Chizaram Iroaganachi: What does freedom look like?
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 would speak up if I didn’t like something or like how you treat another person. I would always stand up for them. I had an intimidating stature and I always used it to my advantage. I had a little secret; I couldn’t fight anybody if it came to it, but they didn’t need to know that.
Much hasn’t changed as an adult, I still cannot fight, but I would not shy away from lending my voice. I recently got involved in a situation that bordered on abuse towards someone. I wasn’t having it. People said to me, “Let it go, it’s not your fight”. I wasn’t going to let it go. I proceeded with the case to submit a domestic violence petition. It was unfair what was happening and something had to be done.
When you are as outspoken as I am, and hate to see the mistreatment of others, the path is that you become a lawyer. I took this path, and at the University of Lagos, I studied law. There were many aspects of law I found interesting. A particular course on “gender and law”’’ was what resonated the most with who I was becoming. This course opened me up to the ideas of feminism and inequality. It also showed how women are at the receiving end of most inequality situations.
What defines my life is empathy. Empathy and the belief in freedom for everyone, particularly women. I am quick to commend a woman's beauty or admire something about her. But nowadays, I pay more attention, especially to her interactions. If I meet a married woman, and I notice she doesn't make eye contact, I get curious. If I also see a certain body language, it reveals to me that something might be wrong. As an advocate, I have seen these signs several times in women experiencing some form of abuse. Another scenario is me seeing a lady give off signs of discomfort when walking with a guy. I start thinking “Should I step in and do something? What could be wrong with her?”. This is because problems don't hide; they are usually in plain sight. It often depends on the willingness to fix the problem or not.
I volunteered with the International Federation of Women Lawyers in Lagos. I wanted to fix problems. The organization handles cases of women who have suffered abuse. This ranges from physical to financial abuse. Many of the women abandoned by their husbands found it difficult to move on with their lives. At the start of their marriages, they were not allowed to work. Some married as teenagers with no real-life skills. They were stuck. What freedom looks like is when everyone (especially women) have a choice. They don't have to put themselves in harm's way from a lack of options. When you come from a place of disadvantage, it appears as though you don't have choices. These women felt this way. In my time as a volunteer, I got in a lot of conversations with several of these women. The conversations had a recurrent theme; they all said the same thing in a different way, “I don't have a choice”. It always left me bewildered and asking “What do you mean by you don't have a choice?”.
I continue to advocate for women and equality. I also began thinking about the environment. Like some of these women, the earth has suffered abuse, mistreatment, and misuse. Both represent the source of life, both “women” and “mother-earth”. Women and the earth need a chance at redemption from all the years of brokenness and abuse. My work centers on gender equality and climate justice/sustainability. The day-to-day focus is on women getting economic benefits from sustainable initiatives.
A lot of women that experience violence or abuse, are not empowered to walk away from such situations. They remain in such abusive situations because of the fear of survival. I wanted to help women get empowered. In 2021, I came up with a project I called "Atunlo" (ah-toon-low) which in Yoruba means " it's still in use or to recycle". Atunlo is a community-based recycling initiative. It currently provides economic empowerment for women in underserved communities. This women-led initiative helps to empower these women and the environment through recycling.
My team and I began going into some of the communities where a lot of the women were waste pickers. One thing about the recycling economy is that women are the " foot soldiers". They're the ones who go about picking bottles, cans, water sachets, and other things. They do not receive adequate compensation as they should. This is because there's a middleman who buys from them and resells to the companies that do the recycling.
The women spend most of their time at the dump site with no nose masks, working with bare hands. When you ask the cost of what they pick up if it is sold, it usually amounts to them making very little. I had conversations with some of the middlemen, asking how much they bought the items from the women. I realised that these women were at a disadvantage, they don't have access to information. They could be making more, but, as I like to say " what you don't know, you don't know". So I found ways to help keep records; such as the total number of plastics, what it generates, and what it will cost. I also helped the women get direct access to the recycling companies.
My dad inspired me to value justice. Seeking justice led me to advocate for women rights and empowerement. My mum inspired my passion for recycling. She made me conscious of the plastic problem. Anytime it floods, plastic and other wastes litter everywhere. At the unpleasant sight of it she would say “these are the things that block the drainages!”. Even in our home, we always put our recyclable waste in a separate bin, sort and then take it to a recycling hub. That has now become second nature for me. I don't put plastic bottles into waste bins. I always gather it until they are enough to give to one of the women who picks it up to take for recycling. Atunlo brought these two inspirations together.
Recycling is helping to solve the problem of plastic pollution and also a way for the women to make money. The recycling initiatives have changed the lives of many women. They can now take care of their families. They no longer have the fear of walking away from abuse. A lot of them now have options, and for me, this is what freedom looks like.
