Several people in the community extended best wishes to the Kunle Animashaun after he bagged a PhD from the prestigious Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.
Congratulations Kunle Animashaun on your remarkable achievement graduating from Trinity College Dublin with a Doctorate. We, at Bold & Beautiful International Magazine are thrilled for you on this accomplishment.
Meet Dr Kunle Animashaun
Dr. Kunle Animashaun, the Director of the Dublin based Camino Productions, in Ireland is a first-class master’s degree graduate of the University College Dublin, UCD. In 2014, Kunle was the Artiste in Residence at Tallaght Community Arts, Dublin 24. The residency was facilitated by Arts Council of Ireland, the South Dublin County Council and Rua-Red.
In 2013, Kunle was awarded the Samuel Beckett studentship award by Jimmy Deenihan, TD Minister for Arts, Heritage & Gaeltacht. He is the author of ‘Stand-up comedy in a multicultural setting: Between a raw nerve and a funny bone’ edited by Eric Weitz in 2014.
Kunle’s work has been referred to as ‘a bridge to different cultural affiliations’ in Ireland because his works are always collaborative in nature, it has often been described as interculturalism-from-below in terms of the potential to engender intercultural dialogue, diversity and enriching socio-cultural discourse in the society.
On the graduation ceremony night, Dr Kunle Animashaun spoke about what he went through in the process of getting the PhD. He spoke about the stress, both financial and psychological, particularly because it was a self-funding PhD programme. He spoke about how he had to work many menial jobs in the process of his sojourn in Ireland and how for many years, sometimes, he had to work all through the night, and still appear in class the following morning.
According to Dr Kunle Animashaun, “immigrants have come a long way from what the story was when “we first arrived in Ireland in the late 1990s, when naysayers did not give us a chance. The sometimes-negative representation of immigrants in Ireland thus became an impetus for our determination to succeed. To get to this point, I once sold newspapers on the streets of Dublin. Yeah, I was selling Evening Herald running after cars in traffic on many streets in Dublin. I pushed leaflets into people’s letter boxes working from 10am to finish at 5pm every weekday, earning a paltry €70 for a whole week’s work. I used to wash the entire floor of one of the big cinemas in Dublin. I drove cabby all through the night in order to pay for this PhD.”
“Thank You Ireland for all the opportunities that I’ve had here. As an immigrant, I love this nation very dearly. But I am undoubtedly proud of my Nigerian Identity. Thank you to many immigrants like me who have worked very hard over the years, contributing to the wellbeing of their community. Some have been very dedicated to the issues of human rights, equality and justice within Irish society. Some of you have worked hard to break the glass ceiling. Many have had to overcome personal tragedies in their lives, yet they forge ahead. I have been inspired by your courage, your discipline, your resilience, your integrity and tenacity. For these I say thank you.
Thank you to the many people who have worked with me in the past in my production company, Camino Productions. Thank you for your time, talent and dedication. Thank you, Nigeria, for instilling in me the importance of Education. In Nigeria, “the best inheritance a parent can give a child is education.” Thank you for the Yoruba cultural tradition of which I was raised. To my fellow Nigerians, the Ijaw, the Hausa, Fulani, Igbo, Tiv, Ibibio, Igala, Ebira, Nupe, Berom, Edo, ours is a rainbow nation with great potential. Thank you for the over 250 ethnic groups speaking over five hundred languages. Thank you, Nigeria for Nollywood, For Afrobeat. Naija, we no dey carry last, we will continue to Buga Won!!!”
Bravo, Doctor! You have rightfully secured this title with your brilliance. Good luck.
