LOUD WHISPERS: Dear Minister, Let’s Talk About Sex (Again)
Dear Honourable Minister for Education, I trust all is well with you sir. I hope you do not mind my writing this public letter to you. I thought that since this is a matter of national importance, and the position you have taken is public knowledge, I should table my concerns publicly as well. I […]
LOUD WHISPERS: I Lift Up Mine Eyes Unto The Hills
The Ekiti State Government House was built on a hill known as Oke Ayoba (Ayoba Hill). Construction started on the building in 2012 and it was completed in 2014, during the first administration of Governor Kayode Fayemi (2010-2014) a period known in Ekiti as JKF1. Since JKF lost re-eleciton in June 2014, it meant that […]
LOUD WHISPERS: London Bridge
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi I remember when Prince Charles Philip Arthur George was made the Prince of Wales in July 1969. I was a little girl then and I remember being fascinated by all the crowds, pomp and pageantry on television that day. I also remember that they gave us special treats at my school in Liverpool. […]
LOUD WHISPERS: If I Had My Way
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi How many times have you heard people say, If I had my way……………. Then they would go ahead to list all those things they would do if they had the final say on the matter. Every one of us has such a list. This is mine. If I had my way, there would […]
LOUD WHISPERS: The Library Card
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi It has been thirty-six years since I borrowed a library card From a shy, handsome, gap-toothed classmate He came to my University for a degree He left with his degree and something else Three years later we walked down the aisle A simple beautiful ceremony in London The dress was from Debenhams The […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Saratu’s Wish
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi Saratu could not stop staring at the woman who was speaking. She was not sure what her name was because people kept calling her different things. Some called her “Her Excellency”, some addressed her as “Madam” and others called her “Doctor” or “Hajia”. She thought she heard the name “Amina”, but she […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Yeye Oodua
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi Two years ago, I was talking to a middle-aged woman in Ekiti State about what could be done to support her daughter who had been a victim of sexual abuse. Her thirteen-year-old daughter had been exploited for quite some time by a local Pastor, under the pretext of giving her money to […]
LOUD WHISPERS: The Heaven for Little Girls
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi There is hardly much to cheer about these days with gloom and doom everywhere we look. I however let out a loud whoop when I heard that the actor known as ‘Baba Ijesha’ has been jailed for 16 years for the rape of a minor. Well done to all those who demanded and […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Let Us Pay Attention
A beautiful young woman with a lot of promise went over the bridge into the lagoon. Just like that. She had to have been in a terribly dark place to have ended her own life. The number of people ending their lives because they feel alone, helpless and worthless is on the rise. As Africans, […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Demand and Supply
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi I walked into the conference hall alone, leaving all my aides outside and stood at the high table waiting for the national anthem to start. I looked around at the audience and my heart started to beat faster than normal. I could not believe what I was seeing. When you have been engaged […]
A gender and development specialist, social entrepreneur, policy advocate, writer, business woman, wife and mother. 
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