Congratulation Letter to My Sisters After Women's Day-The Courageous Celebrities to Celebrate (Letter No 2)

March 8th came and passed, and celebrations marking the 105th anniversary of International Women's Day, have been committed to history. Some women honored the fight for gender equality and rallied around each other as women. Activists and gender advocates took pledges while some woman whose own world begins and ends around them were got in the cycle of semi-madness of the "kaba" showdown. 

In Cameroon, they are millions of women who have moved above this "semi madness" to becoming Role Models to millions of young girls. But to end this year's event, I am pleading on my keyboard to write on Four Women who for their outstanding bravery deserve to be recognized. In my first letter to some 21 sisters, I looked at what they have been doing very extraordinarily but this second letter is about four women who have proven to be rare species in society. I may not know some of them by their names but i am aware of their bravery in creating the unexpected.

Dear sisters, your role in reshaping society is one of the greatest challenges of our andriod generation. In this retreat, i commend your efforts.  In fact we are in an era that trends can alter with a hashstag as fast as the heartbeat. Nothing is worth celebrating than your achievements in this world where some men continue to to think and believe that their place is next to God.  There is something you all share in common, and that thing is that you are all warriors and continue to inspire some of us. There is one woman I always like to quote. She once challenged inspirational ladies like you to always "do one thing daily that scares you". I have decided to write this second letter to four of you because I just discovered that you did not just echoed that call to arm but did just that. Your actions and deeds have proven that this decade is the best time to be a woman. From what you have done, I am convinced women’s history is more than the sum of its outstanding players: Rosa Parks, Susan B. Anthony, Sacagawea, Helen Keller, Amelia Earhart, Mother Teresa, Princess Diana, others.  Mahatma Ghandi dismissed the issue of women being weaker sex when he said “To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man's superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her, man could not be. If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with woman. Who can make a more effective appeal to the heart than woman?"

I am today morning adding you in my own lister because you did excel in the little things you do daily and you are the extras above the millions reduced to footnotes than headlines, so to mix metaphors. Your bravery in tackling societal issues, challenging the unchallenged and reshaping lives is what has made the four of you the most formidable women of all the women in action. The good example that you stand tall to represent is a kind with gripping stories and surprising twists. I can confidently say, you are Cecelia Penifader, 700 years later. You are the Mothers of Courage. Kudos to all the dynamic women.

Meet the brave women

Female Soldiers at War Front

I may not call them by their names and to be candid, I cannot pretend to say I know them by their names. One thing is certain, that this is the appropriate moment to honour these brave/patriotic women who have put their safety on the line to protect lives in our country. I therefore salute them, I salute them for their indomitable spirit that knows no gender. By your courage and bravery women's history is now Cameroon history, women's history in Cameroon military is history and women history in the fight against Boko Haram is history written in Gold. They may be known as the weaker sex but in the battle to flush out Boko Haram from our territory, they stand equal with their male counterparts. Fearless, pretty and bold, the female hunters of our military fear neither man nor woman. To them, the common enemy is not their gender but Boko Haram. They were congratulated by state officials on Women's day and the more reason we need to honored them for being too stronger and and too far bold. You are no less a woman for your boldness and you are respected, honoured and remembered for wearing this modest dress, for protecting your beloved country and YOU ARE THE FUTURE OF "MAN". 

Nathalie Koah is a woman I would surely describe as 'the most sensational woman anyone ever saw.' Yet, despite her fight against the male domination that landed her to popularity and fame, Rosa Parks' fight is hers too. She became "la star" when she took her battle to the doorsteps of a radio station in Yaounde. Then the city got fever. Everybody wanted to see who she is, and how see looks like. It was her courage to break out of the box that became the talk of the city yet she thought out of the box with firmness. Nothing can knock down this lady of courage from her standpoint. 

To understand Nathalie is to understand her pains. But that doesn’t make her a victim of her own suffering-quite the contrary. The saga with the famous football star gave her the tools in which to paint her inner truth. Her own "woman's world" is captured in her book "Revenge Porn" that exalted the feminine qualities of endurance and truth as she perceived it to be, realities of human relationship, cruelty nature of the good, the bad and the best, and whatever. And I would go on to say never before has a woman put such agonized tone to tell her own side of the story. It is about courage and bravery to be a whistle blower. She took the courage to blow her own trumpet owing to the fact that if she doesn't others will do it for her and maybe very wrongly. Her words are fearless because they paint the conflicting realities of female experience in a "man's world". In some respects to defend her "dignity" as a woman "sex faible"  which has turned out to be both the rose petal and the thorn in the flesh of those who commit them and those who would prefer to die in agony.

Ngum Braunhilda Attangeur is a woman with extra abilities. She is one of the courageous women who

uses the social media to reshape society. While other women use the social media mostly to share selfies and fashion posts, Braun Hill as she is popularly known is doing extraordinarily in breaking the news. When I came across her posts on facebook, I was immediately blown away by her style of writing and the power of her words. Ngum is just pure light on the social media, a "Mamarazi" information pack where others check constantly to get the latest "scoops" in Cameroon and around the world. As a matter of fact, everything about her writing style, from the strength in the posts and messages to the images used to accompany them tells you that her timeline has beaten the works of "News Agencies". Although there is a huge number of women on the social media, there is an urgent need to celebrate the likes of Ngum Braunhilda who are more outspoken, louder and courageous. Come to think of the threats and intimidation from social guards, especially those who perceive that  a post or comment touches their interest, she takes the risk to tell the story as it should be told. Even if it is to criticise women madness, she does it in a way that teaches society. The thrilling manner in which she comments on her posts just confirmed at this age and time that a woman can bring to a specific issue that sometimes, men are not able to. Beside her is (Angie Forbin) who are likely paving the way for next generation of fearless women in the social media and journalism. Bonne fete Madame. 

Igbokwe Manka'a Mercy Ulomachi Shu, she was a born Cameroonian and now Nigerian by married. Currently based in Nigeria. Having set her sights on becoming a woman emancipator, she founded Inspireme where she is the Chief Executive Officer in 2011 in the South West Region or Cameroon- Buea. Her guiding courage to: Innovate-Initiate-Inspire.

Manka'a was courageously enough to set up a platform that focuses on empowering and inspiring African youths with a keen interest in women for community impact. Then came the groundbreaking imspireme|Pageant which runs the Miss Diligent African Pageant. Miss Diligent African has been organised in Cameroon twice, once in Tanzania and prospects toward running the project in Nigeria are high. Grooming and empowering girls with great values, who can create impact and contribute positively in bringing sustainable development in their different communities around Africa is a risky venture that no weaker sex could have dared. Yet Igbokwe Manka'a Mercy Ulomachi does it with so much dexterity. In fact, Manka'a is a reflection of progress that is needed to celebrate the courage of women who  play an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities respectively. She continues to inspire generations that thinking globally to act locally is a worthwhile venture that demands courage and bravery. Through her efforts, young African could aspire to becoming role models in the future. Happy Women's Day Madame.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)