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| Photo by Chelaxy Designs on Unsplash |
The industrial landscape in Africa is experiencing a paradigm shift. For decades, the continent has been viewed primarily as a source of raw materials for global markets, but this narrative is shifting. Across countries, local manufacturers are expanding production, building supply chains, and proving that Africa can compete and lead.
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Ramatu Ada Ochekliye at the 2025 Africa Films for Impact Festival, which happened in Abuja from October 29–31. 2025 |
This year, I was a fellow of the Africa Films for Impact Festival (AFFIF) through its Films for Impact Fellowship.
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| Yecenu Sasetu at the Nigerian International Tea Festival |
By Yecenu Sasetu
I love Tea. Sorry, I have to say it again. I. love. Tea.
By Cynthia Umeh
As Nigeria continues its journey toward achieving Universal Health Coverage, the need for sustainable, domestically driven health financing grows more urgent. On October 29, 2025, Nigeria Health Watch, in partnership with Premium Times and The Punch, hosted a high-level virtual dialogue titled “Investing in Health in a Limited Fiscal Space.” The event brought together government leaders, policymakers, development partners, civil society, media, and private sector stakeholders to sustain momentum from the National Health Financing Dialogue and explore actionable steps to strengthen Nigeria’s health financing system.
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| Photo by Lisa Marie Theck on Unsplash |
By Ojonugwa Yahaya — Daughter of Africa
I write so that silence can be heard. ✍🏼
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In this reflection, I will not be economical with words. I will speak plainly — brutally, if I must — because sometimes the truth must sting before it heals.
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| Our Founder, Ramatu Ada Ochekliye, Serving as a Rapporteur at the High-Level Health Media Dialogue |
Insights from the High-Level Health Media Dialogue with Media Executives in Nigeria
Theme: Escalating Executive and Media Action for Health Accountability and Financing
Date: Thursday, October 23, 2025
Venue: Transcorp Hilton, Abuja
By Ramatu Ada Ochekliye
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| President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah of Namibia delivers her address at the High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, 22 September 2025. Photo: UN Women / Ryan Brown |
By Atinuke Adeosun
On September 22, 2025, the halls of the United Nations Headquarters in New York carried the weight of history and the urgency of now. The world had gathered to mark thirty years since the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, where global leaders first agreed to an ambitious blueprint for gender equality.
By Chiamaka Mbah
Shades of Us participated in the ElectHER and Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) September Roundtable Webinar 2025, a timely conversation centered on two critical legislative efforts: the Reserved Seats Bill and the Independent Candidacy Bill. The event, themed Advancing Inclusive Governance, brought together political leaders, advocates, and changemakers to discuss how these bills could reshape Nigeria’s democratic future by promoting inclusive governance and broadening political participation.
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| Image by Ojonugwa Yahya |
By Ojonugwa Yahya
In the heart of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) community, we are not merely extending aid — we are inscribing history. Every gesture of kindness, every shared smile, every scar and song becomes a footprint etched into the memory of humanity.
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| Shades of Us at the Health, Nutrition, and Well-being Session at the 2025 Nextier Development Festival |
By Shades of Us
On September 23, 2025, Shades of Us attended the inaugural Nextier Development Festival, a gathering in Abuja that brought together 200 scholars, policymakers, development consultants, civil society leaders, entrepreneurs, and youth voices to confront one of Africa’s most urgent and enduring challenges: poverty.
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| From Bystander to Advocate: A Panel Session at the 2025 Men's Summit hosted by YouthHub Africa |
By Ramatu Ada Ochekliye
Violence against women and girls is so common around the world that calling for an end to it is often seen as the exception, not the norm.
Ramatu Ada Ochekliye and Bitto Bryan on the ADBN Morning Express Talk Show on World Day for Peace
By Ramatu Ada Ochekliye
On September 22, 2025, I joined Bitto Bryan on the Advocacy Broadcast Network (ADBN) Morning Express show to mark the International Day of Peace. The theme for the 2025 International Day of Peace is “Act Now for a Peaceful World’’, which emphasizes urgent action to promote peace and unity globally.
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| Group Photograph of the Speakers at the Women Community in Africa (WCA) Town Hall Meeting which held in Abuja |
By Ramatu Ada Ochekliye
On July 31, 2025, I had the privilege of speaking at the Women Community in Africa (WCA) Town Hall Meeting, held under the theme: “Empowered to Lead – Changing Attitudes Towards Female Leadership.” This was hosted as a prelude to the 2025 Women’s Summit in Rwanda as a bold gathering and necessary conversation confronting how we perceive, portray, and position women in leadership across the continent.
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By Cynthia Umeh
“Can you imagine needing a visa just to visit your cousin in Ghana?”
“Or paying endless fees just to drive through countries where the people look exactly like you?”
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| Ramatu Ada Ochekliye, Founder, Shades of Us, at the 2025 Gender and Inclusion Summit |
By Ramatu Ada Ochekliye
On September 4, 2025, I walked into the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja for what has become an annual pilgrimage—the Gender and Inclusion Summit hosted by the Policy Innovation Centre (PIC). This year marked my third time attending since 2023, and just like the previous years, I was eager to immerse myself in conversations that matter deeply to me.
