Women Journalists From Nigeria

"You need to keep learning, read new materials all the time and learn different things, especially when you are in a situation where you are interacting with people who also want to learn from you."

"We do not have to speak like the Queen, but let us aim for educated English language where the consonants and vowels sounds are well pronounced."

"You need to keep your mind active to know what’s happening all around you."

"You have to be on top of your game all the time. You have to be current, you have to consistently read and keep on practicing your pronunciation because it’s very easy to slip within an environment."

"Trying to be like anyone else is a recipe for failure because it is not possible. Even identical twins are different. So, keep improving your knowledge and keep practising your craft so that you can be your authentic self."

"Good communication is the bridge between confusion and clarity. It eliminates class biases and attracts and maintains favourable attention."

"When information is sent to you, it only exists if you respond or forward it to others. The more it is circulated, the more dangerous it becomes."

"Step up to the podium, embrace the light, keep your eyes steady and choose to challenge."

"Decent, accessible, affordable public health is a right, not a privilege, and we should not give our votes to those who see the best health care as their entitlement and sub-par health care as a privilege to us."

"Our political parties are generational. Nothing is going to die out. It has become a system, a process, and a culture. I met fathers who are preparing their sons to take their positions bearing the same mentality. Whether we have old people or young people it would be the same if we do not develop a different strategy to make things work"

"Elections are not democracy. Holding regular elections is not democracy."

"No doubt, health is private, but it is not private when you put yourself up for the highest office in a country – not if you want lead – but maybe if you want to rule."

"I am inspired by women who refuse to be silent because they are women. Women who reject the status quo, who go where they aren’t supposed to, women who refuse to be defined by gender/qualification/marital status…women who refuse to be defined, period!"

"Put in the work! There are five million other people as hungry, as beautiful and as able as you. You have to do the work, put in the hours, hone your craft, find the thing that makes you unique and then practice that until you are the best you can possibly be. Be so excellent at being you that you become the reference point for your field. Be humble; don’t be too quick to hustle for fame; make sure that you have the talent and skills to back up that popularity. And then, practice! You should be better today than you were last year. Keep evolving, keep doing your best, whether it seems worth it or not."

"This awareness makes one a constant student in the school of life. Values never change but the application does."

"Dancing helps you to forget about yourself and it is good exercise as well."

"No matter what it is, even if you think your partner would not believe you, explain to the person what happened."

"Every human needs love and association and once there is a platform for that, it will bloom."

"Flexible, yet firm; trusting in her God-given abilities to be the best she can be."

"Today’s woman needs to see herself bond better with her fellow women because together we achieve more."

"She was a consummate professional and when she was working, it was a joy to watch her. The words just seemed to magically appear on the page and reading her stories gave me my first taste of real journalism."

"She always had a way with words and they were pretty effective. That didn’t mean she didn’t deal with us when the need arose, but once she was done, you knew that you deserved it."

"It was also not always about money; if she felt you were worth it, she would give you access to her network in furtherance of your goals."

"She was always big on giving people opportunities regardless of their gender, background or circumstances. If you truly needed help and were ready to work, she would move heaven and earth to help you."

"Mrs. Oyo was an outstanding woman, journalist and professional. She scored a lot of firsts as a journalist. She was the first female president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors(NGE)."

"She was an accomplished journalist and a very serious-minded administrator. She was one journalist who got to the peak of her profession. Journalists will always remember her passion for the profession and her emphasis on ethics and professionalism."

"She was a pillar to Nigerian journalism and the Guild. She transformed the Guild and will always be remembered."

"Remi was a strong woman for us all. Her voice still echoes. She, as woman and a wife, was a binding force. She was a true team player both within the family and in her professional life. I’m sure your colleagues would tell you who she was, a team player, I repeat and the most wonderful wife any man could desire."

"There is a certain standard that women are placed on, much higher than men. Why is it that when it’s a woman it’s like so much more dramatic and quite frankly irritating?"

