What can i compare you to?
A mother in whose arms I feel, "the world is my oyster"
...Countless opportunities and real impact for those who dared take the first step
A happy childhood full of hopes and dreams
...I pledged to Nigeria my country to be faithful, loyal & honest
A burnt house with ashes left behind to remember what once was
...Poverty-stricken masses who numb the sickenly rich into further greed
A fallen king whose castle was once alight with laughter and dancing
...An oppressed populace who has forgotten its founding values
A false start at the sound of the gun
...Is this what democracy brings?
49...Glory lost, history forgotten, future hangs in the balance.
Who will rewrite the sixth decade?
Take it from me...
*************
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! Thanks to the Weepies for the title quote and a joint thank you to them and Shakespeare for the "what can i compare thee to" muse.
Showing posts with label Change the world. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Change the world. Show all posts
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Opportunities...The TED Fellows Program
A friend recommended this (Thanks Yemi!) as a worthwhile program to apply to. The TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conferences bring together some of the most remarkable change-makers in the world on a 4-day journey of knowledge/idea exchange. Attendance at TED is by invitation only, but this fellowship program provides the opportunity to attend multiple conferences (all-expense paid) and be part of the TED community, and, with its help, amplify the impact of your own personal projects and activities. Read on...
Unexpected connections. Extraordinary insights. Powerful inspiration.
The TED Fellows program is designed to bring together young world-changers and trailblazers who have shown unusual accomplishment and exceptional courage. The program targets individuals from the Asia/Pacific region, Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Middle East, though anyone from anywhere in the world, age 18 and over, is welcome to apply.
Benefits to Fellows
Attendance to one TED or TEDGlobal Conference with all expenses paid (conference, travel, room and board)
Participation in Fellows pre-conference activities
Private social networking on TED.com
Potential to speak on the TED Fellows or TED University stage
Potential to have that talk posted on TED.com
Responsibilities of Fellows
Full attendance and participation at the Conference
Submission of a post-conference report
Regular posting on the TED Fellows Blog
Additional benefits to Senior Fellows
Attendance to five additional TED and TEDGlobal Conferences with all expenses paid (travel, room and board)
Participation in five additional Senior Fellows-centered pre-conference activities
Potential to deliver a full-length talk on the main stage
Potential to have that TEDTalk posted online
Additional responsibilities of Senior Fellows
Full attendance and participation at five additional TED or TEDGlobal Conferences over three years
Submission of a post-conference report after each conference
Regular posting on the TED Fellows Blog
Hosting annual TEDTalks viewing parties for 50-100 people
Giving a talk on the TED Fellows, TED University or main TED stage
How it works: four steps
1. Candidates apply to attend one conference in either Long Beach or Oxford. Individuals can apply directly or be nominated by others. We'll also directly recruit potential Fellows and invite them to apply. Applications for TEDGlobal 2009 will open February 23, 2009. Email fellows@ted.com to be reminded when applications open. Please include your name, title, organization, email address, and country.
2. We'll choose 25 people to attend each conference as Fellows (50 per year).
3. In 2010, after the 2009 conferences, we'll choose 20 from 50 of the previous year's participants for the three-year TED Senior Fellows Program, bringing them to five additional conferences (for a total of six).
4. We'll recruit 50 new Fellows each year, resulting in 20 Senior Fellows each following year. By 2012, we'll have 50 TED Fellows annually (split between Long Beach and Oxford) and 60 concurrent Senior Fellows.
Unexpected connections. Extraordinary insights. Powerful inspiration.
The TED Fellows program is designed to bring together young world-changers and trailblazers who have shown unusual accomplishment and exceptional courage. The program targets individuals from the Asia/Pacific region, Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Middle East, though anyone from anywhere in the world, age 18 and over, is welcome to apply.
Benefits to Fellows
Attendance to one TED or TEDGlobal Conference with all expenses paid (conference, travel, room and board)
Participation in Fellows pre-conference activities
Private social networking on TED.com
Potential to speak on the TED Fellows or TED University stage
Potential to have that talk posted on TED.com
Responsibilities of Fellows
Full attendance and participation at the Conference
Submission of a post-conference report
Regular posting on the TED Fellows Blog
Additional benefits to Senior Fellows
Attendance to five additional TED and TEDGlobal Conferences with all expenses paid (travel, room and board)
Participation in five additional Senior Fellows-centered pre-conference activities
Potential to deliver a full-length talk on the main stage
Potential to have that TEDTalk posted online
Additional responsibilities of Senior Fellows
Full attendance and participation at five additional TED or TEDGlobal Conferences over three years
Submission of a post-conference report after each conference
Regular posting on the TED Fellows Blog
Hosting annual TEDTalks viewing parties for 50-100 people
Giving a talk on the TED Fellows, TED University or main TED stage
How it works: four steps
1. Candidates apply to attend one conference in either Long Beach or Oxford. Individuals can apply directly or be nominated by others. We'll also directly recruit potential Fellows and invite them to apply. Applications for TEDGlobal 2009 will open February 23, 2009. Email fellows@ted.com to be reminded when applications open. Please include your name, title, organization, email address, and country.
2. We'll choose 25 people to attend each conference as Fellows (50 per year).
3. In 2010, after the 2009 conferences, we'll choose 20 from 50 of the previous year's participants for the three-year TED Senior Fellows Program, bringing them to five additional conferences (for a total of six).
4. We'll recruit 50 new Fellows each year, resulting in 20 Senior Fellows each following year. By 2012, we'll have 50 TED Fellows annually (split between Long Beach and Oxford) and 60 concurrent Senior Fellows.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
SaharaReporters - Report Yourself
Meant to put this up last week but....
In any case, do check out Saharareporters when you get a chance. Some have argued that it's just another seedy tabloid (online) newspaper - "if you believe what's on there you'll believe anything"; But in most cases, "where there's smoke, there's fire". The sorts of sensational news stories it reports (courtesy of everyday non-journalists who are privy to the lavish corruption and sordid activities within the corridors of the government) are a reflection of the level of ludicrousness our country has sunk to. As Sonala puts it in this Guardian article: "It is journalism that may be too important to be left to journalists."
(Oh, and while you're on there, be sure to read: "Chronicles of a Starving Cleaner" by Okey Ndibe)
---------------------
Our SaharaReporters - Sonola Olumhense
IF you are a Nigerian, and literate, but have never heard of Sahara Reporters or been to its website, something must be seriously wrong. I suggest you rectify that situation today.
SaharaReporters.com is the place to visit if you really want to understand where Nigeria has been, or what it is doing. It is journalism that may be too important to be left to journalists. It is, I suspect, the address that corrupt Nigerian politicians and their privileged criminal brethren detest the most on earth. SaharaReporters is the face of Citizen Journalism.
As a journalist, I believe that the industry thrives on the assumption that it will report society thoroughly and painstakingly. That is not always-or often-the case. Sometimes, journalism is about convenience: speeches and development about which the headlines are bigger than the substance, press conferences or statements.
In other words, not much. After all, while speeches on the floor of the legislature or at a conference may be very important and ought to be reported, publishing their highlights is not really reporting. Speeches often say nothing about the speaker, whose very actions may actually be in contradiction with his public claims.
That is why the most important challenge in journalism is to go beyond and behind the spoken or public word. That is the province of investigative or forensic journalism, because true reporting is about action. In Nigeria, this often poses tremendous difficulty for the mainstream press which may opt for a comfortable compromise.
A comfortable compromise is reporting a murder as committed by someone other than you. However, while it takes courage to report a murder or a theft; the paradox is that the more "important" the murderer or the thief, the more courage it takes to put that story on the front page.
But remember what Aesop once said: "We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." The man was Greek, but he must have been speaking about Nigeria. While our great thieves have brought the nation to its knees, they are not necessarily in hiding or in jail. The trouble is that when you read the mainstream press, you may not get that impression.
What SaharaReporters has done is to take this task on, and to empower the ordinary Nigerian to report his country. Indeed, the motto of SaharaReporters is: "Report Yourself".
It has provided an opportunity for Nigerian citizens with access to valuable information about Nigeria's leaders and their lifestyle to make a contribution to our understanding of those leaders that the mainstream press and their ownership may be uncomfortable with. In my view, then, SaharaReporters is Nigeria telling the truth to Nigeria. It is journalism by the people for the people.
How has this happened? In the past two decades, some amazing technologies have appeared that are capable of making journalism more cogent, urgent and powerful. These are tools that aid and ease investigation as well as rapid transmission, tools of effective and widespread broadcast or circulation, tools that make it possible for journalism to be more, and do more.
Of these tools has SaharaReporters taken advantage to give journalism in our country a boost, and challenge the mainstream press. With particular focus on corruption, SaharaReporters often sheds some incredible light on the track record of powerful Nigerians that most of us only whisper about in our bedrooms.
A quick search of the website reveals an assortment of such powerful Nigerians, what they have stolen, who their accomplices are, and where the bodies and booty are buried. There is published proof of fake higher degrees and titles being peddled by top Nigerians. There are stories of scam and vice by Nigerians in high office.
I do not know how SaharaReporters operates. But for an outfit that reportedly has such a small staff, it does seem to have the help of Nigerians who keep it persistently supplied with information and materiel.
I know that SaharaReporters has been called names. It is difficult to imagine any of those people about whom it has published unflattering accounts being happy. Strangely though, hardly anyone writes rebuttals to its stories, let alone sues them for inaccurate portrayals. What invariably seems to happen is the old Nigerian ploy of trying to ignore a story in the hope that it will blow over.
Not likely. Through the efforts of SaharaReporters, the nature of the Olusegun Obasanjo administration was made even plainer to the world. SaharaReporters is also monitoring the Umaru Yar'Adua government with an equally critical reporting and analytic eye.
The strength of SaharaReporters is obviously its high principles. Its advocacy is in its unwavering sense of right and wrong, not on the basis of any friends or permanent enemies. In the chaos that is Nigeria, an advocate is often bought off. That is not usually a difficult task, given the vast riches in the hands of many big thieves, and the false advocate soon disappears in his new riches.
SaharaReporters, on the contrary, has stuck to its mission of reporting with determination and courage, particularly in terrain that others avoid. Hopefully, the mainstream media will take advantage of the doors that the website often opens-including breaking stories--rather than dismissing them or considering the site a competitor.