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| Photo by Eyo Archibong on Unsplash |
By Ojonugwa Yahaya
To see through the eyes of the daughters of Africa is to witness a vision shaped by history, resilience, and an unwavering sense of hope. These eyes carry the memory of women who endured hardship with quiet strength, who tilled the soil under relentless sun, who held families together through scarcity and uncertainty, and who passed down to their daughters not only survival but also the courage to imagine more.
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| Shades of Us Visits the Amazing Grace Foundation in Commemoration of Nelson Mandela Day |
By Cynthia Umeh
On July 25, 2025, Shades of Us marked Nelson Mandela Day with a visit to Amazing Grace Foundation, an elderly care home in Abuja. The foundation provides shelter, medical care, and compassion to older people and those living with terminal illness. It also rehabilitates traumatized widows and victims of family violence, offers counseling, and works to ensure that no elderly person spends their final years in loneliness.
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| Photo by Lucio Patone on Unsplash |
By Atinuke Adeosun
For many, life feels like a card game. I have always liked the saying, “You have to live life with the cards you have been dealt.” Some dismiss it as fatalistic, a way of trapping people in the circumstances they were born into. But I see it differently: it is a call to clarity. If you know your hand, you can choose — fight to improve it, or fold and stay where you are. That feels fair enough.
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By Chiamaka Mbah
Shades of Us hosted its July Forum on Friday, July 25, 2025, to commemorate World Refugee Day, traditionally observed on June 20. We explored “Stories of Strength: African Solidarity and the Refugee Experience.” It was a conversation that reminded us that solidarity is not just about standing with refugees on designated international days, but about how we live every day.
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| The Little Big Fund Facilitators and Fellows’ Power Pose. From Left to Right: Andrea, Vanessa, Kuol, Abhinav, Aisha, Erioluwa, Andrea, Christine, Ramatu, Monal |
It has been a little over a year since I first learned about the Little Big Fund Fellowship for non-profit and social impact founders. Since then, I became a fellow, had incredible learning sessions, visited Kenya for the first time, and received a microgrant for the Shades of Us Mobile Cinema project. Phewww! What a year it has been!
You know I am a long-winded writer. So… let us get into it!
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Shades of Us and Adeyemi Orphanage Relief (ADORE) Celebrate the Visit to Destined Children Orphanage Home with the Children and Staff |
By Cynthia Umeh and Simbiat Amzat
There is a simple truth often overlooked: good hygiene is one of the most powerful tools we can give a child. It is not just about cleanliness; it is about dignity, confidence, and the foundation for a healthy future. From learning how to properly wash their hands to understanding the significance of menstrual hygiene, these habits become building blocks for self-esteem and independence.
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| From Left to Right: Beverly Naya, Lupita Nyong'o, Taraji P. Henson, and Mo'Nique. Image Credit: Daily Post Nigeria, Essence, US Weekly, and BellaNaija |
Black Women, the Film Industry, and the Art of Being Overlooked
By Atinuke Adeosun
Let us be real: everyone loves a good underdog story. But Hollywood? Hollywood practically built its brand on it. That whole “started from the bottom, now we are here” vibe is the industry’s favorite genre. Struggle, rise, triumph, and repeat.
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| Photo by jannet eldhose on Unsplash |
By Cynthia Umeh
In many parts of Africa, heavy rainfall is no longer seen as a blessing. Instead, it brings destruction, disease, and death. As climate change continues to affect weather patterns, flooding has become more frequent and more dangerous. One of the most serious results of this flooding is the spread of cholera.
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| Photo by Madalena Veloso on Unsplash |
By Chiamaka Mbah
Zainab sat quietly under the neem tree near her family’s hut. Her arms were thin, her belly slightly swollen, and her eyes carried a tired glow no child should bear. At three years old, she weighed what an average one-year-old should. Her mother, Mariam, tried to feed her from the bowl of watery porridge they shared, but she knew it was not enough. It never was.
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| Photo by Emma Ou on Unsplash |
By Ramatu Ada Ochekliye
Shiana stirred her pot of stew as it simmered on the cooker. The stew wasn't as red as she loved it, but this would have to do. Her spoon flitted around the chunks of meat, noting the spaces where she used to have more. She took the spoon out, hit it on the edge of the pot to get most of the stew back in, then she carefully placed what was left in the middle of her palm. She raised her palm to her mouth and licked the stew off.
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| Panel Session at the Double Minority Documentary Premiere in Abuja on July 14, 2025 |
By Ramatu Ada Ochekliye
A few days ago, I posted a new video about the worth of women, particularly in politics, leadership, and governance. It was the first vlog I had posted in a long while. I remember waking up one morning, more enraged than usual by the state of politics and governance in Nigeria, especially the way it continues to affect women.
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| Shades of Us at the 2025 Charity Half Marathon Hosted by Run Club Abuja (with Support from Norrenberger) on July 12, 2025 |
By Cynthia Umeh
Guess what I did on July 12, 2025? I ran a Marathon!
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| Participants at the Shades of Us Script Development and Storytelling Workshop in Abuja |
“So… why storytelling?”
I asked one of the participants during a short break while the projector warmed up. She gave a small laugh, looked down at her notebook, and said, “Because stories make people feel. And when people feel, they begin to care. That is where change starts.”
