Pamela Toyin Akinjobi-Ogunwusi, a Nigerian journalist, brings Africa to Ireland in her book on migrating stories of African women. Entitled Her Story, the book shares true testimonies and struggles of African women before they migrated to Ireland. Her Story, which will no doubt educate, inform and enlighten people about challenges faced by women in Africa, was recently presented to the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, by the African Women’s Network at her residence. In this interview, Akinjobi-Ogunwusi reveals more about herself, the book and Ireland. Excerpts:
Tell us about Ireland?
Ireland is a land where anywhere you go offers a different experience and tells you a story. It is a land creating a new cultural heritage. The warmth and friendliness of the Irish people makes Ireland the home of the most welcoming people in Europe. It is a lovely place to behold, a land of beauty, love and opportunities. It is a land, which in the last 10 years has experienced an influx, like it’s never happened before, of immigrants from all over the world, making it dynamic and unique. It is fast becoming an intercultural society with new trends of people from different cultures coming into the country.
As a journalist you are involved with different organisations in Ireland, what roles do you play in these organisations?
As a journalist, I want to bring to immigrants through the media, information, knowledge and enlightenment. I share in the belief that Africans abroad should unite and promote our cultural heritage in whatever way we can and as most of the organisations I’m involved with deal with the ethnic minority and immigrants, I’m only glad to contribute my bit. I am usually invited to come on board and meet minds on issues that promote multiculturalism among immigrants and the Irish as well as how to blend existing cultures with new ones without conflict. The bottom line is to help immigrants live in harmony with respect and consideration for other cultures. As we all know, integration is very important for enlightenment and having a sense of belonging. We must have a sense of belonging in the place we call home.
How did you start?
I started with Metro Eireann newspaper in 2000 shortly after its inception. I joined the team and became a reporter and contributor to the paper. Shortly after, a friend and I started the African beauty pageant in Ireland. Then some publishers saw my articles in Metro and invited me to write for them. Then the African Women’s Network (Akidwa) invited me as a consultant to do a research within the African community, conduct interviews and document the stories of African women before they came to live in Ireland. Before that, I had also been invited as a consultant by an organisation set up for refugees in Ireland to facilitate immigrants on themes that involved their development within the community. Then I got the contract to work with the Immigrant Council of Ireland.
How do you cope with all these combined with married life?
Well, I guess everything is based on planning. I always plan ahead though I must admit sometimes I feel some pressure. Apart from the Immigrant Council of Ireland, every other thing is freelance, so I do my bits and pieces in between my free hours. I manage to be a good wife and home keeper. Of course, all these are with the support and encouragement of my family and my husband, who is an Accountant with Xerox Ireland.
So you have no time for hobbies?
I used to engage myself with a few things I love doing, like going to the movies, sewing and writing in my spare time, but I must admit that recently it’s been a bit tight. The only hobby I have now is writing, as this is my profession. I almost turned the sewing into a profession when I found women bringing clothes to me, because they liked what I made for myself. But these days I have no time for that, but I’m hoping soon to engage in other hobbies to relax my nerves.
You are the Welfare Officer of NIDO (Nigerians in the Diaspora) Ireland chapter. Tell us a bit about it?
In order to tap talents and resources of Nigerians abroad, the Nigerian government in 2001, through its Embassies and High Commissions around the world set out to encourage Nigerians in Diaspora to come together under an independent umbrella, to contribute to development efforts in Nigeria. Thus NIDO was formed. The idea is for Nigerians to make contributions to the development of their country. In this regard, NIDO provides the unique opportunity for Nigerians living in Europe to learn to work and collaborate with one another with the task of nation building from outside the borders of our country.
Tell us about Nigerians in Ireland?
