I grew up with just my mum. I didn't know my dad until I went looking for him when I was 10. 

I was abused by my cousins from age 7 till 13. It stopped because they moved. I couldn't tell my mum because we didn't have a mother-daughter relationship. 

Since then, I've looked for love in the wrong places. I did many things to boost my self-esteem. I didn't know the things I was doing were because I had a lot of anger and unforgiveness inside of me. I just thought I was getting through life, until 2015. A guy wanted to date me, and at the time, I had started a purity journey. I told him if we were going to date, we wouldn’t have sex. He asked why, and I told him I didn’t want sex, but while I was saying it, I sounded really angry. He noticed and told me to stop. He asked, "Who did this to me? Who messed me up?" He said he noticed a lot of anger inside of me and I was acting really defensive. 

That was how my journey to healing started. We didn't date, but he's still my very good friend. He introduced me to his friend who is a therapist. I was able to talk to her about everything, including my childhood, as I cried. 

It took me close to 2 years to heal and I thank God. I told my mum about everything that happened, this year. I had gotten to a stage where I could talk about it without crying. The last 2 years have been very interesting. I became very paranoid. I couldn't stand the sight of a guy playing with a little girl or putting her on his lap. I would just shout. My therapist said it was normal for me to react that way.

I was familiar with the streets, as I had to sell bread before I went to school.

I felt like education was my ticket out of poverty, so I gave it everything I had. I worked really hard and was always top of my class. Learning was difficult in public schools. There were no books and the conditions were terrible. I would say, I'm a product of self-development. I studied Civil Engineering in Yaba Tech and graduated tops. I then moved to Yobe State in 2008, for my Youth Service.

I thought I had it bad in Lagos, but I was shocked by Yobe State. There were kids who had never seen the four walls of a school. I was in a local government called Nangere in a village called Degubi. I was crying at the state of things and the people were just carefree. I decided I was going to make a difference, even if it was in the life of one child.

I started a community school under the tree at the village square. I visited most of the parents and told them I was a corper and that was what I intended to do. I started with about 5 children. In the space of 3 months, we grew to about 60 children. The children became too many for me to handle so I had to ask other corpers to help. A few did. By the end of service year, there were over 150 children. I felt like I'd found what I was born to do. I got a state award for community development.

I returned to Lagos after NYSC. It was hard to stay back because Boko Haram was really brewing at the time. When I got back, I was torn between finding a regular 9 to 5 job or doing community service. I volunteered at an NGO, but my focus was education. I later started a community based initiative called TEACH (Transforming Education and Championing Health). We focus on public primary schools and see how we can use community resources to identify and solve the education and health needs of community schools. So far I've worked with 4 public schools.

I believe you’re not in control of the family you are born into, but you are in control of the decisions you make and can take responsibility for your life. I didn’t have a good start but I’m committed to having a great end. 

I recently had an issue with the police and was locked up for 4 days for a crime I didn't commit. I was picked up randomly on the road during my prayer walk.

My experience with the police changed me, but in a positive way. I used to be very impulsive. I could get a call from Abuja and take off the next minute. Now I don't do that again. I have become calmer. If I want to travel, I don't do so abruptly. I plan. In general, I am now more security conscious.

The experience didn’t dampen my passion, it increased it. I could have languished in prison but because God had used me and I'd been a blessing to so many people, they noticed I'd gone silent on social media. Several people started calling my numbers. My friend broke into my house, found my phone and saw about 200 missed calls. That’s how a “missing person’s” post of me went viral on social media. If I was living a self-focused life, who would have remembered me or asked questions?

People look at me and they are like, “Despite challenges, you are still able to do what you do.” Well, God has been faithful. I've started a TV show. I'm a speaker, trainer and small business consultant.

I want to encourage every youth out there to look within. There's something on your inside that the world is supposed to benefit from.

I grew up in a dysfunctional home. My parents separated when I was a baby. 

Before my mum remarried, my siblings and I had some neighbours who would play with my butt and do ridiculous things. I was really young. I didn't understand what they were doing until I was abused by someone else. And then it all made sense. 

My stepdad was really strict. We couldn't go out or talk and we had a very firm upbringing. So, when I got into Uni, it was like I had my freedom. I did the worst things I could have done in my life during this period, from messing around with guys to clubbing and occasional drinking. Honestly, I didn't see it as a big deal back then.