"Generally, the media business not just in Nigeria, but in Africa is hard. The media has not yet hacked how to make money."

"If you claim to be telling the stories of African women and you don’t document the bad experiences, then you won’t be honest in your coverage of women, because those bad and terrible experiences are the realities of many women."

"You need to be open-minded, when you start you will start off doing work that you don’t really enjoy because you need to grab as many skills as possible."

"Podcasting is still a concept that people are getting used to, especially in Africa. Podcasting is difficult because people still think it’s radio and you need an internet connection to listen to an episode."

"The world is constantly changing and you have to find the best way to tell your story, sometimes you might find that text is perfectly fine but other times you might need to make it into a podcast or an audio version, it really depends on what the story needs"

"Social media has been helpful because you can use social media to get information for stories and can use social media to gather data."

"The ex-wife of Chief Alani Bankole died today, Saturday, January 3, 2015 during her daughter’s wedding, an event she was eagerly looking forward to and had even planned elaborately for."

"You can only be yourself,dont try to be any other person."

"Lagos society woman, Iyalode Adunni Bankole is one person who is always in the news. Remember that she is a trained journalist and this possibly explains why she is close to the media and why she is the darling of the media any day. She was in the news a few months back when she clocked 53 and shortly after that, she graduated from a Bible School where she bagged a degree in Theology. Many were surprised because she holds several Chieftaincy titles from Abeokuta, the capital of her home state, Ogun State, among which is the Iyalode of Gbagura, Owu, a title which has become synonymous with her name over the years."

"Surprisingly, while the burial arrangements were being planned, little did the world know that there was a smouldering 'war' between her children and their father, Chief Alani Bankole, over the choice of the burial site."

"In life, the late Chief Adunni Bankole was always in the news for the good reason. The renowned Lagos socialite and Iyalode of Gbagura land in Abeokuta, Ogun State, lived a fulfilled life, even to the envy of some. But her death on January 3, 2015 was not only shocking but also dramatic-she died few hours before her daughter, Mopelola's wedding on that red-letter day."

"A society lady and Iyalode of Gbagura in Ogun State, Chief Mrs. Adunni Bankole, has passed on."

"There is so much anger - suppressed anger; transferred anger; violence as a part of our culture; narcissism as a part of our culture; poor interpersonal relationships; unhealthy, manipulative, controlling family dynamics."

"The ease of the bird is dependent on the ease of the branch it nests on. I find a world that limits any form of the ‘other’ abhorrent. We are all one and connected in the continuum of life. I am able to acutely feel the pain of others and discomfort at injustice, violence or pain in much the same way I can feel their joy and contentment."

"I respect the times that we are living in now because there is a lot of necessary conversation about what is wrong. However, a lot of the talks can be very divisive. It is also essential to face the essentials, so do it. And sometimes I see many people talking and unaware of what needs to happen and how they can do it."

"Seeing a whole generation of people in media, technology, fashion, development, among others, gives me immense hope."

"When I started my career, I was very young; I was in my twenties, and I had no idea of the future. New Dawn, which everybody came to love so much when I was doing it, I did not know what I was doing; I was only doing my thing."

"No one can defend you because the people who should protect you are the ones abusing you. What do Nigerians have to be happy about?"

"My relationship with men is very interesting. I don’t worship men because I grew up with them. I don’t want any man to carry me as a burden on his head. I want to work with him, I am interested in him as a person. If I am with you, I am with you for who you are and not what you can do for me. If you can do so, that’s nice. But it doesn’t bother me because if I don’t do it somebody else will do it. There is no scarcity in the universe. The world is full of abundance. That’s why I don’t worry and cannot worship any man."

"Every day, people fall below the poverty line. When you have issues, no one can defend you because the people who should protect you are the ones abusing you. So what do you have to be happy about?"

"Are we really the happiest people on earth, or are we happy because we choose to deny our problems rather than confront them or face them?"