We Were Girls Once
By Aiwanose Odafen

We were three: complete, as we were meant to be…'and Ego, Zina and Eriife were always destined to be best friends, ever since their grandmothers sat next to each other on a dusty bus to Lagos in the late 1940s, forging a bond that would last generations. But over half a century later, Nigeria is a new and modern country. As the three young women navigate the incessant strikes and political turmoil that surrounds them, their connection is shattered by a terrible assault. In the aftermath, nothing will remain the same as life takes them down separate paths.Forand Ego, now a high-powered London lawyer, success can't mask her loneliness and feelings of being an outsider. Desperate to feel connected to Nigeria, she escapes into a secret life online.and Zina's ambition is to be anyone but herself; acting proves the ultimate catharsis, but it comes at the cost of her family. Andand Eriifeand surprises everyone by morphing from a practising doctor to a ruthless politician's perfect wife.When Ego returns home, the three women's lives become entwined once more, as Nigeria's political landscape fractures. Their shared past will always connect them, but can they - and their country - overcome it? We were three: complete, as we were meant to be…'and Ego, Zina and Eriife were always destined to be best friends, ever since their grandmothers sat next to each other on a dusty bus to Lagos in the late 1940s, forging a bond that would last generations. But over half a century later, Nigeria is a new and modern country. As the three young women navigate the incessant strikes and political turmoil that surrounds them, their connection is shattered by a terrible assault. In the aftermath, nothing will remain the same as life takes them down separate paths.Forand Ego, now a high-powered London lawyer, success can't mask her loneliness and feelings of being an outsider. Desperate to feel connected to Nigeria, she escapes into a secret life online.and Zina's ambition is to be anyone but herself; acting proves the ultimate catharsis, but it comes at the cost of her family. Andand Eriifeand surprises everyone by morphing from a practising doctor to a ruthless politician's perfect wife.When Ego returns home, the three women's lives become entwined once more, as Nigeria's political landscape fractures. Their shared past will always connect them, but can they - and their country - overcome it?