When Ijeoma Nicole Obiodiaka first arrived in St. John’s in 2019, she described the city as “quiet.”

Ms. Obiodiaka is from Lagos, Nigeria, a city with an estimated population of over 21 million.

But the city and Memorial’s St. John’s campus were quiet in other ways too.

She found it difficult to meet people at first. There were events to attend, but there were fewer international students at Memorial back then. She didn’t see anyone who looked like her.

So she got involved with the Memorial University of Newfoundland Students’ Union (MUNSU), started organizing events and set out to make a difference.

One of her first endeavors was a musical chairs event at The Loft using Afrobeat music.

Later that evening, on her way to the gym, Ms. Obiodiaka was approached by a young woman who ran up and asked, “Oh my gosh, are you the person who organized the musical chairs? I’m new here, and I didn’t know anyone. But I made so many friends.”

“She didn’t even know there was an event,” Ms. Obiodiaka said. “She just heard the Afrobeats and found her way.”

And that was the goal. Ms. Obiodiaka wanted to create a sense of home away from home where international students could meet, make friends and share information to help navigate life in a new place.

As a part of MUNSU, she would serve on Senate and organize Black History Month events.

She became the first Black student representative to serve on the Canadian Federation of Students Newfoundland and Labrador.

 

Nicole Obiodiaka at Memorial in 2023. Photo from Memorial University Archives.

 

She also helped revive the Black Students Association (BSA), serving as vice-president and, later, president, hosting events and organizing equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism workshops.

When a summer job landed her in the financial sector, she discovered a host of Black businesses located across the province. But she also recognized the obstacles that Black entrepreneurs face.

In response, she founded Centra Cultural Collective, an organization that offers information and provides resources for underrepresented entrepreneurs and artisans.

Many Black-owned businesses in the province are also online and don’t have a physical space.

Knowing the value of word-of-mouth marketing and visibility in a smaller city like St. John’s, Ms. Obiodiaka organized the first annual Black Owned Vendors Market in 2021. It’s been held at the St. John’s Farmers' Market and, more recently, downtown on George Street.

She said this is a great way to support local business. But it’s also a way to experience culture in an organic way. People can hear the music and have conversations. They can see and taste the work of artisans. They can hold the culture in their hands.

In 2022, she hosted and produced a five-part video series with CBC about Black women leaders in the province. Herstory: Inspiring Black Women in N.L. appeared in February 2023.

Then she won the prestigious 2022-2023 Frank H. Sobey Award for Excellence in Business Studies. The award recognizes entrepreneurial students for their academic achievements and community leadership.

Now, alongside her job at Verafin and her work with Centra, she dreams of owning her own theatre company.

“Theatre has always been a huge passion in my life,” she said. She began performing in the city as soon as she arrived back in 2019. She’s written and directed her own short plays as well. Currently, she’s working on her first full production slated to appear in 2026.

Ms. Obiodiaka knows just how much storytelling and the arts can mean to a community.

One evening during her last year of studies at Memorial, she caught a bus home. 

A woman recognized her and changed seats to sit beside her. They talked about the series Ms. Obiodiaka was hosting for CBC. The woman smiled and said, “It’s so good to see someone on TV who looks like me.”