MEET NIGERIAN'S FIRST TRANS-SEXUAL STEPHANIE ROSE FORMALLY KNOWN AS DAPO

Remember Dapo, who made history as the first Ni­gerian to transform from male to female, she recently released her latest photographs looking completely fair in complexion. He was a law student at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State until he was expelled in 2001 from the school due to an identity crisis.

After the sad experience, he relocated to Netherlands as Dapo and later underwent surgery to change his gender from male to female. Before he left the country, Dapo granted an interview in which he spoke extensively about his life as a trans-sexu­al, how he is a woman trapped in a man’s body and his ordeal as a student of O.A.U.


He was quoted to have said the follow­ing: “I was studying Law at the Obafemi Awolowo University, (OAU), Ife. I am of the 1995 set, but I had to leave school in 2001 because of pressures. People were too harsh on me; they did not understand me at all.

When I was in school, the school au­thorities got to know that I slept with my fellow male students. There was also an incident when I had to be admitted in the hospital. I was bleeding from the anus and I had bad pile arising from sexual inter­course.

“When the school got to know the kind of person I was, they sent me to meet a Guidance Counselor, Professor Roger Ma­kanjuola, who was the Vice Chancellor, who took care of me. You know he is a re­nowned Psychiatrist. He handled all issues relating to psychiatry with me.

He said I was okay and that nothing was wrong with my preferences, sexual-wise. He said it was just because I lived in an environment that did not tolerate that kind of behavior.

He recommended that I should meet another Guidance Counselor but I did not follow up. Even at that, there seems to be very little assistance one can get medically in Nigeria.

“After a time, I tried going back to school but they told me I have stayed too long away from the system. I applied to change over to University of Lagos (UNI­LAG) and OAU authorities promised to assist with my transcripts, but they did not send it early, that was how I lost the chance of changing to UNILAG. I eventu­ally dropped out of school.”

In the report, he claimed that he started having sex at the age of six, adding that his parents failed to caution him when he was behaving as a girl at a tender age. “I know this will shock you, but I started having sex at the age of six. I had this cousin of mine who used to bring his friend to our house. He was the first to make love to me.

“Since I was small, I realized that I had this feeling that I was a woman. I used to paint myself up and wear girls’ clothes. Nobody stopped or cautioned me. My mother later died when I was 11 years old. My father has other wives and no one par­ticularly bothered about me. I am the last child of my mother, she had four of us,” Dapo reportedly said.

On his relationship with men, Dapo ex­pressed his intention to leave the country and go to where he can find real love. In the report, he lamented that the men whom he had an affair with in Nigeria, were only in­terested in sex and do not want to identify with him.

“I told you I started having sex at the age of six, but no one in my family no­ticed the problem until I was 14 years old. My father is a Professor of Education. My mother was also a Professor in the same discipline. When my dad got to know, I think he was among the people who made Professor Makanjuola to examine me.

“The truth is that I had gone too far, and I don’t want to talk about my family in this issue.

I have slept with a lot of people, but my problem is that they were not faithful to me.

They were not committed; we just have sex and they go away. I wish to have a committed partner that is why I have been trying to get a real lover, one that will care about me.

In the alternative, I will like to relocate abroad where my kind exist.

In the University, I had several lovers but they were not serious. I have several men that I sleep with, I won’t mention their names. They cut across the low and highly placed, just let’s leave it at that. What I want is a committed partner. If I had a choice between getting cured and go­ing for a surgery that will change my sex to a woman, I will prefer becoming a full woman.

“I am already a trans-sexual, the differ­ence between me and other homosexuals are that while they just have the preference for sleeping with fellow men, I feel that I am a woman; I feel that someone should be making love to me the way men do to women. Since I started having sex, I am usually the female, the dormant partner. But do you know that right now, I need two things; a lover that is committed to me or help me to relocate out of this country,” he reportedly said.

His dreams, however, became a reality years later when Dapo found his way to Europe where he underwent a plastic sur­gery that transformed him into a complete woman.