On this week’s Bold and Beautiful, our correspondent, John ‘Dare Okafor, met with gorgeous Adebisi Amori, a 300-level student of sociology, who had beautiful perspectives to share on issues ranging from life as a student, to the KUDA Bank Internship, to entrepreneurship among students. Enjoy!

Can we meet you?

Adebisi: Hi. I’m Adebisi Amori, a 300 level student of Sociology, faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Ibadan. Apart from being a student, I’m also a creative writer; my hobby includes writing, reading, watching movies, having conversations and listening to music. Yeah, I’m always listening to music.

What genre of music do you listen to, and who are your favorite artistes? 

Adebisi:  I don’t have a favourite genre. I listen to everything and anything. The songs on my playlist range from; oh you have to listen to this… I know, don’t judge me. So I listen to like everything as long as I feel like I should listen to it. And I really do have like a favourite artists because for me, it’s pretty much about the song if I vibe with it. I don’t have a favourite artist, I just listen to music. My mood dictates the kind of music I listen to, anything goes for me. 

In retrospect, last year was quite a year for most of us; especially during the Covid-19 lockdown. What were the things you were grateful for; the things that have been of impact to you as an individual? 

Adebisi: Last year was intense. So things that I am grateful for that has been of impact to me – my family. I really got to have an immense appreciation for my family. My family is pretty big, and I someone who really likes her space. They could be clashes, but my family like respect my space but they are always like there to lift me up when they see I need help. I developed a deeper appreciation of my family, especially, during Covid-19.  Two, my friends, during the lockdown even though we were miles apart, they always showed up. I sent them rants of almost ten minutes and they never complained, they will listen. Or the times when my works to them and I needed a feedback, they just constantly show up. Having those friends that really care about me in my circle, has been a blessing. I’m also thankful for the internet; I have been able to learn a lot. Personally, those three things have been of a great impact on me.  

Are you a feminist?

Adebisi:  I don’t know. Because in the real sense of it, I feel like the entire word ‘feminism’ has been bastardised. When people ask me if I’m a feminist, what comes to my head are different pictures, different classes of feminism. To be honest,  I don’t know if I really fit in because this moment; I can be like: I want to have a good career but in the future, I hope to have a family and then I find someone who calls herself a  feminist but don’t talk about family and all. And I’m like this stands against the core codes of feminism (I don’t know if feminism has codes). For me, in that kind of moment it feels like I don’t belong but then the next moment, you hear someone say something like ‘there’s space for you in the movement’ but the next moment you say something else and they are like, there’s no space for you.  Sometimes I find the entire feminism movement contradictory. When I place my opinions side by side with this movement, I don’t know if there’s any space for me. The fundamental truth is that women have as much right as men and they need to be treated with respect and dignity is something I believe in and also not compromise on. I have realized that for some people, I can never measure up to being a feminist and I have also met some people who feel like I’m too feminist. And I tell them I don’t go by that term, I don’t do labels. However, if you are a sexist human being and you come to meet me, I will put you in your place; I don’t restrict myself to labels, I won’t say I’m a feminist but I uphold the ideal that women should have equal rights  as men. 

Recently, there was an opening for an internship at Kuda Bank for women only. What’s your view about their position? 

Adebisi: (laughs) when I first heard about this, I felt like I didn’t have the full picture of the story, so I had to get the full picture. If I’m right with what I read, and if the information wasn’t distorted, they did it in honours of Women History Month; and them doing it in WHM makes perfect sense to make such opportunity open for women. What I had issues with was the tweet they made when they questioned why men applied, I felt that wasn’t necessary. Some people don’t know how to read instructions; I feel it wasn’t necessary when they were dragged. 

Do you think every student should go into entrepreneurship? 

Adebisi: I’m an advocate for having multiple stream of income. However, the entire idea that every student should go into entrepreneurship doesn’t fly with me. Not everybody is cut out to be an entrepreneur. It sounds nice, but just because it sounds nice doesn’t mean everybody is cut out for it; you going it entrepreneurship requires a lot of sacrifice. When we talk of entrepreneurship, mostly people see the fancy things but they don’t see the struggle and they are not ready for it; they just want to blow. I believe one should have a multiple stream of income, but that doesn’t mean you have to be an entrepreneur. If you feel like you can manage entrepreneurship with schooling and you are ready to put in the work, by all means, please go for it. But if it’s not part of what you want, you don’t have to feel pressured. I mean for some people they pretty much want to focus on their studies, so they can get an amazing job, I believe there’s nothing bad about that. I hate the idea where we have to demoralize people who believe entrepreneurship isn’t for them. I don’t think every student should go into entrepreneurship, but having like side gigs, by all means do; as long as you can balance it with other things you have to do. 

Are you an entrepreneur

Adebisi: Nope

There’s a popular belief about anime being for babies. What’s your perception about that?

Adebisi: Anime is for cultured people. The popular belief that anime is for babies shows a lack of awareness of anime. If you don’t like it, that’s fine, I don’t believe anyone should be pressured to liking something because others do. However, I feel it is petty that you tag people who like things you don’t like as babies. Anime is not for babies, it’s for cultured people. 

What’s your favourite anime series? 

Adebisi: Whenever I’m asked this question, two anime series comes to my head: Attack on Titan and Demon Slayer. 

What’s your perception about Indy boys? 

Adebisi: When I think about Indy boys, the word that comes to my head is – rascals. But then I have come to realize that that’s just a broad and general term. I have really amazing friends from Indy and they are not like raze or any of those terms I will easily associate Indy boys with. I would say, they are decent people in Indy. However, it’s so annoying and uncomfortable when you think of them in terms of Aroism. 

With the hopes of no future strike actions, in a year from now, you will be a graduate. What do you envision your life after school to be? 

Adebisi: After school, once I’m done with my NYSC, I plan to get my masters. I actually hope to work in academia, get the Masters, and get the PHD and all of that. However, I don’t plan on getting them in this country. I envision life my life after school to be better than what it is now. 

If you have an opportunity to speak to everyone in the world at once, what will you say?

Adebisi: I would say question everything you know so you would be able to defend it. Don’t take something to be the truth just because someone put it in your face. It makes no sense that the only defense you could give for a belief is ‘’someone said it, so it is true’’. Question the belief, get the facts and be able to defend it objectively without getting overly emotional. 

It has been an interesting time with you. Thanks for honouring this interview.

Adebisi: You are welcome.