We kick off our podcast series with a very special guest: Elvis Iruh. He came to the Netherlands from Nigeria almost thirty years ago because of political oppression and is now an important voice of the African diaspora all over the world.
He is especially so as publisher and editor-in-chief of The Voice Magazine, and organizer of the Voice Achievers Award in which special Africans or people who have a positive impact on Africa are honored. Elvis wants to break with the African tradition of giving people the recognition they deserve only after their death. In addition, Elvis is pastor of the Victoria Outreach Church in the Netherlands.
In this lively dialogue, Cissy Nalumansi talks to Elvis about the themes of Debunking Notions, such as mutual prejudice and misunderstanding. When Elvis wanted to do a masters in journalism in the Netherlands as a follow-up to his Nigerian education, he was told that his Nigerian diploma was not valid here and he had to start all over again. While the education he had completed in Lagos was a globally renowned institute that even attracted many English journalism students, he had to prove himself all over again and he did that with The Voice Magazine.
Keep believing in yourself, is his message. It hurts him that he sees many Africans in the West in jobs that are below their education, such as cleaners and shopkeepers.
But he also saw the beautiful things of the Netherlands. Old people in their seventies and eighties who are still in love with each other and show love for each other in public. They walk hand in hand down the street and sit arm in arm on a bench in the park. He had never seen that in Nigeria. “My grandfather had 3 wives who all lived in different houses. They were only invited by him to visit and eat with him. There was no question of public affection. When I came to the Netherlands, I thought: this is how it should be, this is how couples should treat each other. Even today, after almost thirty years in the Netherlands, I can still enjoy seeing old people walking down the street hand in hand and showing their affection to each other in public”.
