Women Authors From Nigeria

"Parents have a lot of professing power over their children. Praise and admonishments are crafting tools like names."

"When CNN does not reciprocate with simple engagement with our hills and valleys, our romantic ideals, often only with our traumas. And everyone in the world has trauma. If you know where Naples is or Mount Vesuvius, then you are clever."

"The more handling of a wide variety of food that one can manage the more open one’s mind and palate."

"There are so many dissimilarities, so many unique points of difference between this one country in Africa and the rest of the world."

"Investing one’s own disadvantage in words: Opening an artery onto the page, that kind of thing, apart from a love for the theme being written on."

"There are many things that happen in the human being that bypass the brain."

"It is usually not easy getting the big men and women to enroll in our programmes, even when they have strong penchant to do so. But where the heart is willing, it finds a thousand ways. Where it is unwilling, it finds a thousand excuses.""

"Leaders are learners, if you stop learning today, you stop leading tomorrow"

""I make bold to say that there is nothing motivation cannot do in the life of a child. It works like magic." An interview with Prof. Joy chinwe Eyisi"

"“There is time for everything. I realized, long ago, that great eaters and great sleepers are incapable of doing anything that is great.”"

"In my personal interactions with her, she was passionate about Nigeria and hoping that things would get better. Unfortunately, like many compatriots of her time, the Nigeria of their dream remains a mirage."

"As a recipient of the National Honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) and other numerous awards for her works on education."

"All Nigerians, who drank from the fountain of knowledge of the endowed English teacher."

"Her autobiography, the Up-country Girl, should be a must-read for every aspiring young girl."

"We believe that every word of adoration on the exploits of the departed heroine is well earned. Indeed, every lover of education should be thoroughly grateful to Mrs. Ogundipe for her contributions to education."

"Ogundipe’s life was defined by her passion for education and uncommon dedication to serve others, stressing that her legacy would live on."

"Mrs Ogundipe through her books imparted generations of Nigerians of my age. In my personal interactions with her, she was passionate about Nigeria and hoping that things would get better."

"A great deal has to be invested as a way of correcting the system. There have been so many wrongs arising from bad management; we all now know that the same people who complain about student violence might actually be fueling that violence to avoid attention being paid to their own non performance. There is no water, no light, no accommodation, and so on and so forth. The environment is not conducive for studies. There are no books in the library, so the students are idle, and there is nothing to occupy them. Some students really want to study, but all these things I’ve mentioned are immensely discouraging."

"Anywhere in the world, if you create a good environment, people will excel. But our country continues to provide insufficient funding for nearly everything that is necessary. So it’s a vicious circle. We began to notice a decline when successive Nigerian governments no longer felt that education was important, and therefore gave it the least attention. And I say this with all seriousness. With the military governments in power it was not considered all that important to have education. Many in the government itself were in fact young and did not value education, because they viewed their more senior colleagues as poor, and preferred to become millionaires."

"Ah…the admission system is faulty, as far as I’m concerned. Students are admitted and nothing is known about their background…where they are coming from. Many of these students have been through the system of forgery; many of them cannot pass five credits in WASC. Yet they pretend to have scored 275 in JME; it’s absolutely deceitful."

"The corruption we see in the examinations is a ‘carry-over’ effect of the overall moral and ethical decay in the larger society. It does not help that the Nigeria nation believes in, and insists on paper qualification, rather than the possession of actual knowledge. I have argued it again and again that, as long as we believe in the paper and not the knowledge; that we want students with second class upper division (even if they have cheated to do so), the students will go all out to get the paper qualification. At interviews, it is obvious that many of the certificates being paraded have not been merited by the people laying claim to them."

"Now what we need to do is to teach them to use their power to their own advantage. We tell them that they should not continue to queue behind the men; when a woman comes out, line-up behind her for a change and wait. Do not look at her as that little child whose naming ceremony you attended, and who now wants to become a governor. Rather, look at her positively, because she knows where the shoe pinches. And when it comes to women’s empowerment, look at them as individuals who can perform rather than a member of a class that has to be kept behind. It is when we have succeeded at this experiment that in the next election, we shall do better."

