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Nigeria

To Be A Nigerian Woman*

To be a Nigerian Woman flyer © Goethe-Institut

These years sessions aim to localize and platform feminist thought in Nigeria.

This edition of Klub der Weisheit was led by a performance, a keynote speech and moderated panel discussion between Lady Donli and Amanda Iheme followed by audience contributions. This layered format lent intimacy & dynamism to the session, driving the arguments of the speaker’s home.

Amanda Iheme’s stirring speech on Freedom of choice highlighted restrictions on narrow lanes of womanhood we can experience in the country. She contrasted modernity with the expressions of womanhood once enjoyed by our great grandmothers and women of the past reminding us that these are our ancestors.

Lady Donli took the form of a Responsorial Psalm, a dialogue between two Hausa women—herself and the audience—channelling resilience as we speak through inherited silences.
Together, the discussion bridged the traditional and the hyper-modern, loosely mapping what might be required for Nigerian women, amidst shifting societal structures, to agree on new roles and contributions to the collective.

Empty venue © Rachel Seidu

Chinyere Obieze Speaking © Rachel Seidu

Lady Donli walking in © Rachel Seidu

two people sitting in perspective © Rachel Seidu

Sticky Note writing © Rachel Seidu

person sitting with legs together © Rachel Seidu

Lady Donli speaking with her back to the camera © Rachel Seidu

Person in audience smiling © Rachel Seidu

Donli Leading the audience © Rachel Seidu

Amanda Iheme Speaking © Rachel Seidu

Ife Adegbie in Audience © Rachel Seidu

Lara Kareem © Rachel Seidu

Our traditional african female ansestor © Rachel Seidu

Persons hands together © Rachel Seidu

Amanda Iheme Speaking © Rachel Seidu

Amanda Iheme Lady Donli Obieze Chinyere panel © Rachel Seidu

people © Rachel Seidu

Juliet Nnaji © Rachel Seidu

Glory Ada Duruem © Rachel Seidu

Atsua Rejoice Doose © Rachel Seidu

Atsua Rejoice Doose © Rachel Seidu

Atsua Rejoice Doose © Rachel Seidu

Atsua Rejoice Doose © Rachel Seidu

Atsua Rejoice Doose © Rachel Seidu

Atsua Rejoice Doose © Rachel Seidu

Atsua Rejoice Doose © Rachel Seidu

Ogochukwu Nancy © Rachel Seidu

Group Picture © Rachel Seidu

Reading List

Developed by Dr. Olaocha Nwabara, the following readings share the stories – histories, cultures, theories, narratives, poetry and perspectives – of and by Nigerian and African women globally. This reading list celebrates the Nigerian woman who tells her own story in a world that often silences it, as well as shares some of the challenges women face when telling their stories. It honors the Nigerian woman, while working to demolish negative narratives that do not paint her in accurate light.

While Western feminism often emphasizes individual agency, Nigerian feminist thought navigates womanhood through communal, cultural, and religious lenses.

Feminism as a global movement championing the perspective of women* has been marked by an evolution in waves, each of them shaped by its sociopolitical context. In Africa —and specifically Nigeria— it is a unique trajectory influenced by indigenous structures, colonial histories, and economic realities.

This edition of KDW will explore how Nigerian women negotiate their identities within and beyond dominant patriarchal narratives, examining the intersections of gender with class, sexuality, tradition, and modernity. Through performance, storytelling, and discussion, we will engage with writers, artists, and activists who are reshaping contemporary understandings of womanhood in Nigeria.
Iheme Amanda

Clinical Psychologist
Architecture Photographer

Amanda Iheme is a licensed clinical psychologist and an architecture photographer in Lagos. She is the clinical director and the lead clinical psychologist of NDỊDỊ, a private mental health practice where she works with private clients suffering from depression, anxiety, grief, trauma and existential crisis, provides psychotherapy and consultation services for corporate firms and facilitates private and public lectures. As an architecture photographer, she seeks to celebrate the design, history, culture and engineering of built structures, spaces and landscapes in Africa. She has exhibited at the Lagos Photo Festival, ArtX and the Museum of Modern Art, and published in The Irin Journal, World of Interiors, The New York Times and FOAM.
Lady Donli

Music Artist

Lady Donli is a genre-defying Nigerian artist whose music weaves together Afrobeats, soul, funk, and rock. Born in Cleveland and raised in Abuja, she emerged as a bold voice in Africa’s alté scene with her 2019 debut album Enjoy Your Life, a vibrant project celebrating freedom, joy, and cultural pride. In 2023, she returned with Pan African Rockstar, a fearless sonic leap blending West African rhythms with psychedelic funk and electric rock—cementing her reputation as a boundary-pushing artist unafraid to evolve.

Her sound is as much a nod to the past as it is a vision for the future, drawing from her heritage while carving out a lane that’s entirely her own. With praise from The Fader, OkayAfrica, and Complex, Lady Donli continues to shape the sound of a new generation—raw, genreless, and unmistakably hers.

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