In any case, an enterprise of this nature is never without cost, as patriotism does not pay the bills. Without a committed support base, SaharaReporters is certain to run into problems. Appealing for assistance, in this regard, a link on the site says:
"...We want to remain true to our dream of providing average readers with the tools that can help them make informed decisions about how their nations are run in the Sub-saharan African region..." it says, pledging to "remain the authentic, independent, and investigative citizen reporters who unearth what has remained hidden from the public eye..."
Hopefully, Nigerians who appreciate the patriotic work of SaharaReporters and recognize what is at stake will offer practical support. The future cannot be without cost. Report for duty. Report yourself.
sonala.olumhense@gmail.com
In any case, do check out Saharareporters when you get a chance. Some have argued that it's just another seedy tabloid (online) newspaper - "if you believe what's on there you'll believe anything"; But in most cases, "where there's smoke, there's fire". The sorts of sensational news stories it reports (courtesy of everyday non-journalists who are privy to the lavish corruption and sordid activities within the corridors of the government) are a reflection of the level of ludicrousness our country has sunk to. As Sonala puts it in this Guardian article: "It is journalism that may be too important to be left to journalists."
(Oh, and while you're on there, be sure to read: "Chronicles of a Starving Cleaner" by Okey Ndibe)
---------------------
Our SaharaReporters - Sonola Olumhense
IF you are a Nigerian, and literate, but have never heard of Sahara Reporters or been to its website, something must be seriously wrong. I suggest you rectify that situation today.
SaharaReporters.com is the place to visit if you really want to understand where Nigeria has been, or what it is doing. It is journalism that may be too important to be left to journalists. It is, I suspect, the address that corrupt Nigerian politicians and their privileged criminal brethren detest the most on earth. SaharaReporters is the face of Citizen Journalism. As a journalist, I believe that the industry thrives on the assumption that it will report society thoroughly and painstakingly. That is not always-or often-the case. Sometimes, journalism is about convenience: speeches and development about which the headlines are bigger than the substance, press conferences or statements.
In other words, not much. After all, while speeches on the floor of the legislature or at a conference may be very important and ought to be reported, publishing their highlights is not really reporting. Speeches often say nothing about the speaker, whose very actions may actually be in contradiction with his public claims.
That is why the most important challenge in journalism is to go beyond and behind the spoken or public word. That is the province of investigative or forensic journalism, because true reporting is about action. In Nigeria, this often poses tremendous difficulty for the mainstream press which may opt for a comfortable compromise.
A comfortable compromise is reporting a murder as committed by someone other than you. However, while it takes courage to report a murder or a theft; the paradox is that the more "important" the murderer or the thief, the more courage it takes to put that story on the front page.
But remember what Aesop once said: "We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." The man was Greek, but he must have been speaking about Nigeria. While our great thieves have brought the nation to its knees, they are not necessarily in hiding or in jail. The trouble is that when you read the mainstream press, you may not get that impression.
What SaharaReporters has done is to take this task on, and to empower the ordinary Nigerian to report his country. Indeed, the motto of SaharaReporters is: "Report Yourself".
It has provided an opportunity for Nigerian citizens with access to valuable information about Nigeria's leaders and their lifestyle to make a contribution to our understanding of those leaders that the mainstream press and their ownership may be uncomfortable with. In my view, then, SaharaReporters is Nigeria telling the truth to Nigeria. It is journalism by the people for the people.
How has this happened? In the past two decades, some amazing technologies have appeared that are capable of making journalism more cogent, urgent and powerful. These are tools that aid and ease investigation as well as rapid transmission, tools of effective and widespread broadcast or circulation, tools that make it possible for journalism to be more, and do more.
Of these tools has SaharaReporters taken advantage to give journalism in our country a boost, and challenge the mainstream press. With particular focus on corruption, SaharaReporters often sheds some incredible light on the track record of powerful Nigerians that most of us only whisper about in our bedrooms.
A quick search of the website reveals an assortment of such powerful Nigerians, what they have stolen, who their accomplices are, and where the bodies and booty are buried. There is published proof of fake higher degrees and titles being peddled by top Nigerians. There are stories of scam and vice by Nigerians in high office.
I do not know how SaharaReporters operates. But for an outfit that reportedly has such a small staff, it does seem to have the help of Nigerians who keep it persistently supplied with information and materiel.
I know that SaharaReporters has been called names. It is difficult to imagine any of those people about whom it has published unflattering accounts being happy. Strangely though, hardly anyone writes rebuttals to its stories, let alone sues them for inaccurate portrayals. What invariably seems to happen is the old Nigerian ploy of trying to ignore a story in the hope that it will blow over.
Not likely. Through the efforts of SaharaReporters, the nature of the Olusegun Obasanjo administration was made even plainer to the world. SaharaReporters is also monitoring the Umaru Yar'Adua government with an equally critical reporting and analytic eye.
The strength of SaharaReporters is obviously its high principles. Its advocacy is in its unwavering sense of right and wrong, not on the basis of any friends or permanent enemies. In the chaos that is Nigeria, an advocate is often bought off. That is not usually a difficult task, given the vast riches in the hands of many big thieves, and the false advocate soon disappears in his new riches.
SaharaReporters, on the contrary, has stuck to its mission of reporting with determination and courage, particularly in terrain that others avoid. Hopefully, the mainstream media will take advantage of the doors that the website often opens-including breaking stories--rather than dismissing them or considering the site a competitor.
In any case, an enterprise of this nature is never without cost, as patriotism does not pay the bills. Without a committed support base, SaharaReporters is certain to run into problems. Appealing for assistance, in this regard, a link on the site says:
"...We want to remain true to our dream of providing average readers with the tools that can help them make informed decisions about how their nations are run in the Sub-saharan African region..." it says, pledging to "remain the authentic, independent, and investigative citizen reporters who unearth what has remained hidden from the public eye..."
Hopefully, Nigerians who appreciate the patriotic work of SaharaReporters and recognize what is at stake will offer practical support. The future cannot be without cost. Report for duty. Report yourself.
sonala.olumhense@gmail.com
Sunday, July 27, 2008
WITH LOVE
The response below is from yet another friend of tAB, Bimbo, who is part of remarkable initiative trying to change the circumstances of underprivileged children in Nigeria for the better...one step at a time. With Love From Friends (WLFF) is a not-for-profit organisation founded by some six friends who came together to make a positive contribution to the advancement of quality education in Africa. WLFF aims to assist charities and community school projects in Nigeria to raise funds, improve infrastructure and provide basic resources. Do stop by their blog, and if you're in the city of London this upcoming weekend, come out to learn more about this inspirational group of friends 'becoming the change they want to see' (as well as enjoy a 90s soul night out of course!)
********************
BUT, BUT WHY MUMMY? - Bimbo Taiwo
Reading Okechukwu Ofili's 'Please Spare The Rod' piece really resonated with me. I think we are all familiar with the 'treat the child harshly' temperament that most Nigerian parents subscribe to. Slaps, flogging, abuses and curses are rained on children by their own parents and not just when a child has been bad, sometimes just because.
No really, WHY???
I put it down mostly to the daily frustrations of living. Allow me to demonstrate...
Parent returns home from work:
Business was bad today, what do you do - Give that child a hot slap!
THE RESULT: A nation of cold, angry, frustrated parents and children(no thanks to the former). Its a cycle that ensures no one goes untouched and psychology will tell us that if it was done to us we are likely to flog/curse/hit our children too.
What about a kiss and some cuddle time for the children when a Nigerian parent gets back from work, yes even for the older ones - i've never heard of it! I dont even think I had heard of the custom of Parent/Children hugs till I really clued into cable tv where it seemed to be freely given at any and every opportunity.
How many times have you watched a film where the child runs away/does something really stupid and dangerous; the scene where the Parents are reconciled with their child never ceases to frustrate me. The parents run up to their child, hug her, ask if shes okay, throw in a 'you really scared us you know' line in a pukey patronising tone, more cuddles, more kisses - WHAT?
The world and the way it works is cold and frustrating enough without us having to relate to others that way too.
With Love,
-----------
On this project, we are partnering with African Child Development Initiative (ACDI), a charitable organization with a vision to promote lasting improvements in the lives of local underprivileged children. Like us, they also believe education is the key to empowering poor communities in the longer term. One of their current projects is the rehabilitation of Premier Foundation Primary school, an extremely ill-eqiupped primary school in Makoko, a slum lagoon in the densely populated Nigerian city of Lagos. Check out the site for details on this and other projects:
EVENTS: We have two major events this year... a fundraiser (summer) and a benefit evening (autumn). More info on the summer event below.
In the meantime, in order to keep updated please register to become a friend on the site and we will send you details of our upcoming events.
WLFF would like to invite you to come and have a fabulous nite at the..
"With Love From Friends" (WLFF) Official Launch Event!!
Attractions on the nite include:
FABULOUS venue in the heart of the city of London
Great Soul and 90's r'n'b music
Caricaturist
Games room dedicated to games of snooker.
All the chocs and sweets you can eat.
Enter into the Raffle on the night to get in with a chance to win:
Free tickets to the Ball at the Millenium Hotel Gloucester Road 4th October.
and lots more..
********************
BUT, BUT WHY MUMMY? - Bimbo Taiwo
Reading Okechukwu Ofili's 'Please Spare The Rod' piece really resonated with me. I think we are all familiar with the 'treat the child harshly' temperament that most Nigerian parents subscribe to. Slaps, flogging, abuses and curses are rained on children by their own parents and not just when a child has been bad, sometimes just because.
No really, WHY???
I put it down mostly to the daily frustrations of living. Allow me to demonstrate...
Parent returns home from work:
Business was bad today, what do you do - Give that child a hot slap!
NEPA has been terrible, you've been sat in the dark for a few hours now and already spent a gross mount on diesel this week, what do you do - Give that child a flogging!
Your mother-in-law has been irritating you, talking behind your back to the rest of your husband's family, what do you do - Give that child a never ending round of torture with words!
THE RESULT: A nation of cold, angry, frustrated parents and children(no thanks to the former). Its a cycle that ensures no one goes untouched and psychology will tell us that if it was done to us we are likely to flog/curse/hit our children too.
What about a kiss and some cuddle time for the children when a Nigerian parent gets back from work, yes even for the older ones - i've never heard of it! I dont even think I had heard of the custom of Parent/Children hugs till I really clued into cable tv where it seemed to be freely given at any and every opportunity.
