Serena Williams backed her sponsor Nike on Monday after
controversy over the sporting goods giant’s maternity policy,
saying that “it’s about learning from mistakes”.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion has been the face of a Nike
advertising campaign telling women to “dream crazier”.
The company has reportedly said it will change its policy of
cutting female athletes’ pay during and after pregnancy, after
being widely criticised, including by American track and field star
Allyson Felix.
“I’m glad that statement was made, and I know that herefore and
going forward, they’re doing better,” Williams said after her
French Open first-round win over Russian Vitalia Diatchenko in
Paris.
“That’s what it’s about. It’s about learning from mistakes and
doing better.”
According to the New York Times, Nike plans to waive
performance-pay reductions for 12 months for athletes who decide to
have a baby.
The 33-year-old Felix had spoken out after US team-mates Alysia
Montano and Kara Goucher levelled similar allegations against Nike
as part of an investigation by the Times.
“They told stories we athletes know are true, but have been too
scared to tell publicly: If we have children, we risk pay cuts from
our sponsors during pregnancy and afterwards,” wrote Felix, who
gave birth to a baby girl in December.
The New York Times reported that Williams’ contract had been
kept intact when she was pregnant with her daughter Alexis Olympia,
while other women saw their pay cut in similar situations.
But the 37-year-old Williams said that it was understandable it
took Nike time to embrace change.
“I feel like as time goes on, as technology changes and as, you
know, the world changes, people realise that we have to change our
policies,” she said.
“And I think that Nike wanted to do that, and they started doing
that. And so I think they made a really bold statement by doing
that with me, and I think they’re going to — I know, actually, that
they’re going to continue to make that statement.”
(AFP)
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Read more serena-backs-nike-after-maternity-pay-controversy/
Dapsy: The Benevolent Investigative
Journalist
By Yushau A. Shuaib
He walked in casually, sat calmly and was received warmly by the
audience. With cheerful demeanour, he cracked jokes, threw banters
and shared pleasantries with guests and participants who thronged
around him like bees in their nest.
It was on June 10, 2013, at 1.55pm when I was about to deliver a
paper at a Media Seminar organized by the Netherland Embassy in
Abuja. The participants were reporters, editors, and spokespersons
of critical institutions.
I watched as the man politely declined offers of a seat in the
front row and sat at the extreme end of the hall.
Since I hardly acknowledge the presence of dignitaries during my
presentation, when time is crucial, I didn’t bother to ask for the
identity of the new guest that was so loved in the hall.
While making the presentation, I noticed that he was very
attentive and kept on nodding in agreement and encouraging gesture
to my points.
During the question and answer session, he stood up and
commended the presentation. Surprisingly, other participants
including General Chris Olukolade, the then Director Defense
Information and Frank Mba, the Police Spokesperson whom I was
meeting for the first time made similar comments.
It was my first public lecture after I was forcefully retired
from the public service by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The man walked up to me. He congratulated me for the paper and
introduced himself thus: “My name is Dapo Olorunyomi, I report for
Premium Times.”
I was not only shocked but felt embarrassed that I could not
recognize the face of the Publisher of the Premium Times that had
been publishing my articles, including the controversial piece that
put me in trouble with the then Finance Minister, Dr, Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala.
Though that day was the first time we were meeting, I had known
Dapo who is popularly called Dapsy as a thoroughbred investigative
and fearless journalist who was born in the ancient city of Kano on
November 8, 1957. I learned that he schooled in Zaria, Ilorin and
Ile-Ife for his primary school, secondary education, university
degree, and postgraduate programmes respectively, before obtaining
other certificates from the University of Oxford and the American
University.
A multi-award award-winning investigative journalist, Dapsy has
always been at the forefront of mainstreaming the practice of
investigative journalism in Nigeria towards exposing corruption,
regulatory failures, and human rights abuses.
His contribution to national development was felt during his
anti-corruption advocacy and public awareness campaign when he
served as Chief of Staff and Policy Director of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“We are sorry about your plight and predicament with the Finance
Minister after the publication of your article in Premium Times,”
Dapsy interrupted my thought as we shook hands.
“Pleasure meeting for the first time today sir. I have no regret
about my publications and thanks for publishing some of them,” I
responded.
“We are ready to defend you and provide our platforms for your
aspirations,” he added.
From that day, I became a regular contributor to the Premium
Times. In fact, one of my articles on the Media-Security
Relationship after the Seminar prompted the Office of the National
Security Adviser (ONSA) to invite me for a chat.
The chat with Colonel Sambo Dasuki, the National Security
Adviser, become a turning point in my life. Not only did Dapsy’s
Premium Times provide their platform for all the interventions and
PR stuff on national security, other media too were quite
generous.
Meanwhile, the encouragements on my first public lecture after
my retirement from the public service opened a floodgate of
subsequent presentations on Media Engagement, Social Media and
Crisis Management.
On a personal level, not only does he develop an interest in my
progress, but he also ensures my son who is a Mass Communication
graduate did an internship under his tutelage. He provides moral
and kind supports to the young man and other budding journalists
and writers in Nigeria towards promoting professional excellence in
journalism.
I am a Public Relations Practitioner rather than a journalist. I
have since realized that not only in a lottery, an effective media
coverage through strategic public relations can catapult a PR
person to an instant star due to the benevolence of a journalist
and the media fairness.
In a nutshell, Dapo Olorunyomi is a very humble and reliable
soul, who would go out of his way to extend kindness to others,
especially those in need of protection and such benevolence.
Yushau A. Shuaib, Author of “An Encounter with the
Spymaster” and Winner of Africa and International Public Relations
Awards contributes this essay in the book “Testimony to Courage-
Essays in Honour of Dapo Olorunyomi” which was launched on May 27,
2019