I am happiest when I am dancing to my favorite music. - Oluchi Onweagba

I have always wondered what it truly means to be woman. Not ‘a woman’ but ‘woman’. You don’t choose to be born female, you literally wake up one day and realise that you are. Often times it is because growing up especially in Nigeria, there is a constant reminder of what you should do, how you should act, what you should think simply because you are not male. Little wonder that a lot of young girls grow up not knowing who they truly are because they have been moulded into these beings that have never really discovered their true essence or worth because culture and society have provided all the answers.

My name is Oluchi Orlandi, you may know me as Oluchi Onweagba, 1998 winner of the 1st Mnet Face of Africa. Needless to say that after winning the competition, my life changed forever. But when I reflect as I tend to do, I realise that as much as I have enjoyed so much success and the stuff that dreams are made of on a global stage – one thing remains the same and that is being ‘woman’.

I am definitely one of those people who believe that women have super powers, call it female instinct, the ability to multitask, the power to love and nurture deeply and all the other things that women are incredibly good at. I actually have far simpler ways of describing the phenomenon that is ‘woman’. I would say that the female super powers are INTUITION, MATERNAL INSTINCT & THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE. These powers distinguish and unify the female species all over the world, across skin colour, geography, income and status.