"My strength comes from knowing myself. I'm not living life at random."

Christopher Ejugbo is a Nigerian-born humanist and risk management professional. Raised Catholic and once an altar boy, Christopher now lives a life grounded in reason and self-knowledge rather than faith.

In this deeply personal conversation with host Lola Tinubu, Christopher shares his journey from Catholic Nigeria to finding freedom in the former Soviet Union, and finally drawing a permanent line with religion in the UK. But this episode goes beyond deconstruction. Christopher reveals the practical tools he uses to navigate life without prayer: SWOT analysis for decisions, accepting mortality without fear, and building meaning through self-examination.

This is about what replaces faith when you let it go. About recognizing that churches offer community, not answers. About understanding why religion thrives where social services fail. And about discovering that strength comes from knowing yourself.

🎙️ In this episode

• From altar boy in Nigeria to living religion-free in the former Soviet Union
• How UK Pentecostal churches recruit lonely international students
• The moment Christopher stopped going back to church
• Replacing prayer with life skills: analysis and self-knowledge
• Why people stay in church for entertainment rather than belief
• How missing social services drive religious dependence in Nigeria
• Finding liberation to enjoy religion as culture without believing

Thanks for listening to the Secular Sankofa Podcast, produced by the Association of Black Humanists (ABH). If you enjoy the show, please follow, rate, and review — it helps more people discover Black humanist voices.

Stay connected with us:

• 🌍 Meetup: association-of-black-humanists
• 👍Facebook: @AssociationBlackHumanists
• 📸 Instagram: @abhumanists
• 🕊️ X / Twitter: @abhumanists
• ▶️ YouTube: Association of Black Humanists
• 🎵 TikTok: @assoc_of_black_humanists

Learn more about our work and community at abhumanists.org

🎙️ Podcast produced by Humanise Live a podcast production agency based in London, serving charities, companies, and individuals across the globe.

.Learn more at www.humanise.live or hello@humanise.live

🎶 Music: Icy by Jeff Kaale

"Any ideology... that values an idea more than human life must be condemned." Dr Leo Igwe

A sober, urgent conversation with Nigerian human rights activist Dr Leo Igwe on the real cost of unbelief in Nigeria and across the Global South. Joining hosts Clive Areude and Audrey Simmons, Leo reflects on his journey from the Catholic seminary to humanism, the violence driven by witchcraft accusations and blasphemy laws, and why fear, not faith, continues to shape religious identity at home and in the diaspora.

This episode confronts the murders, imprisonments, and silencing that follow when belief is enforced, and asks what responsibility non-believers have to speak, organise, and build alternatives that protect human life.

🎙️ In this episode

• Leo’s path from seminary training to humanism through philosophy and critical inquiry
• Witchcraft accusations in Nigeria and how they lead to abuse, exile, and killings
• Why many Nigerians identify as religious out of fear rather than conviction
• The murder of Deborah Samuel and the dangers of blasphemy accusations
• The imprisonment of Mubarak Bala and what his case reveals about state power and religion
• Online activism as both protection and personal risk for Black non-believers
• Why silence enables violence, and why humanists must respond collectively
• The need to invest in leadership, services, and visible action, not just words

🔗 Referred cases and further reading

• Human Rights Watch on the murder of Deborah Samuel: https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/05/16/student-nigeria-murdered-over-blasphemy-allegation
• BBC News on the imprisonment of Mubarak Bala:
  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62zpk4nnxdo
• Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AfAW):
  https://advocacyforallegedwitches.org
• Humanists International – Freedom of Thought Report:
  https://humanists.international/what-we-do/freedom-of-thought-report/

Thanks for listening to the Secular Sankofa Podcast, produced by the Association of Black Humanists (ABH). If you enjoy the show, please follow, rate, and review — it helps more people discover Black humanist voices.

Stay connected with us:

• 🌍 Meetup: association-of-black-humanists
• 👍Facebook: @AssociationBlackHumanists
• 📸 Instagram: @abhumanists
• 🕊️ X / Twitter: @abhumanists
• ▶️ YouTube: Association of Black Humanists
• 🎵 TikTok: @assoc_of_black_humanists

Learn more about our work and community at abhumanists.org

🎙️ Podcast produced by Humanise Live a podcast production agency based in London, serving charities, companies, and individuals across the globe.

.Learn more at www.humanise.live or hello@humanise.live

🎶 Music: Icy by Jeff Kaale

***Content warning*** This episode includes discussion of child sexual abuse, spiritual abuse, coercive control, and addiction. Please take care while listening.

If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual abuse, you can contact Rape Crisis England & Wales (24/7) via their support page: https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-help/want-to-talk/

In this episode of Secular Sankofa, we sit down with Dionne Simpson, a Black British author, speaker, and survivor. Dionne traces a life shaped by racial isolation, church-centred control, and a pattern of strategic grooming that led to a devastating disclosure at fifteen, followed by disbelief and ostracism from both family and faith leadership.

Follow Dionne and explore her work

• Website: https://dionnesimpson.co.uk/
• Store: https://dionne-simpson-books.sumupstore.com/products
• The Sabotaged Girl: https://dionne-simpson-books.sumupstore.com/product/the-sabotaged-girl
• Spiritual Abuse Awareness Online Course: https://dionne-simpson-books.sumupstore.com/product/spiritual-abuse-awareness-online-course
• Forged By Fire (Vol. 1): Crucible of Flame: https://dionne-simpson-books.sumupstore.com/product/forged-by-fire-volume-one-crucible-of-flame
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoraMilajeAcademy
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesabotagedgirl
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dionnesimpson-author/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dionnesimpson7
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZVCMOiE2sZLOwg2Mqkw0wQ
  
  

Thanks for listening to the Secular Sankofa Podcast, produced by the Association of Black Humanists (ABH). If you enjoy the show, please follow, rate, and review — it helps more people discover Black humanist voices.

Stay connected with us:

• 🌍 Meetup: association-of-black-humanists
• 👍Facebook: @AssociationBlackHumanists
• 📸 Instagram: @abhumanists
• 🕊️ X / Twitter: @abhumanists
• ▶️ YouTube: Association of Black Humanists
• 🎵 TikTok: @assoc_of_black_humanists

Learn more about our work and community at abhumanists.org

🎙️ Podcast produced by Humanise Live a podcast production agency based in London, serving charities, companies, and individuals across the globe.

.Learn more at www.humanise.live or hello@humanise.live

🎶 Music: Icy by Jeff Kaale