Introducing As Told By Ada

There’s a kind of inheritance that isn’t written into wills or often spoken about at family meetings. It’s quiet, but no less powerful or weighty. It exists in expectations and responsibilities assumed very early, in the unspoken understanding that someone has to go first.

As Told by Ada is our newest original, and it begins with a simple but nuanced question: what does it really mean to be the oldest daughter in a Nigerian household?

Ada is the first or oldest daughter in Igbo culture, but her role and serious responsibilities are universal to all first daughters in Nigerian families.

As Told by Ada invites us into stories that are at once very personal and widely familiar. There is humour here—because there has to be—but there is also tenderness, exhaustion, pride, and the kind of clarity that only comes from lived experience. From navigating adulthood while still carrying the weight of “example-setting,” to unpacking the lingering effects of growing up as “the first,” these stories sit at the intersection of duty and identity.

This vertical is not just about one woman’s perspective; it’s about a shared cultural script that many have followed, questioned, or quietly rewritten. It’s about the chaos, yes, but also the resilience and complexity that come with it.

With As Told by Ada, we hope to create space for recognition, for reflection, and maybe even for release.

Welcome to the conversation.