Meet Nigerian man who became a woman after surgery

Another Nigerian who was born as a man, Habeeb Babatunde Lawal, has joined the likes of Miss SaHhara and Stephanie Rose, two of the most popular transgenders, by undergoing a surgery to become a woman.


Lawal who was a top entertainment journalist in Nigeria before travelling to the United States of America for further studies, now goes by name Noni Salma Lawal after his successful surgery.

Lawal, a graduate of the University of Lagos, with Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Arts, studied Film Making at the New York Film Academy, New York, where he went under the knife to become a lady.

This is a short biography of her culled from her IMBd account:
"Noni Salma Lawal is a transgender film-maker, writer and avid film enthusiast whose passion and interest in film was inspired by her growing up experiences in the ever colorful city that is Lagos.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Lagos, Nigeria and majored in Theatre Arts. She subsequently studied Film making at the New York Film Academy, New York majoring in Directing and Obtaining a Diploma from it.

Noni won the Treasure Coast International Film Festival '1st Place Student Film Competition' Award for her NYFA thesis 'Morning after mid-night' and has gone on to produce and direct the riveting short documentary 'Veil Of Silence' which premiered at the BFI Flare London LGBT Film Festival in London, United Kingdom in March 2014 and subsequently screened in several film festivals including Queer Screen Film Festival, CineHomo film festival, Valladoid, Spain in April 2015, where it won the 2nd place, Best short documentary as valorated by the audience."

"Veil Of Silence has also screened in the United Nations, , Egale Canada, Foreign office in Germany amongst others.

Her new thriller short 'Alibi' just won 'Best Crime Mystery' at the Manhattan film festival 2016."