WEBVTT 00:00:01.099 --> 00:00:03.940 Good morning, Nabila. Happy to meet you. I'm 00:00:03.940 --> 00:00:07.240 just introducing everybody that we met. Yes. 00:00:07.500 --> 00:00:12.179 So we met Nabila, this wonderful young lady at 00:00:12.179 --> 00:00:15.480 Lagos Students Studies Association Conference 00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:19.219 July. June, June, actually. It was June. Okay. 00:00:19.300 --> 00:00:21.420 So you have a better memory than me. And yes, 00:00:21.579 --> 00:00:25.960 I was at the time presenting a paper on Christianity 00:00:25.960 --> 00:00:30.320 in africa and i happened to run into a number 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:35.460 of very amazingly talented very wise young muslim 00:00:35.460 --> 00:00:38.880 scholars and nabila was one of them and she gave 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:42.880 me an amazing discourse on youth not only muslim 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:45.899 youth but both christian and muslim youth and 00:00:45.899 --> 00:00:49.979 the challenges and the issues in terms of stereotypes 00:00:49.979 --> 00:00:53.320 and issues in terms of really a bridge building 00:00:53.320 --> 00:00:57.000 between the two groups um and just she uh really 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:01.520 kind of uh brought this i this perspective that 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:04.719 i had not been aware of um especially as somebody 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:07.959 who you know i i i've been interacting on the 00:01:07.959 --> 00:01:11.060 interfaith side but not as much amongst my own 00:01:11.060 --> 00:01:14.530 people most fellow africans so we are two fellow 00:01:14.530 --> 00:01:17.030 africans from two different coasts and representing 00:01:17.030 --> 00:01:20.230 two different religions but with just a combined 00:01:20.230 --> 00:01:23.590 heart and desire for both our faith to grow closer 00:01:23.590 --> 00:01:26.409 together so i wanted to just start with saying 00:01:26.409 --> 00:01:29.090 just if you could share a little bit about who 00:01:29.090 --> 00:01:31.909 you are your background where you grew up and 00:01:31.909 --> 00:01:36.430 uh what shaped your world worldview okay um all 00:01:36.430 --> 00:01:40.430 right it's actually nice to meet you too mr phillip 00:01:40.969 --> 00:01:44.109 Thank you so much. You've been an amazing person 00:01:44.109 --> 00:01:46.590 since I've known you since June. So it's been 00:01:46.590 --> 00:01:50.329 amazing knowing you. And I'm Nebita Yusuf. That's 00:01:50.329 --> 00:01:54.349 my full name, Nebita Yusuf. I'm from the northern 00:01:54.349 --> 00:01:57.370 part of Nigeria, north central specifically. 00:01:57.510 --> 00:02:00.670 I'm from Kogi State and I'm a young scholar, 00:02:00.930 --> 00:02:04.629 23 years old, young scholar, just pursuing my 00:02:04.629 --> 00:02:07.209 master's degree right now. But I was born and 00:02:07.209 --> 00:02:09.849 bred in Abuja, Nigeria, which is the central 00:02:09.849 --> 00:02:15.610 city of Nigeria. And I schooled in northern Nigeria. 00:02:15.610 --> 00:02:18.169 That's the core northern part of Nigeria, northwest 00:02:18.169 --> 00:02:23.710 Nigeria. I had my university education in northern 00:02:23.710 --> 00:02:26.490 Nigeria. That's the core northern part of Nigeria, 00:02:26.710 --> 00:02:30.060 Kanu State, Nigeria. As we all know, Nigeria 00:02:30.060 --> 00:02:34.719 has six geopolitical zones and we have the north 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:37.060 central, the northwest and the northeast. That's 00:02:37.060 --> 00:02:40.180 for the northern part of Nigeria. And I schooled, 00:02:40.180 --> 00:02:43.099 I'm from the north central part of Nigeria. That's 00:02:43.099 --> 00:02:45.699 my state of origin and my initial background. 00:02:46.020 --> 00:02:49.620 But I schooled in the northwest, which we call 00:02:49.620 --> 00:02:53.400 the core north part of Nigeria, which is predominantly 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:57.199 a Muslim state. And the north central part of 00:02:57.199 --> 00:03:00.039 Nigeria, where I come from and where I grew up, 00:03:00.219 --> 00:03:04.780 it's much more not really a core northern part 00:03:04.780 --> 00:03:07.740 of Nigeria. And it was not predominantly a Muslim 00:03:07.740 --> 00:03:11.979 area. But I've spent almost seven to eight years 00:03:11.979 --> 00:03:13.979 right now in the core northern part of Nigeria, 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:16.900 which is predominantly a Muslim state, which 00:03:16.900 --> 00:03:19.960 is Kanu State, Nigeria. And growing up in Abuja, 00:03:20.039 --> 00:03:23.840 Nigeria, born and bred in Abuja, Nigeria, it 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:28.460 was this... you know, central cosmopolitan area 00:03:28.460 --> 00:03:32.439 that accommodated everyone. And there was a mix 00:03:32.439 --> 00:03:35.840 of both Muslims and Christians and people who 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:37.860 actually lived their life. It's much more of 00:03:37.860 --> 00:03:42.039 an area that thrives economically. You know, 00:03:42.039 --> 00:03:44.939 they just want to make ends meet. And I got to 00:03:44.939 --> 00:03:48.219 see how Muslims and Christians relate very peacefully, 00:03:48.439 --> 00:03:52.680 kind of like segregation or... issues like that. 00:03:52.780 --> 00:03:56.419 It was much more of just striving for their daily 00:03:56.419 --> 00:04:00.020 lives and trying to get what could actually help 00:04:00.020 --> 00:04:01.879 them in life. So Muslims and Christians, they 00:04:01.879 --> 00:04:04.560 work hand in hand together to just get their 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:07.259 life going, you know. But when I found myself 00:04:07.259 --> 00:04:10.360 in Kanu, state Nigeria, which is the corner and 00:04:10.360 --> 00:04:14.259 part of Nigeria, I noticed this is a predominantly 00:04:14.259 --> 00:04:19.939 Muslim state. And there is a part of this part 00:04:19.939 --> 00:04:24.519 of Nigeria that have Only Christians living in 00:04:24.519 --> 00:04:27.500 those parts. That's a fine place, comfortable. 00:04:27.699 --> 00:04:29.699 Just one local government in the whole state. 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:32.639 That's in Kano State. It's dominated by Christians. 00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:38.040 And in my school, Bayer University, Kano, where 00:04:38.040 --> 00:04:41.220 I've been for so many years, we also have Christian 00:04:41.220 --> 00:04:44.579 students. So even though Kano State, Nigeria, 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:48.759 is predominantly a Muslim state, it has also 00:04:48.759 --> 00:04:53.610 accommodated Christians. A lot. And we have so 00:04:53.610 --> 00:04:57.050 many Christian students at Bayer University Kanu. 00:04:57.129 --> 00:04:59.930 They have their churches inside the school. They 00:04:59.930 --> 00:05:04.069 are not forced to wear hijabs or cover their 00:05:04.069 --> 00:05:07.829 hair. Although the only rule is to dress decently. 00:05:07.850 --> 00:05:10.629 That is the rule. And you are not to break that 00:05:10.629 --> 00:05:13.149 rule. Just make sure you dress decently and appropriately 00:05:13.149 --> 00:05:16.370 for an educational environment. That is the rule. 00:05:16.529 --> 00:05:19.189 So they are allowed to practice their own faith 00:05:19.189 --> 00:05:23.120 in the school. Because this is a federal university, 00:05:23.300 --> 00:05:26.819 it is not a Sharia university. It's a federal 00:05:26.819 --> 00:05:29.379 university of Nigeria, but it's in Kenya state 00:05:29.379 --> 00:05:32.360 and it is still predominantly Muslim students, 00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:36.300 Muslim lecturers. You hardly even get to a department 00:05:36.300 --> 00:05:39.060 where you find a Christian lecturer because the 00:05:39.060 --> 00:05:42.379 state is predominantly Muslim. It is just like 00:05:42.379 --> 00:05:46.879 a Sharia state. But I saw that the state also 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:50.259 accommodates Christians. And there is this good 00:05:50.259 --> 00:05:52.819 interfaith relationship to some extent in the 00:05:52.819 --> 00:05:55.600 educational environment. So when you step out 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:58.100 of the educational environment and the only time 00:05:58.100 --> 00:06:01.600 there can be conflict between the people is when 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:07.319 you don't follow the culture or the norms that 00:06:07.319 --> 00:06:10.300 you see the people, like the norms that shape 00:06:10.300 --> 00:06:13.759 the people's life and the society. For example, 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:17.379 in Abuja, Nigeria, that is not central part of 00:06:17.379 --> 00:06:20.350 Nigeria. it's capital city most people there 00:06:20.350 --> 00:06:22.730 are coming to hustle and it's not really based 00:06:22.730 --> 00:06:25.689 of religion and all so it's what it's more of 00:06:25.689 --> 00:06:28.829 like economical just life and all of that so 00:06:28.829 --> 00:06:32.430 you don't see religion shaping people's relations 00:06:32.430 --> 00:06:35.269 and activities and all of that so you can you're 00:06:35.269 --> 00:06:37.589 free to do whatever you want to do but in kind 00:06:37.589 --> 00:06:41.269 of state northern Nigeria you if you're coming 00:06:41.269 --> 00:06:43.790 in and you are not at that local government area 00:06:43.790 --> 00:06:46.930 that I say I was kind of like giving to the Christians 00:06:46.930 --> 00:06:49.689 and the immigrants and like whoever is coming 00:06:49.689 --> 00:06:51.569 from outside like you can be free to do whatever 00:06:51.569 --> 00:06:55.149 you do there for example in abuja anywhere you 00:06:55.149 --> 00:06:57.670 can a lady can wear a bomb shots and walk on 00:06:57.670 --> 00:07:00.970 around you know one cares actually about that 00:07:00.970 --> 00:07:03.310 so mixed both muslims and christians they just 00:07:03.310 --> 00:07:05.730 they just know that that person is a christian 00:07:05.730 --> 00:07:09.810 and you know they just feel so in dressing don't 00:07:09.810 --> 00:07:12.250 really matter there but here a christian person 00:07:12.250 --> 00:07:16.230 would not want to walk around kennel states with 00:07:16.730 --> 00:07:19.290 specific type of dressing you know both male 00:07:19.290 --> 00:07:22.810 and female but the the undeniable fact is that 00:07:22.810 --> 00:07:25.589 there are always locals around someone wearing 00:07:25.589 --> 00:07:29.649 something that is not used to the locals like 00:07:29.649 --> 00:07:31.750 when you wear something like that you could get 00:07:31.750 --> 00:07:35.209 this reaction from the typical locals in the 00:07:35.209 --> 00:07:37.829 area because they don't they are not used to 00:07:37.829 --> 00:07:39.610 that they feel like okay this is immoral this 00:07:39.610 --> 00:07:43.470 is not how we do our things here so there may 00:07:43.470 --> 00:07:47.199 be cases of the people around, like the locals, 00:07:47.379 --> 00:07:50.060 fighting stuff like this when you come out in 00:07:50.060 --> 00:07:52.240 the most, in a way that they call inappropriate. 