Women Authors From Nigeria

"“Maybe she was not really like that. It's just that I would prefer you to think that what happened to her was justified.”"

"“She is a double danger—there is the danger of meeting her, and the danger of becoming her. Does the nightmare of her belong to everyone, or just to me?”"

"“As always, the soucouyant seemed more lonely than bad. Maybe that was her trick, her ability to make it so you couldn't decide if she was a monster.”"

"“I love sleeping. Waking is more and more hateful the older I get. I say this as if I've lived too long. I'm twenty-two.”"

"“I was so jealous it burned, and I knew I had to let it alone or I'd break something inside me.”"

"“The whole thing was so intense, so full of hurt that when I look back at it I squint. I want it forgotten.”"

"“Love. I'm not capable of it, can't even approach it from the side, let alone head-on. Nor am I alone in this—everyone is like this, the liars. Singing songs and painting pictures and telling each other stories about love and its mysteries and marvelous properties, myths to keep morale up—maybe one day it'll materialize. But I can say it ten times a day, a hundred times, 'I love you,' to anyone and anything, to a woman, to a pair of pruning shears. I've said it without meaning it at all, taken love's name in vain and gone dismally unpunished. Love will never be real, or if it is, it has no power. No power. There's only covetousness, and if what we covet can't be won with gentle words—and often it can't—then there is force.”"

"What is the meaning of it? Three creaks, three weeks? If she comes back for her shoes in three days, then I only need to empty them another three times. If it really is three weeks that were meant, what then. If three months, what then. Three years. That's why I had to write it down now. By then I may no longer believe I heard anything in Miri's room.”"

"“It was like dancing with a mask that was attached to a stick—she dared not lower it, no matter how tiring it was to hold the mask up. She was the ugly girl at the ball.”"

"“She thought I hadn't seen her, but she's no good at hiding her intentions. She can't help tiptoeing around with a finger to her lips at key moments.”"

"The water was so cold on her skin that it felt dry.”"

""You don’t return people’s smiles—it’s perfectly clear to you that people can smile and smile and still be villains." Boy, Snow, Bird (2014) p 8"

""Her heart was heavy because it was open, and so things filled it, and so things rushed out of it, but still the heart kept beating, tough and frighteningly powerful and meaning to shrug off the rest of her and continue on its own”. Mr Fox (2011) p 171"

"“...a place can live in you without letting you know about it for the longest time.” Parasol Against the Axe (2024)"

""Please tell me a story about a girl who gets away." I would, even if I had to adapt one, even if I had to make one up just for her. "Gets away from what, though?" "From her fairy godmother. From the happy ending that isn't really happy at all. Please have her get out and run off of the page altogether, to somewhere secret where words like 'happy' and 'good' will never find her." "You don't want her to be happy and good?" "I'm not sure what's really meant by happy and good. I would like her to be free. Now. Please begin." White for Witching (2010) p 165"

"The only way to try and interrogate or possibly persuade stories to reveal something about themselves is to make all these provocations and assaults on them, and try and unpack them and unpick their seams and see if they react."

"I also love books of people learning to do this like going to ballet school, or how to ride horses. There's just something about the process and setback's it's very interesting."

"THANK YOU: Similar to women, men appreciate recognition for efforts small and little. “Thank you” is a straightforward yet powerful phrase that shows them your appreciation for what they do. (Here’s a tip, ladies: if you say “Thank you” on a regular basis for something they do, they are much more likely to do it again.)"

"I'M LISTENING: Men and women communicate very differently. For example, in an argument, a woman is usually more willing to sit down and have a dialogue. The man often feels an inclination to seek solitude to think things over or distract himself. They do love hearing “I’m listening” or “I’m ready to listen when you’re ready to talk” in any case."

"I TRUST YOU: There are fewer things more sacred than trusting someone with your life. When you’re in a relationship, this is an essential truth. Here’s a bit of advice from Georgianna Donadio, Ph.D., “The best time to share your feelings (is) just before or during close intimacy. At that time, levels of oxytocin, a hormone that enhances feelings of trust, love and intimacy, are elevated, making it the best moment to love talk with your partner."

"I APPRECIATE WHAT YOU DO: Men need to feel like they are good providers for the people they love. If they believe anything less, they don’t perceive themselves as the man they should be. As such, when they are told that you’re thankful for their hard work, effort, and for providing, it means a tremendous deal to them."

