Richard Akuson

Last updated
Richard Akuson
Esq
Richard Akuson at The National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C..jpg
Richard Akuson at The National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C.
Born (1993-07-26) July 26, 1993 (age 31)
NationalityNigerian
Alma materNasarawa State University, Keffi, and Nigerian Law School, Lagos.
Known forLGBTQ+ activism
TitleFounder and editor of A Nasty Boy
HonoursForbes Africa 30 Under 30 (2019)
Website www.richardakuson.com

Richard Akuson (born July 26, 1993) is a Nigerian lawyer, LGBT rights activist, writer, editor, and the founder [1] of A Nasty Boy [2] magazine, Nigeria's first LGBTQ+ publication. In 2019, Akuson was named one of Forbes Africa's 30 Under 30 [3] change-makers for challenging rigid notions of masculinity, gender, and sexuality in Nigeria where homosexual acts can be punished with 14 years in prison. In 2017, he was nominated [4] for The Future Awards Africa's New Media Innovation Award. Akuson is also a two-time Abryanz Style & Fashion Award Best Fashion Writer nominee. Following the launch of A Nasty Boy magazine in 2017, he was named one of the 40 Most Powerful Nigerians under the age of 40 by YNaija . [5]

Contents

Early life and education

Richard Akuson was born in Akwanga, Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The second of three boys, he was raised in an upper-middle-class family; his father, a politician, and his mother, a college lecturer. He attended Shepherd's International College, a private, co-educational Christian boarding school, before heading to the Nasarawa State University, Keffi, for his first professional degree in law. He was called to the Nigerian Bar as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2017, upon his graduation from the Nigerian Law School, Lagos.

Career

Akuson started his career as a style intern at the age of 18. In 2014, he co-founded ILLUDED, an online photo-sharing platform. In 2016, he was offered a position to head BellaNaija's fashion and style sections—a position that launched his career through the roof. His work at BellaNaija earned him an Abryanz Style & Fashion Award nomination for Fashion Writer of the Year in 2016. Later that year, he left BellaNaija to launch The PR Boy, a boutique PR firm that catered primarily to Nigerian startups. In 2017, while at the Nigerian Law School, he launched A Nasty Boy , the boundary-pushing [6] LGBTQ+ publication that soon grew in stature and international acclaim. [7]

Essays

In April 2019, Akuson authored a searing, tell-all essay [3] for CNN detailing the circumstances that led him to flee Nigeria for safety in America. In July 2019, he wrote a heart-rending [8] essay for The New York Times' "Sunday Review." The essay, "This is Quite Gay," was prominently published in the Times' web front page and appeared on a similarly prominent position in print, the next day.

Activism and asylum

Akuson sought asylum in America in 2018 after fleeing Nigeria upon surviving a brutal homophobic attack. In the U.S., he continues to speak openly about the attack and the insidious culture of homophobia in Nigeria. He has granted interviews to OkayAfrica, Very Good Light, [9] and The Black Youth Project, [10] where he gave great detail surrounding the event. Akuson continues to be an outspoken activist for the LGBTQ+ and asylum communities in America.

Related Research Articles

The Guardian is a Nigerian independent daily newspaper, established in 1983, published by Guardian Newspapers Limited in Lagos, Nigeria.

<i>YNaija</i> Nigerian online magazine

YNaija is a Nigerian online content publishing platform, founded by Chude Jideonwo and Adebola Williams of RED Africa media group. YNaija launched in May 2010 with columnists and various news sources. It offers news, original content and covers politics, business, entertainment, environment, technology, popular media, lifestyle, culture, comedy and healthy living.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toke Makinwa</span> Nigerian media personality (born 1984)

Toke Makinwa is a Nigerian radio personality, television host, vlogger, lifestyle entrepreneur, actress and author. Toke is known for hosting The Late Morning Show on Rhythm 93.7 FM and for her YouTube vlog series Toke Moments. She released her book On Becoming in November 2016. She is one of the top five African female show hosts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mai Atafo</span> Nigerian fashion tailor

Ohimai Atafo professionally known as Mai Atafo is a Nigerian Fashion Designer known for his brand, Mai Atafo. He underwent training at the Savile Row Academy in Leeds, United Kingdom, to become a skilled tailor.

Uche Pedro is a Nigerian entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of BellaNaija, a media tech brand known for entertainment and lifestyle content. Under her leadership, BellaNaija's social footprint has grown through its collective brands - BellaNaija.com, BellaNaija Weddings and BellaNaija Style - to be the largest on the African continent with more than 200 million impressions each month.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spinall</span> Nigerian disc jockey and record producer

Oluseye Desmond Sodamola, professionally known as Spinall, is a Nigerian disc jockey, record producer, and songwriter. He has released six studio albums and collaborated with artists that have included Wizkid, Tiwa Savage, Asake, Joeboy among others. He has won numerous awards for his work, including All Africa Music Awards and The Beatz Awards. He is also the first Nigerian disc jockey to play at festivals such as Coachella, SXSW, and Glastonbury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ohimai Amaize</span> Nigerian journalist and author

Ohimai Amaize is a Nigerian journalist with a multi-sectoral background that spans anti-corruption, youth advocacy, civil society, political campaigns, brand development, communications strategy and governance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omoyemi Akerele</span> Nigerian businesswoman

Omoyemi Akerele is a Nigerian executive, businesswoman and entrepreneur. Akerele is the founder and CEO of Lagos Fashion Week, Style House Files and special advisor to the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC). She has several advisory positions including Industrie Africa and Jendaya, and has been an advisor to the MoMA, the Victoria & Albert Museum, UN, British Fashion Council and State of Fashion Netherlands.

