How did Kimberley go from life in a small Scottish town to being nicknamed the "Mayor of Lagos" by her friends? Growing up, she had no knowledge of Nigeria. "Until I was a teenager, I was really unaware what was going around the world apart from what I was taught at school."
When she was 18, she started travelling more around Scotland and joined her sister to live in Aberdeen. That's where she met her now husband from Nigeria. They had a long-distance relationship for a few years, before she eventually visited Nigeria for the first time in 2007. "I was like OK, I've always liked a challenge."
Kimberley is now Vice-President of the Nigerwives Lagos, an organisation providing community and support for foreign wives of Nigerians living in the city. In the interview clips below, she reflects on her journey moving countries, raising a Nigerian-Scottish child, and how the Nigerwives has developed over the years.
"I always been one that absorb accents," she says. "I moved to England, I moved to Aberdeen, I moved to Nigeria... I always take up the accent. Depending on who I'm talking to, I'll slip into different voices.
I speak yoruba, pidgin. I think I become more Scottish when I go home, but everyone is like: no your not."
Listen to the clips below:
Extract 1: "I come from a small Scottish town"
Kimberley speaks about growing up in predominantly white Scottish town, and how everything changed once she moved to Aberdeen and met her partner from Nigeria.
Extract 2: "You can't buy that kind of upbringing"
Kimberley talks about the benefits of raising her daughter in Nigeria, and how she has tried to ensure she has pride in both sides of her heritage.
Extract 3: "If you need fine details, I'm the person to go to"
Kimberley shares her top tips for any new Nigerwives who are moving to Nigeria, and tells us some of the ways her personality has suited the hustle of Lagos.
Extract 4: "Nigerwives is your family here"
Kimberley is the current Vice-President of the Nigerwives Lagos branch, a formal network for foreign wives living in Nigeria to find community. Here she talks about what the Nigerwives have meant to her, and tells us a bit more about their history.
