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How Hilda Baci Broke Guinness World Record for ‘Longest Cooking Time’

by Women Times on May 15, 2023

Nigerian chef, Hilda Effiong Bassey, popularly known as Hilda Baci, broke the
Guinness World Record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual, surpassing the current record holder for cooking marathon.

She broke the record after cooking for more than 87 hours, 45 minutes, a record held by India’s Lata Tondon in 2019.

The restaurateur began the competition on Thursday at the Amore Gardens in Lekki area of Lagos after she turned on her cooker at 4pm and surpassed the current world record holder on Monday morning.

By 08:32am on Monday, Hilda Baci had cooked for 88 hours and 32 minutes to equal the record set by an Indian chef, Lata Tondon in 2019.

Consequently, the Nigeria chef has now set a new record for the longest cooking time by an individual after 4-day cooking marathon challenge.

“The journey to the cook-a-thon started five years ago,” Hilda Baci said. “It is one of my biggest aspirations and I am glad that I took the bold step to embark on this adventure. I have taken time to prepare for this psychologically and I am proud to finally take on this challenge.”

“The cook-a-thon is also an opportunity to tell some of the positive stories that come from Africa through the meals that we make.

“This attempt is also proof of the strength young people can exhibit with the right platform and support. I look forward to receiving support from people across the world to achieve this feat.”

Despite breaking the record, the 27-year-old Nigerian chef is yet to stop her cooking as at the time of filing this report.

Hilda Baci is being cheered by a rousing number of Nigerians, mostly youths who are present at the scene of the record-breaking event.

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5 Ways To Spend Valentine’s Day Without Breaking The Bank

by Women Times on February 14, 2023

Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate love and every year, lovers take out time and extra resources to make the day super special for their partner. The day is almost synonymous with expensive, and it can be for those who are coupled up.

While taking the time to celebrate your love is a good thing, spending a fortune is often not the smartest move. So, this year we took our time to put together a few tips to help you celebrate your love without breaking the bank. Check them out:

Go somewhere new

You don’t necessarily have to visit fancy restaurants to make the day memorable. Create new memories by visiting inexpensive places like museums, art galleries, the beach and other affordable places.

It’s the perfect opportunity to visit places you and your partner have always intended to get to but never seem to have the time.

Play some board games

There are a lot of engaging games to keep you and your love super busy and entertained. The board game world is quite vast, and it might be the perfect time to try out Monopoly, Scrabble, Chess and others. To make it more fun, you can pair up with another couple.

Make your partner’s favourite foods at home

Go all out with a beautiful dinner at home! No rule says you have to go out to have an amazing meal together. Light the candles, pour some wine and cook a meal your partner would love. Or better yet, you can cook together and make the other’s favourite food.

Watch your favourite shows or movies on Showmax

Stay home and binge-watch all your favourite movies on Showmax. Nothing says cosy more than cuddling up and binge-watching your favourite shows or rewatching classics with your favourite person. You can pick a romantic movie or series to set the mood right.

Spend time rediscovering each other

Even after many years, your partner may still surprise you! Try the question game, where you ask the other person something you don’t know about them.

Just remember that your partner’s happiness is the most important thing and it can cost little to make them happy.

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From Dating to Defrauding: Online Romance Scams Surge As Criminals Cash in on Lonely South Africans, Others

by Women Times on February 8, 2023

Catfishing, sextortion, phishing and other romance scams are big business for fraudsters. Carey van Vlaanderen, Chief Executive Officer at ESET Southern Africa says knowing how to spot red flags can mean the difference between being deeply in love and knee-deep in debt.

Dating sites can be a wonderful place to meet new people, make connections and find a romantic partner, but as the popular Tinder Swindler documentary showed, it’s easy to fall in love and fall victim to dating scams involving romantic con artists. With February being the month of love, it’s important that online daters know how to protect themselves in the digital dating space.

