Indie musician Zainab Donli, better known as Lady Donli, approaches the complexities of her Indigenous identity as a constant marriage of the varied cultures and histories that birthed her. Her paternal great-grandfather hailed from Chad and escaped from slave traders before coming to Nigeria. Her father is Hausa from Kaduna, in the north, while her mother is Ijaw from Bayelsa, in the southern part of the country. “I have never specifically felt a sense of belonging thoroughly to my Hausa identity, and neither have I felt the same for my Ijaw identity,” she says. “I’ve always grown up and just thought, I’m Nigerian.”
Freedom is being able to do what I want without fear of condemnation— without fear that my identity as a queer Black woman is going to get in the way of everything that I’m doing.
Obehi Ekhomu
Edo restaurateur Obehi Ekhomu, photographed with her three children, has found a connection between rejecting the pressure of societal acceptance and paying attention to her spiritual guides, whom she describes as two genderless beings. “I have trashed the whole ideology of being accepted or rejected by society … It’s about having a stronger center,” she says, adding that this spiritual center helps her advocate for her needs. It also grounds how she approaches grief as an Edo woman. After she lost her father, he came back to her in dreams, reassuring her.
Being Indigenous means being in touch with my ancestors and learning from lessons that they have passed on … bringing that into the present day.
Jordyn Omololu Vangei
![Jordyn is leaning against the trunk of a bronze Toyota Camry trunk wearing a black and red leather Marlboro jacket, sunglasses, long jean shorts, tall socks, and loafers.](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/817cd118-f66e-4cf9-a6e4-d760af5c3ca1/MM10160__231207_00685.jpg)
A queer fashion designer, Jordyn Omololu Vangei was raised connected to his Yoruba culture. As a young child, he lived with his mother’s side of the family, speaking Yoruba. That changed when, at five years old, he went to live with his father, who prioritized English and Western sensibilities. “I had to start speaking English,” he says. “So being Indigenous is something I had to hold on to for myself.” Vangei, who is a trans man, finds comfort in the understanding that Yoruba history—his history—is filled with figures who defied convention.
Realizing who I am makes me feel better— [that] was the freedom I needed. Being Native is not a sin; it’s nothing to be ashamed of.
Ezra Olubi
![Portrait of Ezra sitting on the ground leaning against a grey felt structure](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/fb9c71fb-7b21-4c71-85ed-aa5946375a5b/MM10160__231211_01161.jpg)
For Ezra Olubi, a renowned innovator and business leader who founded Paystack, one of Nigeria’s biggest tech companies, the concept of Indigenous identity is closely tied to developing one’s structures of safety and freedom. “It has been a series of putting things in place to create an ideal bubble around myself,” he says. “This is something I’ve been doing over time, depending on wherever I am.” One such bubble is his home, where he was photographed, which is in an area set slightly away from the relentlessness of Lagos.
I like testing the limits of what’s acceptable. Like, OK, I want to paint my nails … I should be able to do what I want.
Ayodele Olofintuade
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