chika unigwe
@chikaunigwe
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writer,mother,wife, TEDxEuston team. The Middle Daughter (2023: Dzanc; Canongate); Grace (Forthcoming '25)
Gburugburu
Joined June 2009
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1/ Years ago, I left a 100 euro note on my desk , and I was so convinced my cleaner had taken it. As I had no proof and I wanted to keep her, I didn't ask her about it. No one steals, I reasoned, to admit to it. And if she hadn't taken it, I didn't want to falsely accuse her
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5/I was grateful to find my stuff back, but more grateful that I never accused this now-deceased woman of stealing them, because I wouldn't have had the chance to ask for her forgiveness. My point is that unless you are 100 % sure, do not throw accusations around
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1/ The comedian, Helen Paul, recently shared in a talk that she was born from rape. She also spoke of how, because of the circumstances surrounding her birth, she and her mother were treated as pariahs, not just by outsiders but also by those closest to them—her mother’s siblings
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My brother, Peter Obi has always supported the arts. I had an idea ( and connections) for a writers house in Awka. Land was promised. Bureaucracy frustrated it and Obiano came in and killed it. I am also no longer at Brown. I am at Georgia College. Facts matter
In 2012, in a bid to encourage writers, Mr Peter Obi donated the sum of 2 million & a plot of land in Awka to Chika Unigwe as the winner of d NLNG for literature. She is now a prof
2nd frame PO with Chika Unigwe, Prof of Creative Writing at Brown University, Rhodes Island, USA.
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@RichardChilee
No. I think not accusing her falsely was a bigger deal to me. I knew that if she had taken them, she would never have told me that she had, so what would my asking her achieve? If she hadn't, I would have accused her falsely. either way, it was a situation I couldn't win
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#BuchiEmecheta
was born Florence Onyebuchi Emecheta on July 21, 1944 , in (Yaba) Lagos. Her mother, Alice Ogbanje Ojebeta Emecheta was a former slave girl, sold into slavery by her brother to a relative to raise money for silk head ties for his coming-of age dance.
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Emecheta was brave, strong, focused. Her then husband destroyed her 1st manuscript at a time when folks wrote longhand and didn't have docs. saved on a computer. She rewrote the novel, raised 5 kids by herself and wrote prolifically
REMEMBERING
PROLIFIC WRITER AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS CAMPAIGNER
BUCHI EMECHETA
(21 July 1944 – 25 January 2017)
Today, we remember the literary icon and one of Nigeria’s most revered female writers- Buchi Emecheta.
She was described as the author who told the stories of other
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Ndo is such a beautiful Igbo word. It is indicative of how NdiIgbo value empathy. ‘Sorry’ is a poor approximation of it . Ndo says ‘ I feel with you’ in a way ‘sorry’ is unable to.
#IgboAmaka
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3/ She continued working for me until she died not long after. 6 years later, we were moving continents , and to prepare our stuff for the move, I went through the pockets of all my coats and in one I hadn't worn in those 6 years,I found a 100 euro note
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I write about disinheriting daughters in parts of Igbo land, a culture that privileges men and Igbo fathers not writing their wills in toy column today: "In 1981, when Lazarus Ogbonna Ukeje died, his daughter Gladys, was supposed to inherit nothing from him.
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4/in the multi disc-CD player in our room which I had got ready to sell before the move, the CD was stuck , and had been for 6 years. I'd just assumed one of the changers wasn't working
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@UjuAnya
Lol. Reminds me of mine who said a girl asked him how to say I love you in French. He taught her , she repeated it to him . He nodded like yeah, that’s it. Long story short , she stopped talking to him . We love our sons !!
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So much to say about this tweet but I’m too sad to be articulate so I’ll just say this: Sushi. Biryani. Falafel. Teriyaki. Kebab. Name your food and the world will follow. That’s how it should be .
Dear Nigerians, it is not 'Kilishi' it is 'Beef Jerky' 🥵
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2/ Around the same period, a favorite CD of mine went walk-about right after she finished cleaning. Again, I had no proof, so I didn't ask her about it.I just told myself to be more careful
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So grateful for all the support and good wishes from everyone
I am again exhilarated by the intriguing story of a Nigerian author, Prof
@chikaunigwe
, who recently earned two global honorary distinctions: the decoration of Knight of the Order of the Crown and recognition with a Proclamation/Oorkonde by the Christoffel Plantin Fonds,
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@ava
@TheAcademy
To borrow from Achebe: What you hear when you watch Lion Heart is Igbo masked as English. Our English is a Nigerian language and it’s alive and thriving and inventive: ‘swallow’ for fufu ; I cannot come and kill myself etc. The Academy is wrong
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"Never give up" is neither practical nor wise advice. There are times when the best, the wisest, the sanest thing one can do is give up , walk away, lock the door and throw away the key.