How many times have you watched a film where the child runs away/does something really stupid and dangerous; the scene where the Parents are reconciled with their child never ceases to frustrate me. The parents run up to their child, hug her, ask if shes okay, throw in a 'you really scared us you know' line in a pukey patronising tone, more cuddles, more kisses - WHAT?
I can't count how many times I've screamed in my head (& admittedly at the TV) - somebody give that child.. a hot slap, a round of flogging, some real punishment, anybody!!!
Ahh..The feeling of (the African upbringing is the best) smugness only subsides when i'm with an apparently married/loving Nigerian couple and the closest they get to physical contact ever, in the presence of company is one putting the house keys in the others pocket. It seems even when we Nigerians do want to be loving and expressive and caring to the people we love we just can't. Is it the cycle, a curse, the psychologist's theory all over again? Then I start thinking.. well maybe those hugs are not such a bad idea.
The world and the way it works is cold and frustrating enough without us having to relate to others that way too.
With Love,
Bimbo
WLFF
-----------
Project this year: CHILDREN OF IWAYA PROJECT - BOOK FUND
On this project, we are partnering with African Child Development Initiative (ACDI), a charitable organization with a vision to promote lasting improvements in the lives of local underprivileged children. Like us, they also believe education is the key to empowering poor communities in the longer term. One of their current projects is the rehabilitation of Premier Foundation Primary school, an extremely ill-eqiupped primary school in Makoko, a slum lagoon in the densely populated Nigerian city of Lagos. Check out the site for details on this and other projects:
EVENTS: We have two major events this year... a fundraiser (summer) and a benefit evening (autumn). More info on the summer event below.
In the meantime, in order to keep updated please register to become a friend on the site and we will send you details of our upcoming events.
WLFF would like to invite you to come and have a fabulous nite at the..
"With Love From Friends" (WLFF) Official Launch Event!!
Attractions on the nite include:
FABULOUS venue in the heart of the city of London
Great Soul and 90's r'n'b music
Caricaturist
Games room dedicated to games of snooker.
All the chocs and sweets you can eat.
Enter into the Raffle on the night to get in with a chance to win:
Free tickets to the Ball at the Millenium Hotel Gloucester Road 4th October.
and lots more..
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
The Afro Beat Remembers
Today marks the 9th Year of "Democracy" in Nigeria and a full year of the Yar'Adua administration. Thanks to encouragement from bloggers like Nigerian Curiosity, constantly thinking of creative ways to unite Nigerian (African) bloggers on common issues that make us tick, I'm dedicating this post to the memory of the initial advent of democracy (independence) and my hope for Nigeria in the next 50 years.
PART 1: Reflections of a Tired yet Optimistic Mother on the BUILDING of Nigeria - Independence.
(This part was cut abruptly short as my mother typed away on her email and NEPA struck before she could save the later part of this write-up...how apt! Thanks Mum!)
--------------
My memory of 1st October 1960 is an easily recalled part of my memory.
Days leading to it were like expectations of a great party. I was 7 years old and in primary 3. There was clearing up of the school grounds and rehearsals for the ‘march’. We were to be on our best behaviour and wear our best uniforms for the Independence Day celebrations.
At home, at my mother’s beer parlour where men gathered most evenings, there were loud arguments about the handing over of government. Not that I understood the discussions but their loudness and laughter, (especially as the men got more alcohol in their systems) signaled the coming of a great event. I thought independence would be one long celebration.
We lived in a small village divided in two by the Ogun River in the old Western state . It was a small village and while the men on one side were mostly farmers, those on the other side were fishermen. I did not know much about the villagers other than that some of their children were my school mates. There was however government presence in the village- the Boys’ approved School (a reformatory) of which my father was the Principal during this period. So there was also a lot of preparations as the boys prepared for the “march past” for the celebrations and visitors to the school which had a white lady as head visitor.
On that day, all pupils received branded cups, plates and the green white green flag which to us was the symbol of our independence. The flag was hoisted that day and we religiously sang to it everyday from then on. It was usual to see it proudly displayed in peoples’ parlours. There was feasting at school, at the town hall and everywhere.
In those early days, we marched round the village once a week to spread the message of free education for all by Awolowo and encourage the villagers to allow their children come to school before they joined them on the farms in the afternoon.
I bet the current state of the nation is a nightmare for the men and women of the 60s. At Independence they had a dream of a great Nigeria: now that is a dream deferred.
If we take a cue from the developments in Lagos State in the past year. I believe the good old days will return but at a price...ARE WE SET TO PAY?
--------
Part 2: Hope for the Future
In addition to a Nigeria with all the "basics" of a developed country (civil peace, quality education, functional healthcare system, social security, state-of-the-art infrastructure, environment that spurs entrepreneurship and innovation), my hope for Nigeria in 2058 is for a Nigeria that celebrates its internal differences but stands united in the pursuit of a Nigerian dream - be it "Pursuit of Happiness", "Liberty & Justice for All", "Equality & Fraternity". Beyond the semantics, today, as a nation, we need something to inspire us, something (a sort of call to arms/ action) that can rally Nigerians from around the world, from the grassroots up, to think beyond themselves and begin the task of actually RENOVATING this nation.
What is that common thing that makes us tick/ jump into action? I would say Injustice Against the Helpless, but we as a people have become jaded by our leaders' "misactions" in that department, I'm not too sure that still holds.
Hope for our Children's Future? Traditionally, Africans worked to enable their children's prosperity, so as to ensure theirs in old age. And for those who weren't wealthy in monetary terms, they would work hard to bequeath an honourable name their children could at least be proud of. Though this varies from ethnic group to ethnic group, I believe that this is still something that most Africans still value, though the "honourable name" part has been supplanted by the quest for material wealth - a new sort of "Get rich or die trying" mentality reigns today.
True, with the growing wave of emmigration from Nigeria, many of our children will have some place else to call home, but will it ever really be 100% their true home? Perhaps. However, they deserve more. They deserve a choice. A choice to call Nigeria home. If for the sake of our children alone, Nigerians can come together to begin to work towards RENOVATING our nation, together with our leaders, then I think we stand a chance. If not, tAB will be commemmorating Democracy Day in 2058 with a similar post, as though none of this ever really was.
What's your hope/vision for Nigeria in 2058? What legacy do you want Nigeria to be for your children? Happy Democracy Day!
PART 1: Reflections of a Tired yet Optimistic Mother on the BUILDING of Nigeria - Independence.
(This part was cut abruptly short as my mother typed away on her email and NEPA struck before she could save the later part of this write-up...how apt! Thanks Mum!)
--------------
My memory of 1st October 1960 is an easily recalled part of my memory.
Days leading to it were like expectations of a great party. I was 7 years old and in primary 3. There was clearing up of the school grounds and rehearsals for the ‘march’. We were to be on our best behaviour and wear our best uniforms for the Independence Day celebrations.
At home, at my mother’s beer parlour where men gathered most evenings, there were loud arguments about the handing over of government. Not that I understood the discussions but their loudness and laughter, (especially as the men got more alcohol in their systems) signaled the coming of a great event. I thought independence would be one long celebration.
We lived in a small village divided in two by the Ogun River in the old Western state . It was a small village and while the men on one side were mostly farmers, those on the other side were fishermen. I did not know much about the villagers other than that some of their children were my school mates. There was however government presence in the village- the Boys’ approved School (a reformatory) of which my father was the Principal during this period. So there was also a lot of preparations as the boys prepared for the “march past” for the celebrations and visitors to the school which had a white lady as head visitor.
On that day, all pupils received branded cups, plates and the green white green flag which to us was the symbol of our independence. The flag was hoisted that day and we religiously sang to it everyday from then on. It was usual to see it proudly displayed in peoples’ parlours. There was feasting at school, at the town hall and everywhere.
In those early days, we marched round the village once a week to spread the message of free education for all by Awolowo and encourage the villagers to allow their children come to school before they joined them on the farms in the afternoon.
I bet the current state of the nation is a nightmare for the men and women of the 60s. At Independence they had a dream of a great Nigeria: now that is a dream deferred.
If we take a cue from the developments in Lagos State in the past year. I believe the good old days will return but at a price...ARE WE SET TO PAY?
--------
Part 2: Hope for the Future
In addition to a Nigeria with all the "basics" of a developed country (civil peace, quality education, functional healthcare system, social security, state-of-the-art infrastructure, environment that spurs entrepreneurship and innovation), my hope for Nigeria in 2058 is for a Nigeria that celebrates its internal differences but stands united in the pursuit of a Nigerian dream - be it "Pursuit of Happiness", "Liberty & Justice for All", "Equality & Fraternity". Beyond the semantics, today, as a nation, we need something to inspire us, something (a sort of call to arms/ action) that can rally Nigerians from around the world, from the grassroots up, to think beyond themselves and begin the task of actually RENOVATING this nation.
What is that common thing that makes us tick/ jump into action? I would say Injustice Against the Helpless, but we as a people have become jaded by our leaders' "misactions" in that department, I'm not too sure that still holds.
Hope for our Children's Future? Traditionally, Africans worked to enable their children's prosperity, so as to ensure theirs in old age. And for those who weren't wealthy in monetary terms, they would work hard to bequeath an honourable name their children could at least be proud of. Though this varies from ethnic group to ethnic group, I believe that this is still something that most Africans still value, though the "honourable name" part has been supplanted by the quest for material wealth - a new sort of "Get rich or die trying" mentality reigns today.
True, with the growing wave of emmigration from Nigeria, many of our children will have some place else to call home, but will it ever really be 100% their true home? Perhaps. However, they deserve more. They deserve a choice. A choice to call Nigeria home. If for the sake of our children alone, Nigerians can come together to begin to work towards RENOVATING our nation, together with our leaders, then I think we stand a chance. If not, tAB will be commemmorating Democracy Day in 2058 with a similar post, as though none of this ever really was.
What's your hope/vision for Nigeria in 2058? What legacy do you want Nigeria to be for your children? Happy Democracy Day!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
The Spring of Hope
Meant to do this 2 weeks ago but better late than never! In an attempt to learn more about our Nigerian heroes, we promised sometime last year to profile a local hero as often as we could. Another one of THOSE resolutions, but we shan't go there...
For as long as I can remember, Abraham Adesanya has always been one of those names uttered with the deepest respect and admiration among many Nigerians. From my early days at family gatherings, whenever Nigerian politics (and inevitably, NADECO - for my grandfather was a close friend of Awolowo's) came up, Adesanya's tiredless work in the pro-democracy struggle would surface somewhere in the discussion. I never knew much about the man to be honest, who he was and what his personal accomplishments were (besides being a major force of NADECO (national democratic coalition)).
