Adichie’s “Half of a Yellow Sun” and Gyasi’s “Homegoing” were named under the “Identity” section, with Ben Okri‘s “Astonishing the Gods” also on the list, under the “Life, Death & other Worlds” section.
Books by James Baldwin, Zadie Smith, Ernest Hemingway, and Arundhati Roy also make the list, as well as crowd favourites like “The Twilight Saga” by Stephanie Meyer and the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling.
Check out the full list on BBC.
Credit: Bella Naija
A Nigerian journalist, Toyosi Ogunseye, has become the vice president of World Editors Forum (WEF).
Ogunseye who heads the BBC West Africa, was elected on Saturday at the annual meeting of WEF held in Scotland.
She is to deputise Warren Fernandez, editor of the Straits Times and editor-in-chief of Singapore Press Holdings’ English, Malay and Tamil Media Group, for the next two years.
Expressing her pleasure to serve in the capacity in a tweet, she wrote: “This morning, the @WorldEditors board voted Warren Fernandez @theSTeditor as President and me as Vice President. Warren and I are pleased to serve and humbled to lead the World Editors Forum. #WINSummit19 #WNMC19”
Meanwhile, the outgoing WEF president, Dave Callaway, who spoke shortly after their emergence, said: “Warren and Toyosi’s elections ensure WEF is in good hands as we encounter the challenges of the next two years. With media freedom under attack from all sides, a diverse, experienced leadership is what we need to help bring our industry together and take it forward.”
A Mandela Washington fellow, Ogunseye is one of the most revered journalists in Africa; with an outstanding career at The PUNCH, where she had risen to the position of the first female editor since the organisation was founded about five decades ago.
In her career as a journalist for about 15 years, she has won more 30 awards. Some of these are the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME); CNN MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year Awards (2011 and 2013); Knight International Journalism Award; and the Nigerian Academy of Science Journalist of the Year.
WEF is the leading network for print and digital editors of newspapers and news organisations around the world.
This is the first time that its leadership would be from Asia and Africa since it was established about two decades ago.
Credit: fabwoman.ng
The first woman to read the news on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), has died at the age of 93.
The broadcaster, Nancy ‘Nan Winton’ Wigginton, was taken to the hospital on May 8 following a fall at her home in Bridport, Dorset. Her condition worsened and she passed away at Dorchester County Hospital on Saturday, May 11.
An inquest into her death was opened and closed at the coroner’s court in Bournemouth on Thursday.
Winton who started reading the 6pm news in 1960 also read the weekly news bulletins on a Sunday evening.
She also worked as a BBC TV continuity announcer and her other work included Panorama and Town and Around, a nightly magazine show.
After stepping down from reading the news, Winton remained a television and news reporter. She was also a regular panelist on the radio panel game show Treble Chance.
According to Dailymail, on the day Winton was taken to hospital, aged 93, it was found she had fractured her femur. Surgery was carried out the next day. She later suffered failure of the heart, respiratory system and kidneys. She was taken to critical care, but died in the ward.
A cause of death was given as congestive heart failure, hypertension and frailty of old age.
A full inquest is scheduled to take place on January 29 next year.
Credit: LIB
This actor and campaigner’s story is an inspiring one.
Sarah Gordy, 40, with Down Syndrome has become the first person with the condition to receive an honorary degree from a UK university.
The University of Nottingham on Wednesday honoured Sarah with a Doctor of Laws degree at a ceremony at University Park campus.
Sarah had earlier in November, became the first woman with Down Syndrome to be made an MBE.
She’s starred in British TV show “Call The Midwife” and is a very active campaigner for people with learning disability.
“If I believed all the things that people said I couldn’t do, I would not have done any [dancing, acting and campaigning],” she said during her acceptance speech
She adds: “Don’t listen to doubt… believe in yourselves.”
Sarah’s mother, Jane Gordy said of her daughter: “As far as I was concerned Sarah was going to have every experience there is and if she wants to do something, just do it.”