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I am so grateful I went to a Federal Government College. I learned from experience that no single region of Nigeria has a monopoly on brilliance. Or stupidity. Or generosity. Or stinginess. Or anything at all
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6 pregnancies, 4 live births; 1 miscarriage, 1 ectopic pregnancy. All the things I could write about my body, this battle ground, this sacred land, this me
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so one of my teens loves
@Camila_Cabello
, and plays her every morning in the car when he's being dropped off and yes, already has a ticket to her concert in Antwerpen in the summer (which means our summer destination is already planned!)
#parenting
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The next generation is all grown and finding their way and finding their heart and adulting . If you’re so inclined , say a prayer for my son and his recently affianced, my beautiful to-be new daughter. God is good!!
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1/
In April, a 48 year old actor, supposedly big (?) in Yoruba-language cinema , Olarenwaju Omiyinka aka
#BabaIjesha
was arrested for sexually molesting a 14 year old girl whom he had allegedly been assaulting since she was 7.He was caught on tape & he confessed to it.
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It’s always safer to be fans of an artist’s works rather than of the artist themself.Unless you know that artist well and personally and etc. Humans can disappoint you, art won’t. And yes, nasty people can make great art. It’s not fair but that’s life
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To write well, one needs a good ear, a large heart , a good dose of curiosity , and the humility to learn/ask what they do not understand
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Nwanne na nwanne ….two amazing covers, one book, same lucky author
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When this
#pandemic
ends and we inherit a new world, may it find us humbler, kinder and more grateful than ever
#coronavirus
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4/Helen Paul’s story has a happy ending: despite all the obstacles in her way, she has obviously become massively successful. To borrow from the poem by the Greek poet Dinos Christianopoulos, her community tried to bury her, but they didn’t know she was a seed.
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In Abriba dialect, the word for man is Onye ife: person of light. According to some Igbo philosophers, the Igbo word for man is split in two: mma du/ di: the goodness there is. So we are called to show light/ be good. When we deviate from that, we deviate from being truly Igbo
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@RichardChilee
PS. There are circumstances where to ask carries the weight of an accusation, and this was one of them
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The old man who watches silently as children dig a grave in his backyard, for whom does he think they are digging it? - Igbo proverb.
#akonauche
#Igboamaka
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20/If anyone should be hiding in the shadows, afraid to show their face, it should be those doing the raping. Those are the ones we should be hunting and ensuring that they face justice. They are not seeds to be buried, they are weeds to be uprooted.
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African writers : everything we write is African literature. We DEFINE what it is . And it is glorious and messy and expansive and delightful and sad and happy and everything that we are as individuals, and as members of our communities . It isn’t a SINGLE story
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12/In both cases, the rapists are offered the opportunity to “fix” their crime, while the victims aren’t offered any healing or justice. The most they are given is the ability to “save face.”
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7/It’s not my place to tell the indomitable Ms. Paul how to live her life, what hurts to let go of, what relationships to nurture and with whom, but since reading that interview, I have been thinking about how easily rapists are rehabilitated in our society, and it irks me.
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Every tweet has its audience. And that audience doesn't have to include you all the time. It's okay to waka pass if you stumble onto one from which you're precluded from its intended audience and save all of us the wisdom of your words. The world will survive.
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Obiano told me that whatever his predecessor promised had nothing to do with him. If I wanted the land, I had to pay to buy it. I couldn't afford to , so end of story.
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Is this the same woman who mocked someone's kid for celebrating getting into a school in Canada? Or are they 2 different people? Hypocritical much?
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The blood of the dead will rise and condemn those who caused it to spill
#Nigeria
#EndSARS
#LekkiMassacre
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@OkoyeCardinal
There was no plot of land, sadly. It was promised but bureaucracy and red tape frustrated it, and then Obiano took over and killed it. I'm also no longer at Brown. Facts are important.
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Many years ago, my mom’s friend lost her husband. When my mom & co went to console her, they met her cussing him out. He’d willed thier house - a house the wife had built ( in his name as per ‘good wife’)as she was making more money than he- to a son the wife didn’t know he had.
No one cares in whose name a married woman buys her wigs and clothes. Till she wants to buy a car, house or piece of land. That's when witches and wizards crawl out of their holes and tell her to put her husband's name on the documents to, "honour him and preserve her marriage."
