Onome had been enduring an abusive relationship with Victor for more than five years. She had attempted talking to her parents and friends at different times, but they always end up blaming her and advising her to stop complaining, learn to be tolerant and return to her marriage. On May 11, 2014, Onome finally jumps in front of a moving truck, ending her life.
In another part of the country, Festus had been having work challenges as his direct manager had been sexually harassing him for many months. He had mentioned this severally to his wife & colleagues who had told him not to resign and evade him stylishly as they needed all the money they could get. For a long time this was happening, he was passed up for several promotions and compensations as a result of his refusal to play ball. And after a confrontation with his boss where he vehemently mentioned it was never going to happen, he was relieved of his position and framed for money laundering in his department. He was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment on January 14, 2013.
Onome & Festus are simply one of several women and men that have had to endure abusive relationships/marriages, societal condemnation, sexual harassment & intimidation and would have benefited immensely from some experienced down-to-earth expert advice on such critical matters that affect the heart. What could have made the difference was if someone had listened to them vent and not judge. Society expects certain types of behavior from these classes of people, but maybe with some sound non-judgmental advice, Onome could have survived & Festus may not have been jailed or even terminated from employment.
The need for an anonymous and non-judgmental avenue for relationship conflict resolution and advice has led three young socialpreneurs to establish “Seek “a” Counsel”, the first ever online counseling website in Nigeria. Seek “a” Counsel wants to provide an opportunity for people at different levels of relationship, career level and marriage to share their sorrows, pains, problems, fears, mental health and emotional well-being across a platform that would not only guide them to self-actualization but protect their identity in the process.
The Seek “a” Counsel online counseling service is a novel initiative in Nigeria that seeks to provide an online platform for people yearning to share their experiences and receive counseling and who would rather share their problems with expert listeners and counselors than share with friends and family that may not guarantee confidentiality.
Care to be a part of this laudable initiative? Sign up to get notified as soon as they launch their web page in a few days’ time–http://signup.seekacounsel.com. And to be a part of their team of counselors & listeners to help people worldwide attain their full potentials and reach self-realization through various levels of counseling, you can join their growing team of voluntary listeners and counselors by sending an email to admin@seekacounsel.com. To sponsor and be a contributor to this initiative, you can send a mail to seek@seekacounsel.com.
You can follow them on;
Facebook – http://Facebook.com/seekacounsel,
Twitter –http://Twitter.com/seekacounsel
Instagram – http://Instagram.com/seekacounsel
Skype – seekacounsel
Be a part of something great. Let’s Seek “a” Counsel.
