Richard Akuson (born July 26, 1993) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

lawyer,

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...

activist, writer, editor, and the founder of '' A Nasty Boy'' magazine, Nigeria's first LGBTQ+ publication. In 2019, Akuson was named one of ''Forbes Africa'''s 30 Under 30 change-makers for challenging rigid notions of masculinity, gender, and sexuality in Nigeria where homosexual acts can be punished with 14 years in prison. In 2017, he was nominated for

The Future Awards Africa The Future Awards Africa (previously known as The Future Awards) are a set of awards given by The Future Project, a social enterprise communications firm affiliated to Red Africa. The awards are intended to celebrate young people between the ag ...

's New Media Innovation Award. Akuson is also a two-time Abryanz Style & Fashion Award Best Fashion Writer nominee. Following the launch of ''A Nasty Boy'' magazine in 2017, he was named one of the 40 Most Powerful Nigerians under the age of 40 by ''

YNaija ''YNaija'' is a Nigerian online content publishing platform, founded by Chude Jideonwo and Adebola Williams of RED Africa media group. ''YNaija'' launched in May 2010 with columnists and various news sources. It offers news, original content ...

''.

Early life and education

Richard Akuson was born in

Akwanga Akwanga is a Local Government Area in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Akwanga. It has an area of 996 km and a population of 513,930 at the 2006 census. The postal code A postal code (also known locally in ...

Nasarawa State Nasarawa is a States of Nigeria, state in the North Central Nigeria, North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the east by the states of Taraba State, Taraba and Plateau State, Plateau, to the north by Kaduna State, to the south by the states ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. The second of three boys, he was raised in an upper-middle-class family; his father, a politician, and his mother, a college lecturer. He attended Shepherd's International College, a private, co-educational Christian boarding school, before heading to the

Nasarawa State University Nasarawa State University is located in Keffi Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the sou ...

, Keffi, for his first professional degree in law. He was called to the

Nigerian Bar The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is a non-profit, umbrella professional association of lawyers admitted to the Bar by the Council of Legal Education in Nigeria. It is engaged in the promotion and protection of human rights, the rule of law and ...

as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2017, upon his graduation from the

Nigerian Law School The Nigerian Law School is an educational institution set up to provide professional certification to graduates of law. The school was established in Lagos under the Legal Education Act 1962, now Legal Education (Consolidation Etc) Act Cap. L1 ...

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

Career

Akuson started his career as a style intern at the age of 18. In 2014, he co-founded ILLUDED, an online photo-sharing platform. In 2016, he was offered a position to head

BellaNaija ''BellaNaija'' is a Nigerian lifestyle, entertainment, and fashion website headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. History BellaNaija was founded by Uche Eze in 2006. In its early form, BellaNaija featured scanned magazine articles, pictures, and in ...

's fashion and style sections—a position that launched his career through the roof. His work at BellaNaija earned him an Abryanz Style & Fashion Award nomination for Fashion Writer of the Year in 2016. Later that year, he left

to launch The PR Boy, a boutique PR firm that catered primarily to Nigerian startups. In 2017, while at the Nigerian Law School, he launched '' A Nasty Boy'', the boundary-pushing LGBTQ+ publication that soon grew in stature and international acclaim.

Essays

In April 2019, Akuson authored a searing, tell-all essay for ''

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

'' detailing the circumstances that led him to flee Nigeria for safety in America. In July 2019, he wrote a heart-rending essay for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

"Sunday Review." The essay
"This is Quite Gay
" was prominently published in the Times' web front page and appeared on a similarly prominent position in print, the next day.

Activism and asylum

Akuson sought asylum in America in 2018 after fleeing Nigeria upon surviving a brutal homophobic attack. In the U.S., he continues to speak openly about the attack and the insidious culture of homophobia in Nigeria. He has granted interviews t
''OkayAfrica''''Very Good Light''
an
''The Black Youth Project,''
ref> where he gave great detail surrounding the event. Akuson continues to be an outspoken activist for the LGBTQ+ and asylum communities in America.

References

External links

richardakuson.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akuson, Richard 21st-century Nigerian lawyers Nigerian LGBTQ rights activists Wikimedians 1993 births Living people Nigerian LGBTQ lawyers Nigerian emigrants to the United States