How women in conservative Nigerian societies are shut down from career in the creative industry

BY HASSANA DY, FEBRUARY 19, 2026 | 04:21 PM

What if to become who you want to be as a woman, you have to accept the possibility of never getting married and having a family of your own?

You see, what it takes to be a female poet or writer from Northern Nigeria is not just talent and consistency but the ability to stare at societal and cultural stereotypes, right in the face and say “I will become the woman I am destined to be”.

And apparently, that includes shoving sands over the years you’ve been groomed to portray yourself as a perfect wife material and burying the threats of “No one will marry you” that is constantly thrown at you by family, friends and even strangers who believe by choosing to follow your dreams and career, you have reduced your chances of being selected by a man, and thereby, your overall human value.

The year is 2026 and while the likes of Fatima Bala and Maryam Bukar Hassan (Alhanislam) are globally recognized as writers and poets making great impacts, showing how Northern Nigerian Women have made major advances in their careers as they simultaneously build their families, people still use threats of “ending up unmarried thereby dying alone” to dissuade talented young girls from going after their dreams.

Aisha*, a 20 years old poet from Yobe, Northeastern Nigeria, was only thirteen when she stood before teeming audiences to recite her poetry. She recalled how her pieces were so genuine and innocent that they moved everyone listening to tears, including soldiers. But by the time she turned fifteen, someone urged her to stop doing poetry otherwise no one would like to marry her.

“It impacted me in so many ways, physically, mentally, and psychologically,” Aisha said. “It impacted my confidence and how I present myself to the outside world.”

And despite the support she has from her family and her unwavering talent, at a point, that statement disrupted her peace and made her contemplate giving up.

After talking to different women of different ages and backgrounds from Northern Nigeria who are into writing and poetry, what was found common amongst them is that at certain stages of their careers, they received similar threats of not having men that’ll like to marry them, either from family members, friends or strangers.

Hauwa* a Law student and poet from Maiduguri, who started showing interest in prose and poetry right from primary school said at the age of 22, she built a large following and audience on TikTok with her poetry videos going viral and making over 50, 000 views and engagements, but she eventually made one of the hardest decisions in her life and took down every single video. “I think societal and religious perceptions influenced my decision both consciously and unconsciously. At the time, I told myself it was a personal choice and I don't care about people’s opinions, but looking back, fear played a role; fear of being judged, misunderstood, or labeled as “too exposed” for an Arewa Muslim married woman. Even when the videos were doing well and getting views, there was an internal conflict between self-expression and societal pressure.”

Hauwa recalled how she also got the “no one will marry you” threats when she voiced out her ambition to study law in addition to being a poet, and after she did get married, the threats took a different shape and turned to “you would hardly stay married”

“But studying LLB and Sharia law helped me understand marriage in Islam more deeply, in ways that are not always taught even in Islamiyya settings,” she said.

Not many poets get the opportunity of being invited for performance within their states, let alone outside. Zainab* a 19 years old medical student of University of Maiduguri, an indigene of Borno State happens to be one of these few, who even received awards for their creativity and got invited to perform before larger audiences and bigger stages in other states, including Abuja.

It was during one of such events outside Borno that Zainab’s uncle came across her poetry videos on Instagram. This made him call her mother, cautioning and advising her to stop Zainab from being a poet.

Though Zainab believes he was looking out for her best interest and her mother emphasized on the trust she has in her, his comments on how being a performance poet might hinder her chances of getting married affected her.

After witnessing the joyous weddings of some of her friends, she started wondering if his statements were right: was her being a poet the reason she wasn’t equally married?

“A lot of people I knew whom we started poetry together with decided to withdraw due to the societal belief and how people judge them. People told me that this path I have taken is religiously not accepted, that I’m not going to get somebody to marry me or I’m actually too exposed nobody will think of me as someone that has proper upbringing.”

But that didn’t stop her from performing poetry even though it stopped her from allowing her creativity to flow naturally and grace the world with its magic.

Zainab lamented on how there were times she wrote fictional love poems but refrained from publicly sharing it on her page because people might see it as non-fiction, give it a negative interpretation and “what if somebody decides to share my social media page with his family as the woman he would like to marry?” she fears.

According to a report by Save the Children and UNICEF, 78% of girls in Northern Nigeria marry before the age of 18 and 48% before age 15, which shows how expectations around marriage shut down their creative ambitions relatively early.

An analysis by Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey NDHS classify both Borno and Yobe among the hotspot states in Nigeria with high child marriage prevalence.

When asked if given the choice to choose between having a career in poetry even though it poses threats of never getting married, “I will choose pursuing my talent with no guarantee of getting married because I believe God gave me this talent to use it in a good way, to advocate and make a positive impact.”

Zainab confidently answered “Marriage is just like death. The way I don’t know when I will die, that’s same way I don’t know when I will get married and when the time comes, it will just happen no matter what. Marriage isn’t something that should set a barrier between you and achieving your dreams. You can get married and still pursue your talent” Aisha, having recovered from the teenage shock of learning society would repel her dreams of wanting more for herself, equally stated “I would choose pursuing my talent without the guarantee of getting married, which would give me the ability to be unapologetically me, without thinking whether a man would want a woman like me, without losing and shrinking some versions of me.”

She urged Northern women to know more about themselves, trust themselves, be audacious and never let anybody’s expectations determine the path they want to follow.

While other states like Lagos recognize the importance of having creative safe spaces and opportunities readily available for young people especially girls thereby establishing Festivals, Workshops, community events and outreach such as the Lagos International Poetry Festival (LIPFest), Revolting Art Incubator (RAI) and Youth in Creativity 1.0, the established creative spaces or programs in both Borno and Yobe states are far fewer and mostly happen once in a year or two.

Even with such scarcity, Hauwa stated that she has “been discouraged many times from attending poetry or writing-related events”

A solution proffered by Hauwa, who has been married for over a year to a supportive husband and looking for ways to revive her creative career, “Arewa women writers and poets face strong societal expectations that often equate a woman’s public voice with disobedience rather than contribution.

One solution is to reframe women’s writing as education and cultural preservation, rather than rebellion. Creating safe platforms, encouraging mentorship among Arewa women, and involving families in the creative process can reduce resistance.”

With institutional support from society and religious bodies, she believes Arewa women can write with dignity while still honoring their faith and culture.

Names followed by asterisks are not real names.