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I miss my brother ,
@pius_adesanmi
. Something happens and I immediately wish I could hear his thoughts, read his words. May he continue to Rest In Peace
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So , so honored
Magnetic
@chikaunigwe
pays tribute to
#ChinuaAchebe
by reading from her latest novel *The Middle Daughter*
@Princeton
University, just now. 🌷
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6/She’s a much better person than I am because I am not sure that I could both forgive and build a relationship with someone like that. I hope that he is deserving of the generosity that she has shown him.
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My children’s book is out in English and Igbo from
@CassaveRepublic
. Obioma, a fiesty, 8-year old doesn’t let her disability or her being a girl (or her peers’ attitudes to both ) define her. Obioma is my hero .
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@RichardChilee
where the power isn't balanced, asking could be accusation. Asking my partner if he found/took a note from my desk carries a different nuance to asking my cleaner the same. The latter would be accusatory , regardless of tone, the former not
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The hypocrisy in arresting women ‘for prostitution ‘ without rounding up and arresting men for soliciting. Abi the ‘prostitutes’ are selling sex to each other ?
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5/ Seeds are buried so that they grow. And look how she’s sprouted, tenacious and thriving.
Tenacious and thriving. And generous. I read an interview where she said that she has forgiven her father and has a relationship with him.
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14/And when a child is born of rape, why treat that child like an aberration of nature? Why visit the sins of the rapist on the victim and on their child? It doesn’t make any sense at all to me. Why mock an innocent child for a crime she didn’t partake in?
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2/They would visit her grandmother, give the old woman money, and remind her that their money was not to go to "the bastard," for instance.
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@realFFK
@realDonaldTrump
ROFL. It's KAMALA not KAMALLA. At least spell the name right while you're spewing rubbish
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I understand the sentiment , but We don’t need to prove our value to the world because of 80 bad eggs. America doesn’t go around apologizing for every mass shooter, for eg, or trying to prove to the world that America is bigger and better than their domestic terrorists
Today, we launch the
#80Nigerians
challenge. Drop the name of any Nigerian who makes you really proud to be called a Nigerian. Tweet with the hashtag
#80Nigerians
. Let's show the world the BEST of what we are!
We begin here with some names...
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Many , many years ago. The beginning. J still has his agbada, and wore it to a party this year :)
#igbankwu
#osumenyi
#igboamaka
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Nigerian literature is that unbothered soul , winning and thriving while some folks are busy predicting its death. No need for long grammar. Actions speaking louder than (ignorant) words. I love to see it!!! Congratulations to
@ayobamiadebayo
on her Booker Prize longlist.
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3/Paul’s mother, young and traumatized, hadn't even given her a name when she was born. Both her first name and her last name were gifts from compassionate non-family members.
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PS I set up Awele instead which since 2013 has been running a competition for young Nigerian writers between 16 and 26 and rewarding the winner with a cash prize. I had initially conceived Awele as something bigger but all dream na dream :)
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5 million Biafra children were air lifted out in 1968, only 3.9 were repatriated back, the rest never came back -John Mozie
#IgboConference
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13/What a travesty it is that victims of such a heinous crime are punished as if they were responsible for it. That they are made tot feel that they need to “save face.” We don’t mock/punish victims of theft or kidnapping , so why victims of rape?
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24/ Emecheta was made an OBE – Officer of the British Empire- in 2005. Predeceased by 2 of her 5 children, she died on January 25, 2017 in London, UK after an illness.
#Hero
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Criticsm is a service. Anyone who reads and engages with your work, and feels passionate enough about it (either way) to talk about, is someone to be grateful to
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15/Why shame a woman who’s been sexually assaulted? Why not shame the criminal?I have heard many people refer to Helen Paul as courageous for sharing her story. I agree because of the society we live in and the enduring stigma rape victims and their children face.
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I don't know who needs to hear this, but it is "one fateful day", not "one faithful day".
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It's wild to me that I could successfully run for a political post in Belgium as a Nigerian-born Belgian, that I could even imagine perhaps doing so in the States as a Nigerian-born American BUT to do so in Lagos as a Nigerian? Na wah!
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I'm happy to announce that from August, I'll be joining the MFA in Creative Writing Core Faculty
@GeorgiaCollege
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“Starvation is a weapon of war, and we have every intention of using it against the rebels” (Mr. Alison Ayida, Head of Nigerian delegation, Niamey Peace talks, July 1968.)
500,000 - 3 million (Biafran) civilians died of starvation
#ozoemena
#Biafra
#BiafraRemembranceDay
#History
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@afuahirsch
You didn't get the memo on being "grateful to be here." :) :) This review says more about the reviewer than it does about the book. Congratulations on your book, and I shall be reading it soon
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Reasonable people make the mistake of thinking that everyone on Twitter is reasonable. That's why they fall into the trap of arguing with people, wondering why they can't see sense. Do you walk into a market and start /sustain conversations with everyone?
