Clifford Oche/Miss Sahhara-Can Anyone Confirm That Clifford Was Jailed In Nigeria For Being A Transgender.
I read with dismay this story on Linda Ikeji's blog,i can't help it,i need my Benue family to see this now.
Clifford Oche who transformed to a female and currently a model and singer now known as Miss saHHara claimed in an article yesterday to mark the Transgender Day of Remembrance that she was harassed and jailed in Nigeria for being a transgender and even attempted suicide but is now proud and free.
Miss SaHHara writes...
I am standing in front of the mirror looking at my reflection. Tears of joy trickle down my rouged cheek before going on stage.
I am in tears because I just can’t believe how realistic my dreams have become. I am a woman! Living my life freely. Accepted and respected for my achievements as a model and a performer.
Miss SaHHara writes...
I am standing in front of the mirror looking at my reflection. Tears of joy trickle down my rouged cheek before going on stage.
I am in tears because I just can’t believe how realistic my dreams have become. I am a woman! Living my life freely. Accepted and respected for my achievements as a model and a performer.
My fellow transgendered sisters and brothers paved this way for me. They fought for acceptance, understanding and respect. Some died while fighting for what they believed in and others fell before their time due to hate, rejection and society’s unfairness. Every single story gave me strength to fight on and never to give up.
I wish I could tell the younger me who tried to commit suicide twice that life gets better and dreams come true.
I did not imagine life could be this amazing many years ago after being released from a horrid Nigerian prison for being different. Then all I could think was I could die in this prison and no one will know or care.
Being imprisoned felt justifiable, considering I was being punished for being ‘gay’ – something they assumed due to my feminine features and mannerisms.
I wasn’t gay, I am a woman born differently due to natural defects. What I felt did not match my outward appearance, Being assigned male at birth doesn’t make me a man or a woman, nobody was born a man or a women, you develop into your preferred gender as you grow up. For me that gender was female. I was born male but my brain, gestures, features and carriage functioned as female.
Growing up and not knowing what was happening to my body made me confused and lost. I couldn’t discuss it with my family because my femininity was frowned on due to religion and I could not talk to my friends because they would not understand what I was going through. I found solace in music and dreams.
I dreamt of being free to be myself, free of insults, free of judgment and free from harassments.
That freedom came when I moved to the United Kingdom, finding girls like me gave me hope of not being alone in my journey of self-discovery.
I found out what I went through growing up in Nigeria was quite common with transgendered people. Having freedom, acceptance and knowledge are the key most important elements to a successful transition.
Knowing I am not alone in my struggles helped me to reevaluate my views on life and how I should go about my transition wisely. I researched my transition and reconciled the conflicting emotions involved in the process of accepting myself as the woman I am.
It is a lonely world during transition, as your body changes so do your emotions, which leads the mind into the darkest path in life. If the chemicals are not professionally controlled, you can feel suicidal due to rejection from loved ones and society.
In life perfection doesn’t existent, but for me having the freedom to be my true self feels almost perfect. As a black transgendered woman I am faced with many daily challenges such as transphobia, a complicated love life, poor career prospects and racism. But when I remember my life history, these challenges become water under the bridge.
That is why I will always remember those who built this foundation for freedom and knowledge. Also those who never got the chance to enjoy the acceptance we have achieved so far.
Transgender Day of Remembrance today (20 November) is particularly import to me because I have lost close friends to suicide and have seen many more wishing to commit suicide as a final fix to their gender dilemma and rejection by society.
The media is silent on the subject of transphobia and the effects it has on young transgendered people of today, because they don’t see transgendered people as ‘normal’ members of our community.
Remembering my fallen friends helps me to keep their memories alive. It also encourages me to carry on the fight to be respected, understood and accepted for whom I am.
I dream of a world where we are given some sort of understanding and tolerance to live peacefully as able, intelligent fellow human beings who make positive contributions to society.
Transgendered people are human too. We are your brothers, your sisters, your children, your friends and your lovers. Stop the hate!
I wish I could tell the younger me who tried to commit suicide twice that life gets better and dreams come true.
I did not imagine life could be this amazing many years ago after being released from a horrid Nigerian prison for being different. Then all I could think was I could die in this prison and no one will know or care.
Being imprisoned felt justifiable, considering I was being punished for being ‘gay’ – something they assumed due to my feminine features and mannerisms.
I wasn’t gay, I am a woman born differently due to natural defects. What I felt did not match my outward appearance, Being assigned male at birth doesn’t make me a man or a woman, nobody was born a man or a women, you develop into your preferred gender as you grow up. For me that gender was female. I was born male but my brain, gestures, features and carriage functioned as female.
Growing up and not knowing what was happening to my body made me confused and lost. I couldn’t discuss it with my family because my femininity was frowned on due to religion and I could not talk to my friends because they would not understand what I was going through. I found solace in music and dreams.
I dreamt of being free to be myself, free of insults, free of judgment and free from harassments.
That freedom came when I moved to the United Kingdom, finding girls like me gave me hope of not being alone in my journey of self-discovery.
I found out what I went through growing up in Nigeria was quite common with transgendered people. Having freedom, acceptance and knowledge are the key most important elements to a successful transition.