00:07:53.100 --> 00:07:55.920 Right. You know? Yeah. But when you find, but 00:07:55.920 --> 00:07:58.740 in the same state, like I said, there is a place 00:07:58.740 --> 00:08:01.680 given to them that is, we call that place Sabangiri. 00:08:01.980 --> 00:08:04.100 Right. That Sabangiri is the whole local government 00:08:04.100 --> 00:08:06.000 and it's given to them. And you're free to do 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:07.939 whatever you want there because the locals are 00:08:07.939 --> 00:08:09.819 not there and they don't care about you. They 00:08:09.819 --> 00:08:12.360 don't really. So it's your place. So if you can 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:14.819 respect their own place, just like when you go 00:08:14.819 --> 00:08:17.600 to Qatar or you go to Dubai and you just feel 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:21.180 like you're in a bias just to fit into the environment, 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:24.199 that is how Canada State is. So when you're here, 00:08:24.300 --> 00:08:26.519 you try to just fit into the culture and no one 00:08:26.519 --> 00:08:28.819 has a problem with you at the end of the day. 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:31.399 So I think Nigeria has a kind of, it's not a 00:08:31.399 --> 00:08:35.480 very bad interfaith relation. You know, the only 00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:40.409 time the interfaith relation is... bad or what 00:08:40.409 --> 00:08:45.129 actually brings about this religious crisis and 00:08:45.129 --> 00:08:48.190 religious differences and all of that is the 00:08:48.190 --> 00:08:51.929 politicians, you know, the leaders, the politicians, 00:08:52.149 --> 00:08:55.350 society, corruption, politics, let's just say 00:08:55.350 --> 00:08:58.110 politics, basically. The leaders try to turn 00:08:58.110 --> 00:09:01.490 religion, you know, when they want to come for 00:09:01.490 --> 00:09:04.029 each other in a way, they use religion as a tool, 00:09:04.129 --> 00:09:07.409 knowing that Nigeria is a state. that is not 00:09:07.409 --> 00:09:09.789 dominated by one religion, divided into two. 00:09:09.870 --> 00:09:11.509 You have the southern part, you have the northern 00:09:11.509 --> 00:09:14.610 part. So they can bring in religion to kind of 00:09:14.610 --> 00:09:17.610 bring that violence, you know, and they also 00:09:17.610 --> 00:09:21.110 try to use religion to, when it comes to voting, 00:09:21.269 --> 00:09:24.269 you know, I'm from the north, I want people from 00:09:24.269 --> 00:09:27.549 the north to vote for me. If the Christians can't, 00:09:27.549 --> 00:09:29.289 they are not your religion and all, you know, 00:09:29.289 --> 00:09:32.200 kind of those kind of... Because they know when 00:09:32.200 --> 00:09:34.879 everyone is united, they can actually make better 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:37.740 decisions. So they try to ignite violence, religious 00:09:37.740 --> 00:09:41.580 violence. So people think that the other religions 00:09:41.580 --> 00:09:44.259 are their enemies. So I think when it comes to 00:09:44.259 --> 00:09:47.340 interfaith issues, a lot of the time the politicians 00:09:47.340 --> 00:09:50.539 play a huge role in those things. Right. I want 00:09:50.539 --> 00:09:54.100 to talk a little bit more about how this experience 00:09:54.100 --> 00:09:56.039 has shaped what you want to study. And if you 00:09:56.039 --> 00:09:58.080 could talk a little bit more for a couple of 00:09:58.080 --> 00:09:59.879 minutes about what you want to study, what you 00:09:59.879 --> 00:10:02.950 want to look into. What bridges your interest 00:10:02.950 --> 00:10:07.549 specifically? Yeah. All right. So someone who 00:10:07.549 --> 00:10:10.429 grew up in Abuja, Nigeria, like I gave my background 00:10:10.429 --> 00:10:13.350 about growing up in Abuja and spending so many 00:10:13.350 --> 00:10:17.629 years in Kano also. My academic interests stemmed 00:10:17.629 --> 00:10:19.970 off from like my interest in women. First of 00:10:19.970 --> 00:10:24.009 all, my gender. That was where my passion stemmed 00:10:24.009 --> 00:10:27.889 off from initially. You know, my being interested 00:10:27.889 --> 00:10:30.889 in the women in my area, the women. in my society 00:10:30.889 --> 00:10:35.389 and also my experiences, you know, how I have 00:10:35.389 --> 00:10:38.950 seen women in Nigerian or let me say African 00:10:38.950 --> 00:10:41.750 society from what I have read also, because I've 00:10:41.750 --> 00:10:46.169 read lots of works from different scholars. Huseini 00:10:46.169 --> 00:10:48.830 Alido, Barbara Cooper, I've seen their works. 00:10:48.889 --> 00:10:51.309 I've seen how they've addressed issues that actually 00:10:51.309 --> 00:10:54.629 touch on gender. And I see there are some gaps. 00:10:55.600 --> 00:10:58.240 Women have to be included in lots of these courses. 00:10:58.340 --> 00:11:03.779 So my initial passion stemmed off from knowing 00:11:03.779 --> 00:11:07.299 much more about my gender, researching into my 00:11:07.299 --> 00:11:11.039 gender and filling some gaps that are there and 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:14.059 also trying to work towards a much more inclusive 00:11:14.059 --> 00:11:20.639 community and society. So growing up, my background, 00:11:20.840 --> 00:11:25.059 like I said, In Nigeria, in African society, 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:29.580 women, I will not completely say they were sidelined 00:11:29.580 --> 00:11:32.360 or something like that, but it's still a struggle 00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:35.159 in this part of the world. The women finding 00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:40.039 their stance and trying to also own big positions 00:11:40.039 --> 00:11:44.019 without being like chastised, using cultural, 00:11:44.179 --> 00:11:47.360 religious norms to try to beat it down to some 00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:50.950 extent. You know, a woman being limited. Oh, 00:11:50.990 --> 00:11:54.210 you should just get married, have children. That's 00:11:54.210 --> 00:11:56.429 what you're supposed to do as a lady, as a Muslim 00:11:56.429 --> 00:11:59.009 woman. Because that is where you get your respect 00:11:59.009 --> 00:12:01.889 in this kind of society I am coming from. And 00:12:01.889 --> 00:12:04.889 I believe that is not what a woman is limited 00:12:04.889 --> 00:12:08.529 to. And I also have my knowledge about Islam. 00:12:08.610 --> 00:12:11.669 And Islam is not limiting anybody or limiting 00:12:11.669 --> 00:12:16.769 women to just being in the society. Just being 00:12:16.769 --> 00:12:19.090 the full housewife, because even the wife of 00:12:19.090 --> 00:12:20.750 the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, 00:12:20.830 --> 00:12:25.309 Khadija, she was an entrepreneur when she got 00:12:25.309 --> 00:12:27.809 married to the Prophet. So we've always had the 00:12:27.809 --> 00:12:30.669 history of women holding good position or being 00:12:30.669 --> 00:12:32.789 business women or just having something to do 00:12:32.789 --> 00:12:35.549 right from time. There's no time that women have 00:12:35.549 --> 00:12:39.210 been actually limited to being nothing. So we 00:12:39.210 --> 00:12:41.649 still have that issue in our society, especially 00:12:41.649 --> 00:12:44.429 in the African society here, when you're still... 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:47.980 100 % judged that as a woman, you should just 00:12:47.980 --> 00:12:50.019 be at home. You should be married. You should 00:12:50.019 --> 00:12:53.059 just take care of the kids and all. And I am 00:12:53.059 --> 00:12:56.000 that person who believes that there should be 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:59.039 more to that. And that is why I advocate. I work 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:02.639 with NGOs. I do lots of advocacy. And it has 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:05.899 also made me develop this big interest in researching 00:13:05.899 --> 00:13:09.500 more about women in my own society. There have 00:13:09.500 --> 00:13:11.440 been lots of women who have been researched about. 00:13:11.629 --> 00:13:14.669 out in Nigeria, in Africa. But I feel like in 00:13:14.669 --> 00:13:17.490 modern Nigeria here, there are still lots of 00:13:17.490 --> 00:13:19.330 things that have not been explored about northern 00:13:19.330 --> 00:13:23.669 Nigeria women, especially Muslim women in Nigeria. 00:13:23.870 --> 00:13:25.269 So when I mean northern Nigeria, because it's 00:13:25.269 --> 00:13:28.049 a predominantly Muslim state. So I mean Muslim 00:13:28.049 --> 00:13:30.870 women in Nigeria generally. Lots of things have 00:13:30.870 --> 00:13:33.070 not been explored about them. A lot of people 00:13:33.070 --> 00:13:35.269 still think they are actually sidelined. There 00:13:35.269 --> 00:13:37.389 are still community norms that have sidelined 00:13:37.389 --> 00:13:41.039 them to some extent. researching into them knowing 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:43.399 that actually things are not as bad but there 00:13:43.399 --> 00:13:45.360 are still things we still have to work on to 00:13:45.360 --> 00:13:49.779 be better so i have read lots of works and my 00:13:49.779 --> 00:13:52.700 passion is coming from where i am coming from 00:13:52.700 --> 00:13:56.279 as a lady as a woman my lived experiences and 00:13:56.279 --> 00:13:59.240 the passion to know much more about women in 00:13:59.240 --> 00:14:02.940 my society explore research about them and show 00:14:02.940 --> 00:14:05.559 that there are some things that are missing they 00:14:05.559 --> 00:14:07.799 should be included in some ways and also advocates 00:14:08.779 --> 00:14:11.419 and impact the society after like, you know, 00:14:11.419 --> 00:14:15.419 making good research about the women. Right. 