Running Around Royal (Prince Harry #4)

Chapter Forty-Seven

Nigeria had come a long way over the last sixty years, or at least in an Eurocentric eye. After gaining independence from Britain in 1960, the country moved through a republic, a civil war, a military juntas and then a democracy. After the independence, the government made quick friends with the West, even as the country remained a part of the Commonwealth. With part of the economy coming from oil, Nigeria played a part in the oil game since the 1970's, being in many oil treaties and agreements, with the country being the twelfth largest producer of petroleum; however, Nigeria was still developing in the world. Nigeria was divided into thirty-six different states and had one Federal Capital Territory. In 2017, seventeen and a half million Nigerians lived abroad. At university, Meredith knew four: Regina, Faith, Obi and Opy: Regina was an RA and held majors in computer science and math; Faith had been a resident and majored in biology; Obi was an RA and she majored in business; Opy was an RA and majored in Transportation and Logistics.

In Nigeria at one point, there were 521 languages in Nigeria, yet at least nine were extinct now. When the British came in, English was immediately placed in to regulate. After independence, some parts of Nigeria rejected the languages, going back to their native tongues. On the edges of Nigeria, French seeped in, which had many Nigerians speaking that language too.

Free education allowed for sixty-eight percent of Nigerians to be literate. Education and healthcare were part of the government and were seen as rights for every individual.

Flourishing media, music, Nollywood-- Nigeria's Hollywood-- and literature brought the Duke and Duchess of Windsor to a reading in the morning with some of Nigeria's most prominent writers. Meredith enjoyed this for the literature purpose, as she did major in writing. When she had been given the itinerary last night, Meredith stayed up later than what was probably acceptable. Tiredness pulsed through her, and with the lack of liking the coffee taste, she was desperately tried to get her natural morning glow. Her morning glow, by the way, was just giving dirty looks compared to her normal morning routine of wanting to yell at people for waking her up. Last night, she had done research on every writer coming to the event.

Going down the line, Chika Unigwe, Kachi A. Ozumba, Abaobi Tricia Nwaubani, Helon Habila, Ben Okri and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie waited patiently in line. Coming to the event were other writers and artists. Not all of these authors were now located within Nigeria, but all had traveled here to Abuja to support their country. Out of the writers, the most known to Meredith was Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, as the writer was popular for her novel Americah and her book-length essays of We Should All be Feminists and Dear Ijeawele, or Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions. Meredith had read them all, but keeping up appearances, she kept the fangirling to herself.

There was talking about feminism in Nigeria and across the world from some of the authors. As a feminist herself, Meredith was able to step in and have a conversation with them. When it came to political things said, suddenly she grew quiet. Biting the inside of her cheek, Meredith turned thoughtful. With journalists and photographers around, Meredith needed to keep up the best appearance possible. The conversation turned back to something that she was allowed to discuss, and two questions were posed: a) Why was "feminism" a dirty word to some parts of the world? b) Is it selfish for women not to have children?

The first question was an easy one for Meredith to understand because in Germany, feminism was still growing and some people still saw "feminism" as dirty. While the concept was great of equality between the sexes, in some places, feminism still meant bra-burning and man-hating.

The second question was a question Meredith had been asked before in her life, and she had the same answer now, "No." It was not selfish for a woman not have children. Her "no" was strong and clear. However, the more she pondered it, the heaviness came to her. She stated "no" because every woman had the right to do what they wanted with her body; however, Meredith sat in the situation, where historically, her job was to bear children. Feeling hypocritical, she tried move the conversation elsewhere, but no one budged. While everyone agreed with the strong "no," it became increasingly awkward as Meredith sat a duchess with tabloids always running stories of her "pregnancy" and cameras watched her for any "motherly" movement.