Pearlena Igbokwe, nwanne anyị nwaanyị, our sister, named head of Universal Television

When your Igbo sister makes you so proud that you just have to hail her in her mother tongue, that’s how Pearlena Igbokwe did us this Monday afternoon. Made us wanna break out the kola nut and bottle of hot and shout “Igbo kwenu!”

The brilliant, fearless and hard working visionary was named the president of Universal Television, the production branch of the NBC television network in America.

On Friday, the president of NBC Entertainment made this announcement: “Pearlena’s remarkable track record in drama programming at NBC over the last few years made it clear that she was the ideal choice to lead the studio into its next phase of growth,” said Jennifer Salke. “Her leadership, vision and taste have resulted in an impressive string of drama successes – from The Blacklist, Blindspot, Chicago Med, Shades of Blue and the upcoming series This Is Us,Timeless and Taken—that coincides with our return to a top position among networks.”

Shadow and Act reports that Igbokwe came to NBC Entertainment four years ago as executive vice president of drama development. Before that, she had spent 20 years at Showtime Networks, beginning with television movies and then moving into drama development, where she worked on classics such as Dexter and Nurse Jackie.

Pearlena Igbokwe is a graduate of Yale and Columbia Business School and is yet further proof that when we slay, we slay. Congratulations to Ms Igbokwe and every other Nigerian who make us proud to hold that green passport!

Igbo kwenu! Heee!