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PPS Director of Lands abi the commissioner ? said the land I was 'allocated' (on TV) was meant for govt. projects, and therefore they had to find another one. Between the finding and the allocation (and signing off), PO left office.
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@imohumoren
even if she had been lying, that was no way to call her out on it as her pastor. The aim was to shame her, not to correct her. And to ridicule her English?
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@HafsatKIND
@cliqik_01
His question is very revealing . No understanding at all that the woman is a victim and needs support. Or that the best man is a criminal who ought to be punished. One of the reasons sexual assault is underreported in our part of the world is the stigmatization of victims ):
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Thrilled to share that there’ll be a new book next year:) Grateful to God, honored to be working with Ellah again ( yay)! And thankful , as always to my agent. Were doing this!!!!
"I am delighted to be telling the stories that steal sleep from me, demanding to be told."
@CanongateBooks
has snapped up Grace,
@ChikaUnigwe
’s new novel about agency and motherhood through the lens of a successful Nigerian woman with a hidden past:
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16/I am happy that she is using her platform to work towards destigmatizing being a product of rape. I hope that as the video goes viral, that it encourages us to rethink our attitude towards rape victims (and their children who are, in fact, secondary victims).
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Are you between 16 and 26 ? Are you Nigerian? Do you live in Nigeria? Do you write short stories? Do you want to win N50,000 ? Enter the Awele Creative Trust competition :
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Biko,my people, tell your grandmas and mothers on WhatsApp: not everything written is true. Not every video posted should be forwarded. Bill Gates isn't giving out money to anyone who sends a chainmail to 10 contacts, no woman in German gave birth to a half-dog, half-human baby.
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When my Belgian mother - in -law , for example , spills her coffee and I say ‘sorry,’ she tells me , ‘it’s not your fault .’ When my Igbo mother spills her tea and I say ‘Ndo’, or even ‘sorry,’ she understands that it’s a show of empathy
#Igbovalues
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I remember him refusing to apologize for that joke years ago. Karma is real, and hopefully, he's learned that rape jokes are neither funny nor acceptable
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Thank you to everyone on the ground, protesting, documenting, providing help
#EndSARS
#StopNigeriaGovernment
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Please buy, read, gift. Support my hustle abeg!!
The Middle Daughter, by award winning author
@chikaunigwe
is NOW OUT!
Marvellous and engrossing from beginning to end.
~ Sefi Atta
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How many dead bodies do you want to see to make what happened at
#Lekki
tollgate unacceptable? Shooting at innocent citizens is evil. Even ONE dead body is one too many.
#StopNigeriaGovernment
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8/For instance, in the movie, Osuofia Goes to London, the eponymous rapist is lauded for returning to marry his victim and be a father to the son she had as a result of the rape.
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Forthcoming: Better Never than Late (
@CassavaRepublic
). September 2019. Poured blood and sweat into this :) :)
#Excited
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Delighted to share news of my forthcoming novel. Beyond grateful to everyone who played a part in moulding this baby. Can't wait to introduce it to the world and hold a naming ceremony for it :) :)
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18/Additionally, I hope that the fact that she is speaking out encourages others in her position – children born of rape to understand that they have done nothing to be ashamed of,
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What a privilege to be judging the Caine Prize this year. Publishers of African short story writers, you've still got time to beat the deadline.
#caineprize
We are delighted to announce the 2024 Judges for The Caine Prize for African Writing.✨
To read the full press release and judges’ bios, visit:
#2024CainePrize
#MeettheJudges
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On Sunday, African Giant, Burna Boy won his first Grammy for Best Global Music, and Wizkid’s collaboration with Beyonce (and her nine-year-old daughter) won Best Music Video. Nigerians were ecstatic.
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The goat collectively owned by everyone dies of hunger
Ewu oha nwe na-anwu n' aguu
#iluIgbo
#Igboproverb
#Igboamaka
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No sacrifice was too great to be made to ensure the almighty baby boy to whom all inheritance would be left. Even men who had nothing to leave behind but their surnames and debts wanted to have “sons to be my heirs.” Biko, what are they inheriting but your wahala?
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9/The victim’s parents and friends rejoice with her because the marriage means that “your son will no longer be a bastard!”
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I’ll never forget Buchi Emecheta schooling us ( a bunch of googly- eyed Caine Prize shortlisted writers) in 2004 (?) about rethinking writing as hobby vs career
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