author

Chinwe Ajene-Sagna

Every border tells a story. Every story has its origins.

“Who are you?”

For transnational Igbo migrants whose identities are shaped from ties with cross-border kinship communities’, answering this question requires a deep dive exploration of self within origins entrenched in ancestry and tradition.

In Borders and The Self, Chinwe Ajene-Sagna employs the pursuit of truth and ideals of clarity via insightful investigation and a commitment to the highest values of storytelling as she pursues this search for an Igbo identify across borders.

Tracing a cultural lineage from the beginnings of Igbo history in the ninth century and delineating foundational aspects of the customs and practices such as kinship, the importance of land, wealth and trade as well as funeral rites and marriage unions,

Borders and the Self elevates this exposition by threading the personal histories of the Ajene and Okeke families, which became united by marriage amid the backdrop of the Nigerian Civil War, into a broader, more universal narrative. This approach shows, on a micro-level, how a culture that has existed for centuries can be warped and transformed by external forces like war and colonialism, and how members of an ethnic group migrate to survive not only drastic changes but economic realities.

Borders and The Self is about the confluence of personal struggle and the survival of a people. It is a triumph of historical exploration and the consolidating of a family history. It paints a theoretical and moving portrait of the antecedents of transnationalism and is a must read for students of history who care about the shaping of our modern world.

BUY NOW

Chinwe Ajene-Sagna

Author

My Story

Chinwe Ajene-Sagna is a Scholar, a trusted Advisor and Board Executive. With over twenty years of experience in the real assets/ property management industry, she is the Founder and Managing Partner of full-service real estate firm, Catalyst Realty Solutions (CRS), Partner at CSM Advisory, Cairo as well as an adjunct-faculty in the Strategy Department of the Lagos Business School.

She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree (High Honors) in History from Dartmouth College, United States of America. She is married with two children.

BORDERS AND THE SELF is her first book.

Reviews

Pre-Launch Event Panel

Dec 21, 2024

Dr. Ejike Eze

Dr. Ejike Eze is a Linguistics scholar and community leader with multiple academic degrees and leadership experience. His academic accomplishments include a First Class Honors degree and a Masters Degree from University of Lagos, a Master of Philosophy degree from the University of Cambridge, England, and a Doctoral Degree from the University of Ottawa, Canada.

After a brief stint as a University Professor and author of several scholarly articles and books, Dr. Eze ventured into Corporate America where he has held several leadership positions at such corporations as KPMG, BearingPoint, NTT Data and Arbella Insurance Group. He currently serves as Chief Executive Officer and Consulting Partner at Emerald Consulting Group, a Boston-based Management Consulting firm. He also sits on the Board of numerous religious, academic and community organizations, including an Advisory Board of the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Dr. Eze is passionate about helping Nigerian parents do the best they can to raise outstanding Nigerian children. As the first two-term President of the influential Igbo Organization of New England, he has collaborated with leaders of various Nigerian ethnic groups in his quest to help map the path forward for Nigerian youths.

Dr. Eze lives in Holbrook, Massachusetts with his family.

Prof. Judith Byfield.

Judith A. Byfield is the Stephen ’59 and Madeline ’60 Anbinder Professor of History at Cornell University. She is also a member of the Africana Studies and Research Center and the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program. Her research primarily focuses on women’s social and economic history in Nigeria.
Byfield has published several influential works, including:

•⁠ ⁠”A Great Upheaval: Women and Nation in Post-War Nigeria” (2021)
•⁠ ⁠”Global Africa: Into the Twenty-First Century” (2017)
•⁠ ⁠”Africa and World War II” (2015)
•⁠ ⁠”Gendering the African Diaspora: Women, Culture, and Historical Change in the Caribbean and Nigerian Hinterland” (2010)
•⁠ ⁠”The Bluest Hands: A Social and Economic History of Women Indigo Dyers in Western Nigeria, 1890 – 1940″ (2002)

Currently, she is a Fulbright Global Scholar working on a new project titled “Curry Goat and Gari: West Indian Women in 20th Century Lagosian Society”. This project explores the lives of West Indian women who moved to Nigeria and how they bridged their Caribbean and British backgrounds with Nigerian cultures.

Professor Rina Okonkwo

Professor Rina Lee Okonkwo, an American-born historian, relocated to Nigeria in 1973. She taught at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, from 1974 to 2011 and joined Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu, in 2012. Her work focuses on African history, labor relations, and cultural nationalism, with notable publications such as The Garvey Movement in British West Africa. She is the Resident Historian at the Centre for Memories in Enugu, dedicated to preserving Igbo heritage.

Official Launch Event

Saturday 27th December Commemorating

Mr John Ajene’s 10-year Memorial and

Mrs Ajene 80th birthday

(Parents of the Author)

Day(s)

:

Hour(s)

:

Minute(s)

:

Second(s)

Chinwe Ajene-Sagna

A trademark of Masobe Books and Logistics Limited 34 Gbajumo Close, off Adeniran Ogunsanya, Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria

Tel: +234 903 097 1752, +234 701 838 3286 info@masobebooks.com
www.masobebooks.com