Adenrele Sonariwo is a Nigerian entrepreneur and art curator. She is the founder of the Rele Art Gallery on Military Street, Onikan, Lagos Island, Lagos, Nigeria as well as the Rele Art Gallery on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, California. Rele Gallery is the first African contemporary art gallery to establish an outpost in Los Angeles. Sonariwo was the lead curator of the first Nigerian pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017. Alongside the Rele Art Gallery, Sonariwo is also the founding director of the Rele Arts Foundation. The foundation's projects include the annual young Contemporaries programme, which offers grants, mentorship, residences and training to a small group of emerging artists, an opportunity that results in an exhibition hosted at the gallery.

Fatima Togbe, whose full name is Kike Fatima Togbe-Olory, is the founder and executive director of Hayati Communications Group, a media & entertainment agency that primarily focuses on improving and empowering the lives of Muslim women across West Africa. She launched Hayati Magazine in 2012, Hayati Retail in 2015, Hayati Fashion Week in July 2017, and Hayati Magazine Français in October 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otosirieze Obi-Young</span> Writer and editor (born 1994)

Otosirieze Obi-Young is a Nigerian writer, editor, culture journalist and curator. He is editor of Open Country Mag. He was editor of Folio Nigeria, a then CNN affiliate, and former deputy editor of Brittle Paper. In 2019, he won the inaugural The Future Awards Africa Prize for Literature. He has been described as among the "top curators and editors from Africa."

A Nasty Boy is a Nigerian fashion magazine founded on February 19, 2017. It is Nigeria's first LGBTQ magazine. The publication chronicles and celebrates underground stories, people, and voices through the lens of Nigeria's marginalized LGBTQ community. A Nasty Boy was founded by Richard Akuson, a Nigerian lawyer, fashion journalist, writer, editor, and PR executive. In June 2017, A Nasty Boy was featured in a CNN article. that launched it to the international spotlight. Soon afterward, Dazed declared the publication as Nigeria's most controversial fashion magazine, and Vogue editors listed A Nasty Boy on their What to Read this Fall as selected by Vogue editors. The magazine has since enjoyed fawning profiles on The Guardian, BBC, France24's The Observers, 1843 Magazine, i-D, OkayAfrica, Mic, amongst many others.

Gloria Oloruntobi, better known as Maraji, is a Nigerian comedian. She started her career making lip sync videos and miming songs. Maraji role-plays in her comedy skits and switches between accents and vocal pitches to suit each character she plays.

Dipo Doherty is a Nigerian painter.

<i>Coming from Insanity</i> 2019 Nigerian crime drama film

Coming from Insanity is a 2019 Nigerian crime drama film directed and written by Akinyemi Sebastian Akinropo. It stars Gabriel Afolayan, Damilola Adegbite, Dakore Akande, Wale Ojo and Bolanle Ninalowo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kayode Kasum</span> Nigerian movie director

Kayode Kasum is a Nigerian movie director and producer.

Olumide Makanjuola is a Nigerian human rights activist, storyteller, LGBTQI advocate, and social entrepreneur. He was the executive director for The Initiative For Equal Rights (TIERS) and presently the program director for Initiative Sankofa d’Afrique de l’Ouest (ISDAO), a regional activist-led organization supporting an inclusive society free from violence and injustice through funding to local organisations.

The Native is a Nigerian-based music magazine publishing in Lagos. Founded in 2016, The Native focuses primarily on music, style, and art, championing the sounds and culture of tomorrow, today.

Vincent Desmond is a Lagos-based Nigerian LGBTQ advocate, and writer. He is also the chief-editor and publisher of A Nasty Boy fashion magazine, founded by Richard Akuson, a Nigerian journalist and lawyer in February 2017.

References

  1. ↑ Akinwotu, Emmanuel (November 16, 2017). "Nigeria's Nasty Boy: 'People in my law class thought I worked for a porn site'". The Guardian. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
  2. ↑ Dazed (2017-06-29). "Get to know Nigeria's most controversial fashion magazine". Dazed. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  3. 1 2 "Richard Akuson, Founder of A Nasty Boy, & Upile Chisala in Forbes Africa's 30 under 30 List for 2019". Brittle Paper. 2019-07-05. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  4. ↑ "The Future Awards Africa 2017 Nominees". The Future Awards Africa. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  5. ↑ "Amaka Osakwe, Richard Akuson, Tokyo James… See the #YNaijaPowerList2017 for Fashion and Beauty » YNaija". YNaija. 2018-01-03. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  6. ↑ "The male models wearing dresses in Nigeria". BBC News. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  7. ↑ Idowu, Torera (13 June 2017). "Is this Nigeria's most controversial magazine?". CNN. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  8. ↑ Akuson, Richard (July 6, 2019). "This is Quite Gay". The New York Times. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Why 'A Nasty Boy,' Nigeria's first queer publication is no more". Very Good Light. 2019-02-28. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  10. ↑ Staff (2019-07-15). "Richard Akuson: the 'A Nasty Boy' editor talks the future of his queer fashion magazine and life as an asylum seeker in the U.S." The Black Youth Project. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.