"I'm most at home when I’m helping people to be better"
Faridah Abdulrazaq, Taught postgraduate, MSc Climate Change, Management & Finance
Being Lagosian
Whenever I meet someone new I say, ‘I’m from Lagos’. I feel British by documentation, in a factual way, but really I feel Nigerian first. I’m very proud of my homeland, of the effort it took to get to the country where it is today. But I also see it as a place of fun and friends and intelligence.
We have a phrase: “You go bow for Lagos”. It means you have to be clever and quick, otherwise the city will get the better of you. Lagos is my everything, I’m so connected to it. It’s a huge hub like London, it’s busy and exciting, a place of friendship and candour and fun – it’s life!
I’m very proud of my homeland, of the effort it took to get to the country where it is today.
But I wouldn’t say there aren’t issues in the city, or Nigeria in general. There are a whole lot of places needing development and help. I feel motivated to do more to help the place that raised me. That’s what community is all about.
A few of Faridah’s inspirations: Amina Mohammed (Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Director-General, World Trade Organisation), and her Grandmothers! “I have strong, confident women in my family. They give me the ability to dream, and have never put any expectations on me.”
Educational journeys
I was born in London but moved to Nigeria at four or five years old. I grew up in Lagos. I would come back to the UK all the time as a child, it was where we came on holidays because my parents had a property here. It was great to visit, but it wasn’t like a proper holiday – it’s not as if they had a place in the Maldives!
I properly came back to the UK when I was sixteen – I moved to Kent and did my A-Levels. From there I did a chemical engineering undergraduate degree in Sheffield, and now here I am back in London for my Master’s.
The course shows us we can change things, which is so important to me because I really want to know how I can help.
I love my course at the Business School. It teaches me about the world, showing me new things as well as confirming some things I thought to be true. It provides a lens for looking at things from a community perspective – of finding opportunities for development as well as highlighting challenges that need to be resolved. The course shows us we can change things, which is so important to me because I really want to know how I can help. I’ve learned so many things from my classmates too. They come from Hong Kong, America and other places. Group working is great at Imperial because everyone is really knowledgeable.
I also take a lot from my time studying engineering. It’s a discipline which is all about problem solving, and I use it every day, it really helps my thinking progress. I even use it in my house, such as fixing my vacuum cleaner!
Personal passions
I feel most at home when I’m helping people to be better. No matter what I do, it’s at the forefront of my mind. It all comes back to that question, ‘how can this make the world a better place?’.
I’m passionate about sustainability and economic development, which is why I’m studying Climate Change, Management and Finance. But I’m also passionate about female empowerment and education. It’s all about giving people the room they need to breathe, live and see.
There’s still such a lack of representations in all forms of media for Black people, but especially Black women
I love reading. I actually run a podcast about books called ‘What They Wrote’. We started it last July. My co-host Ore Onabanjo lives in New York, and I’m here in London. We’re passionate about increasing representation of Black women literature. There’s still such a lack of representations in all forms of media for Black people, but especially Black women. What we eat, how we live, how our lives are, languages, braids, all of it – growing up I never saw any of that in literature. So it’s great to see things getting a little better, with amazing Black women writers getting published.
Book recommendations: Faridah’s podcast What they wrote has already covered lots of great books written by Black women. To name a few: Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, A Burning by Megha Majumdar, The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak, Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.
Mother’s kindness
My mother passed away five years ago. I would say I carry her kindness with me, and her curiosity in other people – what they do and how they are. I’m always asking myself ‘is this person kind?’ I get that from her, and my friendliness too. My friends are like, ‘you have too many friends’! But I can’t help it, I just think everyone is interesting and incredible.
My mother passed away five years ago. I would say I carry her kindness with me, and her curiosity in other people
Two years ago I was in Abuja with my cousin. He did a beautiful thing to help me commemorate my mother. It’s called ‘Sadaqah’ My cousin came to me and said ‘we’re going out’. He took me to a part of the city where he had paid for people to get food. In return, they would pray for my mother. It was such a special thing for him to have done. That’s how we were raised in my family, where cousins are more like brothers and sisters.
Sadaqah is the term used to describe an act of kindness that is given to someone without the expectation of anything in return. It can be as simple as sharing a smile with a stranger or offering answers to someone seeking information.
I chose to have my photos taken at the New Beacon Books. It’s the UK’s first Black bookshop, which I find incredible. It’s an amazing place which really understands the importance of culture, community and of sharing knowledge.
Book recommendations: Faridah’s podcast What they wrote has already covered lots of great books written by Black women. To name a few: Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, A Burning by Megha Majumdar, The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak, Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.
Being Muslim
Both of my parents come from Muslim families, and they taught me the religion in a very open and accepting way. I even had a young and cool Arabic teacher! Ramadan was always such a special occasion growing up. I would spend each morning with my mother’s side of the family, and then in the evening I would go to my dad’s side.
My relationship with Allah gives me peace of mind
Having community built around religion is great. Ramadan is coming up soon, and I know I won’t be alone because I have classmates who will celebrate it too. We’ve already arranged to do Iftar together.
I’d say my relationship with Allah gives me peace of mind. As someone who gets rather anxious at times, my mind can go anywhere, the hypotheticals can be crazy. So remembering that there’s something more than you out there – that there's something above you that cares about you – is phenomenal.
Iftar is the evening meal with which Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset. They break their fast at the time of the call to prayer for the evening prayer.
On diversity
I remember walking into my first lecture at Imperial. I looked around and thought ‘okay, I’m the only Black person here’. So I wish the course was a little more diverse, but this isn’t to say that the people aren’t nice and kind. There’s so much good humanity in the room.
I really enjoy the Africa Business Club at the School. They do a lot of career events and intro meetings. And there are other great student societies at the College, like the African Caribbean Society.
We as a society need to get better at having open, candid conversations about things like racism, colourism and sexism
There’s lots more that can be done, both at the College and more widely. For example, I’m just about to start volunteering with a programme called Insight2Uni which provides mentorship for Black-heritage young people to help them progress to top universities. I think the more programmes like this there are the better.
I think in general, we as a society need to get better at having open, candid conversations about things like racism, colourism and sexism. We should be able to point out microaggressions without people getting too defensive. It’s so important for places like Imperial to incorporate that into their education programmes and culture, and to teach people how to respond properly.
This interview was edited by Andrew Youngson, and photographed by Jason Alden. The video interview was filmed and edited by Tom Walker and Martin Sayers.
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