It is not in all cases that birthday news come early enough to Intervention. A lot of that happen after the fact of the event, especially in the case of those who are not seeking publicity, for whatever moral, ideological or specific reasons.
But, some birthdays have extra symbolism. Ene Obi’s last birthday fits into that category, particularly if her birthday is properly problematised beyond chronological details of birth date, schools attended, work history, children and similar stuff.
In that respect, it is debatable if the Nigerian civil society, the feminist movement and herself have explored Ene Obi enough. When that is done, they will discover an illustration of what they are talking about in a way that is not common. Ene Obi and her senior ‘sister’, Ene Ede, embody all the concepts that make the gender approach thick, be it positionality, intersectionality, subjectivity, ‘the personal is political’, identity, intertextuality and what have you.
The specificity of meaning, however, demands that some of these stories are told by the subjects. That way, they will carry along the ideological and creative flavour of the narrator, making the text to stand a better chance of enriching the global stock of stories.
So, how is each of the civil society, the feminist movement and Ene Obi rising up to this?
Happy birthday to Ene!
