Nimi Wariboko says Nigeria will one day swear in a female president

Nimi Wariboko, a professor of social ethics at Boston University, says he is hopeful that Nigeria will produce its first female president in his lifetime.

The 63-year-old academic recently expressed this optimism during a book reading session by Carleton University where he was a guest.

The two-day event was organised by the university’s Institute of African Studies in collaboration with the department of English, and hosted by Nduka Otiono, the institute’s director.

Wariboko, who is also the director of the African Studies Center at Boston University, read from two of his poetry collections, ‘Soap Bubble’ and ‘Songs of Childhood’, exploring themes of gender, war, governance, the economy and culture.

Reading ‘Madam President’, Wariboko paints a futuristic moment when Nigeria inaugurates its first female president, describing her as a “champion and conqueror”.

“I’m sitting here imagining that day when the whole country will celebrate the first female president of Nigeria,” he said.

“On the day she is sworn in, different language groups will praise her in their mother tongues.

“I hope it will happen in my lifetime.”

Madam President, you have seen the strength that would

build our nation,

Would make us great rather than destroy our potential.

And this strength, this force, shall make you always great.

While many before you have ignored it

You, the conqueror of poverty, the lion of the forest, and the

shark of the ocean

Shall harness it for our ancestors, for us, and for our unborn children.

Female participation in Nigerian politics remains critically low, accounting for less than five per cent of elective positions. Nigeria has never produced a female presidential or vice-presidential candidate.

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Currently before the national assembly is a reserved seats bill for women. The proposed legislation seeks to create 37 additional seats for women in the house of representatives (one per state and the FCT), 37 in the senate, and three additional seats in each state house of assembly — one for each senatorial district.

Reflecting on his motivation, Wariboko said writers have a responsibility to imagine possibilities beyond present realities.

“My training is in social ethics, and I tell my students: do not let reality becloud vision. If it is not realised now, it may be later,” he said.

“As writers, we must express that optimism. A young woman might read that poem and realise there is space for female leadership.”

He also used the session to highlight how women’s contributions are often overlooked.

Recalling a childhood memory, he said his lactating mother once left for 48 hours in search of her missing sister during the civil war and, upon returning, quietly resumed breastfeeding.

“There was no heroic welcome,” he said, noting that women’s sacrifices frequently go unrecognised.

THOSE WHO WANT WAR DONT KNOW WHAT IT IS

In ‘Songs of Childhood’, his autobiographical collection, Wariboko reflects on his experiences during the Nigerian Civil War, which he witnessed as a young child in Abonnema, Rivers state.

He described himself as part of one of the last generations with direct memories of the war, adding that the experiences of minority groups in the eastern region remain underrepresented.

Recounting the violence, he said he and other children learnt numbers by counting bodies floating in rivers.

“People who want war don’t know what it is,” he said.

Wariboko explained that the book was inspired in part by images from the Russia-Ukraine war, particularly scenes of women and children sheltering in tunnels.

“That image triggered me. I realised it was time to tell my story,” he said.

“The first day, my grandmother sent me to buy palm oil. On my way back, hell broke loose and dozens of people died around me. I ran home, and the bottle was still in my hand,” he said.

The trauma, he added, had lasting effects on his speech.

“Most of you have noticed that I stammer. I wasn’t born a stammerer. After the bombing and time in a refugee camp, I returned home unable to speak,” he said.

“There was no therapy then. I had to force myself to speak again, and since then, the stammer has stayed with me.

“Moreso, when people talk about the Nigerian-Biafran story, they think the horror affected only the Igbos.

“They don’t reckon with the fact that the minorities in the region also suffered and that minority perspective is not often there because the minority have not written their story.

“It’s not who is right or who is wrong, it’s just tell your story.”

You can get copies of ‘Soap Bubble’ here, and ‘Songs of Childhood’ here.