Excerpts:
Could you tell us about yourself?
I’m a Lawyer. I have a PhD in Law. I’m affiliated with international organizations like The Kofi Anan International Peace Keeping Institute at the UN, ECOWAS and the AU. These are people I work with. At the moment, I’m a senior researcher for some consulting firms in the UK. I was also a beauty queen. I was the first runner-up of the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria pageant in 2003 and was Miss ECOWAS , 2004 hosted by Cape Verde. I was the first Nigerian that won Miss ECOWAS. Beauty Pageants were just stepping stones for me. I contested beauty pageants because I needed money to complete my education. It got to the point that I think God wanted me to as I got the money and went back to school.
By the time I became Miss ECOWAS , I was rounding up my degree programme and I thought my career was more important to me than the usual glamour of becoming an actress or model which was what most of my friends got into. For a long time, I was doing pencil portraits and my first account was open with the proceeds. I did a bit of modeling but I’m known for pencil portraits in the university.
What role did ECOWAS play in your career?
I joined ECOWAS and the West African Film Society and they gave me the opportunity to monitor elections in Guinea Bissau, and Liberia before Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became president. It was at such fora that somebody told me about University of Braxford in the UK and I did my Masters Degree subsequently. Before I knew it, I got a job in the UK as a mediator and started working for different organizations. While I was working, my profile rose and I became a regional co-coordinator for international organizations in the UK. I applied for PhD scholarship and I got it. I finished my PhD last year. Right now, I am planning to move back to Nigeria and explore opportunities for offering my skills in any area they’re needed.
When are you relocating to Nigeria?
I’m doing that gradually. I’m giving myself some months. I need to give myself a soft landing as I have been away for 9 years now. I’m so used to living in the UK at the moment , though I visit Nigeria as often as possible. Right now, I’m trying to situate my business L’Avyanna in Nigeria. I have worked in a lot of African countries and Europe, but I have not worked in Nigeria as I would l i k e t o work. Luckily for me, I’m getting DFID jobs in Nigeria as a consultant.
I did a job for Amnesty International before they moved to Abuja and I do a lot of work related to economic empowerment for women. I have this project I do in the UK called, Raising girls, which I brought to Nigeria.
In my spare time, I go to secondary schools to talk to girls about understanding their rights and responsibilities, increasing their confidence and self esteem and about staying fresh.
This is something I’m very passionate about, getting young girls to really see themselves as agents of change and not see themselves as burdens or people who just want to have children and husbands.
Nothing is wrong with having children and being married, but there’s time for everything. You will be amazed how some girls think of themselves. We can’t underestimate the fact that women are doing very well these days. I really appreciate these women but there are some younger ones today and all they see is what social media offers them.
Today, integrity is not important anymore and this is what the younger generation lack. As a child, my father taught me that a good name is better than riches, but these young girls don’t think about that.
They just spend time on social media snapping their bags and their laptops if they’re not buying Channel bags. How do these girls get these in an economy that doesn’t promote them.? Before, I was doing this talk with girls my age, but now I discovered I need to catch them young and change the way they think. I also want to start building their skills as they need to acquire skills and I hope I can be an agent of change m y s e l f when I move back to Nigeria.
What’s L’Avyanna all about?
L’Avyanna is a skin cream. At this moment, we are dealing with face related products. For me, I believe the health of your face is more important than whatever cream you use or make up you use. I believe your face is a canvass and it needs to be taken care of before anything. I have been in this for quite a while and people tell me that I look younger than I did when I first started. I know what has changed for me apart from the fact that I try to keep my mind as young as possible, my skin routine is very important. I use the cream as well as other moisturizers for my face but most important to me is my face cleanser and my face mask. If I don’t use my face cleanser for two days, you can tell.
If I don’t use my cream for two days you won’t know. Before you realize I didn’t use the moisturizer, it will take two weeks but before you realize I don’t use the cleanser, it will take two days.
A lot of us take things for granted here in Nigeria. Some people are more likely to buy cream and feel that cleansers are not important. Actually, God has blessed us so much that your skin has the intelligence to repair itself but it cannot clean dirt.
The air in Nigeria is not so fresh. We attract toxins and if you add a cream on top of toxins and you are not taking anything out, you complain about pimples. You say the cream causes pimples but it’s the attitude to your face that is causing the pimples. My product is simply to lay the foundation.
Don’t stop using whatever cream you use but I recommend that you think natural. We have the anti-oxidant face wash which is more anti-aging for people who want to look younger. It has active ingredients which brightens your face because your face has its natural brightness. It rejuvenates your face. Then we have the acne remedy and all are used in aromatherapy. They keep you calm.
I also have the lavender which keeps you calm.
Some of my English clients tell me they actually wash their face at night because of the lavender. I have the lavender face polish and the orange face polish too. All these are used to exfoliate your face, take away the dead cells and cleanse your face. We are on Jumia, Konga, Ebeano, Body Temple Spa and other Spas. The product is also in the UK.
Do you manufacture the product yourself?
I have manufacturers that make these products. I underwent training on cosmetology to really understand the ingredients. I can make the products myself but I need it in large quantity and I don’t have the equipment to make them in large quantity.
What was your experience as a beauty queen?
I became a beauty queen on Silverbird’s platform. I went back to them and told them they actually gave me the platform to move. I thank God for my parents and friends too. I had to keep a level head to take that platform to where I need to be. I contested the pageant when I was very young, when I was 18 to be precise. Silverbird and I are actually looking at how we can help these girls to satiate their ambitions. We are actually working now on the next bunch of girls that will come through Silverbird. I’m going to be working with them on that. Don’t get me wrong, it was a challenge with the men showing things at you. Do you know how many men told me I should be driving a G-Wagon as a beauty queen at the age of 19? Everybody has a role to play, because most of us are already mothers and I am going to be a mother too , then what are we passing on to our children?
You still look like a model, what do you do to maintain your shape?
Right now, everything that goes into my body is very important. The food and the cream I use for instances. I have g o n e to the village to procure i n gredients a m o n g which is palm kernel oil.
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