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:20.379 I love that. Actually, because I know something, 00:14:20.500 --> 00:14:23.659 it just reminded me, if you also share a little 00:14:23.659 --> 00:14:26.679 bit more about, I know your unique story in terms 00:14:26.679 --> 00:14:28.779 of how you launched your business and how you 00:14:28.779 --> 00:14:32.480 launched. you know i i we shared so much about 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:35.559 how like you know you know god helped you in 00:14:35.559 --> 00:14:37.860 terms of building that and how that gave you 00:14:37.860 --> 00:14:40.500 a unique place and some of the difficult experiences 00:14:40.500 --> 00:14:44.460 you had uh you know very passionate yeah thank 00:14:44.460 --> 00:14:47.100 you so much for bringing that that's part of 00:14:47.100 --> 00:14:49.980 me i it's a very sensitive part i'm going to 00:14:49.980 --> 00:14:52.480 call it although it's one of my experience that 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:55.840 i appreciate so much and i love so much but it's 00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:59.009 a very sensitive part of me I hardly go over 00:14:59.009 --> 00:15:01.450 talking about it without tearing up sometimes. 00:15:01.870 --> 00:15:05.070 From my background, I didn't come from a family 00:15:05.070 --> 00:15:08.409 that is wealthy, that have everything put together 00:15:08.409 --> 00:15:12.049 and all of that. So my passion towards academia, 00:15:12.169 --> 00:15:15.490 towards impacting my society is strictly passion, 00:15:15.730 --> 00:15:18.870 you know. It has been out of passion and all. 00:15:18.990 --> 00:15:23.759 And my family, although very loving people, They 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:26.120 would have wanted to do everything for me and 00:15:26.120 --> 00:15:28.500 my siblings, actually. I come from that family 00:15:28.500 --> 00:15:31.399 who is not meeting me like, you know, for anything. 00:15:31.639 --> 00:15:34.460 But they could not support in the way that they 00:15:34.460 --> 00:15:37.740 want to because of the financial crisis in the 00:15:37.740 --> 00:15:39.779 country and the ones that my family has faced. 00:15:39.940 --> 00:15:42.919 So I have been that person who have struggled 00:15:42.919 --> 00:15:46.799 all through. My struggle is also one very important 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:50.200 thing that actually exposed me to the struggle. 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:52.620 of women in my society because I have struggled 00:15:52.620 --> 00:15:55.960 also. You know, I have gone through lots of financial 00:15:55.960 --> 00:16:01.299 issues and emotional issues continuously. You 00:16:01.299 --> 00:16:03.259 know, when your finances are not balanced, it 00:16:03.259 --> 00:16:05.480 actually challenges you continuously in life. 00:16:05.559 --> 00:16:07.460 I have gone through that kind of financial challenge 00:16:07.460 --> 00:16:09.940 because my undergraduate days, I had to come 00:16:09.940 --> 00:16:13.139 through for myself. I had to put myself through. 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:16.409 My family was supportive. in in the little way 00:16:16.409 --> 00:16:19.049 they can they can but you know it was not actually 00:16:19.049 --> 00:16:21.409 it did not suffice in any way that would have 00:16:21.409 --> 00:16:24.649 actually pushed me forward so i had to come true 00:16:24.649 --> 00:16:27.210 for myself i had to do petty works in school 00:16:27.210 --> 00:16:30.470 i had to start a business that up to now i still 00:16:30.470 --> 00:16:33.029 use it to sort out one little thing or the other 00:16:33.029 --> 00:16:35.389 because in nigeria the educational system here 00:16:35.389 --> 00:16:37.470 when you're going into it is strictly out of 00:16:37.470 --> 00:16:39.070 passion it's not even because of the money you 00:16:39.070 --> 00:16:42.690 get right there's no money yeah you know so i 00:16:42.690 --> 00:16:46.340 i'm still trying to push that little business, 00:16:46.500 --> 00:16:49.220 which is very hectic for me. I combine it with 00:16:49.220 --> 00:16:51.240 my master's studies that I'm doing right now, 00:16:51.299 --> 00:16:54.059 my master's in history that I'm pursuing right 00:16:54.059 --> 00:16:57.379 now. I have been doing this since my undergraduate 00:16:57.379 --> 00:17:01.659 days and I have to go to the market, do this, 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:04.819 do that, and I still combine it with academic 00:17:04.819 --> 00:17:08.180 work. And I still find time inside of me to know 00:17:08.180 --> 00:17:10.759 that, okay, this experience that I'm having doesn't 00:17:10.759 --> 00:17:13.299 have to kind of bring me down. I am still very 00:17:13.299 --> 00:17:17.700 much passionate about pursuing a career, about 00:17:17.700 --> 00:17:20.200 knowing myself and knowing my society and impacting 00:17:20.200 --> 00:17:22.299 on them. Because I believe I'm someone who believes 00:17:22.299 --> 00:17:24.099 that at the end of the day, it's going to get 00:17:24.099 --> 00:17:26.240 brighter. The future is going to get brighter 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:28.160 as far as you're consistent with what you do. 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:30.019 And this is one of the things that have really 00:17:30.019 --> 00:17:33.140 inspired me to, because I have a very good background 00:17:33.140 --> 00:17:35.809 here in Nigeria. My professors, they have set 00:17:35.809 --> 00:17:38.109 a background for academia for me, and I really 00:17:38.109 --> 00:17:40.029 do appreciate them. I have good mentors in the 00:17:40.029 --> 00:17:42.230 department. One of the things that have drawn 00:17:42.230 --> 00:17:45.910 me to the FIU community is because we want a 00:17:45.910 --> 00:17:48.589 much more advanced, let me call it advanced, 00:17:48.950 --> 00:17:52.390 learning environment, change of environment, 00:17:52.769 --> 00:17:55.430 an international kind of set, a global kind of 00:17:55.430 --> 00:17:58.069 environment that I get to learn better, to equip 00:17:58.069 --> 00:18:01.470 myself with much more knowledge to conduct this 00:18:01.470 --> 00:18:04.180 research that I want to do. Because at the end 00:18:04.180 --> 00:18:06.200 of the day, I wouldn't want to be limited to 00:18:06.200 --> 00:18:09.779 my own environment. I need the whole educational, 00:18:09.980 --> 00:18:14.359 or should I say, capacity to go on that research, 00:18:14.440 --> 00:18:17.119 on the research I would want to conduct. And 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:19.039 that is why I would need every support I can 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:22.039 get at this point in my life. Because it's all 00:18:22.039 --> 00:18:26.099 coming out of passion. No parent is kind of forcing 00:18:26.099 --> 00:18:29.250 me or nobody. especially towards anything. I 00:18:29.250 --> 00:18:32.130 am the one who have seen my society and I have 00:18:32.130 --> 00:18:35.190 said, oh, I actually want to impact my society 00:18:35.190 --> 00:18:37.269 and I want to know more about them. And even 00:18:37.269 --> 00:18:39.529 with the struggles I go through and the pain 00:18:39.529 --> 00:18:43.230 I go through in private, because it's never easy, 00:18:43.349 --> 00:18:45.690 all the things I go through and try to just cater 00:18:45.690 --> 00:18:49.250 for myself and have full responsibility for myself. 00:18:49.630 --> 00:18:52.670 So even with all of that, being passionate about 00:18:52.670 --> 00:18:55.869 still looking for the opportunity, better opportunities 00:18:55.869 --> 00:18:59.759 to learn. And to be able to impact my society 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:04.119 in the way that I have imagined is still a very 00:19:04.119 --> 00:19:07.000 big part of me. And that is why I always, right 00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:09.740 now, I kind of always talk about how I need my 00:19:09.740 --> 00:19:14.299 support. The support from everyone I can get 00:19:14.299 --> 00:19:18.019 right now. Emotional, mental, financial support 00:19:18.019 --> 00:19:21.380 especially. Because I can't do it alone. You 00:19:21.380 --> 00:19:23.720 know, the little I do cannot actually take me. 00:19:23.900 --> 00:19:30.640 Yeah. I wanted to just share a little bit the 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:32.900 story that you told me that really, really touched 00:19:32.900 --> 00:19:36.079 my heart was because then I would love if you 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:38.160 kind of gave a little excerpt before I go like 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:39.819 your business and you, you know, you have you, 00:19:39.880 --> 00:19:43.319 I think you wear a lot of them very well. And 00:19:43.319 --> 00:19:48.619 I do. And what was wonderful is that you talked 00:19:48.619 --> 00:19:50.920 about just starting out from the beginning, from 00:19:50.920 --> 00:19:53.480 just a little that you had going door to door, 00:19:53.579 --> 00:19:56.779 meeting rejection after rejection after rejection, 00:19:56.900 --> 00:20:00.019 and just continue just to pray through it and 00:20:00.019 --> 00:20:04.740 just not giving up. you've never asked anybody 00:20:04.740 --> 00:20:08.180 for anything you've taken like even the the technology 00:20:08.180 --> 00:20:10.880 that you have the phone you have you've built 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:14.539 a social media platform that has a lot of followers 00:20:14.539 --> 00:20:18.059 you used your you know that your fashion sense 00:20:18.059 --> 00:20:22.980 and your interaction to reframe the idea of um 00:20:23.559 --> 00:20:26.400 uh, feminism, I think within the Muslim context, 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:29.799 uh, you know, where you're not, uh, uh, uh, the 00:20:29.799 --> 00:20:32.160 fashion and feminism meet in such a wonderful 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:36.559 way to exemplify your voice. Um, yeah. So I, 00:20:36.680 --> 00:20:39.119 I can't say enough about how amazing those stories 00:20:39.119 --> 00:20:43.940 that you've shared are. Um, so yeah, I'm glad 00:20:43.940 --> 00:20:47.250 you actually remember every detail of it. So 00:20:47.250 --> 00:20:49.250 it's like you absolutely remembered everything 00:20:49.250 --> 00:20:52.470 I shared with you about, you know, when I started, 00:20:52.609 --> 00:20:54.869 I was saying, oh, this is such a sensitive topic 00:20:54.869 --> 00:20:57.109 that when I tried to talk about it, you know, 00:20:57.130 --> 00:21:00.410 I always not want to, don't feel like going deep 00:21:00.410 --> 00:21:02.829 at the end of the day because of how it makes 00:21:02.829 --> 00:21:05.670 me feel. But you've said it all to some extent. 00:21:06.009 --> 00:21:08.569 My business from the beginning started from scratch. 00:21:08.829 --> 00:21:12.210 I had to. come off start with buying like dozens 00:21:12.210 --> 00:21:15.509 just a dozen just 12 piece going room to room 00:21:15.509 --> 00:21:19.549 in the hotel facing rejections from people people 00:21:19.549 --> 00:21:22.049 talk to me in the worst kind of manner you know 00:21:22.049 --> 00:21:26.730 just like kind of shush me away some were not 00:21:26.730 --> 00:21:29.190 kind because i can't categorize everyone to be 00:21:29.190 --> 00:21:31.630 the same but some were nice but majority had 00:21:31.630 --> 00:21:36.650 this demeaning character you know they just shush 00:21:37.240 --> 00:21:40.019 She tried to demoralize me, but I am the strongest 00:21:40.019 --> 00:21:42.779 person I know. Like I've always said, I was strong 00:21:42.779 --> 00:21:45.940 in all of it. I continue to push because at the 00:21:45.940 --> 00:21:48.000 end of the day, I feel like I am not going to 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:51.099 settle for a way of life that I am not proud 00:21:51.099 --> 00:21:53.900 of. I am a practicing Muslim woman and I am not 00:21:53.900 --> 00:21:56.579 going to start a kind of lifestyle just because. 