Nigerians in Ireland are wonderful people. They have brought their talents, history, culture and various experiences of the world, and adapted them in Ireland, which in the true sense can only uplift the whole community and country as a whole. Nigerians are very enterprising and within a twinkle of an eye, they have boomed the business sense within the immigrant community in Ireland. There are many Nigerian professionals in the medical, information technology and legal sector and they are all doing very well. For instance, the first African film festival in Carlow, Ireland, was initiated by Adewumi Oke. Multi-talented Bisi Adigun, a workshop facilitator, an actor, a drummer and a professional storyteller, is the first black to present an intercultural programme on Ireland’s RTE Television station, and he set up Arambe Production, Ireland’s first African Theatre Company. The first two blacks to be called to bar in the history of Ireland, Celia Otubu and Emeka Ezeani, are Nigerians. Chinedu Onyejelem and Abel Ugba started Metro Eireann, the first and only multicultural newspaper in Ireland till date. Tina Tinuke Jinad and I are the first two black women to start “The Most beautiful African Girl in Ireland” beauty pageant, and Yemisi Ojo initiated and started an NGO called IACI (Integrating African Children in Ireland) to address the integration needs of African children living in Ireland. Don’t forget too that numerous Nigerians over the decades have passed through the great Trinity College and the Royal College of surgeon and are still passing through them. I am not saying there are no bad eggs, but considering a country with a population like Nigeria, you can’t avoid a handful of bad eggs. The bad eggs are there, but let the good ones be given recognition also.
How was your visit to the residence of President Mary McAleese of Ireland. Tell us about the presentation of your book?
President Mary McAleese received 10 of us, all women and from different parts of Africa. Eight were executive members of (Akidwa) the African women’s Network in Ireland, and one the founder of an NGO that integrates children in Ireland. It was a pleasant and memorable visit for all of us. Akidwa, the Swahili version for African sisterhood, is a national network of African women living in Ireland and empowering and speaking for themselves in order to enhance changes on issues that affect their lives. The president was very receptive and she discussed with us all the way. She was eager to know more about our countries and our migrating experiences. We discussed issues affecting African women and I shared my experience of writing the book with her.
Is Her Story your first book in Ireland; what is it about?
No, my first attempt in Ireland is Travelling Light. It is a book made up of articles put together by Ireland’s top women writers and edited by an Irish author, Sarah Webb. That was done a couple of years ago and proceeds from its sales go to a hospital in Uganda. Her Story is a book on migrating stories of African women in Ireland. It is based on true-life experiences of how 10 African women lived back at home before they migrated to Ireland, and Roddy Doyle, a famous Irish author, edited the book.
How many countries are featured in the book and what inspired you to write it?
Nine different countries are featured in the book – Cameroon, Congo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Kenya. Understanding and appreciating the values of women, given their sad experiences and touched by the various stories of the lives of some African women that I have met, I decided to take up this project.
Was it a tedious and difficult experience, and how much time did you commit into the work?
I won’t say it was a tedious experience as such, but it was indeed a bit difficult getting the women to narrate their experiences, as it opened old wounds and brought back dried tears. I must say those who appeared in this book are heroic and exceptional people in one way or another and their stories deserve to be heard. I was extremely touched when these stories were related to me. It was a lot of commitment for me, which entailed writing and typing through the nights. Women have been marginalised for too long and the world should begin to appreciate them as carers of the world.
What would you say was the most striking discovery about the women or their stories during your interviews with them?
I made many discoveries. Every 20 seconds or thereabout somewhere in the world, a refugee is created when someone is driven by fear to leave her home. Every refugee is the consequence of government’s failure to protect the human rights of its people and everyone of us bears that responsibility. For women, seeking refugee or greener pastures in the Western society involves a drastic and often painful change in their primary role as wives, mothers and homemakers. The loss of the support of the extended family is a major blow and they need all the support they could get.
Are you working on any other book now?
Yes. Right now, I have a few books I’m working on and hopefully one or two of them should be published before the end of this year. I’m also doing something on women in the UK, on EU immigrants and on child trafficking worldwide. |
