Stopping Babies From Being Ritually Killed in Nigeria
In 2016, I learned about a community in the outskirts of the Nigerian capital city of Abuja that was practicing a generations-old cultural ritual that involves killing babies. […]
Tag Archives: Chika Oduah
Muslim & Queer
I started wearing hijab when I was around three years old. It was both cultural and religious, so I never questioned it and wore it on and off until I […]
Zin’naariyâ! (‘The Wedding Ring’)
It’s a beautiful new film by the Nigerien journalist and film director, Rahmatou KEÏTA, which explores the themes of longing, love and travel. The film is called Zin’naariyâ, which means the […]
Preserving a ‘Poor Man’s Sport’
Recently, I became quite interested in a sport called dambe. It’s a martial art derived from the Hausa people of West Africa. It’s akin to boxing, or kickboxing, actually, […]
Remembering #IfAfricaWasABar
One of the best hashtags ever! Remember? The hashtag grabbed the attentions of millions of people. I was certainly one of them. It all started in July 2015. […]
The lost children of Nigeria: Boko Haram orphans thousands
Thousands of youths orphaned or separated from their parents by Boko Haram’s campaign of violence face ongoing trauma YOLA, Nigeria — Rose Wakulu is exhausted. Yet the 25-year-old […]
In Nigeria, neglected women bear the shame of fistulas
At least 500,000 women have vaginal fistulas, largely as a result of lack of medical care during pregnancy and labor JOS, Nigeria — After giving birth five times, all Amina […]
Miss Jill Scott, Black History Month
Miss Jill Scott. I love you. Not because you have a beautiful face and a wonderful body and a delicious voice, but because of what and who you represent. You […]
The Afro-German Experience Under Hitler
January 27 is the UN’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Commemorated to remember the liberation of Auschwitz, largest of the German Nazi concentration camps and extermination centers But I am writing this […]
Life or Death: Investigative Reporting In Nigeria
A few weeks ago, a Nigerian journalist uncovered alleged cases of rape and sodomy in a boys’ school in Kano, northern Nigeria. Reporting on a sensitive cultural taboo, the journalist […]
The widows of Boko Haram
Despite efforts by women’s groups, thousands of Nigerian widows struggle to survive because of Boko Haram’s insurgency. Maiduguri, Nigeria – For four months and 10 days, Falmata Gana never […]
In The Land Of Nigeria’s Kidnapped Girls
On Monday morning, May 12, I sat in the backseat of a Toyota Corolla, headed to Chibok. With a satin abaya draping my body in a sheath of black, and […]
Becoming Nigerian Part 1: One Year In
This is part 1 of my series ‘Becoming Nigerian’ I flew into Abuja, Nigeria on a Lufthansa aircraft in December 2012. It’s been one year, a year of profound personal […]
After God Is The Condom: Sexual Health In Nigeria
Bassey Ngehaje does not have a problem using condoms. When that moment approaches, when he’s aroused in the company of an alluring woman, Bassey pulls out a condom and puts […]
Nigeria’s Ethiopians Protest Abuse In Saudi Arabia
While thousands are decrying the reported abuse of Ethiopian migrants in Saudi Arabia, one woman hopes to stir more activism in Africa “I couldn’t sleep. If you see the pictures… […]
Josephat’s Search For Love
In continuing my story profiles on Tanzanian albinos in their struggling experiences to find love and get married (read more here: Love in a Time of Fear: Albino Women’s Stories […]
Love In A Time Of Fear: Albino Women’s Stories From Tanzania
Albino women in Tanzania share stories on love, family and survival in a country where albinos are targets for violence * * * * Grace Medaldi looked for love in […]
Jacarandas and Children: Reflections on Tanzania
It’s been exactly three weeks since I left Tanzania and my mind is pregnant with vivid thoughts. I must deliver. On an excursion made possible by the International Reporting Project […]
Nigeria Urged To Reduce Child Marriages
Activists believe women’s education and stronger laws will improve life in Africa’s most populous nation. Child marriage – defined as a marital union with a person under the age of […]
She Sings To Know She’s Alive
“I sing to know that I’m alive” starts with a calypso-inspired rhythm, Nina’s piano playing trails in. Then her unrefined, jarring voice “I sing just to know that I’m alive, […]
It Happened To Me
I got a job in New York City a few years ago. I was new to the American North; I still reeked of the South. Pillsbury biscuits, Georgian peaches and […]
Facing Child Marriage In Nigeria
The Nigerian Senate is reeling in the backlash of a sweeping outpouring of public protests. Activists and protesters are rallying on streets, tweeting and hashtagging #ChildNotBride, sharing editorials in the […]
Prayers For Trayvon’s Mother
Trayvon Martin’s mother lost her son and the man who killed him got away. The murder of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of his killer brings my mind not only […]
Black Americans Undergo Cleansing From ‘Slavery Stigma’
It took a trip to Africa to change 10 lives forever. Six months after Irene Toland, Sidney Davis, Robin Almeida and Pamela Ramsay joined a group traveling to Africa, the […]
Release Her Power
She brings you into this world in a flush of blood. Divining with the gods with each forceful thrust, shrieking into the hands of the invisibles. Burdened to dim her […]
Mandela, From Frame To Heart
Nelson Mandela smiled at me everyday when I walked by him. Softly curled lips and softly curled hair, his face beckoned me and I came to him. I’d plop myself […]
The US-Africa Relationship By The Numbers
The cost of President Obama’s eight-day trip to Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania has raised the ire of deficit hawks ever since the Washington Post broke news of the trip. […]