This allAfrica.com article tries to summarize Adesanya's life in a page, but i can only imagine the hundreds of pages his biography could fill. With the likes of Pa Onasanya, Pa Rewane, Pa Dawodu (Nigerians and their "Pa's"), Chief Ige having crossed over to the other side, it feels like the end of an era, one that i was never really a part of but one I grew up in - an era of frustration yet immense hope for this so-called DEMOCRACY that everyone went on about.
["Nigeria will never be at peace without democracy", i used to hear.]
"It was the It was a time when we had principles... there was a "Nigerian Dream" - to live FREELY under a civilian government elected BY the people, FOR the people; to live to see your children have access to better opportunities than you; to pass on a good name to your children, that they could be PROUD of. I remember things were hard then, not just from an economic stance(Remember good old SAP days?), but also from a human rights point of view. But yet, there is still a sense of nostalgia when i think back to those days. May Nigerians once more (one day) feel that hunger/thirst for something more than the individual good.
As Children's Day approaches next week, think of something you can do for a child in your community. Volunteer to read at a children's hospital (Even though most countries, might not celebrate it (e.g. the US!), make a note to mark it for at least ONE child.
-----------
Pa Abraham Adesanya (1922-2008) - allAfrica.com
Senator Abraham Aderibigbe Adesanya who died the other day at the age of 85 years was truly remarkable. As an ethnic leader, he vigorously pursued, promoted and, to a recognizable degree, represented the collective yearnings and idiosyncrasies of his people - the Yoruba.
And as a nationalist, he was at the forefront of his country's quest for democracy. The latter meant, to a large extent, direct confrontation with the military which had become Nigeria's major impediment to representative governance.
For Senator Adesanya, commitment to democratic practice, justice and fairness was non-negotiable. He chose the platform upon which to nurture and watch those principles grow when he studied law at the Holborn College of Law in London and graduated in 1960. And when he returned to the country soon afterwards, in addition to legal practice, he joined the progressive brand of politics, symbolised at the time by the likes of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo. During the Second Republic, he was elected into the Senate on the ticket of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) and, until that dispensation was sacked in December 1983, served as the Senate Minority Leader.
In striking ways, the period that followed brought out the best in Pa Adesanya. The General Ibrahim Babangida era ended hurriedly and ushered the country into one of its most traumatic periods. The agitation for the actualisation of the presidential mandate given to the late Chief Moshood Abiola via the June 12, 1993 election but which was annulled led to the realignment of forces, largely under the umbrella of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO). Up to the point that democracy was restored in May 1999, the organisation was vehement and combative in the condemnation of the existing political leadership.
As, first the deputy chairman of NADECO under late Chief Adekunle Ajasin and, at Ajasin's demise, its chairman, Adesanya was in the middle of the struggle with all its precariousness. In January 1997 during the government of the late General Sani Abacha, a killer squad sprayed his car with bullets. But the brave man from Ijebu Igbo in Ogun State was unstoppable. Instead of fear, that incident further instilled in him fresh courage and a renewed resolve to fight against the forces of repression and evil.
In 1998, Adesanya was made the leader of Afenifere and, by implication, the Yoruba - in the footsteps of Awolowo and Ajasin. From that point to 2004 when he was struck with the ailment that stayed on till his death, he remained the rallying point of the socio-cultural and political life of the Yoruba. But he was more than an ethnic champion. He used his position to demand and promote the virtues of minority rights, equality, federalism and nationalism. It was his conviction about the supremacy of democratic doctrines that partly led to the formation of The Patriots - a group which seeks to defend the Fourth Republic - in conjunction with other patriotic, respected Nigerians.
So, the death of Pa Adesanya is not only a loss to the South-West but also the entire country. His tenacity and sense of purpose will surely be missed by a nation still in dire need of focused leadership.
The greatest tribute the Yoruba can pay to one of its illustrous leaders, therefore, is to mend the fences that had started cracking, notably at Adesanya's incapacitation four years ago. The various factions that now contest for the soul of the Yoruba should come together, iron out their differences and work for the unity of the region and the nation as a whole.
No doubt, Pa Adesanya also deserves the respect of the rest of the country. His attributes of humility, modesty and forthrightness should be emulated by today's leaders, for the nation to gravitate more towards national cohesion and prosperity.
-------
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only. "
- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.
For as long as I can remember, Abraham Adesanya has always been one of those names uttered with the deepest respect and admiration among many Nigerians. From my early days at family gatherings, whenever Nigerian politics (and inevitably, NADECO - for my grandfather was a close friend of Awolowo's) came up, Adesanya's tiredless work in the pro-democracy struggle would surface somewhere in the discussion. I never knew much about the man to be honest, who he was and what his personal accomplishments were (besides being a major force of NADECO (national democratic coalition)).
This allAfrica.com article tries to summarize Adesanya's life in a page, but i can only imagine the hundreds of pages his biography could fill. With the likes of Pa Onasanya, Pa Rewane, Pa Dawodu (Nigerians and their "Pa's"), Chief Ige having crossed over to the other side, it feels like the end of an era, one that i was never really a part of but one I grew up in - an era of frustration yet immense hope for this so-called DEMOCRACY that everyone went on about.
["Nigeria will never be at peace without democracy", i used to hear.]
"It was the It was a time when we had principles... there was a "Nigerian Dream" - to live FREELY under a civilian government elected BY the people, FOR the people; to live to see your children have access to better opportunities than you; to pass on a good name to your children, that they could be PROUD of. I remember things were hard then, not just from an economic stance(Remember good old SAP days?), but also from a human rights point of view. But yet, there is still a sense of nostalgia when i think back to those days. May Nigerians once more (one day) feel that hunger/thirst for something more than the individual good.
As Children's Day approaches next week, think of something you can do for a child in your community. Volunteer to read at a children's hospital (Even though most countries, might not celebrate it (e.g. the US!), make a note to mark it for at least ONE child.
-----------
Pa Abraham Adesanya (1922-2008) - allAfrica.com
Senator Abraham Aderibigbe Adesanya who died the other day at the age of 85 years was truly remarkable. As an ethnic leader, he vigorously pursued, promoted and, to a recognizable degree, represented the collective yearnings and idiosyncrasies of his people - the Yoruba.
And as a nationalist, he was at the forefront of his country's quest for democracy. The latter meant, to a large extent, direct confrontation with the military which had become Nigeria's major impediment to representative governance.
For Senator Adesanya, commitment to democratic practice, justice and fairness was non-negotiable. He chose the platform upon which to nurture and watch those principles grow when he studied law at the Holborn College of Law in London and graduated in 1960. And when he returned to the country soon afterwards, in addition to legal practice, he joined the progressive brand of politics, symbolised at the time by the likes of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo. During the Second Republic, he was elected into the Senate on the ticket of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) and, until that dispensation was sacked in December 1983, served as the Senate Minority Leader.
In striking ways, the period that followed brought out the best in Pa Adesanya. The General Ibrahim Babangida era ended hurriedly and ushered the country into one of its most traumatic periods. The agitation for the actualisation of the presidential mandate given to the late Chief Moshood Abiola via the June 12, 1993 election but which was annulled led to the realignment of forces, largely under the umbrella of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO). Up to the point that democracy was restored in May 1999, the organisation was vehement and combative in the condemnation of the existing political leadership.
As, first the deputy chairman of NADECO under late Chief Adekunle Ajasin and, at Ajasin's demise, its chairman, Adesanya was in the middle of the struggle with all its precariousness. In January 1997 during the government of the late General Sani Abacha, a killer squad sprayed his car with bullets. But the brave man from Ijebu Igbo in Ogun State was unstoppable. Instead of fear, that incident further instilled in him fresh courage and a renewed resolve to fight against the forces of repression and evil.
In 1998, Adesanya was made the leader of Afenifere and, by implication, the Yoruba - in the footsteps of Awolowo and Ajasin. From that point to 2004 when he was struck with the ailment that stayed on till his death, he remained the rallying point of the socio-cultural and political life of the Yoruba. But he was more than an ethnic champion. He used his position to demand and promote the virtues of minority rights, equality, federalism and nationalism. It was his conviction about the supremacy of democratic doctrines that partly led to the formation of The Patriots - a group which seeks to defend the Fourth Republic - in conjunction with other patriotic, respected Nigerians.
So, the death of Pa Adesanya is not only a loss to the South-West but also the entire country. His tenacity and sense of purpose will surely be missed by a nation still in dire need of focused leadership.
The greatest tribute the Yoruba can pay to one of its illustrous leaders, therefore, is to mend the fences that had started cracking, notably at Adesanya's incapacitation four years ago. The various factions that now contest for the soul of the Yoruba should come together, iron out their differences and work for the unity of the region and the nation as a whole.
No doubt, Pa Adesanya also deserves the respect of the rest of the country. His attributes of humility, modesty and forthrightness should be emulated by today's leaders, for the nation to gravitate more towards national cohesion and prosperity.
-------
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only. "
- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Bloggers Unite For Human Rights
Thanks for encouraging us to get on this, Solo!
Today the BA boycott begins! Once again, just a reminder that KLM and Lufthansa have waived the schengen transit visa requirement for passengers who have a valid visa for their final destination. Vote with your feet, wallet, mouths and whatever else you've got. Vote whichever way you want, but stand for something!
I can't call what the outcome of this boycott against BA will be, but even if a handful of Nigerians come together and actively take a stance against the illtreatment of our compatriots, then we would have achieved something.
But today, as bloggers around the world focus on Human Rights Issues, I would like to call on those passionate individuals who have answered this "call to arms" to put things in perspective. As we rally against illtreatment of paying BA customers and Nigerian deportees wherever, let us remember to rally with our brothers and sisters not too far away in Sudan, Somalia and Zimbabwe for starters. As we have screamed "foul" from the top of our lungs against "Brutish Airways", let us (ME, for starters) replenish our voice boxes to scream "NO WAY" to Mugabe's unfair call for a presidential run-off vote, "NOT ON OUR WATCH" to the humanitarian crises in Somalia and in the Sudan (particularly, Darfur), to name a few. Myanmar and China will get the airtime they deserve, but these injustices won't.