My sister became a Christian before me and then she introduced me to Christianity. It was quite hard because we were Muslims. Even though I wasn't a serious one, I just didn't fancy being a Christian either. 

I've been a Christian for about 9 years now and it has really been worth it. I can say that even though there are troubles here and there, there’s a huge gap between where I'm coming from and where I am now. I'm thankful that I found God when I did. If not, I most likely would have become a runs girl. Lol. 

I've always had a funny sense of humour right from childhood. In secondary school, I would crack jokes in the midst of my female seniors and they would give me their food at the dining hall. 

Although I started comedy so many years ago, I became better in 2008 when I got into university. I took it up as a profession in 2012 when I graduated from school.

At university, I was always anchoring one program or the other. It was more of a hobby, but comedy eventually became a product and Saco the comedian is now mentoring me. 

I try to inspire people through my content and I also try to make people see that beyond the funny side of life, comedy can also make you think.

The twist is, I also lecture in the University. Beyond being a comedian, I'm an academician, a scholar and a researcher. I lecture in Osun State University where I graduated with a first class degree in Political Science. I also have a master’s degree and am hoping to do my PhD as soon as possible. 

After my SSCE in 2014, I fell sick. 

Our family doctor noticed a growth on the front part of my head and my family was referred to Lagos State Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) to see a neurosurgeon.

A CT scan was done, and the scan showed that I had a brain tumour. I soon had a convulsion and was rushed to the hospital. I was placed on a drug that would sustain me until the time of my surgery. 

On the 8th of April 2014, I had my surgery. It lasted for 2 days because of a complication. I lost a lot of blood. My survival was 50/50, but I got better. 

I was placed in the ICU for a week. The doctor asked me different questions like if I knew my name and where I was. I answered all the questions correctly because all my senses were intact except for my sight. I had gone blind. The surgery affected my eyesight. I was in the hospital for close to 2 months. The doctors couldn't tell what happened exactly. They tried all they could, then said nothing could be done about my eyes. 

I could no longer do things by myself or go out alone. After 2 years, my family wad directed to an Indian hospital in Lekki called Vedic Lifecare Hospital. They did an MRI scan and it was discovered that there was a mistake during the first surgery that affected the optic nerve - the nerve connecting my eyes to my brain. They said they would need to carry out a corrective surgery at the headquarters in Manipal, India.

My bill is about 6 Million Naira for the flight, the hospital bills and hotel lodging after the surgery because I would have to stay as an outpatient for 2 weeks before returning to Nigeria. My family has been reaching out to people since November 2016: family, friends, and the public. I'm still hoping and looking up to God that there will be a way. 

April 8th, 2017 will make it 3 years since I've been blind. Nothing that has happened has affected my faith in God; rather it has strengthened me even more. I know everything will be fine someday. 

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To support Chidera, kindly contact:

Raquel Jacobs: 08025857485

Chidera’s mum: 07033233946

I've been a single mum for 8 years.

Although I was married for 7 years, it was an abusive marriage. I was beaten and talked down to by my husband and it really affected my self-esteem. It was a very difficult time, coupled with the fact that I had 2 children. The abuse got so frequent, I had to go to the hospital for treatment. I also developed high blood pressure.

One of the times a beating was going on, my son who was 3 years old at the time, started jumping up and hitting his dad, saying, "Leave my mum alone." I had a flash of insight and understood if my kids kept growing up in that kind of situation, one day my son might decide to beat up his dad, in my defence. That was when I decided, enough was enough. I had stayed for 7 years because I was scared of what people would say.

When I left, I didn't have a game plan. All I knew was my life was very important and I didn’t want my kids to grow up in such an environment. My older daughter was very withdrawn and fearful because of all the fights. My son was also getting aggressive. And, I had to resign from my job at a bank.

Reality stepped in, because it was a case of me going from grace to grass. A couple of close friends abandoned me and I once contemplated suicide.

I had a lot of bitterness against my ex. One day, someone called and said God told her to tell me to forgive my ex and pray for him. That was a terrible period for me. It took me 3 months to obey. Every time I opened my mouth to pray for him, curses would come out. I forgave him by the 3rd month. 6 months later, I got a job to pursue my dreams.

One thing that keeps me going is God. I know it sounds very cliché, but the truth is, my story is a story of grace and resilience. I still have some very tough times because being a single mum is not easy. Besides financial demands, there's also the emotional task of raising kids on your own.