To celebrate SOAS' centenary, our long history with Nigeria and the wider region, SOAS Director Baroness Valerie Amos hosted a centenary celebration and launched the campaign for SOAS, 'Questions worth asking' in Lagos, Nigeria on 27 April 2017.

 

At SOAS we ask challenging questions about the issues facing our world. Equality, democracy and governance. Access to water, food, education and wealth. We ask searching questions about religion, history, languages, art and society. The event celebrated the School's historic ties to Nigeria, the achievements of our Nigerian alumni and looked forward to how we can work collaboratively with our alumni and the region to answer the'Questions worth asking'. On the evening we explored the question of girl's education within Nigeria and discussed how we can tackle the issues and barriers to education facing girls in Nigeria today. 

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It was a fantastic evening, with a lively and interesting discussion chaired by SOAS' Dr Emilia Onyema (Senior Lecturer in International Commercial Law at SOAS) on 'The Education of the Girl Child: Problems and Prospects' with Aisha Ahmad (Chairperson, Women in Management, Business & Public Service (WIMBIZ) and Head of Consumer Banking at Diamond Bank PLC.), Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode (Founder and CEO of the Murtala Muhammed Foundation, Co-Convener of the Bring Back Our Girls Movement, lawyer, businesswoman, development specialist and human rights activist specialising in women and girls initiatives)  and Dr Simeon Obidairo (SOAS alumnus and Partner of Aluko & Oyebode specialising in anti-corruption).

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We were also joined by SOAS Honorary Fellow, Playwright, Poet, Human Rights activist and Nobel Prize winner, Professor Wole Soyinka and Deputy British High Commissioner for Lagos, Laure Beaufils. 

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Alumni including alumnus and former Pro-Director of SOAS, Emeritus Professor Graham Furniss, Her Excellency Mrs Toyin Saraki, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, Professor Razaq Abubakre, Professor Amidu Sanni, Onyema Ugorji, Benita Ngere, and Olamide Bada also shared their memories of the School.

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A huge thank you to alumnus Stephen Kola-Balogun, who was also our Master of Ceremony for the evening. 

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Olufunke Oduwole, President of the SOAS Nigerian Alumni Association, who was instrumental in organising the event, also launched the SOAS Nigerian Alumni Association. To join the association you can sign up here.

 

If you have any questions about future alumni activities in the region, how you can support the Questions worth asking campaign, or any other queries, you can email us at alumni@soas.ac.uk.

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Thank you to everyone who joined us on the evening.

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The SOAS Alumni Team