Anita Anthena Ibru talks about the 7 Wonder Women Awards 2025

Watch Anita Anthena Ibru talks about the 7 Wonder Women Awards 2025 - Guardian Nigeria on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00Good morning. Good morning, Juma. Thank you for joining me here. It's been a journey for us.

00:08And, you know, interestingly, today marks seven years. Yes, yes. So I'll explain. Today is the

00:16seventh year anniversary of when the Wonder Woman Awards was actually launched. So 19th of May,

00:222018 is when it all began. We had the first cohort of seven Wonder Women. So it's just so

00:29special to be here in the Guardian studio in Nigeria. I came in specially. It's a Monday,

00:36but we had at all costs to have this award presentation today because it's also seven

00:42years ago. So, you know, I'm quite sentimental. And it has just been wonderful hearing about the

00:49winners. I didn't really know them very well. They were winners. They were nominated. I mean,

00:53how many were nominated? We had about 150 women nominated and then it was cut down to seven

01:00women per category. And these women were, of course, we had a QR code at the festival and

01:07then people started voting. It's just incredible to hear their stories. I mean, I've come across

01:12them sometimes in some articles, but to hear them today in the studio, like telling us how

01:18meaningful this award was for them. And then even more of their story came out actually reminds us

01:23the importance of the live media. As you know, I'm a huge advocate of that. I love print. I have

01:29a background in print, but media live is so important. So I'm just so happy to see everything

01:34coming to live in the studio today and very well done what you did today with the presentation. And

01:40I'm glad they came to the Guardian. They came to see where their stories were first generated. And I

01:45think that was very meaningful for them. Thank you. Thank you so much. And of course, we also see that

01:51all of these awardees, even though, you know, these are people who were chosen by the audience,

01:58people decided to, people who believed in them. We also see those who are firsts in their industry,

02:05like the University of Lagos. She's a first female vice chancellor, you know, the first female

02:10encounter general of the Federation. And that shows how much the Guardian brand is also interested in

02:17spotlighting women in leadership positions. I also see that we have the dream count of the table

02:23and all the awardees going to a good one. Where did you choose to add this?

02:28Yes. So when I was coming back from London, I thought, what can I get them? I have to get them

02:32the same thing. And I thought, what were these women like? What's sort of a generic present,

02:37but universal that will apply and be pleasing to receive from all the winners. So I decided to go

02:43from for this because Chimamanda was off, let's say for 10 years. This is her first novel in 10 years

02:51and she launched it in Women's Month. I went to the presentation in London and she was there live

02:57and I was blown away by all her fans and the audience. It is a wonderful book. And I, of course,

03:02I like the title Dream Count. It's about dreams and about the fact that she's so bold. She speaks

03:08up. I mean, in here, you'll learn so much about Nigerian way of life. If you're not even Nigerian,

03:15you could be a white male reading this book and it's as if you're in a conversation with her. So I

03:20just like what she represents on silencing of women. And that's what really what we represent.

03:26You know, as one of the winners said, sometimes it might not be bad stories that you're hiding,

03:30but it might even be your good news. You feel shy to even come out and say, I did this. I achieved

03:35this. Whereas men are doing that a lot. So I just find her boldness amazing. So I think it's

03:40symbolic as well that each winner should have received a copy. Thank you so much. Thank you

03:46also for what you're doing with the Investing in Women series, especially with the seven wonder

03:51women awards, because through that initiative, more women are being confident about themselves

03:56and knowing that their work is not going unnoticed. Exactly. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.