Friday, 29th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

I AM Series: Coco Anetor-Sokei

By Chidera Muoka
31 December 2018   |   6:00 pm
Coco Anetor-Sokei is the reason I was motivated to do this project. My beautiful best girl is different. Being my first personal encounter with an albino, she showed me a lifestyle contrary to my previous beliefs (which was no belief asides ignorance). My first encounter with Coco was at our previous job where she came…

Coco Anetor-Sokei is the reason I was motivated to do this project. My beautiful best girl is different. Being my first personal encounter with an albino, she showed me a lifestyle contrary to my previous beliefs (which was no belief asides ignorance).

My first encounter with Coco was at our previous job where she came on board as a sex and lifestyle writer for one of the many blogs that were operated at the office. We became fast friends, and I fell in love with the open, honest, sweet and downright crazy woman she is.

Recently, I get offended for the ‘oyibo’, ‘obobo’ and ‘afin’ jokes like I was the one it was directed at. It made me realise that this was the reality being albino has subjected her to all of her life. Even worse, she will continue to deal with this even though she has grown tougher skin.

‘I think the time when I really realised I was different was in secondary school, because that was when it was pretty obvious to me that I was an albino. That was when people would say stuff like, “ You’d have been finer if you were like….black.’ ‘

It is because of Coco that I believe people shouldn’t have to change how they look, rather the world needs to change the way they perceive things.

The I AM series is an on-going series by Chidera Muoka in collaboration with Niyi Okeowo to showcase unique individuals who are plus-size, have tribal marks, or have physical scars. To capture them in their most vulnerable form and share their amazing stories.

You can watch the video here:

Creative Direction: Chidera Muoka (@themadamezeta)

Photography: Niyi Okeowo (@niyiokeowostudio)

Videography: Kayode Idowu (@idkayode)

0 Comments