At 70, What It Means To Be Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Person of the Year, Queen Elizabeth II

Why Queen Elizabeth II is my person of the year 2022

It can be confusing to be in the world today. The mesh of a truly globalized culture, thanks to technology, and a seismic change in values, means we are dealing with several changes at the same time, and we have no firm ideas of good or bad, right or wrong, boundaries and allowances. People think... Read More

January 2, 2022

#TheJoy150, 150 most interesting Nigerians, 150 most interesting people in the culture

#TheJoy150: The 150 most interesting Nigerians in the culture today who bring me joy, and inspire many

What does it take to be influential and famous? To rise past back-breaking hurdles or succeed in whatever corner of the world you have carved for yourself? The answer, always, is perseverance spiced by talent, plus belief. This is exemplified by this list of the 150 most interesting Nigerians in the culture. This list is... Read More

Culture, Editor's Pick, For The Culture, Lists

June 29, 2020

Chude Jideonwo, Diversity Prize, Homophobia, LGBTQ rights, Martin Luther King Jr, non-binary, pride month, The Nigeria Prize for Difference and Diversity, Transphobia

Chude Jideonwo: This is why I am endowing a N1 million prize for difference and diversity in Nigeria

Last year, I wrote a piece on CNN during Pride Month—a month set aside to celebrate sexual and gender diversity globally—to spotlight the progress Africa is making overall (though not fast enough) on the matter of LGBTQ rights. It was not the first piece I had written on the matter. I consider it the number-one... Read More

Non-binary Blog, Specials

April 6, 2020

Harvard Business Review, Jim Collins, Joy Inc, The Daily Vulnerable

Chude Jideonwo: Pandemic reality

This, is from the timeless Harvard Business Review essay on Resilience. It’s the foundation for the Surviving Crises module Joy, Inc. is using to help companies and organisations in the midst of this pandemic. “A common belief about resilience is that it stems from an optimistic nature. That’s true but only as long as such... Read More

The Daily Vulnerable

March 7, 2020

Chude Jideonwo’s 5 lessons at 35: Power corrupts

Why would a best friend you’re helping with a place to stay be so resentful that they would share a deep secret of yours to a random stranger? Why is there a prominent movie trope about the ‘emasculated’ man or woman who stays with a wealthy spouse for a while, quiet, but then one day... Read More

#Becoming35, #Chudeat35, #EnoughisEnough, #WithChude, Blacklivesmatter, Chude Jideonwo

March 6, 2020

Chude Jideonwo’s 5 lessons at 35: Home is where the heart is

“I love your Lagos,” the lover said to me after a beautiful day of driving and dining, visiting and ‘art-gallerying’ across my favourite spots in the city of my birth and residence. “It’s very different from the Lagos I used to see.” Some people have called Lagos one of the worst cities to live in... Read More

#5LessonsAt35, #Becoming35, #Chudeat35, Anais Nin, Chude Jideonwo

March 5, 2020

Chude Jideonwo’s 5 lessons at 35: You don’t need confidence to cross the street

If there was anything I learnt just after I turned 30 in 2015 and then 2016, it was the danger of certainty. In 2015, I often made the common sense statement that no one, no matter how passionately one believed in a person, could predict what they do when elected into office. But even then,... Read More

#5LessonsAt35, #Becoming35, #Chudeat35, Chude Jideonwo, Muhammadu Buhari, Sadhguru

March 4, 2020

Chude Jideonwo’s 5 lessons at 35: Saying yes to Life

Last year I did an interview that was consequential, to put it lightly. The photographer, Busola Dakolo shared a powerful story with me about alleged rape by a prominent Nigerian pastor. The case hasn’t been proven by any court of law, but the effects of telling that story continue to this day, on some level.... Read More

#Becoming35, #Chudeat35, #EnoughisEnough, #WithChude, Busola Dakolo, Chude Jideonwo

