Multiple generations of Lebanese have made their home in Nigeria. Some are the descendants of migrants who arrived in West Africa as early as the 19th century, leaving behind their small Middle Eastern nation in search of opportunities elsewhere. Tatiana Mousalli Nouri, 38, is fourth-generation Lebanese, raised in Nigeria. She is the deputy group managing director for Aim Group, a family-run conglomerate with offices across the country, which includes broadcasters Cool FM and Wazobia FM.
She also heads Wazobia TV, which is the only Nigerian channel to broadcast exclusively in pidgin English. Tatiana is married with three children. I was born in London, in the UK, but was conceived and raised in Nigeria. My great grandfather, Michael Lelias, left Lebanon in on his way to Brazil. The boat stopped by Nigeria before heading to Brazil. Back then I think it was fashionable to go to Brazil. The story goes that he did not have enough money to make the trip to Brazil, so he basically stopped in Nigeria and made it home.
He worked for many years as a cattle trader. Then he went back to Lebanon, got married and brought back his wife. My mother grew up here when she was a child as well, left for secondary school and then came back. In Nigeria there is a code that says all media owners must be Nigerian.
We are Nigerian, meaning my parents are Nigerian, my sister and I are Nigerian. My brother-in-law is Nigerian โ he was born and raised in Kano, a city in the north of the country.
We feel very much Nigerian. However, the colour of our skin is very different. When we launched Wazobia FM, in , and it was in pidgin English, no presenter out there wanted to audition to be a pidgin English presenter, because it was not done in Nigeria. We used cleaners and cooks from our cafe, Chocolat Royal. We still have some of the cleaners that have grown with the station.
