoming. Fortunately, this was not my situation as my late mother prepared my mind on the pathway to becoming my best version and seeking opportunities to express my gifts and brilliance.”
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She explained that her late mother believed that ‘Nwanyi bu uru’ meaning “A woman is an Asset” and this informed her philosophy of life to give her daughters nothing but the best and never stopped average but ensured they all reached a level of self-consciousness and a degree each before the thought of companionship.
“In my work with girls, I have seen how the lack of accurate information has negatively affected their thoughts on Becoming. The invincible bickering created amongst growing girls by the significant adults in their lives makes it a struggle for independent thinking. She said through Dare Women For Change Initiative, she had interacted with young girls in various communities, learning about their fears regarding and walking the path to what they desire to become and how to become more.
“I have had the opportunity to enlighten, educate and mentor these girls on the journey ahead, and for them to see positive and possibilities in their dreams and ambitions for life. I have also made them realise the endless possibilities that come with being Self-Aware of oneself and aspirations through programmes like ‘Reachout to Five Girls Campaign’, in which girls in communities were thought Self-awareness. I have also partnered with Dignified Womanhood Platform as a mentor to its girl child ambassadors in Owerri, Imo State.”
Regina’s new book is inspired by her late mother’s Life philosophy to champion renegotiation of the place of women in society and also debunk the gender stereotypes, “the lies society sold to us as girls and women, one of which is; it is over-ambitious to dream big as the major aim of womanhood ends in becoming a wife and tending a home.
“Again, my greatest motivation is to rewrite the insignificant war stirred in us as girls to see our fellow women as competitions. There’s a need to do more in changing the trajectory, perspective and narrative on how womanhood is perceived. This is an era of inclusiveness and this inspired my book.”
