Hauwa Ojeifo

Hauwa Ojeifo (born 1992) popularly known as "The Voice of Mental Health" ^[1] is a Nigerian sexual violence and mental health activist. She is the first person in Nigeria with a mental health condition to speak out in the Nigerian parliament about mental health rights and the first Nigerian female to have received a Queen's Young Leader Award for her work. ^{[1] [2] [3]} She is the founder of She Writes Woman, a nonprofit organization working to give mental health a voice in Nigeria. ^[4]

Early life and education

Ojeifo attended the University of Reading in England where she acquired a Master of Science degree in Investment Banking and Islamic Finance. ^[2]

Career

Hauwa Ojeifo struggled with mood swings and trauma from sexual and emotional abuse, which affected her life after she was raped at the age of 21. ^{[5] [6]} In February 2016, doctors diagnosed⁣⁣ her with bipolar and post traumatic stress disorder with mild psychosis, and she attempted suicide. She sought help from a psychiatrist and started a blog to share her story and help others. She also founded She Writes Woman. ^[7] Through her foundation, she provides support to sexual abuse victims and people in West Africa who need mental health care. ^{[8] [9]}

In February 2020, Hauwa Ojeifo made history by being the first person with a mental health condition to speak before the National Assembly Committee on Health, helping to push for a mental health bill. ^[10]

Awards and achievements

Aside receiving a Queen's Young Leader Award for her work in 2018, Ojeifo has won several other awards including the following:

• In 2017, Ojeifo was honoured as the Possibilities Woman 2017 by IWOW ^{[2] [11]}
• She was also selected as an honouree of the AstraZeneca Young Health Programme scholarship to the One Young World summit in The Hague, Netherlands ^{[2] [11]}
• In 2018, she was awarded the MTV EMA Generation Change Award in Bilbao, Spain. ^{[2] [11]}
• In 2019, She became an Obama Foundation Leader. ^{[2] [11]}

References

1. "Hauwa Ojeifo Bio" (PDF). Argentina.gob.
2. Kiunguyu, Kylie (2019-09-12). "Meet Hauwa Ojeifo founder of She Writes Woman, a women-led movement giving mental health a voice". This is africa. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
3. "'People think you can pray things away'" . Retrieved 2020-10-02.
4. Ajala, Folakemi (2022-07-11). "She Writes Woman: Giving Mental Health a Voice in Nigeria". Nigeria Health Watch. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
5. Ajala, Folakemi (2022-07-11). "She Writes Woman: Giving Mental Health a Voice in Nigeria". Nigeria Health Watch. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
6. "WHO supports Government to curb gender-based violence - Nigeria | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. 2020-09-15. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
7. "Nigerian Activist Hauwa Ojeifo Wants You to Talk About Your Mental Health". Time. 2024-10-16. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
8. Aisha Salaudeen. "She was diagnosed with a mental health disorder. Now she is helping others work through theirs". CNN. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
9. Geall, Lauren (2020-09-24). "Hauwa Ojeifo wants to change the way Nigeria views mental health". Stylist. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
10. "Nigerian Activist Hauwa Ojeifo Wants You to Talk About Your Mental Health". Time. 2024-10-16. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
11. "Hauwa Ojeifo, the 26-year-old Nigerian championing women's mental health in Africa and getting global recognition". Face2Face Africa. 2018-11-07. Retrieved 2020-10-02.