Let us remember to save some air in our lungs for those living in the Niger Delta. When do we "boycott" Shell, Mobil and Chevron? When ONE person is poisoned by toxic waste from oil company operations? Well, in that case, the boycott should have begun decades ago.
Oh, and if nothing but a short breath is saved for the "Child witches" in Akwa-Ibom, that would still make a difference.
As Nigerians test their ability to "unite against mistreatment", let's start to think of ways we can unite against murder, environmental racism, genocide, and civil war and child trafficking. Macroissues, way bigger than you and me. But we are THE largest black population in the world, so I'd say we have more than a critical mass. What's missing is the will and the "how". And I sure as heaven don't have the answers. But for today, I'll start by telling ONE MORE person about JUST ONE of these issues, and learning ONE MORE thing about a human rights violation occuring today and how JUST ONE PERSON out there CAN make a difference.
HAPPY BOYCOTTING!
Today the BA boycott begins! Once again, just a reminder that KLM and Lufthansa have waived the schengen transit visa requirement for passengers who have a valid visa for their final destination. Vote with your feet, wallet, mouths and whatever else you've got. Vote whichever way you want, but stand for something!
I can't call what the outcome of this boycott against BA will be, but even if a handful of Nigerians come together and actively take a stance against the illtreatment of our compatriots, then we would have achieved something.
But today, as bloggers around the world focus on Human Rights Issues, I would like to call on those passionate individuals who have answered this "call to arms" to put things in perspective. As we rally against illtreatment of paying BA customers and Nigerian deportees wherever, let us remember to rally with our brothers and sisters not too far away in Sudan, Somalia and Zimbabwe for starters. As we have screamed "foul" from the top of our lungs against "Brutish Airways", let us (ME, for starters) replenish our voice boxes to scream "NO WAY" to Mugabe's unfair call for a presidential run-off vote, "NOT ON OUR WATCH" to the humanitarian crises in Somalia and in the Sudan (particularly, Darfur), to name a few. Myanmar and China will get the airtime they deserve, but these injustices won't.
Let us remember to save some air in our lungs for those living in the Niger Delta. When do we "boycott" Shell, Mobil and Chevron? When ONE person is poisoned by toxic waste from oil company operations? Well, in that case, the boycott should have begun decades ago.
Oh, and if nothing but a short breath is saved for the "Child witches" in Akwa-Ibom, that would still make a difference.
As Nigerians test their ability to "unite against mistreatment", let's start to think of ways we can unite against murder, environmental racism, genocide, and civil war and child trafficking. Macroissues, way bigger than you and me. But we are THE largest black population in the world, so I'd say we have more than a critical mass. What's missing is the will and the "how". And I sure as heaven don't have the answers. But for today, I'll start by telling ONE MORE person about JUST ONE of these issues, and learning ONE MORE thing about a human rights violation occuring today and how JUST ONE PERSON out there CAN make a difference.
HAPPY BOYCOTTING!
Friday, May 2, 2008
VOTE WITH YOUR FEET
I agree that it's almost always fruitless to collectively act without an end in mind (in the case of a BA boycott - apology/explanation from BA? better treatment by BA? more flight options on the Lagos-London route?) and outcomes to measure success (what constitutes better treatment and just HOW MUCH is better - no more kicking people off flights? no insectiside spraying?)
I also agree that sometimes Nigerians aren't the best-behaved passengers out there, but I have seen poorly-behaved passengers of various nationalities on many a flight, and so, as an airline/ airhost/ customer-facing employee of an airline, it would be integral not to act on generalizations about an entire nationality (wouldn't be easy), in the name of "customer service". Now, in the name of customer safety, as BA has belatedly pointed out, their decision to kick the 133 passengers of the plane was done in consultation with the UK police and was for the safety of the aircrew and other passengers (we had been made aware of the latter from the start).
Now that the exercise in frustration and venting has been carried out, as Naapali and Atutu have pointed out, it's time for a due diligence on the system and on ourselves. For those who consider themselves the best-behaved passengers out there (cough*yours truly*cough) and believe that BA and other foreign "service delivery" companies consistently overstep the line in their disregard/disrepect for your patronage/naira, you(we) know what you(we) need to do. Same goes for those who are tired and frustrated by the way they are treated by the institutions that govern us, and the way we treat (and mistreat) ourselves.
--------------
British Airways, yesterday, rationalised the offloading of Nigerian passengers on board BA75 flight to Lagos last month.
It said the decision was taken in consultation with the United Kingdom Police in order to ensure safety of the said aircraft and passengers.
In a statement made available to THISDAY, the airline said the "disruption" on board the aircraft required the presence of policemen to contain the situation which it said was regretable.
"We regret the upset that the events onboard the BA75 to Lagos on 27th March have caused in Nigeria. We have made it clear that the decision to offload passengers was made in consultation with and on the advice of the UK police, and the sole aim of this decision was to ensure the safety of our passengers, aircraft and crew.
"Offloading passengers is not a decision that is taken lightly and is a rare occurrence. However the disturbance on board the BA75 service to Lagos on Thursday 27th March was a very serious incident which required the presence of 20 uniformed police officers to regain control of the situation" the statement said.
It further noted that "Given the level of disruption on board the plane as it was preparing to depart, it was not possible to pinpoint which passengers were the most involved. In addition our crew were subjected to both verbal abuse and physical assault which, in the confined space of an aircraft, can be a particularly serious issue. Hence the police decided, with the agreement of the Captain, that it would be unwise to let all the passengers travel on the aircraft as their behaviour could pose a safety risk".
The statement said that "Of the 133 passengers offloaded following the disturbance 64 re-boarded the flight before take-off. Those offloaded were of various nationalities including British & American passengers. There was also a mix of nationalities among those who flew including Nigerian passengers".
On the arrest of one of the passengers, the airline stated that "The arrest and detention of one of the passengers involved was a police decision and is not something that British Airways can comment on.
The remaining offloaded passengers were offered overnight accommodation where appropriate and were rebooked on alternative flights".
"British Airways has a long and proud history of serving Nigeria and its people.
For over 70 years the Airline has flown from the UK to Nigeria, connecting the country to the rest of the world. We are working with the Nigerian government to ensure we continue to provide our Nigerian passengers with the high standard of customer service British Airways is renowned for", it said.
I also agree that sometimes Nigerians aren't the best-behaved passengers out there, but I have seen poorly-behaved passengers of various nationalities on many a flight, and so, as an airline/ airhost/ customer-facing employee of an airline, it would be integral not to act on generalizations about an entire nationality (wouldn't be easy), in the name of "customer service". Now, in the name of customer safety, as BA has belatedly pointed out, their decision to kick the 133 passengers of the plane was done in consultation with the UK police and was for the safety of the aircrew and other passengers (we had been made aware of the latter from the start).
Now that the exercise in frustration and venting has been carried out, as Naapali and Atutu have pointed out, it's time for a due diligence on the system and on ourselves. For those who consider themselves the best-behaved passengers out there (cough*yours truly*cough) and believe that BA and other foreign "service delivery" companies consistently overstep the line in their disregard/disrepect for your patronage/naira, you(we) know what you(we) need to do. Same goes for those who are tired and frustrated by the way they are treated by the institutions that govern us, and the way we treat (and mistreat) ourselves.
--------------
British Airways, yesterday, rationalised the offloading of Nigerian passengers on board BA75 flight to Lagos last month.
It said the decision was taken in consultation with the United Kingdom Police in order to ensure safety of the said aircraft and passengers.
In a statement made available to THISDAY, the airline said the "disruption" on board the aircraft required the presence of policemen to contain the situation which it said was regretable.
"We regret the upset that the events onboard the BA75 to Lagos on 27th March have caused in Nigeria. We have made it clear that the decision to offload passengers was made in consultation with and on the advice of the UK police, and the sole aim of this decision was to ensure the safety of our passengers, aircraft and crew.
"Offloading passengers is not a decision that is taken lightly and is a rare occurrence. However the disturbance on board the BA75 service to Lagos on Thursday 27th March was a very serious incident which required the presence of 20 uniformed police officers to regain control of the situation" the statement said.
It further noted that "Given the level of disruption on board the plane as it was preparing to depart, it was not possible to pinpoint which passengers were the most involved. In addition our crew were subjected to both verbal abuse and physical assault which, in the confined space of an aircraft, can be a particularly serious issue. Hence the police decided, with the agreement of the Captain, that it would be unwise to let all the passengers travel on the aircraft as their behaviour could pose a safety risk".
The statement said that "Of the 133 passengers offloaded following the disturbance 64 re-boarded the flight before take-off. Those offloaded were of various nationalities including British & American passengers. There was also a mix of nationalities among those who flew including Nigerian passengers".
On the arrest of one of the passengers, the airline stated that "The arrest and detention of one of the passengers involved was a police decision and is not something that British Airways can comment on.
The remaining offloaded passengers were offered overnight accommodation where appropriate and were rebooked on alternative flights".
"British Airways has a long and proud history of serving Nigeria and its people.
For over 70 years the Airline has flown from the UK to Nigeria, connecting the country to the rest of the world. We are working with the Nigerian government to ensure we continue to provide our Nigerian passengers with the high standard of customer service British Airways is renowned for", it said.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
I believe the children are our future...
ok, so Whitney's not exactly the role model of the year these days but....
This one's very near and dear to tAB. Check out The IMPACT Initiative's website and email impactnigeria@gmail.com if you've got any ideas or would like to get involved in some way. At the moment, they're currently working on planning the next youth forum and trying to organize an event for university undergraduates in Nigeria (possibly a career explorer program or a career fair) so watch this space.
-------------------------
Mentoring pupils for leadership positions - By Mudiaga Affe (Punch Newspaper)
Published: Friday, 11 Jan 2008
Exposing youths to various educational opportunities at an early stage may just be the spring board that will prepare them into leadership positions in the country.
At the second Annual Youth Forum in Lagos last Friday, pupils from various secondary schools in the state converged for a mentoring programme aimed at redirecting their focus towards assuming leadership roles in their various fields of endeavour.
The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the IMPACT initiative, Ms Jemine Rewane, noted that, "The current resource constraint of the Nigerian education system and the dearth of organisations providing academic guidance, professional support and forums to encourage community activism do not encourage youths to tap into their leadership potential early. The earlier youth are able to do this, the greater their impact in their communities will be. It is this impact that is required to take our nation a step further to create a better Nigeria."
