The Audacity to Disrupt

African Feminist Macroeconomic Academy: The Audacity to Disrupt

By Ramatu Ada Ochekliye

When I opened my email on June 16, I did it with a blasé attitude because the last couple of months had been filled with way too many rejections, with the much-needed sprinkling of acceptance. I saw the email notification from the African Feminist Macroeconomic Academy (AFMA) and steeled myself for another rejection. If you have been in these shoes, you know it is that pesky thing we do so that we act like another rejection doesn’t faze us. 

Decriminalising Attempted Suicide in Nigeria

Image by The Cable Nigeria

By Cynthia Umeh

Nigeria has taken an important step in the way it responds to suicide and mental health crises.

Mind WellNest Is Live, Bringing Care Closer to Home

Image by Shades of Us

By Cynthia Umeh

You know the feeling. You have been telling yourself for weeks that you should talk to someone. Life happens, or the thought of explaining your whole story to a stranger feels exhausting, or you simply do not know where to start. For a lot of people, that gap between knowing they need help and actually getting it is where things stall.

Why Effort Doesn't Equal Income Anymore

Photo by Random Institute on Unsplash

Ojo Timothy

Let us stop gaslighting ourselves. 

The Conversations Men Were Never Taught to Have

 

by Victor Jacob

There are some conversations many men learn to avoid long before they learn how to have them.

Poor Communication May Hurt More Than The Crisis

Photo by Erik Hathaway on Unsplash

By Kashibu Victory 

When a disaster happens — a flood in Bayelsa, a crisis in a city, or a serious problem inside an organization — our attention naturally goes to what we can see.

The Evidence We Choose

 

By Florence Shadrack | Victory Kashibu | Sanyaolu Oluwatamilore

There was something about the photographs that stayed with us.

Not because they were difficult to find: because they were easy to find.

Academic Pressure and Students' Mental Health

Photo by Emmanuel Ikwuegbu on Unsplash

By Ojo Timothy

Education opens doors to opportunity, but the pressure to perform is quietly wearing down the students walking through those doors.

From Academia to Action

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

By Victor Jacob

What if the greatest failure of research is not that it goes unpublished, but that it goes unused?

Becoming Accustomed to Indignity

Photo by Ssenyondo Gabriel on Unsplash

By Florence Shadrack 

By 7:15 that morning, Daniel was already running late.

Who Gets to Be Safe Online?

Shades of Us Interns at the National Policy Dialogue on Rights, Justice and Digital Safety Convened by TechHER

By Ramatu Ada Ochekliye

Shades of Us attended the National Policy Dialogue on Rights, Justice and Digital Safety, hosted by TechHer with support from Luminate on July 30, 2026, in Abuja, Nigeria. The dialogue brought together government institutions, civil society organisations, human rights advocates, technology stakeholders and survivors to examine technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), launch new research and push for stronger policy, justice and accountability.

From Grants to Growth

By Kashibu Victory 

For decades, the story of African civil society was written in proposal templates and donor reports. Nonprofits did life-changing work—running schools, protecting rights, delivering healthcare, and preserving cultures—while operating on a simple assumption: if the mission was pure enough, the funding would follow. But that assumption is quietly crumbling. Across the continent, the funding ecosystem is undergoing a structural shift that no amount of optimism can ignore. Donor priorities are pivoting. Grant cycles are shrinking. International aid flows are tightening, and the old rhythms of annual applications and one-year renewals no longer guarantee survival.

The Faith We Ask of Voters

Image culled from ElectHER’s They Don’t Trust the Process. They’re Showing Up Anyway, which draws on responses from 805 women across Nigeria.

By Florence Shadrack 

There is something unsettling about asking people to keep believing in a process that has given them reasons to doubt it.

Beyond the Shelf

Photo by Jadon Johnson on Unsplash

By Florence Shadrack

I had never wondered what happened to a project after it was graded.

The New Public Square

by Victor Jacob

Every generation has had its own public square. For our parents and grandparents, it was the village square, the town hall, the classroom, the marketplace, or the community meeting where people gathered to exchange ideas, settle disagreements, and shape society — more of a physical square.

The Road That Decides Her Future

Image by Ramatu Ada Ochekliye for Shades of Us

By Timothy Ojo

Tawiah's story below is a composite illustration, drawn from the common, well-documented experiences of rural girls across the region — not a single named individual.

The Room Where Education Dies

Image by Shades of Us

By Kashibu Victory

I once sat in a classroom that looked complete—walls painted, desks arranged, a teacher at the front. But something was missing. Not something visible, but something you could feel.

If They Don't Care, Nothing Changes

Image by Shades of Us

By Kashibu Victory 

On July 17, 2026, I sat in my room listening to people talk about how to change minds, and I heard something that made me pause: “As a writer, know what your why is.” Hearing this made me know that this is all I needed to hear and work with when writing stories or blogs. 

Who Gets to Shape Global Health?

Photo by A Chosen Soul on Unsplash

Reflections on Decolonizing Research and Reclaiming African Voices

By Florence Shedrack

On 15 July 2026, I had the opportunity to represent Shades of Us at the webinar titled Decolonizing Global Health: Practitioner Perceptions and Pathways for Practice, facilitated by Dr. Anthony Francis Mveyange, a development economist and Director of Programs for Synergy at the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC). The session challenged long-held assumptions about power, partnership, and knowledge production in global health. More importantly, it challenged me to rethink what equitable collaboration should truly look like. 

Who Owns Our Voice?

Image by Shades of Us

By Florence Shadrack 

Not too long ago, civic participation was something we associated with public squares, community meetings, and peaceful protests. Today, those same conversations have found a new home online. Across Africa, digital platforms have become places where citizens organise relief efforts, expose injustice, demand accountability and amplify voices that might otherwise go unheard. A single post can mobilise communities. A video can spark national conversations. A hashtag can unite thousands in pursuit of justice.

The Plastic Smile

Participants Watching Our Short Film and Reflecting at the Jos Mental Health Summit

By Atinuke Adeosun

“Trauma is the basis of all mental illness.”

Beyond the Shelf

Photo by Peter Chikubula from Pexels

By Florence Shadrack

I had never wondered what happened to a project after it was graded.

Why the Walk to School Looks Different for Girls

Image by Planeteelevene on Pexels

by Kashibu Victory 

Walk down a quiet road in almost any rural community on a Tuesday morning, and you will notice a familiar pattern. While children in uniform make their way toward the local schoolhouse, dozens of young girls are doing something entirely different. They are walking toward the market with heavy baskets balanced on their heads, carrying younger siblings on their backs, or trekking miles just to fetch water.

The 9th Nigeria Family Planning Conference Is Happening

By Ramatu Ada Ochekliye

The 9th Nigeria Family Planning Conference will take place in Abuja, Nigeria, from November 30 to December 4, 2026, beginning with the Women, Youth and Interfaith Pre-Conference, followed by the Main Conference from 2–4 December.

Climate Resilience and Reproductive Choices

Photo by Ninno JackJr on Unsplash

By Victor Jacob

Not once did I consider that there could be a relationship between climate change and sexual and reproductive health rights. Like many people, I often thought of climate change in terms of rising temperatures, floods, and droughts. I recently joined an event hosted by MSI for Women's Reproductive Choices on the discussion of Women’s Voices on Climate Resilience and their Reproductive Choices. Of course, since the event brought light to climate change and how it affects women differently was more centered on how it does, and why it does, so I prepared myself to be educated.