Hey Everyone!
Happy Happy New Year! I honestly hope that 2019 is a successful year for us all, filled with POSITIVITY. 2018 was genuinely the worst year of my life, losing my mum really took a toll on me but I am so motivated to make her proud this year and just charge forth. I hope you’re all feeling the same energy as I am, it’s important to continuously self-motivate and persevere through life’s challenges.
Anyway, that aside, I decided to put together a list of my top 5 feminist social media users of 2018 that I want to encourage everyone to follow through 2019! If you use Nigerian Twitter like I do, you know that the greatest breath of fresh air is seeing relatable tweets in response to high levels of ignorance when it comes to gender-based conversations. As a feminist myself, I often scroll through Twitter in particular and see the most mind-boggling posts but I often don’t have the energy to reply. Although I replied this morning, when I tweeted that R Kelly and all his associates should be locked up and I got a response asking me to be patient for his side of the story. Like huh? Over twenty years of evidence and I should be patient? He is NOT going to survive ANY more lies, I promise you.
That aside, before I sidetrack, I remember when an episode of On the Couch with Falz and Laila came out and I had told Eunice Atuejide, a presidential aspirant ahead of Nigeria’s 2019 elections, what feminism actually meant by definition. After waking up to see my name as number 2 on the trending list, I knew that Twitter controversy was not for me! However, I will always respect women who stand the ground for all of us as women and I genuinely believe that these are the real game changers that we have in society. I am certainly encouraged to be more vocal against all odds because of the bravery of several women online, so this post is not only to inform you, but to celebrate women who take a solid stand for women at all times.
- Eniola Hu
Eniola is genuinely one of the realest people I’ve ever met. We met on her last trip to Lagos when she came on my podcast to discuss culture, misogyny and more. Of course, I’d come across her on Twitter several times before we actually met and I’ve always respected her viewpoint when it comes to women’s rights. If you’re wondering who Eniola is, you may recall her going viral for refusing to kneel for her husband at their traditional wedding. I will never understand why this touched so many sensitive spots for people as quite frankly, why should anyone kneel for their husband as a symbol of submission if he’s not doing the same to symbolize his submission too? I mean, if you want to do it, then by all means go ahead. But are we really coming after women who refuse to? Thankfully, Eniola is not afraid of cultural stigmatizations and works hard to show that we define culture and culture does not define us.
Follow Eniola: @EniolaHu.
2) Ozzy Etomi
Now I’ve never met Ozzy, but she is definitely the number one person I follow on social media. Most of my retweets in 2018 had to have been Ozzy Tweets! She says it as it is, she never holds back and quite frankly, she gives me so much hope for the future of African women. We definitely need more Ozzy’s around to dispel myths, stand against misogynistic online users and fuel conversations that Nigerian society finds extremely uncomfortable to have. I remember when Ozzy fueled a conversation on child birth and spoke her truth, only to receive several degrading responses. But like I said, Ozzy never holds back so if you come for her, then good luck to you!
Follow Ozzy: @OzzyEtomi
3) Fisayo Longe
Fisayo is someone I have so much love for. She is always herself no matter what and it motivates me to step out of my shell on so many occasions. Most of us know Fisayo as a fashion designer, blogger and influencer, but Fisayo also takes a much needed feminist standpoint on social media. She is always sure to dispel myths, like Ozzy, but what I love most about Fisayo is her willingness to put it out there unapologetically without holding back.
Follow Fisayo: @FisayoLonge
4) Ayomide Dokunmu
Although her Twitter bio says it all already, Ayomide’s online presence when it comes to applying her feminist school of thought is next to nothing. Be careful what you say, because she really won’t hold back from schooling you, I promise you! Ayomide is that person who’s tweets I genuinely feel when I read and I find myself going “YAAAASSSSS” lol, but honestly, she just makes sense to say the least.
Follow Ayomide: @Caanniiball
5) Eniafe Momodu
Now Eniafe is really and truly just THAT GUY!! He says it as it is, he stands up for women on social media at all times and he takes his time to educate his followers on the feminist school of thought. Eniafe is unapologetically feminist and it’s always refreshing to know that there are Nigerian men out there who stand with us. It often gets overwhelming to realize how many men are against your school of thought because the notion of gender equality is hated in Nigerian society. Following Eniafe’s tweets throughout 2018 definitely gave me a better Twitter experience and I’m sure it’ll give you one too!
Follow Eniafe: @EniafeMomodu
So thats my top five list! Did I leave anyone out? Please feel free to share more feminist social media platforms and people that you believe we all need to look out for! That’s the energy we need in 2019.
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