Watch Sarah below:
Source:Bellanaija
11-year-old Misimi Isimi also known as ‘Miss Environmental’, is determined to save Lagos from all of its environmental waste.
Speaking to BBC, Isimi shared just how annoying waste disposal is in Lagos and her efforts to rid the city of its waste.
Isimi explained how a lot of adults are not environmentally responsible, and how she educates kids on proper waste disposal.
Watch her speak below:
BBC World Service✔@bbcworldservice
This 11-year-old girl is on a mission to clean up pollution in Nigeria’s largest city.
More stories from around the world: https://bbc.in/2RkMExH
Her alias is “Nalongo Muzaala Bana” (the twin mother that produces quadruplets) and she truly deserves that nickname.
When she was 12 years old, she married a man 28 years her senior, after surviving an attempt of by her stepmother.
She says that her stepmother put broken and crushed glass in the food, which killed her four siblings.
Mariam survived because she was not around at the time, but her parents still got rid of her by marrying her off to an older man.
Her husband physically abused her whenever she said or did something that he wasn’t in support of.
“My husband was polygamous with many children from his past relationships who I had to take care of because their mothers were scattered all over,” Mariam told Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper.
“He was also violent and would beat me at any opportunity he got even when I suggested an idea that he didn’t like.”
Mariam Nabatanzi gave birth to her first children, a set of twins, in 1994 when she was 13 years old.She had her first set of triplets when she was 15 years old.
Barely two years after that, she delivered quadruplets.
Mariam never saw this routine of having so many children a ‘strange phenomenon’ because she has seen it several times before.
Also, she felt having so many children wasn’t so bad since her father had 45 children with several women. She further says that they all came in sets of quintuplets, quadruples, twins and triplets.
A gynecologist at Mulago Hospital, Dr. Charles Kiggundu told Daily Monitor that the reason for Mariam’s extreme fertility is probably genetic:
Her case is genetic predisposition to hyper-ovulate (releasing multiple eggs in one cycle), which significantly increases the chance of having multiples; it is always genetic.”
Mariam had always dreamed of having six children, but by her sixth pregnancy, she had already given birth to 18 babies, and she wanted to stop.
She tried to get help from a hospital, but after going through some tests, the gynecologist informed her that interfering with her fertility would put her life at risk.
“Having these unfertilized eggs accumulate poses not only a threat to destroy the reproductive system but can also make the woman lose their lives,” Dr Ahmed Kikomeko from Kawempe General Hospital asserted.
I was advised to keep producing since putting this on hold would mean death. I tried using the Inter Uterine Device (IUD) but I got sick and vomited a lot, to the point of near death. I went into a coma for a month
At age 23, Mariam already had 25 children, and she went to the hospital. However, they told her that nothing was possible to stop the birthing, as her egg count was still very high.
Mariam Nabatanzi’s birthing troubles ended in December 2016 after she gave birth to her last baby.
She says that the doctor told her that he had “cut my uterus from inside”. Dr. Kiggundu asserted that this was most likely tubal ligation.
“I can comfortably tell you that our siblings do not know what father looks like. I last saw him when I was 13 years old and only briefly in the night because he rushed off again,” Charles, her son said.
After Daily Monitorfeatured Mariam Nabatanzi’s story in April last year, a crowdfunding campaign wascreated for her on GoFundMe. It managed to raise $10,000 in more than a month.
Caroline struggled with alcohol addiction for 18 years of her life. She lost two babies to addiction, suffering miscarriages both times.
She describes her miscarriage as, ‘a guilt I can’t even put to words,’ but also shares her journey to getting help.
Watch her speak to the BBC below:
Adetutu OJ Alabi is a single mum and face model who went viral for her remake of a Rihanna photoshoot which got her a follow from the superstar.
The model, who has tribal marks, speaks to BBC Africa about her work and why tribal marking should be stopped.