"I RESPECT YOU: As men age, They have less of a need to be recognized for selfish reasons . This feeling is replaced by the need to feel respected out of love. They love feeling admired and respected from the people who love and care about them!."

"I APPRECIATE YOU AS A MAN: Men need to feel like men.. It has everything to do with knowing that their partner appreciates something about their character (honesty, integrity, selflessness, etc.) or something else."

"YOU ARE MY DAD: It’s less of an ego-boost as it is a verbalization of respect. It’s a testament to both our efforts and our priorities – which are the woman and her well-being."

"I LOVE YOU: Even the toughest man will melt a bit when his partner professes their love for him. They love hearing we love them. Also, they like hugs, kisses and cuddling too. Even a nicely-worded email or text message will work"

"You can’t boldly say you have succeeded in life till you help someone who can never pay you back."

"I am not scared of lifting other women up. As long as I wear the crown, no one can take my throne."

"It was a situation of a slave at the beck and call of her master. It could be described as the Israelites in the hands of Pharaohs and the Egyptians,”"

"The thing is the wound is inside and it is hard to heal. I’m tearing up not because I’m sad but because it’s always an open wound that is there. You heal through the process but it’s not a healing that happens once."

"I believe that education is the greatest tool for preventing this heinous crime in our communities."

"I am grateful to God for life."

"Every community has its own challenges, but when people are able to see the potentials they have, it makes the problem of economic hardship to be half solved."

"People need to know that being abroad does not necessarily mean greener pastures…It could be a potential trap to human trafficking or domestic abuse."

"People need to know that being abroad does not necessarily mean greener pastures, but she explained. It could be a potential trap to human trafficking or domestic abuse."

"“As a victim of labor trafficking, I have survived all odds in an unknown land to be able to lend a voice to the voiceless, advocate for other victims, and empower survivors.”"

"She found her fellow survivors, “energetic, intelligent, resilient, and very engaging. Meeting them felt like meeting missing or separated siblings. We all connected because we had all survived one form of torture or the other as a result of various forms of human trafficking.”"

"I believe that helping the youth in the community identify their potential with helping them to maximize such potential in their own local community."

"Now I know the signs of an abuser and a trafficker. If I had known the signs, I wouldn’t have fallen a victim or stayed in slavery for two years."

"I want to resist the “African homosexual” as an empirical figure waiting to be discovered or, through NGO and international interventions, to be created and saved"

"Caught between Western imperialism, African patriarchy and religious fascism, the continent’s gay community needs a strong, articulate set of voices. This is a work of African resistance that boldly states: We are here, and we are many!"

"People need to understand we are invested in the future and how that future will be."

"You can’t change anything if you don’t have imagination... Don’t let the oppressor dictate the narrative. I think we have the tendency to react to the oppressors’ narrative and really we should be dictating our own narrative. That is something I learned: sometimes we focus on them rather than what we ought to change in ourselves. They are there to distract us from what we need to do."

"The first thing I would say is to understand there is a history of activism, of the arts, and literature and to keep that in mind and not discard the past and what people did. It is important to learn about the past and build on it. That is quite important to understand. Ageism is still very prominent in how people speak, write, and create their ideas, particularly on social media. I would say the first thing is to look at the past and build on it and respect it, just as I respect what is happening now and what young people are doing."

"I didn’t just want to document: I wanted to fully understand what I was documenting. I wanted to be very aware of how you take photographs in certain situations; not to expose people, and to try to present the narrative you want without making it into a spectacle of a human being in suffering. That is why I see myself as a visual scholar. I need to understand the aspects of what I am working with."

"It is time to move from mere talk to action in the second quarter of the Year make bold move, this time Refuse delays, laziness and indecision and see how God will turn things around for you this is time to arise and shine."

"When god is with you that is all that matters you need not approval from anyone."

"It was love that held Jesus on the cross not the nails."

"The believer is not meant to have these problems solved the believer is meant to solve problems."

"Go to work diligently I'd like to be devout of fruit and results not because god did not give us the ability but because we did nothing with the ability he gave us."

"This is a new kind of meaning, this danger. A serious kind of love. For oneself, one’s kin; and what life is meant for. Dangerous. I didn’t say it then; I was too young and answered Doctor or Mother but ask me now what I wish to be when I grow up"