00:21:57.049 --> 00:22:00.369 I cannot cope with how people are accepting the 00:22:00.369 --> 00:22:02.769 little hustle I am trying to use to push myself. 00:22:03.029 --> 00:22:06.369 So I live my life in the way of Allah, how Allah 00:22:06.369 --> 00:22:09.150 has ordained. I'm a very practicing Muslim. And 00:22:09.150 --> 00:22:11.470 there are ways I have seen people live their 00:22:11.470 --> 00:22:13.930 life, which I cannot do. And I also don't go 00:22:13.930 --> 00:22:16.630 around begging because I feel like when you bring 00:22:16.630 --> 00:22:18.970 down yourself to beg people continuously, it 00:22:18.970 --> 00:22:21.529 only makes them to match you because most of 00:22:21.529 --> 00:22:23.789 the time they can't even help, you know, a lot 00:22:23.789 --> 00:22:26.259 of the time. I'm not a proud person. I can ask 00:22:26.259 --> 00:22:29.059 for help from people who I actually see are good 00:22:29.059 --> 00:22:32.240 people and can impact my life. But I don't go 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:35.140 around begging or even accepting favors from 00:22:35.140 --> 00:22:37.259 random people that may now feel like I owe them 00:22:37.259 --> 00:22:39.279 something in return. Especially being a very 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:41.859 young lady at my age then, or even at my age 00:22:41.859 --> 00:22:44.240 now because I'm still 23 years old, there are 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:46.839 men around who throw things at me, at my face. 00:22:47.559 --> 00:22:49.519 want to do this for me, want to do that for me. 00:22:49.559 --> 00:22:52.240 But as a disciplined person, I would never accept 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:54.900 such things because it always comes with a price. 00:22:54.980 --> 00:22:57.700 I believe that no one is coming to just throw 00:22:57.700 --> 00:23:00.240 things at you for absolutely no reason. And when 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:03.099 you go on and you facilitate that kind of relationship, 00:23:03.619 --> 00:23:06.460 it doesn't turn against you later on. So I always 00:23:06.460 --> 00:23:09.420 hold myself in this kind of high pride and go 00:23:09.420 --> 00:23:13.000 through the whole process. I went step by step 00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:16.039 by step and I got to the stage where my business 00:23:16.039 --> 00:23:18.940 is at right now that it is not still a big business. 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:21.079 It is not a big business. I've not gotten to 00:23:21.079 --> 00:23:23.960 where I would want, I've wanted to be in business 00:23:23.960 --> 00:23:28.039 because I didn't plan to become a businesswoman, 00:23:28.200 --> 00:23:31.400 like a full -time businesswoman, anybody like 00:23:31.400 --> 00:23:33.619 that. My passion is for academia, you understand, 00:23:33.819 --> 00:23:37.359 but because of the life situations, I have to 00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:40.440 find my passion in business also. I had to start 00:23:40.440 --> 00:23:43.599 from somewhere and I have tried to build towards 00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:45.720 somewhere and have this little customer base 00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:47.740 that are still, that are actually loyal to me 00:23:47.740 --> 00:23:49.380 to some extent. And those are the things that 00:23:49.380 --> 00:23:52.180 actually helped me to have my life together to 00:23:52.180 --> 00:23:55.140 some extent right now. To just be able to survive. 00:23:55.640 --> 00:23:58.039 Yeah. You know? So even though I don't have the 00:23:58.039 --> 00:24:00.759 proper capital up till now to establish and put 00:24:00.759 --> 00:24:03.420 things in order, but I have been able to get 00:24:03.420 --> 00:24:05.640 to that stage where at least I can survive, you 00:24:05.640 --> 00:24:07.849 know, with what I have. So I've gone through 00:24:07.849 --> 00:24:10.490 a lot as a person. I have been treated in some 00:24:10.490 --> 00:24:15.029 ways. I have been tempted as a girl because we 00:24:15.029 --> 00:24:17.049 have men all around, the big ones with the cars. 00:24:17.190 --> 00:24:19.569 I know I have a pretty face. I actually have 00:24:19.569 --> 00:24:22.509 the attention coming all the time, but the discipline 00:24:22.509 --> 00:24:26.230 there to actually stick to my own passion and 00:24:26.230 --> 00:24:29.849 work with what I believe with the hope that God 00:24:29.849 --> 00:24:31.950 would actually make the way at the end of the 00:24:31.950 --> 00:24:34.349 day. You know, that has actually kept me going, 00:24:34.450 --> 00:24:38.210 you know. So it has actually really, really shaped 00:24:38.210 --> 00:24:41.750 how I've lived my life and how I actually continue. 00:24:41.930 --> 00:24:45.470 I've continued, I'll continue, I mean, to live 00:24:45.470 --> 00:24:47.410 my life. And when it comes to the women in the 00:24:47.410 --> 00:24:52.369 society, you know, these struggles and all, it 00:24:52.369 --> 00:24:56.109 actually also affects, when we take it back to 00:24:56.109 --> 00:25:00.470 interfaith relationship, you know, people like 00:25:00.470 --> 00:25:04.000 me, they struggle a lot. they find themselves 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:07.680 in some kind of situations whereby, like I said, 00:25:07.720 --> 00:25:11.440 like the youth. Yeah. When they go through things 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:14.920 like this, they try to hold the anger on the 00:25:14.920 --> 00:25:17.339 people around them. They get convinced, they 00:25:17.339 --> 00:25:20.740 get used by people around them to ignite religious 00:25:20.740 --> 00:25:23.400 violence, like on history, dramatic issues, you 00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:25.960 know? Right. So these struggles of a young person 00:25:25.960 --> 00:25:29.279 like mine has actually impacted how people, some 00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:32.440 kind of... people have this religious relation 00:25:32.440 --> 00:25:36.160 but i am excluded from that because i grew up 00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:38.519 with christians i grew up in north central nigeria 00:25:38.519 --> 00:25:41.779 i have related with them and there is no way 00:25:41.779 --> 00:25:44.180 i'm going to just wake up one morning and start 00:25:44.180 --> 00:25:46.720 having problem with christians or be convinced 00:25:46.720 --> 00:25:49.539 by somebody a politician or someone who just 00:25:49.539 --> 00:25:51.799 wants to push an agenda to have something against 00:25:51.799 --> 00:25:56.559 the religion Since you brought that up, actually 00:25:56.559 --> 00:25:59.019 a great place to go into, you know, we've talked 00:25:59.019 --> 00:26:02.720 a lot about youth, especially in faith. And I 00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:04.839 think something you helped me understand that 00:26:04.839 --> 00:26:08.099 I had not understand is the kind of the state 00:26:08.099 --> 00:26:10.960 of both the different states of Islamic youth 00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:14.319 and Christian youth in terms of how they're perceiving 00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:18.579 their faith and how you see it from a young person's 00:26:18.579 --> 00:26:21.539 perspective. Just how faith is being used. And 00:26:21.539 --> 00:26:23.559 I think you spoke a lot from the difference between 00:26:23.559 --> 00:26:25.299 what's happening in the South and what's happening 00:26:25.299 --> 00:26:27.420 in the North from what you perceive. Obviously, 00:26:27.460 --> 00:26:29.859 I know it's a sensitive topic, but to the most 00:26:29.859 --> 00:26:32.880 as you can talk about it, because it goes kind 00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:35.880 of contrary to what we perceive in the West as 00:26:35.880 --> 00:26:39.079 how Christianity is taking over. Christianity 00:26:39.079 --> 00:26:41.640 and Islam are both taking over Africa. It seems 00:26:41.640 --> 00:26:43.900 like there's kind of some nuances based off of 00:26:43.900 --> 00:26:47.250 what you had told me and what I'd seen. Just 00:26:47.250 --> 00:26:52.109 kind of the experiences that are changing amongst 00:26:52.109 --> 00:26:54.490 youth. Because I know, especially amongst Christian 00:26:54.490 --> 00:26:56.369 youth, there's a lot of people who are being 00:26:56.369 --> 00:26:58.549 affected by social media and how they're kind 00:26:58.549 --> 00:27:01.250 of pulling away from the faith. And I think this 00:27:01.250 --> 00:27:03.769 is both on the Christian and Muslim side, in 00:27:03.769 --> 00:27:06.470 the South especially. And I kind of wanted to 00:27:06.470 --> 00:27:08.589 speak about that from what you've experienced 00:27:08.589 --> 00:27:13.930 as a young person. As a youth in Nigeria, I think 00:27:13.930 --> 00:27:17.349 the technology has actually affected, or should 00:27:17.349 --> 00:27:20.089 I say it's playing a huge role, co -influence 00:27:20.089 --> 00:27:25.150 on how youths accept or practice their religion 00:27:25.150 --> 00:27:29.630 nowadays. It's easy for agendas to go, like someone 00:27:29.630 --> 00:27:31.869 who wants to spread an agenda or a particular 00:27:31.869 --> 00:27:35.849 type of agenda to go very, very viral. I got 00:27:35.849 --> 00:27:38.390 to, you know, I know over the years I just... 00:27:38.589 --> 00:27:41.150 kind of notice that human beings are very easy 00:27:41.150 --> 00:27:43.269 to influence. And, you know, you can change their 00:27:43.269 --> 00:27:46.490 mind. You can influence them in ways that you 00:27:46.490 --> 00:27:51.009 didn't even know, just with a word. And the technology 00:27:51.009 --> 00:27:53.549 advancement, technological advancement lately 00:27:53.549 --> 00:27:57.769 in life has actually created this avenue for 00:27:57.769 --> 00:28:01.230 people, for information to reach people and all 00:28:01.230 --> 00:28:03.650 of that. Before technological advancement and 00:28:03.650 --> 00:28:07.380 all, when it comes to youths, relations and how 00:28:07.380 --> 00:28:09.779 you'd practice religion in this part of the world 00:28:09.779 --> 00:28:12.759 in Nigeria it was much more traditional if you 00:28:12.759 --> 00:28:15.660 remember how I explained it from the households 00:28:15.660 --> 00:28:18.380 it's just about your household how