‘I Am Only The UK’s Sixth Black Female QC’ — Nigerian Born Queen Counsel, Nneka Akudolu

Few weeks ago, Nneka Akudolu, a Nigerian born, UK Barrister was conferred with the distinguished title of Queen Counsel which is revered as the pinnacle of being a Barrister in the United Kingdom.

In a 3 minutes documentary by BBC, she shared insights on her journey and the peculiar challenges she faced in her journey to becoming a Queen’s Counsel.

According to her, she got into a profession were nepotism and influence was needed to break in the profession. She said, though things are changing and she is now a black female QC, she is only the sixth black female QC in the UK.

Recalling her story, she said “What people need to see is the possibilities behind every obstacle because I didn’t really have a good academic record and everyone tended to think I wasn’t going to see it through and during the course of my second year, I fell pregnant and had my daughter. So, it seemed that everyone’s views on how I’ll do will come to fruition and quite frankly I sought of thrived on that adversity.

She also said many women think it is impossible to raise a child and still continue studies.

“I wanted to prove them wrong, so I went to London, had my baby, and after ten weeks I was back in Cardiff to write my exams. And I passed them all.”

She said the lesson from her story is that people can break barriers and succeed with determination and a passion to do so.