"“Women issues are not as hot on the front burner as they ought to be. I doubt that it affected the increase in the number of women writers. Most literary men do not tell out stories well. It is time for the women to pick up the gauntlet.”"

"“You will fail miserably! If you’ve not been reading, you can’t write well.”"

"“If you speak well, and have great communication skills, you’re half way there. However, someone with great communication skills may be a disaster at customer service.”"

"“People are looking for headlines and it doesn’t matter whether Nigeria burns.”"

"“I got into media by accident.”"

"‘We want to hear about your values as a political candidate. What are you doing that is newsworthy? Have you learned to write press releases? Learn how to write a copy. Learn how to request for press coverage. This is how to get votes, by appealing to the people.”"

"“My toughest challenge was with the toxic environment, strange fellows, and the poor camaraderie in a lot of instances.”"

"“Don’t do your body, it can only take you as far as the bed. Do your brain, it can make you the President of Nigeria. You need to have a functional brain in your head. Pay attention to all you can learn. Work over and beyond the call of duty. Research to be on top of your game. Read. Research. Read. Take up every assignment with dedication, passion, deep-seated hunger to learn. Be tried, tested and proved by your superiors. You can make your space matter.”"

"“Every woman who works must find creative ways to ensure she is doing her best to juggle them well.”"

"“Be ready at all times. Think small but look at the bigger picture. Understand whom you are. Dress the path and turn up for respect so you can be taken seriously. Act the path. Be the Boss. Do the job. Choose your battles and be kind to your staff and colleagues. Hold on to your Faith and your God, keep your family front at peace and be ready when the opportunity knocks.”"

"Even if you don’t feel like you belong, you have to keep going. Don’t let the feeling of insecurity hold you back."

"There’s no sliding scale of equality. We are all humans and deserve the same level of humanity."

"Some men have funny ideas of how you should act on a date."

"“We have many young persons with stories to die for. There is brilliant writing from everywhere. It’s a renaissance.”"

"Your life journey will take you on many different paths but you will end up where you are supposed to in the end. Trust the process. Pray always and don’t lose your humanity or compromise who you are in a bid to get to the top."

"Parents have their own timeline for your life. You must create and embrace yours and BE HAPPY with your choices."

"“We need to have a group of writers who will form a watering hole for writers to bounce back on, a group that can serve as a link between the publisher and a good writer.”"

"The sadness of an unhappy marriage and home seeps into your soul. It is crushing and turns you into a shell of who you are."

"We are a news network and we report the news as it happens. We must tell the stories we find."

"I came to Nigeria determined to make the most of an amazing career opportunity in a place that is home in my heart. You have to roll with the punches."

"We want to engage with the audience where they are, on mobile, on social, and also for those who are not connected online, on television. So it’s a multi-faceted, multi-platform approach using digital storytelling tools to tell African stories in a new way."

"Everything is about the mindset, I find. I choose to remain positive, even in the face of challenges. It’s not easy but it’s an attitude I find gets me through tough times."

"People share things innocently believing that it is true but that is how fake news is spread, through inattention and lack of verifying. Check that it is from a credible news source before sharing something online."

"“One of the things you must be is confident and well researched. Know a little bit about everything. And although I did not plan to be a Journalist as a young girl, my socialisation helped.”"

"Practice your craft daily. Watch those you admire, follow their steps, and emulate them. But you must start. Create your own opportunities."

"Sitting in a developed country and complaining about Nigeria is not really going to make things happen. I have to be here do what I can, to help it develop, I feel my role is to highlight the story that needs to be told; shed light on things that needs to be exposed. These are things that drive me."

"My role is to say, there are problem here like everywhere in the world, we need to show a different tide, and we need to show people who are making impact, people who are making great things here."

"Every journalist has a story that defines them. For me, it’s one of the stories I would find very hard to let go as long as the girls are in Boko Haram captivity."