NAIJA SISTAS: DOING MORE THAN BOOKS.

I remember my first telephone conversation with the author of "Diary of a desperate Naija woman" Bola Essein-Nelson. It was the warmest voice that greeted me over the phone. Friendly and eager to help with my inquiries, Bola was a delight at first call. A welcome relief from the usual brusqueness of the few highbrow bookstores on the Island, she immediately began my induction into the Naijasistas group. The rules were simple. You had to be woman. You had to have a published book. Then, that was it! No complex procedures or unnecessarily high commissions. This was a bookstore that was ready to stock your book at almost no cost. So began my journey with the most amazing group of women I ever met.

Naijasistas became a new family for me. Women writers were not only given a platform to sell their books, they were given an opportunity to connect with each other. I have been lucky to know authors like Jennifer Ehidiamen, Pamela Evbota, and Myne Whitman through this group. I have been blessed to connect with women who are not afraid to break boundaries and make an impact on the society with their writing. I am amazed by the sheer determination of these women who juggle careers and other responsibilities and still manage to pull us into well crafted stories. And even more, I am intrigued by the resilience of the "Naija" spirit which refuses to die in the face of so much adversity. I can't stop thanking God for leading me to that fateful call.

Now the group is expanding and Naija sistas is doing more than books. The group is becoming a refuge for women who need a voice. The show "Titi and the Naija sistas" on Lagos radio station, inspiration FM, has helped in bringing more women closer to discuss issues like domestic violence among others which affect them. Authors of the Naijasisters bookstore (NSBS family if you please) partake in these radio shows by using their gifts of creativity to tell the stories of women who are voiceless. Women are coming together in the spirit of sisterhood to speak with one voice, and all it took was the steely determination of one soft spoken woman to make it happen. As for those beautiful, amazing, and fantastic women writers of the family like Seye Oke, Jennifer Nkem Ezeanya, Dupe Olorunjo, Lara Adejumo, Dolapo Babalola, Ekene Onu, and Folake Taylor, I look forward to connecting with you all. As for the new members of the family who are not writers, you are welcome, after all we all have stories to tell. Loads of love,



Your Naijasista

Umari