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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.