Ọrẹ Ogunbiyi’s Tale of Nigerians in Britain Gets Signed by Merky Books

Nigerian journalist, public speaker and author, Ọrẹ Ogunbiyi, has recently had her latest book, ‘Briticó: The Story of Migration and the Shaping of a Nation signed by Merky Books in an exclusive submission.

“Today, Nigerians are the largest population of Black people from any one country in the UK,” The blurb reads. “Nigeria, its people, and its culture have inextricably shaped Britain. And yet this is a story that remains largely untold.  

“The first book to explore the story of Nigerians in modern Britain, Briticó will alter how we think about British and Nigerian history as well as reveal untold personal stories for the first time. Narrative and character-driven, it will also tell a larger story about post-colonial migration, correcting myths about who migrants are and why they make their journeys.”   

In 2019, Ọrẹ published her first book, ‘Taking Up Space: The Black Girl’s Manifesto for Change’, co-authored by Chelsea Kwakye. Featuring honest conversations with students past and present, Taking Up Space goes beyond the buzzwords of diversity and inclusion and explores what those words truly mean for young black girls today. 

Sid Gentle Films, producers of “Killing Eve” won the TV rights to Taking Up Space in 2020 and it will be adapted into a TV series.

“A joy to be back with the @MerkyBooks team who completely got my vision for this from the get-go. Can’t wait to share all these stories with you, ” Ọrẹ said on X (formerly Twitter). 

In 2021, while studying at Cambridge University, Ọrẹ pioneered the Benin Bronze Repatriation Campaign which resulted in the UK’s first institutional repatriation of a Benin Bronze.  

The Intelligence, a daily podcast from The Economist with three million monthly listeners, is co-hosted by Ọrẹ Ogunbiyi. She was the youngest political appointee in Nigerian history and authored speeches for the vice president of Nigeria before joining The Economist. In her own words, “I took it as an incredible opportunity for me to demonstrate that young Nigerians – even as young as 23 – are more than capable of killing it in government.”