“Poet, writer and Energy Law expert, DONNA is arguably the most compelling voice in Nigeria’s intense performance poetry circuit today. She has been described in the only ranking effort for spoken word in Nigeria (EGC Platform) as the “queen of spoken word poetry in Nigeria” for the year 2013 and ranked amongst the top 20 poets in Nigeria in the years 2012 and 2014 (where she ranked 5th overall best poet in Nigeria.
She is a Partner in the Law Firm of Adepetun, Caxton-Martins, Agbor & Segun where she has been recognised by IFLR 1000, Energy and Infrastructure (2014) as a “Rising Star” and also recently ranked as a “Rising Star” in IFLR 1000’s 2015 Financial and Corporate ranking of leading lawyers. Donna is also currently the youngest recipient of the Yitzhak Rabin International Award for Excellence in Leadership. When she is not providing expert advice to clients, DONNA invests her energies in performed poetry and was formerly a co-coordinator of the well established Nigerian platform for art expression, Freedom Hall. She is a regular act on platforms like Taruwa, Freedom Hall and Word Up (where she has been a judge of poetry slams severally and was a facilitator at their event “The Business of Spoken Word in Nigeria, 2014” where she taught a sizeable audience of spoken word artistes on perfecting their act “From Page to Stage”).
DONNA has been called upon for landmark events where only the finest acts are selected such as Nigeria’s 1stCultural Trade Show (2014) tagged “Business Meets Culture” hosted by the Nigerian-German Business Association, the Lagos Black Heritage Festival and the WS 80 (celebrating Professor Wole Soyinka). DONNA was also the only Nigerian and one of 11 women elected by ONE.ORG for the National Month of Poetry, 2014 on its “National Poetry Month: Uplifting Verses From 11 Strong Female Poets”, alongside greats like Maya Angelou and Naomi Shihab Nye. She is also the only Nigerian female poet elected to feature in British Council’s video tribute to the International Women’s Day for the year 2015.
Her debut audio album “Water For Roses” has been released and is due to be launched by April, 2015.
DONNA is daughter to Prince and Princess Babatunde Ogunnaike, and a sister to four brothers. She is married to Babatunde Shodipo (Junior) and her goal in her words is “to give everything I have as woman, wife, mother, legal adviser, counselor, poet, author – in all areas of my gifting and talents, and to ensure that I die completely empty, at an old age, having done everything in my ability to share myself to the world.
You can buy a copy of “Water for Roses” for now at the Jazzhole, Awolowo Raod, Ikoyi Lagos or send an email todonnaogunnaike@gmail.com for bulk orders. You may also listen to some of her works for free on https://soundcloud.com/donna-ogunnaike and watch some of her recordings on her YouTube Page: Donna Ogunnaike.”