As she continued to preserve through her challenges, the right side of the scholar's face was paralyzed due to the shingles and she lost her voice.

Despite the many hurdles, she viewed her inability to speak as symbolism for working toward amplifying the voices of Igbo women through her dissertation.

“The day the Nigeria-Biafra War ended, I, like everyone was wallowing in anxiety and fear about what would happen to us as the vanquished," Didigu recalled.

"A very optimistic gentleman came over to me and asked: ‘Why are you so sad; can’t you see you have survived this terrible war?’