Watch:
Angel Wanjiru was born with a congenital disorder called hydrocephalus which affected the shape of her head. Speaking to BBC Africa in an interview, Angel said, several doctors told her mother, she wouldn’t survive but she did.
In 2016, at the age of 14, Angel released her first song, which was inspired by the discrimination she faced with people around her. She said the only way she has survived so far was ignoring people’s perception about her.
Angel encouraged everyone to accept themselves just the way they are. Watch this video for more details on her interview with BBC Africa.
Watch below:
Ore Onile-Ere relocated to Nigeria with a ‘healthy dose of optimism, faith and grace’ to gain success in the motherland and afar. Having worked at the BBC, ITV, Vox Africa, she honed her craft in hospital radio for the NHS. Since moving back to Lagos two years ago, Ore has found a home at the newly launched Lagos Talks 91.3 FM, anchoring the popular drive-time belt, ‘The Live Drive With Ore’ every weekday. A host as well as a voice-over artiste, she has expanded her reach to include modeling, walking for ‘About That Curvy Life’ at the Arise Fashion Week earlier this year. With her sights firmly set on other media platforms such as television and more hosting gigs, this budding avid traveler talks about her move back to Nigeria, encouraging other women to pursue their dreams and her plans for the future.
You recently relocated to Nigeria from the U.K, what informed this decision and how easy or difficult was it?
I always had it at the back of my mind that living in England my whole life wasn’t what I wanted for myself.It was getting to a stage in my life where I knew I wanted a challenge; something that could take me out of my comfort zone and let me thrive at the same time.
So two years ago, after much deliberation and research, I moved to Nigeria.
It wasn’t the easiest of decisions, but it was important to me that I tried. What however made it easier was that I was landing straight into a job right in my field.
I knew if I moved here and then looked for a job, the frustrations would seep in quicker.
Why did you say you moved with a healthy dose of ‘optimism, faith and grace’?
Lagos is a terrain I am not familiar with, and when you have grown up seeing how things are done in a completely different manner, I really think you need those things; prayer included.
You hear about the realities of life in this country and you have to shut it out, with the belief that yours will be different and make a success of it. So I took a leap as big as I could contend with, and two years later, I’m still here.
Having worked for the BBC, ITV and Vox Africa, how did this experience prepare you for your career in the media and how will you compare with working in Nigeria?
The experience I gained in those media houses after graduating really helped put me through the steps needed to become a full-fledged Broadcast Journalist. It helped me recognise both my strengths and my weaknesses. Comparing it to working here, you almost have to compromise on things, because the rules are completely different here and you have to learn to adapt to it; not necessarily conform however.
Coming in guns blazing, saying ‘back in England, this is how it’s done and what not’, would do me no favours whatsoever. I’m still shocked about what is deemed acceptable and unacceptable for broadcast.
Tell us about your journey to working on radio in Lagos?
In 2013, I came to Nigeria for a family event and that’s when the media realm in Lagos caught my attention.Once I was back in England, I did a little research about it and then left it on a back-burner for a year.Early in 2015, eager not to get complacent about a change of scenery, I looked into it again, sent my show reel-out to various media houses (both TV and Radio) to see what was out there and the feedback was great. I spent the bulk of 2015 flying in and out, alongside doing Skype interviews. I ended that year feeling confident about the reception I got.
At this point, in the deliberation stages and tedious contract agreements going back and forth, I contemplated being on ground in Lagos without a concrete offer in place.
Luckily at the beginning of 2016, I got my first break with Lagos Talks, which was also a brand new station and we went live in August that year.
You wear several hats: radio host, voice over artiste, and even model, how do you make everything work?
(Laughing) Oh, am I a model? I didn’t realise that. Yes, radio here definitely opens many doors here.
You’re not just a Radio presenter; your personality gives way to a brand you make for yourself, which other people want to associate with. And all the other hats are most welcome.
Since being here, I’ve hosted governance ceremonies in Abuja, been on Television programmes, hosted luncheons for Women in Business and voice-overs for both popular and private clients.