Data from the Federal Trade Commission in the United States showed that in 2021 reported losses to romance scammers were up nearly 80% compared to the previous year. This was followed by an alert issued by the FBI which noted victims of romance fraud lost $1 billion in 2021 alone. While current reliable figures are difficult to establish, romance scams, both in South Africa and across the globe, are likely to be underreported because of the personal nature of the crime and victims’ feelings of embarrassment.

According to the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) some terror groups have been targeting South Africans to finance their criminal acts through romance scams. It also reports that online dating scams are used by fraudsters to launder the illicit proceeds of crime. In 2021, eight suspects were arrested in Cape Town in connection with an online dating scam and stealing more than R100 million from victims in various countries.

Don’t fall for the rom-con

Online dating or romance scams are financially and emotionally costly as fraudsters exploit people’s vulnerabilities, trust, and feelings of loneliness. When visiting online dating platforms, be aware of photos that look too good to be true. An image search on Google can help you determine if the photo is authentic or a stolen or stock photo. Other red flags include requests for private information such your ID number, declarations of love alarmingly early in the relationship, or a request for money to help them out of a situation.

Another new trend in 2022 was an increase in reports of romance scammers luring consumers into fake cryptocurrency investment schemes.

Falling for deception

While dating scams have multiple layers of deception, they all rely on gaining a victim’s information which should give everyone pause to think about how the management of personal information can allow criminals to build a detailed profile of their target.

A common modus operandi is scammers using emotional manipulation to get a victim to send money, gifts, or personal information. Another common, and extremely traumatising, form of deception is sextortion. This begins as a seemingly normal relationship before the scammer pressures the victim into sending intimate photos or videos which are used as material to blackmail the victim.

Catfishing is another common trick scammers use which lures the victim into a relationship based on the attacker’s fictitious online persona. Once the victim is on the hook, the scammer will send messages about being in financial trouble with promises to pay the money back later.

How to protect your feelings and your finances

Scammers seldom ask for money at the beginning of an interaction. Instead, they may express money worries in casual conversation or use financial trouble as a reason not to meet.

Carefully consider the decision to leave verified dating apps to message privately. Not only does this give the fraudster access to your mobile number, but dating apps also provide mechanisms to report scammers and unsafe behaviour.
Don’t send a person money. No matter how convincing their story may be. Talk to someone you know and trust for their perspective on the situation.
Never share any information that may compromise you, including photos or videos.
If you decide to meet someone in person that you’ve met online be sure to set up the meeting in a safe, public place, and ensure a trusted friend or family member is aware of your arrangements.

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Woman with World’s Largest Feet Calls Out Shoemakers, Shoe Manufacturers

by Women Times on December 17, 2022

Tanya Herbert has the largest feet of any living woman according to Guinness World Records.

“I have the world’s largest foot on a living female. My foot measures at 33 centimeters long. I wear a size 16-17 in men’s and a size 18 in women’s.”

But finding shoes in her size is difficult,finding ones she loves is even harder.

She’s now reaching out to shoemakers in the hope of designing stylish women’s shoes for big feet.

“Yes, since my record went public in November, multiple women have reached out to me. Close to 50 women have reached out to me saying, ‘Thank you for sharing your story, I wear a size 14 in women’s and it’s so difficult for me to find shoes,’ and so they ask me where I find my shoes at. And they wear size 15 in women’s, so it’s been very motivational to me, to hear all these women reaching out to me saying, ‘Yes, we need your help, we need to get these shoe manufacturing companies to listen and hear us that we’re out here, we have big feet, we want cute shoes!’”

Credit: Reuters

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Woman Who Jumped into Lagos Lagoon, DSS Operative, Source Reveals

by Women Times on November 11, 2022

By Biodun Busari

The woman who jumped into the Lagos Lagoon on Thursday has been identified as Adetutu Adedokun, a member of staff of the country’s secret police known as the Department of State Services (DSS).

A source confirmed in a report published by Channels Television on Friday that Adedokun was said to be an unarmed combat instructor who had recently martially got engaged.

