What She Said, one of Zikoko’s most popular flagships, is returning on June 25. Before we drop fresh voices, we’re throwing it back to some of the most-read What She Said interviews so far. These stories shook tables, sparked conversations, and stayed with readers long after they ended.
From heartbreak and survival to joy, faith, and rebellion, each one reminds us why this series exists: to honour real women telling it exactly how it is. Whether you’re catching up or reading them for the first time, these are too good to miss.
10. What She Said: Growing Up around Juju Made Me a Stronger Christian
This 26-year-old woman from Edo talks about how growing up amid spiritual beliefs and social moral codes shaped her unwavering faith in Christ and her commitment to feminism.
Standout Thing She Said: “After I saw the woman who was paraded naked, I started reading books about Edo culture… My feminism and belief in women’s rights were shaped by those experiences.”
9. What She Said: I Overdosed After Falling Out With My Boss
Years of battling depression, a toxic job, and the breakdown of a close work relationship pushed this 29-year-old woman to the brink. She opens up about childhood trauma, surviving multiple suicide attempts, and what recovery looks like when traditional therapy doesn’t help.
Standout Thing She Said: “I’m still very depressed, but I won’t try to kill myself again.”
8. What She Said: I’m Married But Moonlighting As A Sugar Mummy In My 30s
This woman in her late-30s built the perfect family on paper: husband, children, stability. But behind the scenes? She’s rediscovering her queerness and soft-launching her second life as a Lagos sugar mummy.
Standout Thing She Said: “It’s not just the sex. It’s the company. It’s reliving my younger years when I didn’t have anybody at all. It’s refreshing.”
7. What She Said: Growing Up With A Pastor Mum Was Hard
A 29-year-old woman talks about life in a deeply religious home, how it shaped her fear and anxiety, and the quiet work of becoming someone outside her mother’s expectations, or the church’s.
Standout Thing She Said: “Outside of the bubble of Jesus being your joy, you have to find happiness in yourself.”
6. What She Said: I Married the Man My Pastor Chose, and It Failed
At 37, she married a man her pastor had handpicked during a church service. Less than a year later, the marriage collapsed. In this reflective piece, a 66-year-old Nigerian woman speaks on divine matchmaking, missed promotions, hidden regrets, and how she finally chose herself.
Standout Thing She Said:
5. What She Said: I Didn’t Know I Was Almost Six Months Pregnant
This 53-year-old woman shares how she had her first child at 47, after years of fertility treatments, a divorce, and fully giving up on ever becoming a mum. She talks about mistaking her pregnancy for menopause, the guilt of leaving her first husband, and finding love again when she least expected it.
Standout Thing She Said: “I didn’t gain any weight. I was just tired all the time. I thought it was menopause. I was six months pregnant.”
4. What She Said: I Didn’t Like My Mum Until I Had Therapy
This 26-year-old Nigerian woman opens up about her difficult childhood with a strict and sometimes violent mother, and an absent father who lived with his other wife. Their fractured relationship left her feeling unloved until therapy helped her see her mum as a person, not just a parent.
Standout Thing She Said: “There was a phase I was convinced she hated me. I used to ask if she was really my mother.”
3. What She Said: I Don’t Feel Safe at Home Anymore
A 29-year-old woman recounts the night someone broke into her apartment while she slept, confirming her long-standing fear of home invasions. From the moment the door creaked open to the lingering scent of body odour in her hallway, the experience changed how she felt about safety and herself.
Standout Thing She Said: “All I could think was, ‘There was someone in this house. There was someone in our house.”
2. What She Said: My Parents Once Ignored Me for a Year
This 42-year-old woman grew up being called ugly, forgotten during family events, and punished with silence for almost a year. Her parents’ emotional neglect and cruelty led her to internalise shame, accept infidelity in her marriage, and lose confidence in her future.
Standout Thing She Said: “I just kept to myself and pretended not to exist.”
1. What She Said: I’ve Completely Given Up on Dating Men
This 29-year-old thought she was straight until cultists, cheaters, liars, and a man who beat his dog proved otherwise. She walks us through the heartbreak, misogyny, and manipulation that made her completely give up on dating men and finally start exploring relationships with women.
Standout Thing She Said: “It seems no man has loved me enough to make the effort to be a decent human being to me.”
Want more What She Said? Check in every Wednesday at 11 A.M. (WAT) for a new episode. Until then, read every story of the series here, OR tell us your story here.
