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 through to my parents. My parents lived in Anambra State while I schooled in Ebonyi. Scared for how I’d cope...

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. I had dropped my phone at the prison entrance as we weren’t allowed to go in with phones. Coming out...

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 delivery. Years before, while in the United States, I had met a child with Down Syndrome. He was 4 years...

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 meet my parents and feel they don’t have children because they have only girls. Growing up this way comes with...

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 future.  “Artists find it hard to “make it” in Nigeria, you may want to consider being an architect. At...

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 months.  I had too many questions; why is this happening to me? What is going on here? Who did I...

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 impoverished families. We had no access to basic health services and quality education. Growing up here meant your life wouldn’t...

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 any form of partiality and unfairness. It never sat down well with me. In class, it was almost certain I...

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 great-grandmother lived for it, my grandmother (Alhaja) lived for it, and my mom also. Alhaja taught me what it meant...

I remember telling my parents I was not going to be a missionary.  My dad, displeased with what he was hearing, said to me “we will see about that”. My mom, however, asked me one day “David, do you know you are a missionary?” I said, “No, I am not a missionary, I am a changemaker”. Then she retorts, “What...

My journey into the world of mental health is a deeply personal one, filled with experiences that have shaped my passion for helping others navigate the complexities of their own mind. In 2017, just six months after giving birth to my first child, I found myself plunged into the depths of postpartum depression. It was a bewildering and challenging time...

Many years ago, my father came to Kaduna as an Almajiri child. The odds were stacked against him, there was no way he wouldn’t live all his life on the streets. Unlike many of his peers, he was able to ultimately craft a life for himself and start a family. This story is not about my father, but of the...