Meanwhile the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, revealed in a statement on Thursday said the driver of the taxi claimed she was having an argument with her fiancé before alighting from the car and jumping into the lagoon.

Oke-Osanyintolu, in a fresh confirmation on Friday, claimed that the search and rescue team was still on the water trying to locate the body.

Adedokun, who is in her late 30s, was also said to have received a letter of commendation front the Director General of DSS as the best-unarmed combat operative in her set, few months ago.

The victim’s fiancé was also reported to have proposed to her a few weeks ago. She had alighted from an Uber taxi car on the bridge and plunged into the lagoon Thursday afternoon. The driver of the taxi claimed she was having a heated conversation with her fiance before alighting from the car.

Vanguard reported that Oke-Osayintolu had on Thursday said, “Upon the arrival of the Lagos Response Team at the incident scene, investigation revealed that a lady in her late 30s plunged into the Lagos lagoon.

“Further investigation revealed that the lady alighted from an Uber taxi car on the bridge and plunged into the lagoon.

”The driver of the taxi claimed she was having a heated conversation with her fiancé before alighting from the car.

“The LRT, men of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Services, LASWA and officials of the Department of State Services are currently on ground working together to search for the victim.”

The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotosho, said rescue teams after intense search and rescue efforts were unable to find the victim.

He said, “The rescue teams called off their search by 7pm because it was already dark. They will continue the search tomorrow (Friday); you know it is water, the wave would have taken the body somewhere else. But we will search everywhere.”

Credit: Vanguard

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Woman Finds Hope in Safe Birth of Twins, After Losing Everything in Home Burned in Conflict

by Women Times on November 8, 2022

Rebecca Wimana was seven months pregnant when she lost her house in Jomba in the conflict raging in Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“When I heard the bombings, we left the house with the children to go and hide in the bush. In the evening, when there was a lull, we came back and found that our house was burned down,” she said.

Ms. Wimana was alone at the time as her husband was looking for work in Kampala in Uganda. Heavily pregnant, she and her five children walked seven kilometres to Tata Mwami Rugabo II stadium, a camp for displaced persons. They arrived tired, hungry and without any possessions.

“I had no hope because I lost everything when my house was burned,” she said.

The camp was set up for people displaced by armed clashes between the soldiers of the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) and the rebels of the March 23 Movement (M23). A large part of the population has been displaced to Rutshuru, as well as the borders with Uganda and Rwanda.

Providing vital sexual and reproductive health services

A few weeks later, twins Mwayonimana and Issaka Kwiseka were born to Ms. Wimana at Rutshuru Health Centre, which is supported by UNFPA as part of the Emergency Reproductive Health Response Project for people affected by the humanitarian crisis in Rutshuru, with UNCERF funding. Ms. Wimana was assisted by trained personnel to avoid potential complications, and the newborns received essential birth care.

“I am really happy because I gave birth without any cost and without any problems, thanks to the medical staff who took care of me,” she said.

The new mum, named “Nyabadeux”, which means mother of twins, received a delivery kit and information on modern contraceptive methods for family planning, the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) and gender-based violence (GBV) from UNFPA-supported humanitarian midwife, Fyfy Omoy.

“The big difficulty is to find enough to feed [my] family and to clothe these babies, who are still naked except for the two pieces of loincloth that I divided to cover them,” Ms. Wimana said.

Health facilities affected by the crisis

Health facilities in the Rutshuru and Rwanguba health zones have been overwhelmed since the beginning of the M23 crisis in March this year. An estimated 33,000 households of about 166,000 people have been displaced in Rutshuru territory, according to a report from a multi-sectoral assessment mission conducted by UNOCHA in April.

Deliveries at Rutshuru Health Centre have doubled, up from 73 deliveries a month to 150 deliveries. The facility does not have a large capacity, according to Head Nurse Jean de Dieu Bakuru: “The capacity of our structure has become insufficient. We are even beginning to refer women who do not have high-risk pregnancies, for fear of not knowing where to put them after delivery. For the prenatal consultation, for example, we used to receive 37 to 40 women, but now we have 197 women. Hence the urgent need to raise awareness about family planning,” she said.

