"Being a powerful woman, Matheba tells Forbes, “means that you create your own narrative. It means that you are strong enough to make your own decisions, to be free and to break the status quo that people have set up for women."

"Young people need to take a moment and reflect on the cost of their lives and the value they bring into the world, their communities, and humanity."

"“Dream big, write it down and work towards your dream every day.”"

"Beautifully Coloured’ is a children’s picture book on kindness, diversity, inclusion, and positive affirmations which can help create more awareness about diversity and inclusion for younger children in elementary schools."

"“When you get to a certain age, you need to ask yourself what you want out of life. You can achieve whatever it is you want to achieve.”"

"“Success comes from consistency, authenticity, and being yourself.”"

"“Keep yourself sane… block what needs to be blocked.”"

"“Find something that forces you to be a better version of yourself.”"

"I think, when you grow up as a black person or an African in a black and African country, identity isn’t something you are particularly concerned about. I only became conscious of racial identity when I moved to the UK and started to understand the subtle and sometimes not so subtle ways in which this compounds the way you are seen and how you move through the world."

"I think hosting events are a side hustle but everything else part and parcel of my career. I think when you see things as a side hustle then they become that. Journalism, poetry and documentary film are all full time careers I juggle and I put the same soul, energy and resources into each and every one."

"I am inspired by the different ways that women stand up for themselves, and are constantly navigating through the waters of patriarchal traditions to take up space."

"There are a lot of incredible artists doing amazing work. Unfortunately, there aren’t many spaces for them to showcase the incredible work they do.I wanted to create something that would illuminate the works of these individuals and their creative process. So as a lover of all things art and culture, I thought it was time to have a go at a video interview series and thus Culture Diaries was born."

"My work is also very minimalist aesthetically, which is an extension of me. I think as an individual I am constantly living and dealing with a myriad of complexities, so I crave and need simplicity to function and I think those same principles drive my work."

"I don’t do macho, hard man, inexpressive, or dictatorial. Partnership is important to me."

"It is always very easy hide with poetry. The bones of some of the poems were written as part of a month-long challenge that I was part of in a closed Facebook group. Everyday we got a prompt and had to produce a poem before midnight. It was quite grueling, and I don’t think any of us finished the thirty days but it really opened me up emotionally. I also wrote many of the poems traveling."

"Energy is a real thing, so whether it’s with people or what you read it comes with the spaces you enter. You allow yourself to absorb those things and they will have an impact on you. If you are consuming a diet everyday of negativity and danger, and thoughts that everyone is out to get you, this is all that will consume you. Even when you are saying your prayers this is all that is going to consume your prayer pattern. You are going to keep fighting demons in your prayers."

"I worry about myself because I have too many dreams and ambitions. The future includes writing and creating plays, films and documentaries, touring the world as a performance poet, curating contemporary art, hopefully presenting more television and more journalistic work as well. I hope to continue supporting the work of the Mirabel center and hopefully start my mentorship workshops for teenage girls."

"In all the challenges women face in this environment, feminism means way too many things to me, but two words that encapsulate all those things would be freedom and choice."

"I hope to use this form of story telling as a way to humanize, educate, highlight some of the healthcare inconsistencies and stigmatization of people living with various illnesses."

"It is you first before anybody else. When you die, you won’t know what would happen to the family you left behind."

"Don’t stew in your juice if you have made a mistake in life move on, don’t try to carry out revenge or get angry over what you couldn’t control. My advice is let your hurt go so you can be a better person. Let love lead and find you."

"Marriage is a choice, it is not a requirement to fulfill your purpose. Your purpose is not in marriage, it is in you."

"So at 16 I decided to be a journalist, that way I could tell the stories of people and bring it to public attention. However now I think I am still telling stories but just in different mediums. For me it is still a way of helping people seek some kind of justice or resolution or at least it will be the beginning of it I hope."

"Getting to host the Airtel Touching Lives television show has to be one of my high points. I can’t really think of any low points because I tend to just see every experience as something to grow from. I am also a person that rolls with the punches so I don’t have very much time to notice low points as I just keep it moving."

"I say to myself that my goal if I never get married, I tend to look at myself as the other Theresa of Nigeria, having so many children that are not even born to you but living your life for others and making sure that you create value for those you will leave behind to be able to carry on the work."

"That experience was a breakthrough for me and, having conquered that I saw the possibility of having to use my voice for the first time and then I started voice coaching. I did internship with Channel 4, did internship with BBC Online, did a lot of auxiliary training and then I decided to just go freelancing."

"I believe and understand that there is misogyny in the system, a lot of women want to be part of it, but there is stereotype and so there is a lacking principal of inclusion of women at the grassroots. For me, it is grassroots first because if we can bond from bottom to top what we can deliver is the fact that more women will be included, more voices will be heard and then the role play will slowly begin to change."

"Getting into the field was a totally different experience and ball game. And I am like, ‘Ah ha, we have come here now, what do we do? How do we re-engage?’ Trust me, the more you look when you get into politics, the less you see, because the narratives you thought were shaping or were supposed to shape those who are in power was not the case scenario in real time."

"And as per my role as the SSA, it was not about the title or about the office; it was about the activation for service for those who my principal called to serve and my admiration for his wife, Ebere Ihedioha, who was very visible and also very passionate about the plight of women in Imo State."

"The Women and Gender Affairs Cluster committee is tasked with the responsiibility of leading, guiding, defending and coordinating the AU Ecosoc efforts on gender equality and development and promoting women’s empowerment by ensuring that African countries comply with the AU Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality."

"Today as the social call mounts on the development of Africa, sustainability is key and requires deliberate actions such as this passion, fairness and dexterity will be my guiding charge towards ensuring the gap for women’s role is brought to the fore and activate innovations and policies that mainstream women across all sectors."

"The records show that hitherto illicit drug consumption used to be among the male youth population though expanding to now include teenage girls, young women and older married women. But to intentionally segregate the consideration to just single women even when the higher percentage of consumption is amongst men and boys shows a complete lack of appropriate gender mapping on this issue across the states in Nigeria."

"Take a walk; leave that environment first before taking any decision. Talk to God. talk to the Holy Spirit. You will get some sort of direction. You can’t stay in a hostile environment and excel."

"I would like to thank my MTV Base family at Viacom International Media Networks Africa for being my wings and my heart. I am truly grateful for all the support and love."

"Working on television has always been a dream of mine. Being able to live out my dream is still surreal to me, so to be recognized for living my dream is truly a blessing I do not take for granted."

"In an industry that is seemingly dominated by male folks, women have strived to break the glass ceiling which I would count myself among."

"January is the beginning of a new year for us in the Western world. Let us give to God what belongs to him: the first hours of our day, the first month of the year, the first of our increase, the first in every area of our life. It's devoted... The principle of first fruits is that when you give God the first, he governs the rest and redeems in."

"What do you like? What do you want? What do you believe? What do you envision? What do you dream will happen in the future? Those who have lost a strong sense of personal identity answer those questions with blank expressions."