Blind blogger/singer Lioness Oyinbo is a Norwegian-born artiste set to take Nigeria by storm!
She recently spoke to Punch about her ventures and visual impairment. Here are some excerpts!
What led to your visual impairment?
I'm blind from birth due to a detached optic nerve and I'm surprised at how little regular people know about the world of the blind. It's really quite similar to the world of the sighted. I've never seen, but that's why I imagine. And I think it's important that people learn that we are fully independent and can participate at all levels of the society. And that we're just as capable as anyone else. I am also a journalist, fiction writer and singer. In fact, I'm the first white female artiste signed to a Nigerian label. My blog talks about all these aspects of my life, as well as whatever else I may feel like discussing. The blog unintentionally started out as a blog about various issues related to blindness.
What exactly attracted you to Nigeria?
Although I am from Norway, I really love Nigeria. I don't think I actually chose Nigeria, I think Nigeria chose me. It's a very interesting country. I love Nigerian literature, I love the music. Honestly, I initially wanted to do Reggae/Dancehall in London but that didn't work out so I thought about giving up music and focus on my journalism. Then I published something on Soundcloud that was picked up by my former manager who convinced me to come to Nigeria. Of course I was initially scared because of the bad press Nigeria received in the West. Eventually I got a lot of positive response from some Nigerians I knew and decided to come over here and I have not regretted my decision. Right now I have fully relocated to Nigeria and I am signed to Sweetlife Records.
Talking about your name, what does Lioness Oyinbo mean?
My name is Lynn. I got the Lioness from my hair because it is golden and curly like a lioness. I don't know exactly how but somehow, few of my friends call me lioness in London, but for the oyinbo part, that was Oritsefemi when we did a recording session, he was to do the introduction and he was messing around, calling me Lioness Oyinbo, and since then, it just kind of stuck. Ever since then, my friends here in Nigeria call me Lioness Oyinbo.
Photo Credit: Encomium.ng
