by Anointing Onuoha
According to Merriam Webster, an opportunity is defined as a good chance for advancement or progress. Now success is a bit tricky to define. Merriam Webster defines success as a “favorable or desired outcome.” The key points are the words favorable and desired. Human beings are individual in nature and since no two humans are alike, what I think is favorable and desired is not the same as what you think is favorable or desired. We all have different goals and dreams but I think it’s safe to say that everybody’s definition of success includes happiness and satisfaction. I believe that everyone deserves the right to happiness and satisfaction so we must create a good chance of advancement or progress in a young woman’s pursuit of a favorable or desired outcome.
I am a 22 year old United States citizen, born and raised in Nigeria. I moved to the United States when I was nine-and a half years old, and I attended public school in Long Island. I joined the track and field team in high school and got the opportunity to attend St. John’s University, a Division 1 private university on a full scholarship. I graduated with an honors degree in biology and a minor in psychology. I had an amazing track career and I am currently taking a gap year before I attend medical school. I currently work an administrative role at a wonderful company and I decided to launch my mission this year. I thank God every day for the success and blessings in my life. My life is not successful because I moved countries, it is because I was given the opportunities for success. Despite my success, the opportunities I have had in life are not available to most young girls in Nigeria.
“Opportunity is the reason why many Nigerians leave the country and immigrate.”
The greatest God-given right is the freedom of choice, but choice only occurs when opportunity is present. The most popular success stories typically include a poor child who grows up in a harsh environment, rising up to become a respected individual in society. Whether it’s a famous artist, doctor, lawyer, or successful business person, we cheer for them because they beat the odds. They didn’t beat the odds with their power alone; they beat the odds because they had the opportunity to change their life and they seized it. Many children in Nigeria are not given this opportunity. Opportunity is the reason why many Nigerians leave the country and immigrate. Opportunity is the reason why my parents left the country…they wanted to provide more opportunities for their children.
Most parents in Nigeria do not have the ability to relocate their children to “the land of opportunity” but why can’t we redefine Nigeria as a land of opportunity. Everyone is well aware that Nigeria has an abundance of natural resources. The opportunity in Nigeria is tremendous but it is only available to a small portion of the population. Why can’t we extend the opportunity to the entire nation? I believe that education can create an opportunity for success and that is why I started the Anointed Girls Campaign. I want to create opportunities for as many girls as possible.
I loved growing up in Nigeria. Nigeria is a nation with a diaspora of tribes and cultures, united under the flag of green, white, green. With fluctuations between the rainy and dry season, and the warmness of the hot sun, it is a great climate to live in. Ever since I was born, I have known my country to be the giant of Africa, with the best athletes, music, and the best jollof rice. I take great pride in being Nigerian. However, my pride cannot remain as a rose-colored glass. I am aware of the flaws in my home country and I choose to shine a spotlight on young women through the A.G Project.
“Most of all, I was privileged in the sense that I never had to be anything other than a kid.”
My upbringing in Nigeria serves as the catalyst for my need to put a spotlight on the hardships faced by the young women in the country. I grew up privileged. Privileged in the sense that I had two well-educated parents, a roof over my head, and access to a good education. Privileged in the sense that I never had to roam the streets begging for food or even miss a day of school due to unpaid school fees. Privileged in a sense that I was a young child who was allowed to dream big and set a future career goal without anyone telling me to stop dreaming. Most of all, I was privileged in the sense that I never had to be anything other than a kid.
The idea for the A.G. Project originated during my senior year of college. I was aware I was going to take a gap year before attending medical school and I knew I wanted to do a mission work in Nigeria before I returned to school. I started conducting research on the many societal problems facing Nigeria and an underlying theme was the lack of opportunity. Lack of opportunity due to high unemployment rates, lack of opportunity due to the lack of upward social mobility, and lack of opportunity to attain a proper education. I was overwhelmed by the vast amount of problems plaguing our country so I decided to attack a small fragment of the problem.
I decided to focus on education and empowering women. Education is the greatest tool for empowering women because it provides knowledge. Knowledge is the greatest commodity known to man because the world is changed and shaped through knowledge. I choose the words “Anointed Girl’s” because I wanted a mission that reflected my Christian values but also represented myself as an individual. I choose the word project because of the definition of the word. It is defined as “an individual or collaborative enterprise that is carefully planned and designed to achieve a particular aim and the aim of the Anointed Girl’s Project is to empower every young girl to learn her power. I had a name, a goal, and a mission for the Anointed Girl’s project but I was unsure of how to execute my goals.
I decided to create an opportunity through Essay-Writing contests. The essay-writing contests are available to young female participants in secondary school and each essay-writing contest is an opportunity for any willing girl with a brilliant mind to be awarded a tuition scholarship. The first essay contest kicked off this past February and it generated a buzz and excitement among many young female students. I decided to self-fund the competition to persuade others to join me and I wanted to display my dedication to this mission. It’s easy to talk the talk–but can you walk the walk? I knew I had to put the mission into action in order to persuade others to join me. Right now, the Anointed Girl’s project is creating opportunities for young Nigerian girls and I couldn’t be more excited.
