5 Minutes with MIMA
Mima is a successful marriage counsellor, a relationship coach with many years of experience, she currently runs the counselling unit of Medimax Hospital Abuja. Mima has also suffered a fair share of life’s woes and many difficult personal experiences. Ha
What is Lifelines with Mima? Tell us what prompted your interest into starting up a show on profound matters? What’s your story?
Lifelines with Mima is a family show created to address everyday life issues and help people convert their everyday personal problems into positive stepping stones before they become stumbling blocks. The show shares with its audience the experiences of everyday people that come to consult my team, important guests and celebrities and myself in the house of Mima. Most of all its’s a movement to change the world one family at a time, because of my strong belief that most people in our society are products of unstable homes.
In comparison with other shows, how would you differentiate your program from others?
Well, Lifelines with Mima is very different from other shows because it deals with real life experiences in a unique manner. It’s basically about having therapy and emotional support on television. Instead of having a host and some guests just talk about a topic, we decided to bring the people going through the experiences on the show to tell their own stories, bringing with them tears, intrigue, comedy, drama, fights and arguments. Unlike other shows we provide solutions from the norms of our rich African culture and tradition as we remind our audience of the most valuable things in life.
You are a marriage counsellor and relationship coach with many years of experience, has that in anyway played a contributing factor to your success story/ Show?
It definitely has, I studied sociology because of my interest in helping the society, there after I did other courses that gave me the foundation of what I am today. Lifelines with Mima started on Armed Forces Radio, when I was able to counsel an important military man, who believed in me immediately and gave me a slot on their platform which is the only military radio station in the country. Lifelines with Mima television was necessary because I needed to share these solutions and advocacy to a wider audience. Everything I am today is a result of following my heart and going after my God Given assignment which counselling.
What are the everyday challenges you go through regarding your show? The down moments you have had to go through and how you overcame them.
It has not been easy at all, but we are making progress to the glory of the Almighty. Our major challenge is the fact that it’s an uncommon type of show for TV stations, investors and sponsors, because it’s a combination of a Television talk show and a drama series. People are used to investing in one or the other, but here we have a unique situation that needs unique investors and sponsors. Floating a show that teaches morals in our world of today is very difficult because controversy and immorality sells quickly. So funding this project as an independent producer with personal funds has been a huge challenge as this show is quite expensive to produce. Thankfully we have been getting very good feedback and reviews and hope that support will find us soon. We also have challenges with our poor culture of keeping personal problems a secret, and attributing our problems to spiritual causes. As a people we don’t realise that professional therapy or counselling is important, so many people speak up only when the situation becomes critical or go to the wrong social media platforms or google for solutions instead of consulting a professional. This is why our work is important because we bring expert help and solutions into the homes of many helpless and voiceless people.
We all have that one experience that completely changes our perception about ourselves and marriage and other things pertaining to our existence, please share with us, that first thing you learnt about being a woman, wife and being in business.
This is an emotional one for me, at 23 I became a widow with 2 little children. I was devastated and lost because I was still a child myself trying to discover who I am. I was forced to endure many traditional rites, and I lost the will to live because my husband was a wonderful friend, husband and father. I was in shock and denial for a long time because he was not sick or old, he was just 37 years old when he died in a car accident! It was the grace of God and thoughts of my little children (3years old and 9 months old) that brought me out of it and forced me to grow up quickly as I was suddenly a father and mother to my children. This experience thought me never to take any loved one for granted because you never know what happens tomorrow. As for being a woman, I believe the definition of a real woman is that woman that has developed the ability to balance her family life, her spiritual life and her professional life. I don’t fail to mention this whenever I am invited to speak to groups of women.
Every brand/show has its defined philosophy of who their target market/audience is, how will you describe your audience?
The show Airs on AIT network, AIT international, NTA network, NTA international, Ben Television (on sky network UK), GRTS in the Gambia, so have a pretty wide reach and a diverse audience, but Instead of talking about the ages or the location or standard of living demography, I would rather say that my target audience is that individual that has been silenced in any way. That individual that is afraid to share their thoughts so as to not be labelled. That individual that wants to be intellectually stimulated on a wide range of issues. That individual that has been told to be strong always and suck it up because we are black and black don’t crack. Because at the end of the day the truth is that we do crack, we crack so often we begin to perceive it as our normal. We need to talk about these issues so we can begin our journey to actually truly mending. Technically we have millions of viewers across Africa and in some parts of Europe.
Besides this line of business, you own and run a couple of other successful businesses, tell us about these other businesses you are involved it.
Oh wow (smile), this is a big question, let me try to summarise, my husband and I own a hospital in Abuja called Medimax Hospital, I am the Hospital’s counsellor/doula and I also manage the administrative department. Apart from this, I run an online
We are aware that you started your career with an NGO, what were your achievements from there and why did you leave the NGO community?
Yes, it is true that I started my career with NGOs. As for my achievements, I was able to head a team to raise over N100,000,000 for an NGO to build cancer screening centers in all parts of Nigeria. I have successfully organized fund raising events for First Ladies and a couple of small NGOs. I was also able to learn the ropes and gain experience in this field. I left because I wasn’t getting fulfillment, my passion to help people kept growing but I wasn’t making direct impact which always made me I feel like I was wasting. I still felt the need to do more to help humanity. Eventually I discovered my purpose and passion which is titling towards advocacy. So I am still helping people, but this time, in a different way. I also intend to start up another NGO very soon.
Tell us about your family life?
God has blessed me tremendously by surrounding me with people that love me so much. I have three beautiful children to the Glory of God and I have a very loving husband. My parents and siblings have stood by me and supported me all the way, and husband’s family loves me so much and treat me well. So I believe I have a good family life because I am happy and blessed with such important people in my life.
What advise do you have for the youths out there?
The first thing is to know God in the true sense of the word, the second is to discover your purpose or what you have come to this earth to do, then you can pick a partner that understands your journey and is willing to go with you anywhere. Once you get these at the beginning, you have laid a solid foundation for your future and everything will gradually fall into place. Finally, keep learning and networking, knowledge and contacts are never too much.