strict were 00:28:18.380 --> 00:28:21.799 they with religion you know how how do they practice 00:28:21.799 --> 00:28:25.480 it how was it deep in them and that I think it 00:28:25.480 --> 00:28:28.089 was just like a continuous thing If your household 00:28:28.089 --> 00:28:30.890 was that place where religion was strict and 00:28:30.890 --> 00:28:33.990 they practiced fully and with so much dedication 00:28:33.990 --> 00:28:36.549 and all of that, you see that household, that 00:28:36.549 --> 00:28:38.549 the children that come out from there, that is 00:28:38.549 --> 00:28:40.910 how they also live their lives. Also, community 00:28:40.910 --> 00:28:44.430 plays a role. Like I explained earlier, places 00:28:44.430 --> 00:28:46.630 like Abuja, Nigeria, where there is this interfaith 00:28:46.630 --> 00:28:49.630 relation that without any problem, people are 00:28:49.630 --> 00:28:52.769 just there to thrive, get their money or just 00:28:52.769 --> 00:28:55.349 try to put their life together. they may not 00:28:55.349 --> 00:28:57.990 be they may not practice religion like strictly 00:28:57.990 --> 00:28:59.950 like those people in the corner that's for the 00:28:59.950 --> 00:29:02.269 Muslims you know for the Christians also they 00:29:02.269 --> 00:29:04.710 may not be as strict as those at the core eastern 00:29:04.710 --> 00:29:07.829 part of Nigeria they will have the Yoruba people 00:29:07.829 --> 00:29:10.250 those people at the southwestern part of Nigeria 00:29:10.250 --> 00:29:12.910 who they have always been mixed up they have 00:29:12.910 --> 00:29:15.430 Christians they have Muslims they just they just 00:29:15.430 --> 00:29:17.529 practice it together in the northern part of 00:29:17.529 --> 00:29:20.990 Nigeria I'm sorry southwest part of Nigeria you 00:29:20.990 --> 00:29:24.089 see A family celebrating Christmas and Salah, 00:29:24.130 --> 00:29:26.309 that's how they live there. Right. It's their 00:29:26.309 --> 00:29:28.910 way of life. But when it comes to the core, north, 00:29:29.130 --> 00:29:31.269 like I said, they are predominantly Muslims. 00:29:31.730 --> 00:29:34.509 So it's Islam there. And in the eastern part 00:29:34.509 --> 00:29:37.789 of Nigeria, it's just Christianity there. In 00:29:37.789 --> 00:29:40.170 the central part, or like the rural part of Nigeria, 00:29:40.349 --> 00:29:44.130 it's mixed up. There is no issue. When we bring 00:29:44.130 --> 00:29:48.750 it to the modern days now, and this Gen Z... 00:29:49.500 --> 00:29:52.720 There's advancements, lots of liberal movements. 00:29:52.920 --> 00:29:55.539 You can do this, you can do that. You should 00:29:55.539 --> 00:29:57.900 be on your own, blah, blah, blah. All those kinds 00:29:57.900 --> 00:30:00.299 of talks and ideologies that are going around 00:30:00.299 --> 00:30:04.099 now. Undeniably, it affects Nigeria too, a lot. 00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:06.980 When it comes to the north central part of Nigeria, 00:30:07.359 --> 00:30:10.579 the Abuja and the Yoruba state and all, you see 00:30:10.579 --> 00:30:15.720 youths saying they want to be atheists. at all 00:30:15.720 --> 00:30:18.019 because they feel like, oh, the world is advancing. 00:30:18.099 --> 00:30:20.740 It's now more of technological advancement. Religion 00:30:20.740 --> 00:30:23.799 is a scam. Religion was to deceive and all of 00:30:23.799 --> 00:30:26.440 that. That religion was just an agenda of the 00:30:26.440 --> 00:30:28.619 white man. And in this part of the country, especially 00:30:28.619 --> 00:30:32.160 in Nigeria or in Africa, this agenda that has 00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:34.920 been trying to take them out of religion is this 00:30:34.920 --> 00:30:37.339 thing that they talk about. Religion is just 00:30:37.339 --> 00:30:40.160 a scam of the white man. When it comes from you, 00:30:40.220 --> 00:30:42.480 that's for Christianity. And for Islam, they 00:30:42.480 --> 00:30:44.339 say... The scum of the Arabians, they just wanted 00:30:44.339 --> 00:30:47.039 to colonize you, you know, in their own way. 00:30:47.160 --> 00:30:50.059 It's not real. You're just anybody who is religious, 00:30:50.140 --> 00:30:53.160 still stupid. Those agendas are so strong right 00:30:53.160 --> 00:30:55.700 now. Even in all social media platforms, we see 00:30:55.700 --> 00:30:58.420 people posting about it and all. And it is affecting 00:30:58.420 --> 00:31:01.079 the youths, honestly. It is, especially in the 00:31:01.079 --> 00:31:03.119 north -central part of Nigeria, where there was 00:31:03.119 --> 00:31:06.599 no strict following of the religion before. You 00:31:06.599 --> 00:31:10.480 know, in places like Abuja, Lagos, then the southwest. 00:31:11.150 --> 00:31:12.769 The Yoruba people, a lot of them are falling 00:31:12.769 --> 00:31:16.329 for it too. You know, this ideology of it, we 00:31:16.329 --> 00:31:19.589 don't have to follow it strictly. And the reason 00:31:19.589 --> 00:31:22.230 it's happening, from my own perspective, is that 00:31:22.230 --> 00:31:25.670 because religion was not really so strict in 00:31:25.670 --> 00:31:28.710 those areas before. It was so mixed up. Because 00:31:28.710 --> 00:31:32.509 when it comes to the northern part of Nigeria 00:31:32.509 --> 00:31:35.690 here, like I said, the initial time we discussed, 00:31:35.910 --> 00:31:38.490 they are not losing their religion here. You 00:31:38.490 --> 00:31:42.480 know, they are not. they are not losing it even 00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:45.119 with the Gen Z, even with the technology, even 00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:47.599 with the whole liberal movements and all of that. 00:31:48.039 --> 00:31:52.519 They are not losing it here at all because they've 00:31:52.519 --> 00:31:55.000 always had it in them. They follow it strictly 00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:58.200 and even with the technological advancement and 00:31:58.200 --> 00:32:00.759 all of that, they are trying their best to still 00:32:00.759 --> 00:32:04.440 stick to practicing their religion. You know? 00:32:04.559 --> 00:32:06.339 It's just that at the end of the day, the only 00:32:06.339 --> 00:32:09.519 little limitation there is that sometimes with... 00:32:09.880 --> 00:32:12.240 the progression in life you have to adapt to 00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:16.000 trends but that trend is not you living religion 00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:18.680 is you adapting to technological trends in the 00:32:18.680 --> 00:32:21.220 proper way not throwing away the religion and 00:32:21.220 --> 00:32:23.660 the morals you know so i think that is the only 00:32:23.660 --> 00:32:27.259 place where the not is maybe not blanking in 00:32:27.259 --> 00:32:30.119 fully like you're not really aware that there 00:32:30.119 --> 00:32:32.000 is they're actually new technological trends 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:35.160 new approaches to life how to go about life you 00:32:35.160 --> 00:32:37.759 know to advance yourself Same way, and I will 00:32:37.759 --> 00:32:40.240 bring it back to me as a woman, that is why here 00:32:40.240 --> 00:32:43.059 it's still strict on, oh, you are supposed to 00:32:43.059 --> 00:32:44.700 get married as a lady, you're supposed to do 00:32:44.700 --> 00:32:47.599 this as a lady and all of that. So even as youths, 00:32:47.599 --> 00:32:49.759 they've not really even accepted that. That's 00:32:49.759 --> 00:32:51.640 why it's still easy to judge youths from this 00:32:51.640 --> 00:32:55.380 place. You know, but in the central part of Nigeria, 00:32:55.559 --> 00:32:58.240 it's getting more flexible and flexible. And 00:32:58.240 --> 00:33:00.400 it would have not been bad to have a flexible 00:33:00.400 --> 00:33:02.859 society. But a flexible society that is throwing 00:33:02.859 --> 00:33:05.440 away religion is the one that is bad. That is 00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:08.259 throwing away what has shaped our morals over 00:33:08.259 --> 00:33:11.599 the years is what that is very, very bad for 00:33:11.599 --> 00:33:14.420 the society. Because having a flexible society 00:33:14.420 --> 00:33:16.579 and adapting to the fact that there are technological 00:33:16.579 --> 00:33:19.279 advancements, how to go about life and all that 00:33:19.279 --> 00:33:23.059 is way different from throwing away morals. Throwing 00:33:23.059 --> 00:33:25.660 away religions, because religion and culture 00:33:25.660 --> 00:33:28.420 has shaped us, how we behave and all of that. 00:33:28.539 --> 00:33:30.779 It plays a huge role in our life at the end of 00:33:30.779 --> 00:33:33.259 the day. So throwing it all away and saying, 00:33:33.259 --> 00:33:35.440 oh, I just want to be on my own, would just breed 00:33:35.440 --> 00:33:38.859 radicals, like this kind of radicals that just 00:33:38.859 --> 00:33:40.920 don't know where they are actually coming from 00:33:40.920 --> 00:33:44.019 or going. Because religion and culture makes 00:33:44.019 --> 00:33:47.059 you have a destination, makes you know where 00:33:47.059 --> 00:33:49.299 you're coming from and actually have a destination 00:33:49.299 --> 00:33:52.869 that you're heading to. So the interfaith relation 00:33:52.869 --> 00:33:58.849 in Nigeria here, I feel like it depends on the 00:33:58.849 --> 00:34:03.349 region, honestly. It depends on the region strictly. 00:34:03.849 --> 00:34:07.309 And when it comes to the youth, right? It depends 00:34:07.309 --> 00:34:10.349 100 % on the region. Because in the region, like 00:34:10.349 --> 00:34:11.989 the North Central, like I mentioned and all, 00:34:13.110 --> 00:34:15.869 they are losing religion, honestly. And it's 00:34:15.869 --> 00:34:18.789 not really playing any role and all of that. 00:34:19.260 --> 00:34:21.739 But in the core north and the core east, they 00:34:21.739 --> 00:34:24.340 still have, they still very much try to practice 00:34:24.340 --> 00:34:27.079 their religion and all. But even though they 00:34:27.079 --> 00:34:29.079 practice it, at the end of the day, some politicians 00:34:29.079 --> 00:34:32.739 use it as their tools to still ignite violence 00:34:32.739 --> 00:34:36.260 between the two factions, you know? Yeah. So. 00:34:37.059 --> 00:34:39.280 Yeah. And no, that's, so that's powerful. It's 00:34:39.280 --> 00:34:41.820 interesting. I wanted to also pivot into more 00:34:41.820 --> 00:34:46.079 of like a politics because. I was in a class, 00:34:46.099 --> 00:34:50.039 and two of us are East Africans, and then there's 00:34:50.039 --> 00:34:53.219 many West Africans, many Nigerians and Ghanaians. 00:34:53.400 --> 00:34:56.639 And us East Africans, we're sharing in East Africa 00:34:56.639 --> 00:34:59.000 currently right now, we are seeing a lot of youth 00:34:59.000 --> 00:35:04.340 rise up and actively fight government corruption, 00:35:04.460 --> 00:35:06.880 actively fight government forces, especially 00:35:06.880 --> 00:35:11.480 in Kenya, which you probably have heard. President 00:35:11.480 --> 00:35:13.639 Ruto and everything that's going on over there. 