Celebrating French National Day 2022

The French National Day has come and gone but the beautiful memories remain. On July 15th at the Mike Adenuga Centre (Alliance Française) Ikoyi, the France Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Emmanuelle BLATMANN and the Consul-General, Monmayrant, hosted Nigerian and French dignitaries to a well-organized soirée.

It was a fantastic event not only for celebration but also for reconnection and networking. Our Founder, Marvella Odili, ably represented Save Our Needy Organisation.

Director of Goethe-Institut Nigeria Hosts Marvella Odili

Art is life. It has been a very busy couple of days for our Founder, Marvella Odili, as she was invited by the Director of Goethe-Institut Nigeria, Dr Nadine Siegert to the close (finissage) of a major exhibition which successfully spanned 8 weeks showcasing the spectacular work of Wolfgang Tillmans and celebrating young Nigerian artists who use photography to promote art. The event took place at Art Twenty One at Eko Hotel and Suites.

She was also invited to the launch of the website of the House of African Feminisms. It was a hybrid event with panel discussions, performances, music and cocktails. Panelists were from Kigali, Johannesburg and Lagos. Aisha Salaudeen and Omolara Oriye moderated the event. DJ Electra thrilled guests with scintillating music.

The Nigeria IWD Awards Gala 2022

International Women's Day is celebrated annually to highlight the contributions of women to the world's development. 

On March 5th, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Women, European Union, British High Commission, and the Embassies of the United States of America, Germany and France came together in partnership to host the first ever Nigeria’s International Women’s Day Awards Gala. 

The Awards aim to serve as an incentive to leaders in different sectors to make concerted efforts in creating more opportunities for women and strive to ensure gender equality.

In a statement issued by the UNDP office in Nigeria, “The International Women’s Day Gala and Awards seeks to leverage the opportunity of the representation of 11 key countries in Nigeria by women Ambassadors to advocate for increased women representation in political and governance space, incentivise change by publicly recognising women empowerment champions, encourage decision-makers and policy makers to ensure adequate space is created for women in the spheres of policy and decision making and advance women’s political and socio-economic empowerment.”

In addition to having women in senior positions in the United Nations and other multilateral organizations, Nigeria also presently has women ambassadors in: Benin, Burundi, Colombia, Cuba, European Union, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Nigerian artiste, Cobhams Asuquo (middle)

Nigerian artiste Omawunmi (Omawonder) on stage

Our Founder/CEO, Marvella Odili, was a guest at this high-level International Women's Day Awards Gala where people from top government positions, Ambassadors, civil society and internationally recognized individuals including Chimamanda Adichie and Chief Mrs. Nike Okundaye graced the event.

Marvella Odili, Founder/CEO, Save Our Needy

Marvella Odili(L) with Chimamanda Adichie

Marvella Odili (L) with Chief Mrs Nike Okundaye

The awards celebrated Champions in promoting women’s leadership and gender equality in Nigeria. It recognized achievements by individuals and institutions across categories of: Political Leadership & Governance,  Private Sector, Arts & Culture,  Media & Entertainment, Civil Society as well as a Feature Award on the 2022 IWD theme: Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow as well as a Most Inspiring/Outstanding Woman Leader Award. 

New France-Africa Summit: A New Beginning, A New Partnership

From Paris to Montpellier, France, it was a week of activities from October 4th to October 10th for our Founder/CEO, Marvella Odili, who was invited by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the French Embassy, Nigeria to participate in 3 major events: Ambition Africa, The Bpifrance Inno Génération (BIG) and The New Africa-France Summit hosted by President Emmanuel Macron.

Entrepreneurs, artists, creators, researchers, captains of industry, technocrats, innovators, students, sports personalities and NGOs from France and all over Africa came together under one platform to brainstorm, share ideas and collaborate on the New France-Africa partnership where civil society will take centre stage.

For President Emmanuel Macron, France must assume its fair share of "Africanness" noting that nearly 7 million French people are intimately linked to Africa.

He reiterated France's pledge to return artworks that were looted from the Abomey Palace in Benin at the end of the 19th century.

During this working visit to France, Marvella talked about her work on the empowerment of marginalized women and the education of marginalized girls to people from all walks of life.

She was fortunate to meet the incoming France Ambassador to Nigeria who was gracious enough to take pictures with her.

It was also a time to rediscover Paris and discover Montpellier.

Suffice it to say, it was truly a great learning and exchange experience; an unforgettable one.