IMPACT is a newly established organisation focused on leadership development and maximising an individual's capacity to contribute to the community.
According to her, "Our vision is to help develop a Nigeria full of motivated individuals willing to maximise opportunities for themselves and their fellow citizens, to improve the quality of life for all, hence allowing our great country to achieve its true potential." As part of measures aimed at achieving this goal, IMPACT she said, is poised to substantially increase the impact that our youth have on their respective communities as well as reduce the number of Nigerians who are forced to settle for mediocre circumstances because of poor planning or guidance.
Already, there are existing approaches to this problem, one of which is LEAP Africa, a non-profit organisation offering programmes targeted at youths who will develop into leaders to spearhead Africa's drive towards sustainable development.
The LEAP Youth Leadership program offers exceptional youth activities and training programmes in cities across Nigeria targeted at building their leadership skills.
Another is Junior Achievement, a non-profit organisation that seeks to educate and inspire young people to value free enterprise, business and economics to improve the quality of their lives. Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN) offers High School programmes which help students make informed, intelligent decisions about their future, and fosters skills that will be highly useful in the business world.
Students at the IMPACT Youth Forum, who were drawn from Corona Secondary School, Christ the Cornerstone School, CMS Grammar School, Dowen College, International School, Lagos, King's College, Lagoon Secondary School, Oxbridge College, Igbobi College, St. Gregory's College, Holy Child College, Victoria Island Secondary School, among others, expressed optimism that the programme would mentor them into a vantage leadership position.
A pupil of Methodist Girls High School, Yaba, Esther Afolayan, expressed optimism that the programme would address students' areas of deficiency, "There are lots of things happening in our community that youths are not aware of. So, this is a very good initiative. Personally, it has given me so many ideas of things that youths are supposed to do in their present generation."
Another pupil of Methodist Boys High School, Victoria Island, Michael Abuaja-Chinonso, expressed joy that through the programme, he had been able to double his academic challenges to attain leadership skills..."Through this medium, my concentration in my academics will improve because there is nothing than making the decision which you have always wanted to pursue and make it real. So, I really think my choices in life will systematically bring more opportunities my way in life," he said.
--------------
Oh, Doja, the other blog you were asking about...well now you know. It isn't really active yet but once it is, it'll be open to the public and will let you know.
This one's very near and dear to tAB. Check out The IMPACT Initiative's website and email impactnigeria@gmail.com if you've got any ideas or would like to get involved in some way. At the moment, they're currently working on planning the next youth forum and trying to organize an event for university undergraduates in Nigeria (possibly a career explorer program or a career fair) so watch this space.
-------------------------
Mentoring pupils for leadership positions - By Mudiaga Affe (Punch Newspaper)
Published: Friday, 11 Jan 2008
Exposing youths to various educational opportunities at an early stage may just be the spring board that will prepare them into leadership positions in the country.
At the second Annual Youth Forum in Lagos last Friday, pupils from various secondary schools in the state converged for a mentoring programme aimed at redirecting their focus towards assuming leadership roles in their various fields of endeavour.
The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the IMPACT initiative, Ms Jemine Rewane, noted that, "The current resource constraint of the Nigerian education system and the dearth of organisations providing academic guidance, professional support and forums to encourage community activism do not encourage youths to tap into their leadership potential early. The earlier youth are able to do this, the greater their impact in their communities will be. It is this impact that is required to take our nation a step further to create a better Nigeria."
IMPACT is a newly established organisation focused on leadership development and maximising an individual's capacity to contribute to the community.
According to her, "Our vision is to help develop a Nigeria full of motivated individuals willing to maximise opportunities for themselves and their fellow citizens, to improve the quality of life for all, hence allowing our great country to achieve its true potential." As part of measures aimed at achieving this goal, IMPACT she said, is poised to substantially increase the impact that our youth have on their respective communities as well as reduce the number of Nigerians who are forced to settle for mediocre circumstances because of poor planning or guidance.
Already, there are existing approaches to this problem, one of which is LEAP Africa, a non-profit organisation offering programmes targeted at youths who will develop into leaders to spearhead Africa's drive towards sustainable development.
The LEAP Youth Leadership program offers exceptional youth activities and training programmes in cities across Nigeria targeted at building their leadership skills.
Another is Junior Achievement, a non-profit organisation that seeks to educate and inspire young people to value free enterprise, business and economics to improve the quality of their lives. Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN) offers High School programmes which help students make informed, intelligent decisions about their future, and fosters skills that will be highly useful in the business world.
Students at the IMPACT Youth Forum, who were drawn from Corona Secondary School, Christ the Cornerstone School, CMS Grammar School, Dowen College, International School, Lagos, King's College, Lagoon Secondary School, Oxbridge College, Igbobi College, St. Gregory's College, Holy Child College, Victoria Island Secondary School, among others, expressed optimism that the programme would mentor them into a vantage leadership position.
A pupil of Methodist Girls High School, Yaba, Esther Afolayan, expressed optimism that the programme would address students' areas of deficiency, "There are lots of things happening in our community that youths are not aware of. So, this is a very good initiative. Personally, it has given me so many ideas of things that youths are supposed to do in their present generation."
Another pupil of Methodist Boys High School, Victoria Island, Michael Abuaja-Chinonso, expressed joy that through the programme, he had been able to double his academic challenges to attain leadership skills..."Through this medium, my concentration in my academics will improve because there is nothing than making the decision which you have always wanted to pursue and make it real. So, I really think my choices in life will systematically bring more opportunities my way in life," he said.
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Oh, Doja, the other blog you were asking about...well now you know. It isn't really active yet but once it is, it'll be open to the public and will let you know.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
10,000 Women
Thanks to Kome for sharing this!
**********************
Launched by Goldman Sachs, 10,000 Women is a significant new initiative that will:
• Increase the number of underserved women receiving a business and management education
• Improve the quality and capacity of business and management education around the world
The initiative has six components:
• 10,000 Women Over Five Years Will Receive a Business and Management Education:
Over the next five years, GS will support partnerships with universities and development organizations that will lead to 10,000 women receiving a business and management education. The initial partnerships will fund business and management education certificates in countries around the world. These innovative certificate programs are pragmatic, flexible and shorter term and will help open doors for thousands of women whose financial and practical circumstances prevent them from ever receiving a traditional business education. These programs will provide women with the opportunity to develop specific skills, such as drafting a business plan, accounting, public speaking, marketing, management and accessing capital. There will also be a select number of MBA and BA scholarships funded.
• Build Quality and Capacity Through Global Business Sister School Partnerships: To strengthen the quality and capacity of business schools in developing nations, GS will support new partnerships between business schools and universities in the US and Europe and business schools in developing and emerging economies. Through these partnerships, the schools will collaborate to train professors, exchange faculty, develop curriculum and create local case study material.
• Establish Mentoring and Post-Graduation Support for Women Entrepreneurs: In addition to funding tuition for business and management education, 10,000 Women will seek to establish mentoring and networking channels for women and to encourage career development opportunities that will extend the benefits of the program beyond the classroom, leveraging the overall impact of their educational experience.
• Work with Leading Research and Women’s Development Organizations: Many outstanding
organizations are working on the ground to give girls, young women and potential entrepreneurs a sense of their future potential. 10,000 Women will work with these organizations to better understand the local challenges these girls and women must overcome so more of them can ultimately realize their potential through access to greater economic opportunity.
• Develop Partnerships in the United States to Help Disadvantaged Women: As part of 10,000 Women, Goldman Sachs will establish parallel programs and partnerships to provide more business and management education for disadvantaged women in the United States.
• Commit $100 Million in Addition to the Time and Dedication of Goldman Sachs People: Goldman Sachs will commit $100 million over the next five years to 10,000 Women. In addition, the people of Goldman Sachs will contribute their time and expertise through classroom instruction and mentoring.
PARTNERSHIP WITH PAN-AFRICAN UNIVERSITY, NIGERIA- is projected to educate 250 Nigerian women over 5 years. It will:
Expand well-established 5-month certificate program at the Enterprise Development Services (EDS) that uses a hands-on case study approach to develop core skills of women owners of small and medium-sized businesses, such as sales and marketing, strategies for growth and writing a business plan.
Goldman Sachs will provide scholarships for additional women, expanding access to those who would otherwise be unable to afford the tuition.
10,000 WOMEN KEY BIOGRAPHIES - I've only highlighted the African names on the list
Peter Bamkole is the Director of Enterprise Development Services at the Pan-African University of Nigeria. EDS provides support and capacity-building services to small- and medium-scale businesses. Mr. Bamkole was previously a member of upper management at the Lagos State Water Company and was at Elf Oil Nigeria.
Ronke Fetuga, Nigeria
Ronke Fetuga is the Managing Director of Florence & Lambard, a publishing company in Lagos.
Eucharia Nwabuike, Nigeria
Eucharia Nwabuike is the owner and manager of Lagos-based Kontinental Foods, a maker of dairy products and fruit juices.
Tonia Overmeyer, University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business Director, Raymond Ackerman Academy of Entrepreneurial Development
Tonia Overmeyer is the Director of the Raymond Ackerman Academy of Entrepreneurial Development in the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. She holds a bachelor’s degree and MBA from the University of Cape Town.
Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya, Minister of Education, Rwanda
Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya is the Minister of Education in Rwanda. Most recently, she served as Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education and Minister of State for Higher Education. Prior to her government positions, She earned a BSc from People’s Friendship University of Russia and an MSc in chemistry from Moscow State University. She was awarded a Ph.D. in chemistry and physics from the Indian Institute of Technology (Roorkee).
******************
Also check out NigerianCuriosity and Pyoo Wata's respective blogs as they've shone the spotlight on the WOW element of the Samuel Peter win last weekend.
**********************
Launched by Goldman Sachs, 10,000 Women is a significant new initiative that will:
• Increase the number of underserved women receiving a business and management education
• Improve the quality and capacity of business and management education around the world
The initiative has six components:
• 10,000 Women Over Five Years Will Receive a Business and Management Education:
Over the next five years, GS will support partnerships with universities and development organizations that will lead to 10,000 women receiving a business and management education. The initial partnerships will fund business and management education certificates in countries around the world. These innovative certificate programs are pragmatic, flexible and shorter term and will help open doors for thousands of women whose financial and practical circumstances prevent them from ever receiving a traditional business education. These programs will provide women with the opportunity to develop specific skills, such as drafting a business plan, accounting, public speaking, marketing, management and accessing capital. There will also be a select number of MBA and BA scholarships funded.