00:35:13.840 --> 00:35:16.320 So the young people have been the most powerful 00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:19.900 and vocal force in challenging the established. 00:35:20.260 --> 00:35:22.820 They're sort of tired, as we call them, of the 00:35:22.820 --> 00:35:25.019 old elephants, of the independence soldiers, 00:35:25.360 --> 00:35:29.599 our fathers and our grandfathers who won our 00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:31.679 independence, who have been in power for so long. 00:35:31.880 --> 00:35:34.039 And so when I mentioned this, a young Nigerian 00:35:34.039 --> 00:35:35.900 said, well, that's not happening with us. He's 00:35:35.900 --> 00:35:37.340 like, that's something that must be with you. 00:35:37.400 --> 00:35:40.579 So I wanted to hear. From what you are seeing, 00:35:40.760 --> 00:35:44.480 are young Nigerians, both Christians and Muslims, 00:35:44.719 --> 00:35:50.519 actively having opportunities to engage in politics 00:35:50.519 --> 00:35:54.940 and the challenges? You know, being able to fight 00:35:54.940 --> 00:35:57.179 against the government if necessary, being able 00:35:57.179 --> 00:36:02.199 to protest? Honestly, it's not here. Like the 00:36:02.199 --> 00:36:05.719 person said, we've found it hard for youths to 00:36:05.719 --> 00:36:08.739 participate in. The government has... continue 00:36:08.739 --> 00:36:11.219 to use it, you know, but there have not been 00:36:11.219 --> 00:36:14.440 this strong organization between the youth themselves 00:36:14.440 --> 00:36:17.199 to try to bring down this corruption and law. 00:36:17.500 --> 00:36:20.300 The times that they've attempted to, it went 00:36:20.300 --> 00:36:23.500 bad in some ways. I don't know if you heard about 00:36:23.500 --> 00:36:27.440 the NSAS protest. It was very popular. The NSAS, 00:36:27.500 --> 00:36:30.559 we had this other protest that went on last year. 00:36:30.760 --> 00:36:33.900 You know, there was no serious unity among the 00:36:33.900 --> 00:36:35.920 youth, you know, to some extent. And even though 00:36:35.920 --> 00:36:39.389 there was unity, sometimes, like the NSAS protests, 00:36:39.530 --> 00:36:42.929 there was unity and all, the government brought 00:36:42.929 --> 00:36:45.630 them down. Government fought against them. But 00:36:45.630 --> 00:36:48.130 I feel like it's because some youths are not, 00:36:48.250 --> 00:36:50.929 they're not really sticking together, you know. 00:36:51.389 --> 00:36:54.170 Some youths really just work for the government. 00:36:54.429 --> 00:36:57.869 They collect bribes. They collect money from 00:36:57.869 --> 00:37:01.309 the government. So they even mobilize their own, 00:37:01.369 --> 00:37:04.230 the fellow youths against the youths, you know. 00:37:04.250 --> 00:37:08.699 Wow, okay. Yeah, it happens again. Nigerian situation 00:37:08.699 --> 00:37:12.619 is much more of like a very selfish one. Nigerians 00:37:12.619 --> 00:37:15.460 have this mentality of all man for themselves. 00:37:15.960 --> 00:37:19.280 It's the all man for himself. Right. So that's 00:37:19.280 --> 00:37:21.880 one of the biggest issue in Nigeria is they hardly 00:37:21.880 --> 00:37:25.400 have unity among themselves. I'll give you an 00:37:25.400 --> 00:37:27.619 example. We are actually on strike right now, 00:37:27.639 --> 00:37:31.360 the Academic Staff Union in Nigeria. They went 00:37:31.360 --> 00:37:33.780 on a two weeks warning strike. And in that two 00:37:33.780 --> 00:37:35.679 weeks, they've always gone on strike because 00:37:35.679 --> 00:37:37.280 of how they've been treated badly. You know, 00:37:37.300 --> 00:37:39.239 Nigerian professors are the lowest paid professors 00:37:39.239 --> 00:37:42.500 in Nigeria. In Africa, I mean, in Africa. So 00:37:42.500 --> 00:37:45.039 they've been protesting and protesting and protesting 00:37:45.039 --> 00:37:48.380 about like increments and all of that and better 00:37:48.380 --> 00:37:50.719 treatment. That's why I said to come into this 00:37:50.719 --> 00:37:52.500 line is strictly by passion because there's nothing 00:37:52.500 --> 00:37:55.619 there to entice you to even come in. They've 00:37:55.619 --> 00:37:58.400 been protesting and all, but even inside that 00:37:58.400 --> 00:38:01.250 protest. Even those who it is still affecting, 00:38:01.409 --> 00:38:04.170 some still go behind them and side with the government, 00:38:04.389 --> 00:38:07.550 you know, collect bribes. Some, they even try 00:38:07.550 --> 00:38:10.230 to form some other organization, you know, they 00:38:10.230 --> 00:38:13.349 don't really stick together firmly to the end. 00:38:13.449 --> 00:38:15.610 Because people have said they had actually used 00:38:15.610 --> 00:38:17.769 the strike and continuously without listening 00:38:17.769 --> 00:38:21.449 to the government and fake promises, they would 00:38:21.449 --> 00:38:23.329 definitely have done something for them all these 00:38:23.329 --> 00:38:25.659 years, you know, for years. over the years since 00:38:25.659 --> 00:38:28.219 1990 -something, they always keep going on strike, 00:38:28.440 --> 00:38:30.800 strike, and nothing is being done, just false 00:38:30.800 --> 00:38:33.320 promises. So that's just an example of one faction 00:38:33.320 --> 00:38:35.460 of Nigeria. That's not even the youth, you know? 00:38:35.599 --> 00:38:37.679 Those are not even youth. But when it even comes 00:38:37.679 --> 00:38:40.219 to the youth, that is also a big problem. They 00:38:40.219 --> 00:38:43.699 are not very unified when it comes to decision 00:38:43.699 --> 00:38:46.780 -making, strict decision -making, policy -making, 00:38:46.880 --> 00:38:49.599 and all of that when it comes to... that in Nigeria 00:38:49.599 --> 00:38:52.119 is not very strict. So it makes the youth make 00:38:52.119 --> 00:38:55.199 these poor decisions. So there are some, they're 00:38:55.199 --> 00:38:58.000 not always together. And the state of Nigeria 00:38:58.000 --> 00:39:01.380 too, being that religion, when it comes to interfaith 00:39:01.380 --> 00:39:03.599 studies, I think Nigeria is one place that is 00:39:03.599 --> 00:39:06.300 a big case study, you know, because of how it's 00:39:06.300 --> 00:39:09.199 divided. There's a Christian area, there's a 00:39:09.199 --> 00:39:12.280 mixed, then there's the Muslim area. You know, 00:39:12.280 --> 00:39:15.840 that's the amalgamation of Southern and Northern 00:39:15.840 --> 00:39:21.130 Nigeria in 1914. by lord lugad you know it's 00:39:21.130 --> 00:39:24.389 had this it's had that effect that up till today 00:39:24.389 --> 00:39:28.030 those things are still affecting us because i 00:39:28.030 --> 00:39:30.329 believe if northern nigeria was a state on its 00:39:30.329 --> 00:39:33.090 own northern nigeria right that's the whole of 00:39:33.090 --> 00:39:36.409 central north west northeast was the states because 00:39:36.409 --> 00:39:38.289 there are lots of states that are not even big 00:39:38.289 --> 00:39:41.730 as like quarter of nigeria so countries i mean 00:39:41.730 --> 00:39:44.630 countries they're not as big as half of nigeria 00:39:44.630 --> 00:39:46.670 so if northern nigeria was a country on its own 00:39:47.000 --> 00:39:48.860 Then Southern Nigeria was a country on its own. 00:39:48.980 --> 00:39:52.920 I feel like Nigeria would be able to easily find 00:39:52.920 --> 00:39:55.460 solutions to have issues, you know, corruptions, 00:39:55.460 --> 00:39:57.760 youth issues, all those things. It would have 00:39:57.760 --> 00:40:01.119 been very easy to do that. But Nigeria is divided. 00:40:01.360 --> 00:40:04.880 Nigeria is too big. Yeah. It's now divided. We 00:40:04.880 --> 00:40:07.079 have over 300 and something tribes in Nigeria 00:40:07.079 --> 00:40:09.880 as ethnic groups in Nigeria. That is for ethnic 00:40:09.880 --> 00:40:11.949 groups. Then for religion, we have two dominant 00:40:11.949 --> 00:40:13.969 religions, the Muslims and the Christians, and 00:40:13.969 --> 00:40:16.130 they are always against each other to some extent. 00:40:16.369 --> 00:40:18.570 You, this, that, and that. Even those who are 00:40:18.570 --> 00:40:21.329 claiming to be liberal and Gen Z and all of that, 00:40:21.429 --> 00:40:23.690 some of them are still being washed up to today 00:40:23.690 --> 00:40:26.670 when it comes to trying to argue or trying to 00:40:26.670 --> 00:40:28.889 bring, you know, trying to win an argument. They 00:40:28.889 --> 00:40:31.150 still later go down the religion line, you know, 00:40:31.150 --> 00:40:33.989 trying to bring up a point like, oh, I see you 00:40:33.989 --> 00:40:35.429 guys are religious and are you guys not worst? 00:40:36.030 --> 00:40:38.969 Even those who claim to be liberal. Yeah. you 00:40:38.969 --> 00:40:40.710 know they still have something against the other 00:40:40.710 --> 00:40:42.750 religion so the modern level claim to deliver 00:40:42.750 --> 00:40:45.269 something against the christian religion they 00:40:45.269 --> 00:40:47.789 that are also trying to push away the religion 00:40:47.789 --> 00:40:49.789 are still having something against the other 00:40:49.789 --> 00:40:52.349 religion it is kind of embedded into the blood 00:40:52.349 --> 00:40:55.230 of those because they have not been that they 00:40:55.230 --> 00:40:56.489 are not supposed to be together at the end of 00:40:56.489 --> 00:40:59.010 the day right they were supposed to just be neighbors 00:40:59.010 --> 00:41:01.789 right but they've kind of bounded them together 00:41:01.789 --> 00:41:05.980 governments founded them by force right Okay. 00:41:06.119 --> 00:41:08.440 No, that's, that's incredible. Thank you so much. 00:41:08.500 --> 00:41:11.000 That was actually an amazing, you know, just 00:41:11.000 --> 00:41:14.099 breakdown of the challenges because I think this 00:41:14.099 --> 00:41:16.619 is something, you know, we actively both want 00:41:16.619 --> 00:41:19.880 to work together in terms of building scholarship 00:41:19.880 --> 00:41:22.860 and in terms of this. So this is, this is really 00:41:22.860 --> 00:41:27.360 great. And just a little bit more of some personal 00:41:27.360 --> 00:41:29.480 things that I've always admired that, you know, 00:41:29.500 --> 00:41:32.960 you model boldness, modesty, intellectual strength. 00:41:33.690 --> 00:41:36.469 You know, how do you think, just to kind of finalize 00:41:36.469 --> 00:41:39.570 things, how do you think the way that you carry 00:41:39.570 --> 00:41:43.289 yourself as a young Muslim woman can kind of 00:41:43.289 --> 00:41:46.769 showcase how faith can actually be an answer 00:41:46.769 --> 00:41:50.650 to so many of these political and social problems? 00:41:52.590 --> 00:41:57.389 Yeah, thank you. So as a Muslim woman, I have 00:41:57.389 --> 00:42:01.099 always taken pride in myself. I'm a very proud 00:42:01.099 --> 00:42:03.579 one. You know how I carry myself, how I dress. 