StoriesFromNigeria

The first time I began to understand what was going on was when I fell on the Assembly ground in Secondary School. I had had a series of recurring seizures. On getting to the hospital, the school put a call…

I was going into the prison yard when my dad called me on the phone. Instinctively I picked up the call and responded “Daddy, I’m in prison. I’ll call you back”.  I didn’t think it through before I said that.…

When my daughter was born, we didn’t have a normal naming ceremony. You know the kind with happy faces and congratulatory stares. There were sad faces and gloom in the air. We all knew there was a problem right after…

My parents kept trying to have a boy but ended up with seven girls. I am the last of the pack of seven (now six). I am fond of saying I come from a “girl’s hostel”. Back then, people would…

You could see the concern on their faces. My family was used to seeing artists by the roadside, trying to sell portraits of celebrities and politicians to passers-by. I had taken an interest in art, and they were afraid for…

My daughter Beulah was born with a congenital limb deformity.  In the first few years after we had her, I was devastated. She was to be amputated at 27 months old, and I cried every day non-stop for those 27…

I can remember, my mom would trek long distances to fetch clean water for me and my eight siblings. This wasn’t our reality alone, it was for a lot of people in the community. My community had a lot of…

I loved watching my dad dress in his robe, and a wig on his head. As a child, he was my first introduction to what a lawyer looked like and what the justice system was. I grew up to dislike…

Alhaja gave me the name Abimbola which means born with riches. “I come from a bloodline of very strong, selfless women”. I have worn many hats in the course of my life, but this one describes me the most. My…