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Publisher's Intro'
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond
measure. It is our light not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented,
fabulous? Actually who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.” -Marianne Williamsony
Sometime in December 2007 we called for nominations. We
were looking for Africans in Ireland who had done extraordinary things in 2007. People from all walks of life: advocacy, arts,
banking, beauty, law, media, medicine, music, sports...We received loads of response from the general public, and we painstakingly
sifted through them and came up with our “50 Outstanding Africans in Ireland.”
Compiling this list came with a lot of headache, migraine even. How do you distinguish Heroes from
Barrier Breakers? How do you create a balance in an Ireland's African community where Nigerians overwhelmingly dominate in
population and in all sectors, without making this important venture look like “a Nigerian thing”? Why do I have to go against the
counsel of my wife to leave myself out and go with those who overwhelming nominated me as their outstanding African, based on the
pioneering work of Xclusive Magazine since its inception in March 2006? There are also my pals who feel they should make
this list simply because they’re my pals.
And where do you place the African countries’ Ambassadors to Ireland? That gave us the greatest
headache. Initially, our intention was to leave them out, our reason being that they, unlike you and me, do not face the daily
struggle to “make it” in Ireland. But after series of brainstorming, it was resolved that to ignore them would undermine the
influence they weld at the corridors of power in Ireland. And so we carved out “The Influential” category specifically for them,
but paired them with “Heroes”: three exceptional Africans whose achievements made the loudest noise in Ireland and beyond: Rotimi
Adebari, Ireland’s first black Mayor, Abdusalam Abubakar, a mathematics genius and Taiwo Matthews, Ennis, Co. Clare’s first black
councillor. Other categories are: Artists and Entertainers, Media Practitioners, Beauty and Style, law & Banking, Social Advocates
and Barrier Breakers.
I read somewhere that compiling such a list as this can sometimes be very subjective. I think
so too because there might be one or two ordinary African people out there who might be doing extra-ordinary things and
unfortunately did not make this list. But then I ask myself, how do we catch them on our radar if no one nominated them?
So this is the list, the 50 Most Outstanding Africans in Ireland, the who-is-who in the Ireland's African community... I
hope you find it educative and informative.
Remember, this is the 2008 edition. There will be a 2009 edition…it will be done annually.
Happy Africa Day!
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief.
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