It all seems surreal when I think about it long enough, but it’s all part of the bigger picture- branding. Anonymity is quite scarce in this industry.
Some people claim that the only criteria for getting on Radio/TV now is having a foreign accent, how true is this in your experience?
Yes, it’s a popular conundrum in this industry and although I’ve heard it and fallen prey to the authenticity of my accent, I don’t like to think so.
I work on Talk Radio, therefore, the requirements are that one must be knowledgeable in the topics being discussed. How far will your accent take you if you’re not concise?
What would you say has been your greatest achievement so far?
Besides moving here and immersing myself in all that this city throws at you? I’m joking! All the opportunities being here have afforded me so far has been fantastic.
My plan is to build myself up on radio, before going in for TV, that’s always been the end goal for me, but I’m enjoying the journey towards that.
On a daily basis though, getting on the airwaves talking to Lagos, interviewing interesting people and networking, it’s all been a big deal for me.
Has there been any experience recently that made you want to give up?
Thankfully not. The terrain can sometimes make you feel like packing it all in and booking a one-way ticket back to Heathrow Airport, but then again, it also adds colour and there’s no greater feeling than to conquer the struggle.At the end of the day, I’m happy with my decision thus far.
In the beginning, my parents were against this move, they did try to dissuade me at the time and I almost got the sense of them wanting to say, ‘if it doesn’t work out, don’t say we didn’t warn you.’
If I ever gave up (laughs) but I know it came from a place of concern and love, which I understand, but that’s all in the past. I’m taking in all of Lagos, flaws and all.
What changes would you like to see effected that would positively turn things around for Nigerian women?
I believe we have to start from an earlier age. Girls being told from a young age that they can do and be better.
This change in mindset from early on will result in Nigerian women who have no fears and can compete for all the positions they deserve.
There is definitely a change in movement where women are concerned, and not to sound like a feminist, because I’m not, their voices are getting louder, the faces around the tables are changing and they are getting what they want and deserve and teaching young women to do the same.
I look at the Forbes’ women under 30 and 40 lists and you can pick a number of Nigerian women from that list.Look at Genevieve, with her break with Netflix. It’s all happening and the generations of women behind are seeing this.
What inspires and motivates you?
Learning from my mistakes, because every experience or encounter, mainly the mistakes, helps teach and push me into being more of who I ought to be. It’s much like ticking off a goal I’ve set for myself.
Getting results. It is also encouraging to see my work help others accomplish their own goals.
When it comes to people that inspire and motivate me, a number of my family members that have surrounded me growing up, do well on that front.
Irrespective of how well and comfortable they were brought up, their work ethic, readiness and go-getting attitude to accomplishing success on their own, has afforded me a similar vision that I want for myself.
How do you relax and de-stress?
There’s a big social scene out here, whether you’re waiting out traffic, or weekends, there’s just always something to do in Lagos and I’m happy to be a part of it, sometimes.
When I’m not a part of that, my immediate family live in England, so nothing gives me more joy than checking in with my family and friends overseas; updating each other on what’s on ground. Sometimes it feels like I’m still there.
What should we expect from you in say, two years from now?
Well, I’ve started on radio in Lagos and plan to establish myself on that platform; after that, the next step is to get into television. By then, all anonymity will be out the window.
Television should be a focal point in my broadcasting career, be it in Nigeria or Diaspora, it all works for me.If ever I’m in England, I’d hope to be recognised as an African Broadcaster, that’s what I want for myself- doing great, informative things in this industry.
Any last words for women that have been inspired by you?
Thank you so very much! I do not take any of it for granted. I hope women see that what they want is attainable and they themselves can do it.
Don’t be afraid to take risks and push yourself out of your comfort zone that might just be the step that leads you to your biggest accomplishment yet.
And know that all our lights shine just as bright. Not brighter than another’s but just as bright.
Interview by: Tobi Awodipe
For : Guardian Nigeria