In addition to houses and schools burned and looted during the clashes in Jomba region, several health facilities were looted and destroyed. At least 8 of the 21 health facilities in Rwanguba Health Zone have been looted, according to local civil society, as reported by UNOCHA. The same applies to Bugusa and Chengerero, which were emptied of medicine supplies and medical equipment.

In response to the crisis in Rutshuru, UNFPA supports five health facilities and a general referral hospital with a grant and reproductive health kits for 10,000 vulnerable people. In addition, 950 dignity kits have been distributed to survivors of sexual violence and visibly pregnant and lactating women. This care is being provided to internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees and host communities in the health zones of Rutshuru and Rwanguba.

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NCC Set To Bridge Digital Gender Divide Gap

by Women Times on September 21, 2022

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has re-emphasized its commitment to bridging the growing gender-based digital divide to accelerate inclusive economic prosperity for all Nigerian citizens.

Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta said the promotion of gender equality is a major component of ICT development.

He made this known at the 2022 Nigerian Women Entrepreneurs and Executives in Tech Summit (WEETS) held in Lagos recently where he was also conferred with the ‘Icon of Digital Revolution Award’ for his role in stimulating digital connectivity in Nigeria.

He noted that the gender dimensions of ICT, manifest in access and use; capacity-building opportunities; employment, and potential for empowerment, and that all these dimensions need to be explicitly identified and addressed, to leverage technology and communication as powerful catalysts for political, economic, and social empowerment of women, and the promotion of gender equality.

Speaking on the theme of the event, “Reskilling Women and Girls to Thrive in the Digital Economy”, Danbatta, who was represented by NCC’s Head, Digital Media Management, Nafisa Usman Rugga, said the theme resonates deeply with the drive by the Federal Government to ensure an all-inclusive digital economy that drives the strategic vision plan of the Commission.

He expressed his appreciation to the organisers, Techlife Media and Communications Limited, a Lagos-based media organisation, for the iconic recognition for his contribution to Nigeria’s digital progression which is an encouragement that he would dedicate to the entire NCC team of professionals that are dedicated to the digital revolution in the country. Danbatta commended the organisation for holding forth its annual gathering that pivots discussions on the promotion of digital access, skills, and knowledge among the women and girls in Nigeria.

Danbatta indicated that one of the ways through which the Commission strives to achieve inclusive growth, is through increased digital connectivity to all, regardless of gender and other accidental circumstances, and that the Commission has continued to play a front-seat role in driving the implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), 2020-2030; the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP), 2020-2025; and related policies aimed at deepening connectivity for all citizens, thereby bridging digital gender disparity.

“The NCC has put on the front burner the need to expose girls and young women to more opportunities in the digital ecosystem, in line with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) resolution 70, which advocates gender mainstreaming and promotion of gender equality, as well as the empowerment of women through information and communications technology (ICT), and we are fully committed to this,”, Danbatta said.

The organizers, while justifying the reason for conferring the award on Nigeria’s chief telecom regulator, stated that after“ reviewing the criteria set for the award, we reckon that Prof. Danbatta deserves the award for blazing the trail in accelerating digital revolution in Nigeria, especially with the historic auction of 3.5 GHz spectrum in a fair, transparent, and credible manner, and considering the various initiatives embarked upon by the Commission under his leadership, to inspire girls and women to play active roles in the evolving global digital economy,”.

How Hilda Baci Broke Guinness World Record for ‘Longest Cooking Time’

Why Women Don’t Engage in Politics – Ali Baba

5 Ways To Spend Valentine’s Day Without Breaking The Bank

From Dating to Defrauding: Online Romance Scams Surge As Criminals Cash in on Lonely South Africans, Others

Nigerian Women More Productive, Less Corrupt Than Men – Obi

Woman with World’s Largest Feet Calls Out Shoemakers, Shoe Manufacturers