Our Reporter
For international fashion model Joseph Walters, modelling has been fulfilling as it has taken him around the world and afforded him the opportunity to meet the who’s who of the fashion world from icons to top fashion designers to legendary photographers.
Nonetheless, while he is living his dream in America, Joseph Walters (real name Babalola Otitoju Joseph) still feels nostalgic about home.
“When I was a little boy, I’d go to the beach in Nigeria because it was very close to my house. Growing up in Nigeria and having to eat African cuisines was very easy because the food was everywhere. But here in America, I do not live close to the beach and I will have to drive some miles to get African delicacies. I also miss my family members. Having to wake up and not having them close to me is a different feeling entirely,” he reminisced.
Far away from his native country, he has come to treasure his African heritage. “Many don’t appreciate it. It is embellished with great values such as a sense of hospitality, good relations, respect for life and religion, sanctity of life, respect for elders and authority, morality, language, proverbs and time, and so on. It’s not perfect but it is colorful and beautiful,” he mused.
Despite living in America, Joseph Walters still relates to issues back at home. “For example, during the #ENDSARS protest, I formed a group, a gathering of Nigerian in diaspora, and we organised a mini protest with the movement and we raised awareness also on social media using the END SARS hashtag,” he recalled.
He also expressed his view on the Nigerian government’s ban on Twitter. ”Social Media is supposed to be free for everyone to use. I’m not in Nigeria now but the act of the government towards Twitter infringes the freedom to use social media and it’s disheartening, more so because the reason behind the clampdown is childish. The Nigerian government should do better because this was the same platform they used during their electoral campaigns,” Joseph Walters articulated.
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