00:42:04.260 --> 00:42:08.719 I believe that helps you build a very good reputation 00:42:08.719 --> 00:42:11.880 and peaceful life also. And also helps you build 00:42:11.880 --> 00:42:14.500 a very good cycle and community that respects, 00:42:14.760 --> 00:42:18.000 you know, and you guys share good values, morals, 00:42:18.219 --> 00:42:21.659 good morals actually. So the way I've always 00:42:21.659 --> 00:42:26.599 carried myself, I know the way I carry myself 00:42:26.599 --> 00:42:29.570 alone is enough thing that gives me. a kind of 00:42:29.570 --> 00:42:34.130 inner peace. Because when you are modest, you 00:42:34.130 --> 00:42:38.550 kind of live in the way of God and you just are 00:42:38.550 --> 00:42:41.690 human. Because it's not only about just bluntly 00:42:41.690 --> 00:42:43.670 saying you're religious, you know, or saying 00:42:43.670 --> 00:42:46.769 that I am a Muslim or I'm a Christian. We don't 00:42:46.769 --> 00:42:48.590 want to talk about it from a religious perspective. 00:42:48.849 --> 00:42:51.469 It's about being human, being a good person. 00:42:53.230 --> 00:42:55.449 take you a good person then when it comes to 00:42:55.449 --> 00:42:58.190 how you portray yourself it would always encourage 00:42:58.190 --> 00:43:01.929 the others to see the beauty in you and the religion 00:43:01.929 --> 00:43:04.769 that you represent you know i always tell women 00:43:04.769 --> 00:43:07.789 that it is you're not limited because of religion 00:43:07.789 --> 00:43:11.170 i always have that mindset religion is not limiting 00:43:11.170 --> 00:43:13.849 you to be beautiful religion is not limiting 00:43:13.849 --> 00:43:17.110 you to be creative religion is not limiting you 00:43:17.110 --> 00:43:21.110 to to do to do outstanding things in life which 00:43:21.110 --> 00:43:23.710 is a little misconception that I'll just say, 00:43:23.789 --> 00:43:25.650 is it misconception? I'll call it maybe misconception. 00:43:25.849 --> 00:43:28.869 Some people or some women from this part of the 00:43:28.869 --> 00:43:31.849 world feel like, oh, not even only this part 00:43:31.849 --> 00:43:33.969 of the world. I mean, I think maybe everywhere 00:43:33.969 --> 00:43:36.070 will feel, oh, if I'm being religious, I am local. 00:43:36.329 --> 00:43:39.769 If I'm being religious, I'm not modern. I'm not 00:43:39.769 --> 00:43:42.170 going to be recognized in this way. I need to 00:43:42.170 --> 00:43:45.849 be flexible and all. And I disagree so hard with 00:43:45.849 --> 00:43:48.989 that. I feel like religion is the one that makes 00:43:48.989 --> 00:43:52.829 me talk the world. Amen. being modest, having 00:43:52.829 --> 00:43:55.530 a way of life, a strict way of life. Because 00:43:55.530 --> 00:43:58.829 if you accept religion as your way of life, not 00:43:58.829 --> 00:44:00.949 just culture, because culture shapes to some 00:44:00.949 --> 00:44:03.070 extent, but religion is the one that defines 00:44:03.070 --> 00:44:05.329 it more because there are strict rules to religion. 00:44:05.670 --> 00:44:08.130 And when you allow the combination of culture 00:44:08.130 --> 00:44:11.750 and religion to shape your life, you move as 00:44:11.750 --> 00:44:15.489 a good person automatically. You move with morals. 00:44:15.969 --> 00:44:18.690 And morals can never be bad. You know, I just 00:44:18.690 --> 00:44:21.610 feel, you know, when people talk against, being 00:44:21.610 --> 00:44:24.050 modest against being it's just because they want 00:44:24.050 --> 00:44:27.190 to have like willingly do their bad characters 00:44:27.190 --> 00:44:29.789 without being accountable you know that is something 00:44:29.789 --> 00:44:32.409 i actually think about people like just talking 00:44:32.409 --> 00:44:34.929 down on religion or practicing religion and all 00:44:34.929 --> 00:44:37.130 of that i feel like it's just an escape you know 00:44:37.130 --> 00:44:39.889 just feel like i want to just rebel and do whatever 00:44:39.889 --> 00:44:41.969 i want just because they don't want to be held 00:44:41.969 --> 00:44:44.570 accountable because because if you don't want 00:44:44.570 --> 00:44:46.980 to rebel and just feel like you want to just 00:44:46.980 --> 00:44:49.239 do whatever you want. And you know that there 00:44:49.239 --> 00:44:51.139 is actually accountability in life. You have 00:44:51.139 --> 00:44:54.280 to be a good person. Be human. You know, humanity 00:44:54.280 --> 00:44:57.480 tops it all. You just want to be human. Then 00:44:57.480 --> 00:44:59.980 why would you be scared of religion? Why would 00:44:59.980 --> 00:45:02.340 you think that the kind of way you present yourself 00:45:02.340 --> 00:45:05.039 or how you're modest is not good enough or is 00:45:05.039 --> 00:45:07.679 kind of dimitting you in any way? I believe how 00:45:07.679 --> 00:45:10.179 I carry myself, how I dress is beautiful. I get 00:45:10.179 --> 00:45:13.449 more compliments than whoever. dresses anyhow 00:45:13.449 --> 00:45:16.269 or don't even know how to wear something. So 00:45:16.269 --> 00:45:19.469 what is actually there to admire outside that 00:45:19.469 --> 00:45:23.110 may be out of modesty. As a Muslim woman who 00:45:23.110 --> 00:45:25.489 deal with myself, I'm not saying because this 00:45:25.489 --> 00:45:27.670 is a Muslim society before we think, oh, it's 00:45:27.670 --> 00:45:30.429 because I'm around. No. Even outside when I was 00:45:30.429 --> 00:45:34.610 at LSA, you know LSA is the central part of Nigeria, 00:45:34.769 --> 00:45:38.489 you know, just accommodate everybody. Even there 00:45:38.489 --> 00:45:41.190 I got lots of compliments from both the Christians. 00:45:41.760 --> 00:45:44.440 the muslims from the whites like oh you look 00:45:44.440 --> 00:45:47.440 pretty i love how you i love your dress so i 00:45:47.440 --> 00:45:50.260 get nice compliments people tell me oh you look 00:45:50.260 --> 00:45:53.539 beautiful it's i don't expose my body so why 00:45:53.539 --> 00:45:56.119 would i wow that is why i insist strictly that 00:45:56.119 --> 00:45:59.780 it's not about the you being it's not you don't 00:45:59.780 --> 00:46:02.059 just want to be modest because they want to do 00:46:02.059 --> 00:46:04.559 something out of modesty because of their own 00:46:05.579 --> 00:46:07.500 mindset, you know. They just want to do that 00:46:07.500 --> 00:46:09.440 because they want to rebel. But they now feel 00:46:09.440 --> 00:46:11.599 like running away from religion is the perfect 00:46:11.599 --> 00:46:13.320 escape. I don't know if it's just like those 00:46:13.320 --> 00:46:16.059 other movements or these other liberal movements 00:46:16.059 --> 00:46:19.179 and all. They just feel like religion, they meet 00:46:19.179 --> 00:46:21.440 somebody too much. So please, I don't want to 00:46:21.440 --> 00:46:23.360 be. It's just because they want to do whatever 00:46:23.360 --> 00:46:25.760 they want. So they feel like religion is a cage 00:46:25.760 --> 00:46:28.079 that does not allow them to do whatever they 00:46:28.079 --> 00:46:31.019 want. But if anyone is human and has lots of 00:46:31.019 --> 00:46:33.780 morals. in themselves and just have those morals 00:46:33.780 --> 00:46:36.980 and they have pride in them. You know, there's 00:46:36.980 --> 00:46:39.480 no how you just fit and feel like being modest 00:46:39.480 --> 00:46:41.800 is me caging myself. I'll give you an example 00:46:41.800 --> 00:46:45.780 of some ladies here in Nigeria that given people 00:46:45.780 --> 00:46:47.780 that I grew up with. In my secondary school, 00:46:47.820 --> 00:46:50.420 there was one, there was a lady that converted 00:46:50.420 --> 00:46:54.300 to Christianity in the hostel. The reason she 00:46:54.300 --> 00:46:55.840 converted to Christianity is not because she 00:46:55.840 --> 00:46:58.559 read the Bible, fell in love with the Bible and 00:46:58.559 --> 00:47:01.269 she loves Christianity. If someone should convert 00:47:01.269 --> 00:47:03.469 to Christianity because they read the Bible, 00:47:03.550 --> 00:47:05.250 they fell in love with the Bible and all of that, 00:47:05.369 --> 00:47:08.570 I would just see that as, oh, that is how the 00:47:08.570 --> 00:47:12.050 person's life went. But when you convert to Christianity 00:47:12.050 --> 00:47:14.690 because you think you want to be free, you see 00:47:14.690 --> 00:47:17.230 that that is just like an escape, right? It's 00:47:17.230 --> 00:47:20.530 just an escape. It's not as if they loved. Christianity 00:47:20.530 --> 00:47:22.590 or anything she changed to Christianity because 00:47:22.590 --> 00:47:25.010 she feel like she cannot be she don't have strength 00:47:25.010 --> 00:47:28.170 to pray five times a lot she can't do this that 00:47:28.170 --> 00:47:30.170 they forcing her to cover her hair and all of 00:47:30.170 --> 00:47:32.929 that blah blah blah so when she changed to Christianity 00:47:32.929 --> 00:47:37.210 she saw Christianity as freedom no so it was 00:47:37.210 --> 00:47:39.849 not as if she was in love with the religion it's 00:47:39.849 --> 00:47:41.389 not as if she knows deep about the scriptures 00:47:41.389 --> 00:47:44.369 and all of that but just because she thought 00:47:44.369 --> 00:47:48.349 that place was much more easy to be free and 00:47:48.349 --> 00:47:50.400 now I'm going to tell you That Christianity she 00:47:50.400 --> 00:47:51.900 converted to, she's not actually a Christian. 00:47:52.480 --> 00:47:55.039 You know, she's just a Christian by mouth because 00:47:55.039 --> 00:47:57.500 she just feel like, I want to be able to dress 00:47:57.500 --> 00:47:59.559 how I want. But you will see that kind of person, 00:47:59.619 --> 00:48:02.079 she won't go to church. She won't practice, you 00:48:02.079 --> 00:48:04.400 know, she will not really be involved in Christianity. 00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:07.579 Because it was not because of the love of God 00:48:07.579 --> 00:48:09.179 that drew her there. It was because she just 00:48:09.179 --> 00:48:12.019 wanted to be free. So those are the kind of things 00:48:12.019 --> 00:48:14.579 that happen in the society. So now this is for 00:48:14.579 --> 00:48:17.179 a Muslim person, right? That felt they saw freedom 00:48:17.179 --> 00:48:19.940 in Christianity. Now imagine it from a Christian 00:48:19.940 --> 00:48:22.500 perspective. That is why they now totally dump 00:48:22.500 --> 00:48:26.840 the religion. But they now feel like, why do 00:48:26.840 --> 00:48:28.860 I even have to? As far as I believe in God in 00:48:28.860 --> 00:48:31.500 my heart, I'm not going to claim to be under 00:48:31.500 --> 00:48:33.920 any religion just because they want to be free 00:48:33.920 --> 00:48:37.659 to do whatever they want to do. They feel like 00:48:37.659 --> 00:48:40.619 if I want to go naked on the road and do whatever 00:48:40.619 --> 00:48:42.800 I want to do, as far as I don't claim to be a 00:48:42.800 --> 00:48:45.039 Christian, then I believe in God in my heart 00:48:45.039 --> 00:48:47.989 and I'm okay. I'm not claiming to be in a religion. 00:48:48.289 --> 00:48:49.789 You know, those are the things that actually 00:48:49.789 --> 00:48:51.690 shape people and how they make their decisions. 