Locked away
‘Mama do you know what happened today?’ Ifeanyi said I am the most beautiful girl in the entire school’ I chatted excitedly. ‘Nne, what does a little girl like you know about talking to boys’ My mother replied. ‘Mama I’m not so little. I’ll be fifteen next week’ I said. ‘Nné, I wanted to talk […]
The Ghost of My Sister
Somewhere in Africa Sitting beneath a Mango tree, I stared at my daughter who stood at a short distance, howling stones at the ripe mango fruits. My eyes explored all her features, she was growing up to be a replica of my late sister. I should be happy about it, but the growing curves on […]
Then, my time came.
I was six years old when it happened to me. I knew what was going to happen, I knew they were going to cut me because a lot of my friends had had it done and I’d had a look – it was quite normal for girls to have a look at each other. My […]
UP CLOSE
Lola’s day will start going awry the moment she miscuts Iya Sadia’s fabric. She will blame the red scissors, the one with a history of ruining just the good clothes—always the possessed scissors, never her erring hand. She will then sit hard at the sewing machine, labouring to undo the mess. She will soon panic […]
The agony of womanhood on female genital multilation.
The family of Adedeji, the Alabe of the town, “circumcision practitioner,” have lost their three daughters to the ritual, “Igekuge Obinrin ni idinkuro,” female genital mutilation. Their daughter, Kemi, which the Ifa oracle had said would be their last daughter, was ripe for circumcision. Distraught mother and father paid a visit to the gods of […]
THE BRUTAL CUT
The cutting season had dawned and the old woman, Namisi, picked up the razor blade from where she had left it after the eightieth season of the ritual, in the month of December. The new season, June, had ensued. The girls were lined up and led into the village centre to be ‘transformed’ into acceptable […]
FGM in Nigeria: Echoes From My Heart
The tears on Hadiza’s face had become so frequent that even the streaks began to seem like tribal marks on each side of her face, meeting at the confluence of her jaw before dropping in bits to the ground. Deciding to take a break from reminiscing, she cast her gaze up and squinted at the […]
C’est cette nuit-là que j’ai été excisée !
C’était une nuit ordinaire en famille : calme et fraîche. Nous nous rassemblions mes frères et moi au centre de notre case. Nous attendions le repas du soir. Maman, comme d’habitude s’occupait de préparer la natte sur laquelle elle déposait le plat de la soirée. Nous attendions que tout soit prêt avant de manger. Maman […]
#Invest Don’t Rest
Our collective effort and voice are needed in eliminating Female Genital Mutilation in Africa. Your investment and mine count. #InvestDon’tRest
The shape of Female Genital Mutilation in Nigeria 2021
Efforts of anti-FGM campaigners alongside with the joint support of International, National bodies and Non-Govermental Organisations in enlightening the public on the harmful consequences of FGM have brought great impact. There is sensitization through the use of media, cutters are dropping their cutting instruments, more males like those in the Young Men’s Network Against Gender […]