LOUD WHISPERS: The 2024 Grammys – We Won!
Over the past week, there were two events that got people talking on and offline. The first was what happened at the 2024 Grammy Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles on February 4th. The second was the Green Eagles qualifying for the AFCON finals in a match that was so intense, I am sure there are […]
LOUD WHISPERS: A Letter to The Chief of Army Staff
Dear sir, I am writing to appeal to you to keep a watchful eye on the disturbing accounts of allegations of sexual harassment of female soldiers in the Nigerian Army. I know that in light of the serious security challenges we are facing in the country right now, this might sound like a petty issue […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Cervical Cancer Month
When I was young, my mother and her sisters used to talk about a cousin of theirs who passed away when she was in her prime. She was a beautiful young woman who was loved by everyone, and she suddenly became ill, an illness that claimed her life. According to the story, she was the […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Misogyny and Gynophobia
Recently I have come across a lot of information that scares me. Is it my imagination, or do we have a generation that is more invested in the oppression and humiliation of women than we have ever seen before? There has always been a backlash against calls for social change, but do we now live […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Wolves and Sheep
‘Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath they are ravenous wolves’ (Matthew 7:15) I arrived Lagos from Abuja around 10am one morning in February 2011. Shortly after I arrived, I got a phone call from a former colleague of mine in Accra, let me call her Mary. Her twenty-eight-year-old […]
LOUD WHISPERS: I Will Not Agree
This is 2024 New year, new roads, new lanes New times, new language The young people have declared 2024 as the year of ‘I no go gree’ For those who need a decoding It means the year of ‘I will not agree’ I am not sure what this will mean exactly, but I will hazard […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Arakunrin
It is hard to believe another year has rolled by so quickly. We would all have experienced the year differently, but it can be agreed that January-December feels like just flipping a page – one second you are here and the next you are there. For the past three weeks I have battled a bad […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Your Neighbour’s Keeper
When I was growing up on Soyinka Street in Fadeyi, Lagos, we had all kinds of neighbours. My parents had just returned from England, and we lived in a building that had four flats, one of the ‘poshest’ properties on the street. Our flat was the top one in front, facing the street, so we […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Malaysia Airlines
This is going to be a long read, so get a drink ready as we begin. I have had many interesting travel adventures in my life, but none as traumatic as this one. I had been looking forward to my recent trip to Malaysia. The last time I visited was in 2008 for a conference. […]
LOUD WHISPERS: The Womanity Index Report
On December 4th 2023, I attended the launch of the Womanity Index Report, a project of Invictus-Africa in collaboration with Budg-It. The report is an attempt to assess sub-national responses to the fight against Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV). The findings of the report had both good and bad news. The bad news first. In […]
LOUD WHISPERS: The Heaven for Little Girls
Every year we commemorate the Global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, November 25th- December 10th. This global campaign is really a local one. It is about what we can all do about the pain of women and girls. Sadly, too many girls and women end up where they are not supposed to be. […]
LOUD WHISPERS: The ‘Motifaketional’ Gang
‘Motifaketion’’: The manipulation of vulnerable and gullible people under the guise of motivating them to greatness. Motifaketors are usually devoid of integrity, common sense and accountability. There have been a number of videos in circulation recently that I have found rather disturbing. I will start from the one that was sent to me by a friend. […]
LOUD WHISPERS: The Color Pink
It probably all started with an innocent fondness of former US First Lady Maime Eisenhower for the colour pink. It was said she loved pink so much that she wore it at every opportunity, including a pink gown with 2,000 pink rhinestones for her husband’s inauguration, and he in turn sent her pink flowers every […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Kolostica
I watched a video recently There is this Auntie I do not know her name So, I will call her Kolostica She has a husband – she is not a widow She has children – she is not on praying mountains begging God She has a house to live in – she is not homeless […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Sheila’s Blues
Years ago, I coordinated a documentary project with five other people. It involved shooting footage in six African countries over a period of two weeks. One of the crew members, let me call her Sheila, was married to another member of the team, I will call him David. Obviously, something was wrong with their marriage. […]