• Build Quality and Capacity Through Global Business Sister School Partnerships: To strengthen the quality and capacity of business schools in developing nations, GS will support new partnerships between business schools and universities in the US and Europe and business schools in developing and emerging economies. Through these partnerships, the schools will collaborate to train professors, exchange faculty, develop curriculum and create local case study material.
• Establish Mentoring and Post-Graduation Support for Women Entrepreneurs: In addition to funding tuition for business and management education, 10,000 Women will seek to establish mentoring and networking channels for women and to encourage career development opportunities that will extend the benefits of the program beyond the classroom, leveraging the overall impact of their educational experience.
• Work with Leading Research and Women’s Development Organizations: Many outstanding
organizations are working on the ground to give girls, young women and potential entrepreneurs a sense of their future potential. 10,000 Women will work with these organizations to better understand the local challenges these girls and women must overcome so more of them can ultimately realize their potential through access to greater economic opportunity.
• Develop Partnerships in the United States to Help Disadvantaged Women: As part of 10,000 Women, Goldman Sachs will establish parallel programs and partnerships to provide more business and management education for disadvantaged women in the United States.
• Commit $100 Million in Addition to the Time and Dedication of Goldman Sachs People: Goldman Sachs will commit $100 million over the next five years to 10,000 Women. In addition, the people of Goldman Sachs will contribute their time and expertise through classroom instruction and mentoring.
PARTNERSHIP WITH PAN-AFRICAN UNIVERSITY, NIGERIA- is projected to educate 250 Nigerian women over 5 years. It will:
Expand well-established 5-month certificate program at the Enterprise Development Services (EDS) that uses a hands-on case study approach to develop core skills of women owners of small and medium-sized businesses, such as sales and marketing, strategies for growth and writing a business plan.
Goldman Sachs will provide scholarships for additional women, expanding access to those who would otherwise be unable to afford the tuition.
10,000 WOMEN KEY BIOGRAPHIES - I've only highlighted the African names on the list
Peter Bamkole is the Director of Enterprise Development Services at the Pan-African University of Nigeria. EDS provides support and capacity-building services to small- and medium-scale businesses. Mr. Bamkole was previously a member of upper management at the Lagos State Water Company and was at Elf Oil Nigeria.
Ronke Fetuga, Nigeria
Ronke Fetuga is the Managing Director of Florence & Lambard, a publishing company in Lagos.
Eucharia Nwabuike, Nigeria
Eucharia Nwabuike is the owner and manager of Lagos-based Kontinental Foods, a maker of dairy products and fruit juices.
Tonia Overmeyer, University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business Director, Raymond Ackerman Academy of Entrepreneurial Development
Tonia Overmeyer is the Director of the Raymond Ackerman Academy of Entrepreneurial Development in the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. She holds a bachelor’s degree and MBA from the University of Cape Town.
Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya, Minister of Education, Rwanda
Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya is the Minister of Education in Rwanda. Most recently, she served as Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education and Minister of State for Higher Education. Prior to her government positions, She earned a BSc from People’s Friendship University of Russia and an MSc in chemistry from Moscow State University. She was awarded a Ph.D. in chemistry and physics from the Indian Institute of Technology (Roorkee).
******************
Also check out NigerianCuriosity and Pyoo Wata's respective blogs as they've shone the spotlight on the WOW element of the Samuel Peter win last weekend.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
100 Nigerian Universities To Become Digital Campuses
As promised, more things that make you go "wow!". I met Nam almost 2 years ago while he was a Reuters Digital Fellow at Stanford. I remember the first time I heard about this mammoth project and thought, wow, is he serious? A network of Digital campuses in Nigeria when we're still grappling with basic NEPA problems? Well, eighteen months later, Nam is hard at work in Abuja making steady progress on the ICE network . Watch this space.
Coming to a campus near you.
ICE network is a broadband wireless network initiative that will transform 100 Nigerian universities into digital campuses by connecting them to each other and to the world. The digital campuses will serve as hubs for digital cities whose success will fuel a regional rollout. This affordable community-driven infrastructure/content play is sustained by a scalable subscription business model.
The venture is being developed in partnership with Cisco Systems (the world's largest networking company), NeGSt Global (Nigeria's eGovernment process managers), and other leading global ICT partners. With local and international patners, icenetwork is building virgin internet capacity in the emerging markets — the next frontier for IP-related business people — by first interconnecting 1.5 million subscribers in 100 higher-education campuses in Nigeria. Icenetwork will expand services to communities around the campuses and provide broadband voice, video, data, internet, and multi-media services to more than 10 million on-campus and off-campus subscribers in Nigeria and sub-sahara Africa over the next 5 years.
Users will also be able to browse the web, share and create applications and content, do research, and interact with those on other networks in other regions and continents.
To get involved in ICE as an investor, donor, business developer, or technical assistor, please email Founder, Nam Mokwunye, at diginam@icecampus.net.
Coming to a campus near you.
ICE network is a broadband wireless network initiative that will transform 100 Nigerian universities into digital campuses by connecting them to each other and to the world. The digital campuses will serve as hubs for digital cities whose success will fuel a regional rollout. This affordable community-driven infrastructure/content play is sustained by a scalable subscription business model.
The venture is being developed in partnership with Cisco Systems (the world's largest networking company), NeGSt Global (Nigeria's eGovernment process managers), and other leading global ICT partners. With local and international patners, icenetwork is building virgin internet capacity in the emerging markets — the next frontier for IP-related business people — by first interconnecting 1.5 million subscribers in 100 higher-education campuses in Nigeria. Icenetwork will expand services to communities around the campuses and provide broadband voice, video, data, internet, and multi-media services to more than 10 million on-campus and off-campus subscribers in Nigeria and sub-sahara Africa over the next 5 years.
Users will also be able to browse the web, share and create applications and content, do research, and interact with those on other networks in other regions and continents.
To get involved in ICE as an investor, donor, business developer, or technical assistor, please email Founder, Nam Mokwunye, at diginam@icecampus.net.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
tAB!
Our first post (below) was written a year ago today. We would like to think we started with our hearts in the right place, we knew we didn't know much about the roots of the problems plaguing Nigeria but wanted to be enlightened by those who do, and those who equally share this hunger to know and to change things for the better.
We've always wanted to do more than just talk. We want the talking to spark ideas which will in turn dictate action and create impact. We've barely scratched the surface but we will get there. Thank you all for being a part of this.
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The Afro Beat is a new movement, a fresh heartbeat, a racing pulse.
It is a club/ forum/ virtual gathering place for individuals of Nigerian heritage or association, who share the collective ambition to see their country move forward.
The Afro Beat is centered on the following:
The mutual and collective enlightenment of ourselves by discussion of our country’s plight,
The development of a sense of accountability to one’s peers,
The implementation of a series of realistic projects for the benefit of every Nigerian, and
The ultimate objective of improving the situation in Nigeria, one step at a time, and one day at a time.
How The Afro Beat will be kept going:
This idea was birthed by Misan, Tokini, Bitchy and theAfroBeat, but it is not “our” club alone. We’re offering ourselves up as mere facilitators. We desire the contribution of everyone who wants to learn more about their country, its past, and most importantly, about effective methods to contribute to its future. We’ve noticed a growing interest amongst our peers, in the injustices currently plaguing Nigeria, and simply wanted to provide a way for us to group together to share ideas on how to move the nation forward, and to have fun at the same time.
We intend to start with the simplest things.
First, we’ll begin by publishing articles on this blog, written by Nigerians and others, about Nigeria, that we hope you’ll be interested in. We’ll also publish articles by The Afro Beat’s members, to provoke discussion and commentary. We’re open to receiving anything you find on the world wide web or elsewhere, or that you yourself write, that you want to share with The Afro Beat’s members, and which you feel will be for their benefit. We hope to provide a worthwhile learning experience for us all, about our country.
We’ll also be opening up discussion about the projects we would like The Afro Beat to be known for. We have several exciting ideas which we hope you’ll see potential in, and which we know would benefit immensely from your contribution and participation.
Our address is: info@theafrobeat.com
“Every sector of society has been left to fend for itself”
- an observation about Nigeria by the Vanity Fair columnist, Sebastian Junger, in his article on the Niger-Delta entitled “Blood Oil”.
If The Afro Beat works as we hope it will, no journalist will ever be able to make such a sweeping statement about Nigeria again.
---------
We've always wanted to do more than just talk. We want the talking to spark ideas which will in turn dictate action and create impact. We've barely scratched the surface but we will get there. Thank you all for being a part of this.
---------------
The Afro Beat is a new movement, a fresh heartbeat, a racing pulse.
It is a club/ forum/ virtual gathering place for individuals of Nigerian heritage or association, who share the collective ambition to see their country move forward.
The Afro Beat is centered on the following:
The mutual and collective enlightenment of ourselves by discussion of our country’s plight,
The development of a sense of accountability to one’s peers,
The implementation of a series of realistic projects for the benefit of every Nigerian, and
The ultimate objective of improving the situation in Nigeria, one step at a time, and one day at a time.
How The Afro Beat will be kept going:
This idea was birthed by Misan, Tokini, Bitchy and theAfroBeat, but it is not “our” club alone. We’re offering ourselves up as mere facilitators. We desire the contribution of everyone who wants to learn more about their country, its past, and most importantly, about effective methods to contribute to its future. We’ve noticed a growing interest amongst our peers, in the injustices currently plaguing Nigeria, and simply wanted to provide a way for us to group together to share ideas on how to move the nation forward, and to have fun at the same time.
We intend to start with the simplest things.
First, we’ll begin by publishing articles on this blog, written by Nigerians and others, about Nigeria, that we hope you’ll be interested in. We’ll also publish articles by The Afro Beat’s members, to provoke discussion and commentary. We’re open to receiving anything you find on the world wide web or elsewhere, or that you yourself write, that you want to share with The Afro Beat’s members, and which you feel will be for their benefit. We hope to provide a worthwhile learning experience for us all, about our country.
We’ll also be opening up discussion about the projects we would like The Afro Beat to be known for. We have several exciting ideas which we hope you’ll see potential in, and which we know would benefit immensely from your contribution and participation.
Our address is: info@theafrobeat.com
“Every sector of society has been left to fend for itself”
- an observation about Nigeria by the Vanity Fair columnist, Sebastian Junger, in his article on the Niger-Delta entitled “Blood Oil”.
