Veritas Hosts Chimamnda Ngozi Adichie

It was a joyous moment for most of the students, many of whom were seeing the writer for the first time in real life, and they took advantage of the moment to make the best of the opportunity of her visit.

The Vice Chancellor of Veritas University, Abuja, Rev. Fr. Professor Hyacinth Ichoku, in a welcome address, said the University was proud to be associated with Ms. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

According to the Vice Chancellor,

“If she were born in an era later than she was, she would have been a product of Veritas University, a citadel of learning that has repeatedly proven that it's the place where champions are made.

And the records speak for themselves: we are the undisputed national, African and Commonwealth debating champions. We are the proud winners of the African Telecommunications Union Innovation challenge, a continent-wide challenge that came with a princely prize of $20,000!

Like Chimamanda Adichie that burst on the global stage with her spectacularly successful Purple Hibiscus, neither Veritas nor her students have rested even with those spectacular awards that they have won. One of our students, a young sophomore, is a consultant to ECOWAS, another one was selected as the Microsoft MVP Ambassador; some of our students become chartered accountants before they leave school. Even when they do not remain in their traditional top positions, they do not slip to obscurity. That is the Veritas Spirit.”

In an interactive session moderated by Professor Gabriel Bassey Egbe, the celebrated writer spoke on a wide range of issues ranging from her first book, Purple Hibiscus, to her latest novel, Dreams Count.

Earlier in the day, the writer was presented with gifts and other items by the University Debating Team.

Speaking with journalists after her interactive session with the University community, the celebrated writer, who is a known feminist, warned that “the world has lost so much by excluding women from participating in various aspects of society including education and politics”.

According to her, feminism was a justice movement like every other movement in the world for groups of people excluded by society. The writer, however, decried that feminism has been politicised because a lot of people do not understand what feminism was truly all about.

“When I say feminism is politicized, what I mean is that people don't understand what feminism really means. People add all kinds of political meanings. Oh, it's a woman who wants to fight men, all of that, but it’s not.

If you think about it, it's a justice movement in the same way that racial justice is a justice movement, the movement for people with disabilities, all movements that have excluded groups of people, that's the same thing that it is. It's a justice movement.”

The writer, who said the world cheated itself thinking it should be all about the men, maintained that the world would have brought in more talent and intelligence to every sector by embracing full inclusion of women.

According to her, there was a need to fix certain things where women have been excluded to enable them to participate actively in activities and decision-making. As men and women, though different biologically, they are equal.

Veritas students had a first-hand opportunity for her to autograph their books while others joined her for group photographs and personal selfies.