Knowing I am not alone in my struggles helped me to reevaluate my views on life and how I should go about my transition wisely. I researched my transition and reconciled the conflicting emotions involved in the process of accepting myself as the woman I am.
It is a lonely world during transition, as your body changes so do your emotions, which leads the mind into the darkest path in life. If the chemicals are not professionally controlled, you can feel suicidal due to rejection from loved ones and society.
In life perfection doesn’t existent, but for me having the freedom to be my true self feels almost perfect. As a black transgendered woman I am faced with many daily challenges such as transphobia, a complicated love life, poor career prospects and racism. But when I remember my life history, these challenges become water under the bridge.
That is why I will always remember those who built this foundation for freedom and knowledge. Also those who never got the chance to enjoy the acceptance we have achieved so far.
Transgender Day of Remembrance today (20 November) is particularly import to me because I have lost close friends to suicide and have seen many more wishing to commit suicide as a final fix to their gender dilemma and rejection by society.
The media is silent on the subject of transphobia and the effects it has on young transgendered people of today, because they don’t see transgendered people as ‘normal’ members of our community.
Remembering my fallen friends helps me to keep their memories alive. It also encourages me to carry on the fight to be respected, understood and accepted for whom I am.
I dream of a world where we are given some sort of understanding and tolerance to live peacefully as able, intelligent fellow human beings who make positive contributions to society.
Transgendered people are human too. We are your brothers, your sisters, your children, your friends and your lovers. Stop the hate!
Culled out from Linda Ikeji's Blog.
I know the clifford people will come after me with curses as usual bring it on GUYS/BABES.
Labels: CLIFFORD OCHE, MISS SAHHARA
8 Comments:
Won't you mind your business and face this your New found fame in blogging,its all about clifford sahhara,do you know what it means to be unhappy because of who you are,she is happy now and you have to stop hating this girl,you are the only one who comes out to spew bad blood about her,leave her alone or else ...i wont say the rest.
So you think what he did is ok,by lying against his country,am really disappointed ,whoever you are,we are nigerians and not british people ,we have our nums values and our culture,whatever we do ,we will never accept Gayness in our society,its an abomination,he should not bother coming home,he should remain in UK.
I feel sorry for him. But if he is fulfilling his fantasy and making it at such a high level, well kudos for him. But i still feel sorry for him
I get reminded that the world is coming to an end when people such as the writer of this blog and certain commentators lack understanding and feel they could judge others.First of all Nigerians,japanese or spanish,etc do not choose to be gay.It has nothing to do with culture.
the world has been like that ever since,the only difference is that now all is in the open and the hypocrites are suffering massively under they own lies.She is a beautiful woman and is respected by all the british society for the professional and human beign that she is and not for the choices she made.Africa is full of homossexuals and people who urge to change their gender.happiness is what every one wants and i am sorry for the miserable ones who temporarely feel better by trying to put others down feeding their ignorance with hate and darkness.Only one will judge and if the writer of this blog thinks she is a journalist she can think again.I am a journalist and one precious thing i have learned is to provide information and never to impose my ideas and opinion on the subject and even worse, to judge.Good luck to all of you in the pursuit of hapiness.
I think at this point we should be leaving in a free society where we can all become what we ever dreamed of and speak out without fear or favor. So if as the story goes Sahhara is happy what is our business? Worry about yourself.Leave Sahhara alone.
NO ONE IS STOPPING CLIFFORD FROM ENJOYING HIS LIFE AS A FEMALE BUT WHY THE LIES? WHO HAD HIS TIME THEN OR EVEN NOW TO LOCK HIM UP IN WHICH PRISON? WAS THE PRISON BSU? WAS IT IN OTUKPO OR MAKURDI? SUCH CHEAP LIES FOR CHEAP FAME.....SOME PEOPLE CAN EVEN SELL THEIR MOTHERS FOR FAME, SO I AM NOT SURPRISED THIS IS THE BULLSHIT THIS ONE HAS DECIDED TO SELL....BUT THEN AGAIN ITS STALE.....TRY SELLING SOMETHING ELSE LIKE YOUR BRAINS,NUDITY,SEX OR FALSE STORIES ABOUT A HORRID CHILDHOOD IS NOW OLD SCHOOL AND NOT INTERESTING ANY MORE.
THEN WHO IS THAT ANONYMOUS FOOL THROWING ABOUT THREATS? DONT HIDE SHOW US YOUR FACE AND NAME SINCE YOU ARE SO POWERFUL....LITTLE MINDED INDIVIDUALS
Mr Clifford Oche its quite unfortunate that He is a Woman now but is he really happy? let no one deceive themselves Oche can only be pretending inwardly I am not sure. If that name Oche is IDOMA forget it Miss Sahara is lost.
WHAT I WOULD SAY IS I DONT KNOW THIS GUY, BUT CHANGING YOUR CONFLICTING NATURES IS NOT IN YOUR PLACE TO DO THAT, NATURE MAY HAVE MADE YOU A MAN, YOU CHANG YOUR SELF TO A WOMAN, THE AFTER EFFECT IS OLD AGE, LOOK AT MICHEAL JACKSON WHAT HE ENDED UP LIKE, PLEASE LEARN GOOD LESSONS AND NOT BAD
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