00:48:52.130 --> 00:48:54.530 But I believe strictly, like how I carry myself, 00:48:54.690 --> 00:48:58.269 the things I advocate for would really impact. 00:48:58.829 --> 00:49:01.329 I'm working towards that, actually, because I 00:49:01.329 --> 00:49:03.010 don't want to give up on religion. I'm not giving 00:49:03.010 --> 00:49:06.429 up on religion. And I'm one of those people. 00:49:06.570 --> 00:49:08.610 I think we are both on the same page in that. 00:49:08.670 --> 00:49:11.329 I'm one of those people who would not allow those 00:49:11.329 --> 00:49:14.659 people who want immorality to win. Because it's 00:49:14.659 --> 00:49:16.940 not about leaving religion. It's just about pushing 00:49:16.940 --> 00:49:20.039 immorality. And I'm one of those people who would 00:49:20.039 --> 00:49:22.380 not allow immorality to win because at the end 00:49:22.380 --> 00:49:24.619 of the day, a moral society is a peaceful society. 00:49:25.219 --> 00:49:27.440 So when you allow immorality to win, you are 00:49:27.440 --> 00:49:30.699 bringing down the morals of the society and they 00:49:30.699 --> 00:49:32.619 will not be pleased in the society at the end 00:49:32.619 --> 00:49:35.519 of the day when everyone feels like they can 00:49:35.519 --> 00:49:38.320 do whatever they want. So I'm one of those people 00:49:38.320 --> 00:49:40.599 who are advocating seriously. I will continue 00:49:40.599 --> 00:49:44.230 to dress how I dress and preach. We are not perfect. 00:49:44.389 --> 00:49:46.030 I'm not saying I'm the perfect one. We all have 00:49:46.030 --> 00:49:48.849 our flaws to some extent. I've even made mistakes 00:49:48.849 --> 00:49:51.510 that would go back to Allah and cry, please forgive 00:49:51.510 --> 00:49:54.329 me, I did this. So that makes us human at the 00:49:54.329 --> 00:49:56.949 end of the day. But actively accepting that as 00:49:56.949 --> 00:49:58.969 a human being, you make mistakes and you have 00:49:58.969 --> 00:50:00.650 to go back to God and seek for forgiveness. That 00:50:00.650 --> 00:50:04.269 is what makes you a modest or moral one. Not 00:50:04.269 --> 00:50:06.349 saying that, okay, I'm exclusively the best because 00:50:06.349 --> 00:50:10.429 no one is. No one can be. So I'm going to continue 00:50:10.429 --> 00:50:13.559 to advocate for the good things like oh you should 00:50:13.559 --> 00:50:17.079 practice your religion and even though you don't 00:50:17.079 --> 00:50:18.739 want you feel like you don't want to actively 00:50:18.739 --> 00:50:21.619 practice religion if you want if you end up being 00:50:21.619 --> 00:50:23.760 a good person you will find yourself even practicing 00:50:23.760 --> 00:50:26.659 religion without you knowing because both religions 00:50:26.659 --> 00:50:30.079 both muslim islam and christianity they they 00:50:30.079 --> 00:50:34.119 preach just a good life there is it doesn't preach 00:50:34.119 --> 00:50:36.079 violence none of the religion preaches violence 00:50:36.079 --> 00:50:40.139 none of them preaches you know immorality it 00:50:40.139 --> 00:50:42.659 just kind of shapes the way of life in a simple 00:50:42.659 --> 00:50:45.159 and peaceful manner. And the thing about humans 00:50:45.159 --> 00:50:47.760 and youths, especially this is my generation, 00:50:47.900 --> 00:50:51.440 that they don't like simplicity. People don't 00:50:51.440 --> 00:50:53.420 like simplicity anymore. They want complexities, 00:50:53.699 --> 00:50:57.679 like unnecessary discourses, just making everything 00:50:57.679 --> 00:51:01.159 dramatic, like taking out the simpleness out 00:51:01.159 --> 00:51:03.920 of life, just turning it out to be something 00:51:03.920 --> 00:51:06.639 unnecessarily big. So that is the problem with 00:51:06.639 --> 00:51:08.579 youths. I would say for youths, that's why it 00:51:08.579 --> 00:51:12.079 was easy for the past generation to maybe practice 00:51:12.079 --> 00:51:15.000 religion without having so much issues and all. 00:51:15.400 --> 00:51:17.360 Although they also had their own issues. They 00:51:17.360 --> 00:51:19.400 had the time they did it in some way that affected 00:51:19.400 --> 00:51:23.699 them. But that doesn't warrant it, like the whole 00:51:23.699 --> 00:51:26.780 religion dying down because you want to be free, 00:51:27.000 --> 00:51:31.340 you know? So if you have morals as a person, 00:51:31.500 --> 00:51:33.960 it's just you being a good human being at the 00:51:33.960 --> 00:51:36.159 end of the day. And I'll continue to say, I'll 00:51:36.159 --> 00:51:39.420 continue to shape my people. I do my outreach, 00:51:39.599 --> 00:51:41.619 like they need to outreach when there are NGOs 00:51:41.619 --> 00:51:44.940 to work with. I try my best to show up, to give 00:51:44.940 --> 00:51:48.219 lectures, to encourage the girls, tell you, you 00:51:48.219 --> 00:51:51.239 have to always be willing to look into a man's 00:51:51.239 --> 00:51:52.639 eyes, especially in this part of the country, 00:51:52.739 --> 00:51:56.239 where the standard is for a lady to always be 00:51:56.239 --> 00:51:59.610 too shy and all. I believe in femininity, you 00:51:59.610 --> 00:52:02.429 know, being soft as a girl. I'm also just a girl 00:52:02.429 --> 00:52:04.750 at the end of the day. And I believe in being 00:52:04.750 --> 00:52:07.469 soft. But that should not limit you to where 00:52:07.469 --> 00:52:10.309 your voice needs to be heard. Then you keep quiet, 00:52:10.409 --> 00:52:12.610 you know. You should be willing to talk where 00:52:12.610 --> 00:52:15.210 you are supposed to talk. Not because, oh, I'm 00:52:15.210 --> 00:52:17.949 a girl, I don't want to talk. I'm shy. Even though 00:52:17.949 --> 00:52:19.750 you know you can, but you just feel like, oh, 00:52:19.809 --> 00:52:21.949 I'm a girl, let the guys do the talking. So you 00:52:21.949 --> 00:52:24.269 should always be willing to talk. So I go around 00:52:24.269 --> 00:52:27.210 educating that even as a Muslim woman here, have 00:52:27.210 --> 00:52:30.010 values, you know. Being a Muslim and being modest 00:52:30.010 --> 00:52:32.429 and all of that is not limiting you from having 00:52:32.429 --> 00:52:35.230 your own special values, from impacting your 00:52:35.230 --> 00:52:38.829 own society. By having a name that belongs to 00:52:38.829 --> 00:52:41.329 you, your own name, that you hold strongly. So 00:52:41.329 --> 00:52:44.449 I'm always encouraging that you don't have to 00:52:44.449 --> 00:52:47.889 drop your hijab or be immoral or rebel even against 00:52:47.889 --> 00:52:50.309 your family or society to make an impact. No, 00:52:50.389 --> 00:52:54.050 I'm still very obedient to my parents. I'm still 00:52:54.050 --> 00:52:56.809 very passionate about getting married and having 00:52:56.809 --> 00:52:59.300 children. Following the regular life, nothing 00:52:59.300 --> 00:53:01.820 much. And with that, I still want to be a career 00:53:01.820 --> 00:53:04.019 woman and have a career. So I feel like nothing 00:53:04.019 --> 00:53:07.880 is limiting me in all of it. Wonderful. That's 00:53:07.880 --> 00:53:11.500 wonderful. And just to wrap things up, just kind 00:53:11.500 --> 00:53:14.019 of if you give people some knowledge of where 00:53:14.019 --> 00:53:16.300 they can find you. I know you have some hand, 00:53:16.440 --> 00:53:18.840 you know, you speak this language. I'm old now. 00:53:18.960 --> 00:53:22.579 So the Instagram, you know, and all the TikTok 00:53:22.579 --> 00:53:24.280 and everything, because I know you do a lot of 00:53:24.280 --> 00:53:26.079 stuff. So I'd love for people to follow you. 00:53:27.850 --> 00:53:32.070 So I actually have some social media handles. 00:53:32.369 --> 00:53:38.530 On Instagram, my little business page is Nabila's 00:53:38.530 --> 00:53:43.030 Closet on Instagram. On Facebook, I think I also 00:53:43.030 --> 00:53:44.789 have a business. My business is not very active 00:53:44.789 --> 00:53:47.429 there. It's just personal. That is Nabila Momo, 00:53:47.690 --> 00:53:51.170 not Nabila Yusuf. On Facebook, I use the family's 00:53:51.170 --> 00:53:54.699 name, Nabila Momo there. And on TikTok, I have 00:53:54.699 --> 00:53:57.239 my business pitch too. It's just a mix. I just 00:53:57.239 --> 00:54:00.860 make videos addressing the youth, trying to encourage 00:54:00.860 --> 00:54:03.980 them to do better in some characters and, you 00:54:03.980 --> 00:54:06.940 know, specifics like that. And just myself generally. 00:54:07.099 --> 00:54:09.280 So on TikTok, I also have my account, which is 00:54:09.280 --> 00:54:13.599 Nabila or Nabila's Closets too. That's the business 00:54:13.599 --> 00:54:16.280 name, the second name that is with it. So those 00:54:16.280 --> 00:54:20.659 are my social media handles. Not with much followers, 00:54:20.760 --> 00:54:23.119 but at least I have a little. community just 00:54:23.119 --> 00:54:26.619 very little that at least they see the value 00:54:26.619 --> 00:54:29.960 I bring and they do engage with it and they appreciate 00:54:29.960 --> 00:54:33.820 it so nice nice wonderful so it's been such a 00:54:33.820 --> 00:54:36.059 wonderful experience as always Nabila working 00:54:36.059 --> 00:54:38.559 and speaking to you you always I feel like you 00:54:38.559 --> 00:54:40.920 are a professor already always teaching me I 00:54:40.920 --> 00:54:44.320 learned so much from you and uh so I uh for anybody 00:54:44.320 --> 00:54:47.159 who's listening we are actively working to raise 00:54:47.159 --> 00:54:51.139 funds to support Nabila's journey as she looks 00:54:51.139 --> 00:54:55.199 to you know god willing be in the u .s next year 00:54:55.199 --> 00:54:59.000 um and so she'll hopefully be a part of the fiu 00:54:59.000 --> 00:55:03.239 class of 2000 you know or the incoming 2026 class 00:55:03.239 --> 00:55:07.800 of phd students And, you know, we've been actively 00:55:07.800 --> 00:55:11.519 praying together about it and excited. And we 00:55:11.519 --> 00:55:13.679 are already working on some projects together 00:55:13.679 --> 00:55:17.619 because we are actively, we both believe in peace 00:55:17.619 --> 00:55:20.039 and we both believe in our respective religions 00:55:20.039 --> 00:55:22.800 working together and coming together. And we 00:55:22.800 --> 00:55:25.739 both love our continent and our respective countries. 00:55:25.820 --> 00:55:28.739 So looking forward to seeing her. And Nabila, 00:55:28.739 --> 00:55:32.059 thank you so much as always. And we will definitely 00:55:32.059 --> 00:55:34.079 be hearing from you some more. Thank you so, 00:55:34.159 --> 00:55:36.480 so much. I really do appreciate the session. 00:55:36.800 --> 00:55:40.539 I really do appreciate you. It's been such a 00:55:40.539 --> 00:55:43.260 wonderful time. It's been, it's been so nice 00:55:43.260 --> 00:55:46.059 knowing you for the past few months and I do 00:55:46.059 --> 00:55:48.840 appreciate your presence. Honestly, I do appreciate 00:55:48.840 --> 00:55:51.480 your presence in my life. Thank you so much. 00:55:52.239 --> 00:55:53.360 Thank you so much.