One of the questions I got asked when I started my mission was “why young women?” I can go down a list of why young women deserve all the attention in the world but my ultimate answer is that I am a woman who wants to create a pathway for other women to succeed. I remember thinking–I am a woman so of course I have to help other women but the truth lies deeper than that. The truth is that I through my education and knowledge, I am aware of the second-class status of women. Although we are advancing in gender equality, I am not ignorant of the status of women in the world. Women have it hard. Women do not have the same opportunities as men. Every year there is always a psychological study saying that men and women are wired differently, then another one comes out saying that we are similar and the truth of the matter is that women and men are two separate genders but society allows for the female gender to be deemed the lesser human.
“Women have it hard. Women do not have the same opportunities as men.”
No matter how we try to combat the stigma of gender inequality, it is rooted in our subconscious and people are unwillingly biased even if they are aware of it or not. Through a quick google search, you can access all the facts and figures on why being a woman is harder compared to being a man. I just want to go through some facts and figures that stood out to me personally. I believe they paint a better picture of the struggles women are going through.
- “Gender inequality is a major cause and effect of hunger and poverty: it is estimated that 60 percent of chronically hungry people are women and girls.
- “Women make up more than two-thirds of the world’s 796 million illiterate people.”
- “A large gender gap remains in women’s access to decision-making and leadership.”
- “Data from 68 countries indicates that a woman’s education is a key factor in determining a child’s survival.”
- “Every additional year of primary school increases girls’ eventual wages by 10-20 percent. It also encourages them to marry later and have fewer children, and leaves them less vulnerable to violence.”
Women suffer more than men when there is poverty. Even in times of social crisis, women are much worse than men. Women are not given the same opportunities as men and this is evident in that fact that very few world leaders are women. Women have it hard but education creates positive changes in the lives of women. No matter how many facts and figures you read, the fact of the matter is that education is vital when it comes to the success of women. My thought process is that if I can help women at their young stage of development, this would help them transition into more powerful women and I can start attacking the inequality that women are facing from an earlier stage in their life.
Most Nigerian girls are not afforded the “luxury” of being kids. Despite the cocoon of comfort and protection awarded to me by my parent’s hard work, I was not ignorant of the struggles around me. Not all young girls had parents who valued their worth regardless of gender. I witnessed my other female peers stunted in their knowledge and educational growth because their parents choose to invest in their male siblings instead. I am not ignorant of the status of a male child in a Nigerian household, nor am I faulting the culture for the struggles women go through. Instead, I am challenging the society itself. Why are we allowing this stigma to continue to grow? I challenge you all to do better! I am challenging you to create opportunities of success for young women. We have the ability to create opportunities in our daily lives– whether it is by allowing a young woman to speak to the Commission on the Status of Women or allowing a young girl to earn a tuition, any small opportunity is vital.
Due to the first essay-writing contest, I had the opportunity to read the thoughts of many young women. These young girls brilliantly explained that the younger generation can make the country into a powerhouse as long as they are given the opportunity to do so . One of the stories that shocked me was a girl used the story of a classmate to explain one of the societal problems in Nigeria. She shared that her classmate was forced to drop out of school by her father and the girl had to go and get married because it would bring money to the family. So many girls shared stories of how their peers were facing violence, abuse, and illiteracy because they were not male children.
“Right now close to fifty percent of the country [Nigeria] is living in extreme poverty…That is close to ninety million people living in extreme poverty.”
Right now close to fifty percent of the country [Nigeria] is living in extreme poverty…That is close to ninety million people living in extreme poverty. In a country that has some of the world’s richest individuals, we have the highest rate of extreme poverty in the world. An even bigger problem is that the rate increases each year. People are not being given the opportunity to escape poverty. Now we know through the statistics that women are the most affected during social crisis and due to this poverty problem many young women are suffering. These young women are facing uncertainty in an unfavorable environment just want the opportunity for success. These young women just want to accomplish their dreams.
…a great quote by Michelle Obama, “You got somewhere by building that better reality, if at first only in your own mind. You may live in the world as it is, but you can still work to create the world as it should be.”
Anointed Girl’s Project is only a small organization but you can make a change by donating to our campaign. The goal is to raise $10,000 dollars by the end of the year and any donation, no matter how big or small is important to our mission. I believe that everyone cares about the status of women and I know that we all have the drive to elevate the status of women in the world. I want to leave you all with a great quote by Michelle Obama, “You got somewhere by building that better reality, if at first only in your own mind. You may live in the world as it is, but you can still work to create the world as it should be.”
You can donate to the gofundmepage (click here). A check can be sent to God’s Cover Church International at 223-13 Linden Blvd, Cambria Heights, NY 11411. The check should be made out to God’s Cover Church International and please include A.G. Project in the memo.
A.G. Project 