PROGRESS OBERIKO BLOG

As one of my 2021 highlights , my master's degree course (Media Practice for Development & Social Change) at The University of Sussex offered me the opportunity to undertake an internship as part of my course. And fortunately, I had my internship at The Winch  working as a Documentary Filmmaker & Youthworker. The experience was not only valuable it was also memorable.  The word Winch has different meanings in different climes. In English, it means " a machine that lifts heavy objects" . In Scottish, it means " Kissing with tongues". And in Nigerian slang, it has the same meaning as "WITCH". And being a Nigerian, I found it quite awkward identifying with the name, I would laugh a few times whenever I told my folks from Nigeria the name of my Placement organization, but as time went on I settled in. My first day at The Winch was also very awkward, first of all, as I sat at the reception on arrival, I remember seeing a bunch of kids running here...

  Feminism is one subject that comes with a lot of different baggage, and over time I’ve seen the sprout of different facets of feminism. In Nigeria, which I know of, there’s an amount of negativity attached to the title “feminist” or the word “feminism”, both from self-acclaimed feminists and from society.  And this is because the word feminism translates to different things for different people who identify with this title. A feminist can be: 1. A woman who fancies and promotes the idea that women are in no way less than men, hence should have equal opportunities and be treated fairly in society. 2.  A single and heartbroken lady who therefore thinks all “men are scum”. 3.  An aggrieved/hurt lady who takes out her annoyance by blasting men under the ideology of feminism. (But automatically changes her ideas of men when she finally falls in love with one helplessly).  4.  A lady who doesn’t fancy the idea of marriage, or has attained a certain age where sh...

    My hand luggage and backpack were meticulously packed for the journey, and since they were pretty portable, I decided to keep them with me instead of getting them checked in.   On arrival at security checks, I was asked to declare all my liquids, and with a clean conscience, I brought out all my deodorants, perfumes, body lotion, liquid soap, toothpaste, makeup foundation, etc... It took me by surprise when, at once, the immigration officer gathered together all the above items (excluding one of the smallest bottles of my perfume) and said to me: “we’ll have to trash these”. 😳 You said…? I asked him like I didn’t hear him quite well the first time. And he firmly repeated himself: “We’ll have to put these ones in the bin”, he paraphrased. At that point, I was like “trash”? “Bin”? What’s the relationship between my newly purchased body cream and the bin? I really wasn’t clear what he meant and why for goodness sake he’ll want to shove all my stuff in the bin. Maybe the...