May 4, 2023

Sherifah Yunus Olokodana looks like any Muslim woman with a veil that only exposes her eyes, but the entrepreneur who has carved a niche as a chef in Lagos is seeking to break stereotypes about hijab-wearing women in the country.

Nigeria is almost evenly divided between the largely Christian south and mainly Muslim north, where cultural norms often discourage women to get into business.

Olokodana, a Yoruba Muslim from the southwest, has been a pastry chef for nearly two decades and sells food spices, but she said she still faced prejudice.

“Being a woman who dresses this way, I have to do 10 times the work of the average woman,” she said while preparing for an Instagram cooking show in her studio.

“Women in hijab continue to get negative vibes from people. People who dress the way I’m dressed are looked down upon in Nigeria.”

REUTERS