March 3, 2020

Chude Jideonwo’s 5 lessons at 35: The valley of the shadow of death

“What is joy?” one of Nigeria’s most powerful politicians (he would be in the top 10 of any rankings, I suspect) asked my co-founder of 15 years, Adebola Williams about two years ago when he told him what I was up to; starting a new company called Joy, Inc. “What exactly is he doing with... Read More

#WithChude, Chude at 35, Chude Jideonwo, Chude Jideonwo’s 5 lessons at 35, David Brook, With Chude

August 3, 2019

The Daily Vulnerable: Compassionate humans

contributed by Kui Wamithi The more I proceed through this journey called life, the more I learn that people need room. They need room to grow. Room to figure themselves out. Room to flow at their own pace. Room to just be. If we could be brutally honest, most of the time we’re all kind of winging... Read More

The Daily Vulnerable | Facing Fear (again)

(contributed by Francesca Onomarie Uriri) Recently, my brother had a health challenge that was frightening, debilitating, and quite frankly, difficult to describe. As I kept vigil by his bedside I struggled to fight off the overwhelming sense of despair and darkness I felt. Why is this happening? Why do I have to deal with something... Read More

Chude Jideonwo, Joy Inc, TDV, The Daily Vulnerable, The Joy Hub

July 13, 2019

The Daily Vulnerable | Mid-year Crisis

The past few days a strange cloud has hovered my spirit. I struggled to report to work and when I did, tardily, even my attire conveyed reluctance. I dreaded staff meetings – they were like pressure cookers and court sessions: heightened scrutiny, finger pointing, unrealistic work plans. One of such meetings was to review a... Read More

Chude Jideonwo, Joy Inc, TDV, The Daily Vulnerable, The Joy Hub

July 6, 2019

The Daily Vulnerable | The greatest gift my mother gave me

When I came out of secondary (high) school in 2000, I was 15. That meant that, though I had excellent grades, I couldn’t get into university in Nigeria, where the age to qualify for admission was 16. Advice began to stream in for my mother:swear an affidavit increasing his age, find someone to bribe, or... Read More

#WithChude, Chude Jideonwo, Joy Inc, TDV, The Daily Vulnerable, The Joy Hub

June 29, 2019

The Daily Vulnerable | You have two spirals

With every day that you wake up; with every circumstance that you face, every person you have an interaction with, you have the choice of two spirals. You can spiral down – which means you react to the situation with fear, or shame, or anger, or frustration, or bitterness, and then you make a bad... Read More

Chude Jideonwo, Joy Congress, Joy Inc, TDV, The Daily Vulnerable, The Joy Hub

June 15, 2019

The Daily Vulnerable | Don’t lie

Don’t lie to yourself, about what the opportunities that exist in your industry are, because someday ahead you will have to confront that lie and the illusions you created around it, and your heart will still be broken. Instead, embrace what the reality is today and plan through it. Don’t lie to yourself that your country... Read More

Chude Jideonwo, Joy Inc, TDV, The Daily Vulnerable, The Joy Hub

June 8, 2019

The Daily Vulnerable | It’s actually simple

Life is actually simple. You’re in a relationship that’s hurting you? Step out of it. It’s a marriage and you’re not working so you need the security? Ask yourself if you’re absolutely sure you can’t survive without him, and if you can’t (I highly doubt it), have a plan for how much longer you will... Read More

Chude Jideonwo, Joy Inc, mental health, TDV, The Daily Vulnerable, The Joy Hub

June 1, 2019

The Daily Vulnerable | Your life is important already. But do you know it?

Everyone wants to be, for instance, Barack Obama, the star who made history and changed the world and will never be forgotten. But do they want to be pre-Presidency Michelle, when she took the painful decision to suspend her high flying career and support her husband in a very risky venture that would have likely... Read More

Chude Jideonwo, Joy Inc, TDV, The Daily Vulnerable, The Joy Hub

May 25, 2019

The Daily Vulnerable | The energy to live

I was walking up the stairs of my house the other day, normally, sprightly, when suddenly I remembered something that wasn’t working as well as it should, and it made me momentarily sad. Immediately, my steps slowed, my strength flagged, climbing up suddenly became more stressful. Just in that second that my mind flashed over... Read More

