It was 40 degrees Celsius in Abuja. I was at a conference in a fancy hotel. The air conditioners on full blast, I was almost dozing off as I enjoyed the break from the blazing sun. My phone light flickered; an envelope appeared at the top of the screen. I clicked on it and read the first line. I paused. I had to catch my breath. Then I read the entire email. A second time, slowly. I had to go out for air. This girl who had never left Nigeria was on her way to Oxford on a full scholarship.
Raised in Lagos, schooled at Oxford, living in Calgary, Atai is a policy advisor by day, pharmacist by night. Wife to a jazz musician and mother of two, recently published in the New York Times.