Chude Jideonwo, Joy Inc, TDV, The Daily Vulnerable, The energy to live

May 18, 2019

The Daily Vulnerable | Stretch is good

Knowing who you are and how you best function doesn’t mean you should close your mind and actions to other possibilities, or even just to the opportunity to stretch yourself every now and again. I do things I don’t enjoy, or that don’t come easily to me every now and then. But, this is the beauty... Read More

Chude Jideonwo, Joy Inc, TDV, The Daily Vulnerable, The Joy Hub

May 11, 2019

The Daily Vulnerable | Leaking

I have spoken twice about emotional leakage – and in context, I have used it to explain when the parts of yourself that need improvement, or that you are working on still manage to show themselves in your reflex responses to situation – without your conscious permission. It’s not often a negative thing however, in cases where you need release. Except... Read More

Chude Jideonwo, Joy Inc, TDV, The Daily Vulnerable, The Joy Hub

May 4, 2019

The Daily Vulnerable | Love and duty

When you die, if you are West African like I am, your kinsmen will most likely rally around and arrange your burial. Those who hated you and cursed you out and didn’t once celebrate with you when you were alive will donate at family meetings, they will wear the burial uniform; they may even cry... Read More

April 27, 2019

The Daily Vulnerable | Pay attention to yourself

Stop looking for signs of your own progress in other people’s eyes or actions. You know where you are coming from, you know where you are going, and you know how far you have already come. If you have a trusted accountability partner, maybe a friend or a family member, who can help you without... Read More

Chude Jideonwo, Joy Inc, Joy Masterclass, TDV, The Daily Vulnerable, The Joy Hub

April 20, 2019

The Daily Vulnerable | Accountable

I like to make a small difference between holding myself responsible for something or holding myself accountable. The former means I am to be blamed for the situation. But the latter means I wish to do even better next time, even though I did nothing wrong. I had a young mentee for a few years.... Read More

Chude Jideonwo, Joy Inc, TDV, The Daily Vulnerable, The Joy Hub

April 13, 2019

Decide for yourself | The Daily Vulnerable

When people come to meet me for advice, they often want me to look into my life’s situations and tell them exactly what to do. And sometimes that is very effective. Others have done same for me to good effect. But in the same way, others have done same for me to crippling effect. What... Read More

April 6, 2019

The Daily Vulnerable | Sorry, but your fears are boring

I always laugh when younger people tell me in an urgent voice, the voice you use when you have something deeply important to discuss with someone else; something that hasn’t happened before, that’s momentous, that’s out of this world. “Chude, I really need to see you; I really need to talk to you about something... Read More

March 30, 2019

Rookie mistake | The Daily Vulnerable

I used to make this mistake a lot, and today I continue to be surprised when people make that elementary mistake. People get unhappy, and they assume the solution is somewhere outside. Once, they get a new job, go to a new country, get a new lover, buy a new car, get a new breast,... Read More

March 23, 2019

How does one deal with insecurity? | The Daily Vulnerable

Therapy helps. But when it comes to emotions, therapy is about management more than anything else. And what you want is a shift in consciousness. I like those who request that you go to spirit. Spiritual thinkers and teachers across traditions teach you that beyond management, what you need is a reset. Therapy helps with... Read More

Chude Jideonwo, Joy Inc, TDV, The Daily Vulnerable, The Joy Hub

March 18, 2019

From Africa to the world | A letter from RED, as 2019 kicks into gear

Our fourth presidential win. It was completely worth waiting for before writing this year’s letter. Our company, StateCraft Inc., after almost two years of sterling work in Senegal, ended it with its fourth win in a presidential election, and its first in Francophone Africa. Of course, electoral wins are not created by consulting companies. The... Read More

Good grief | The Daily Vulnerable

You know when you break up with someone you shouldn’t have been with, end a business partnership you shouldn’t have entered, quit a job you shouldn’t have managed, send a person with negative energy out of your life, or anything like that, you know how you hate the fact that you supposedly allowed yourself be... Read More