If The Afro Beat works as we hope it will, no journalist will ever be able to make such a sweeping statement about Nigeria again.
---------
Friday, August 10, 2007
Sierra Leone's REFUGEE ALL STARS
Here's a documentary worth checking out. The film follows a group of talented musicians who fled the civil war in their home country of Sierra Leone and met at a refugee camp in Guinea. Scheduled to be released on DVD on August 14th, the film has recently partnered with Netflix and every time a DVD of the film is purchased, $1 goes to ninemillion.org, a human rights campaign to raise funds for refugee children. So please spread the word...
Sierra Leone's REFUGEE ALL STARS
(a documentary film by Banker White and Zach Niles)
The plight of the refugee in today's war-torn world is captured in the African proverb, "When two elephants are fighting, the grass will suffer." So it was in Sierra Leone from 1991-2002, where the government and various rebel factions carried out a brutal civil war in which the terrorizing of civilians, by killing, mutilation, rape, and forced conscription, was common practice on all sides. The war sent hundreds of thousands of ordinary Sierra Leoneans fleeing to refugee camps in the neighboring West African nation of the Republic of Guinea. That's where the remarkable documentary Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars begins.
Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars are a band of six Sierra Leonean musicians who came together to form a band while living in a refugee camp in Guinea. Many of their family and friends were murdered in the war, leaving each of them with physical and emotional scars that may never heal. Despite the unimaginable horrors of civil war, they were saved and brought hope and happiness to their fellow refugees through their music.
Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars chronicles the band over three years, from Guinean refugee camps back to war-ravaged Sierra Leone, where they realize the dream of recording their first studio album. And so begins a musical phenomenon that is making the world hear the voices of West Africa's refugees through the film Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars have been able to launch an international musical career, while drawing the accolades of Keith Richards, Paul McCartney, Ice Cube (one of the executive producers of the film), and Joe Perry.
Through their unflinching spirit, their powerful stories of survival and their joyful music Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars celebrate the best that is in all of us. As violent conflicts multiply around the globe and the worldwide refugee crisis deepens, Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars is a humanizing ode to all the innocent survivors of war whose brutal realities are often dismissed by surface mass media sound bytes.
www.refugeeallstars.org
www.myspace.com/refugeeallstarsfilm
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NINEMILLION.ORG
Nine million faces. Nine million names. Nine million stories. Nine million children are refugees right now. Ninemillion.org is a UN Refugee Agency led campaign to raise awareness and funds for education and sports programs for refugee youth, many of whom are forced to spend years of their young lives away from home with little hope of returning. What happens to them now, during their years as refugees, is up to all of us. Please spread the word.
Sierra Leone's REFUGEE ALL STARS
(a documentary film by Banker White and Zach Niles)
The plight of the refugee in today's war-torn world is captured in the African proverb, "When two elephants are fighting, the grass will suffer." So it was in Sierra Leone from 1991-2002, where the government and various rebel factions carried out a brutal civil war in which the terrorizing of civilians, by killing, mutilation, rape, and forced conscription, was common practice on all sides. The war sent hundreds of thousands of ordinary Sierra Leoneans fleeing to refugee camps in the neighboring West African nation of the Republic of Guinea. That's where the remarkable documentary Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars begins.
Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars are a band of six Sierra Leonean musicians who came together to form a band while living in a refugee camp in Guinea. Many of their family and friends were murdered in the war, leaving each of them with physical and emotional scars that may never heal. Despite the unimaginable horrors of civil war, they were saved and brought hope and happiness to their fellow refugees through their music.
Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars chronicles the band over three years, from Guinean refugee camps back to war-ravaged Sierra Leone, where they realize the dream of recording their first studio album. And so begins a musical phenomenon that is making the world hear the voices of West Africa's refugees through the film Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars have been able to launch an international musical career, while drawing the accolades of Keith Richards, Paul McCartney, Ice Cube (one of the executive producers of the film), and Joe Perry.
Through their unflinching spirit, their powerful stories of survival and their joyful music Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars celebrate the best that is in all of us. As violent conflicts multiply around the globe and the worldwide refugee crisis deepens, Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars is a humanizing ode to all the innocent survivors of war whose brutal realities are often dismissed by surface mass media sound bytes.
www.refugeeallstars.org
www.myspace.com/refugeeallstarsfilm
-------
NINEMILLION.ORG
Nine million faces. Nine million names. Nine million stories. Nine million children are refugees right now. Ninemillion.org is a UN Refugee Agency led campaign to raise awareness and funds for education and sports programs for refugee youth, many of whom are forced to spend years of their young lives away from home with little hope of returning. What happens to them now, during their years as refugees, is up to all of us. Please spread the word.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Remarks of Bill Gates
Just thought we could encourage you in your daily struggles by sharing this powerful and remarkable speech by Bill Gates at Harvard University's commencement yesterday. For the full text, please email us at info@theafrobeat.com and we'll send it to you.
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What I remember above all about Harvard was being in the midst of so much energy and intelligence. It could be exhilarating, intimidating, sometimes even discouraging, but always challenging. It was an amazing privilege – and though I left early, I was transformed by my years at Harvard, the friendships I made, and the ideas I worked on.
But taking a serious look back … I do have one big regret.
I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world – the appalling disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of despair.
I learned a lot here at Harvard about new ideas in economics and politics. I got great exposure to the advances being made in the sciences.
But humanity's greatest advances are not in its discoveries – but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity. Whether through democracy, strong public education, quality health care, or broad economic opportunity – reducing inequity is the highest human achievement.
I left campus knowing little about the millions of young people cheated out of educational opportunities here in this country. And I knew nothing about the millions of people living in unspeakable poverty and disease in developing countries.
...[Melinda & I] were shocked. We had just assumed that if millions of children were dying and they could be saved, the world would make it a priority to discover and deliver the medicines to save them. But it did not. For under a dollar, there were interventions that could save lives that just weren't being delivered.
If you believe that every life has equal value, it's revolting to learn that some lives are seen as worth saving and others are not. We said to ourselves: "This can't be true. But if it is true, it deserves to be the priority of our giving."
...So we began our work in the same way anyone here would begin it. We asked: "How could the world let these children die?"
The answer is simple, and harsh. The market did not reward saving the lives of these children, and governments did not subsidize it. So the children died because their mothers and their fathers had no power in the market and no voice in the system.
But you and I have both.
We can make market forces work better for the poor if we can develop a more creative capitalism – if we can stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or at least make a living, serving people who are suffering from the worst inequities...If we can find approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes for politicians, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce inequity in the world. This task is open-ended. It can never be finished. But a conscious effort to answer this challenge will change the world.
If we can really see a problem, which is the first step, we come to the second step: cutting through the complexity to find a solution.
Finding solutions is essential if we want to make the most of our caring. If we have clear and proven answers anytime an organization or individual asks "How can I help?," then we can get action – and we can make sure that none of the caring in the world is wasted. But complexity makes it hard to mark a path of action for everyone who cares — and that makes it hard for their caring to matter.
Cutting through complexity to find a solution runs through four predictable stages: determine a goal, find the highest-leverage approach, discover the ideal technology for that approach, and in the meantime, make the smartest application of the technology that you already have — whether it's something sophisticated, like a drug, or something simpler, like a bednet.
The AIDS epidemic offers an example. The broad goal, of course, is to end the disease. The highest-leverage approach is prevention. The ideal technology would be a vaccine that gives lifetime immunity with a single dose. So governments, drug companies, and foundations fund vaccine research. But their work is likely to take more than a decade, so in the meantime, we have to work with what we have in hand – and the best prevention approach we have now is getting people to avoid risky behavior.
Pursuing that goal starts the four-step cycle again. This is the pattern. The crucial thing is to never stop thinking and working – and never do what we did with malaria and tuberculosis in the 20th century – which is to surrender to complexity and quit.
The final step – after seeing the problem and finding an approach – is to measure the impact of your work and share your successes and failures so that others learn from your efforts.
You have to have the statistics, of course. You have to be able to show that a program is vaccinating millions more children. You have to be able to show a decline in the number of children dying from these diseases. This is essential not just to improve the program, but also to help draw more investment from business and government.
But if you want to inspire people to participate, you have to show more than numbers; you have to convey the human impact of the work – so people can feel what saving a life means to the families affected.
You can't get people excited unless you can help them see and feel the impact. And how you do that – is a complex question.
Still, I'm optimistic. Yes, inequity has been with us forever, but the new tools we have to cut through complexity have not been with us forever. They are new – they can help us make the most of our caring – and that's why the future can be different from the past.
The defining and ongoing innovations of this age – biotechnology, the computer, the Internet – give us a chance we've never had before to end extreme poverty and end death from preventable disease.
When you consider what those of us here in this Yard have been given – in talent, privilege, and opportunity – there is almost no limit to what the world has a right to expect from us.
In line with the promise of this age, I want to exhort each of the graduates here to take on an issue – a complex problem, a deep inequity, and become a specialist on it. If you make it the focus of your career, that would be phenomenal. But you don't have to do that to make an impact. For a few hours every week, you can use the growing power of the Internet to get informed, find others with the same interests, see the barriers, and find ways to cut through them.
Don't let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives.
...You graduates are coming of age in an amazing time. As you leave Harvard, you have technology that members of my class never had. You have awareness of global inequity, which we did not have. And with that awareness, you likely also have an informed conscience that will torment you if you abandon these people whose lives you could change with very little effort. You have more than we had; you must start sooner, and carry on longer.
Knowing what you know, how could you not?
And I hope you will come back here to Harvard 30 years from now and reflect on what you have done with your talent and your energy. I hope you will judge yourselves not on your professional accomplishments alone, but also on how well you have addressed the world's deepest inequities … on how well you treated people a world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity.
------------
What I remember above all about Harvard was being in the midst of so much energy and intelligence. It could be exhilarating, intimidating, sometimes even discouraging, but always challenging. It was an amazing privilege – and though I left early, I was transformed by my years at Harvard, the friendships I made, and the ideas I worked on.
But taking a serious look back … I do have one big regret.
I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world – the appalling disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of despair.
I learned a lot here at Harvard about new ideas in economics and politics. I got great exposure to the advances being made in the sciences.
But humanity's greatest advances are not in its discoveries – but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity. Whether through democracy, strong public education, quality health care, or broad economic opportunity – reducing inequity is the highest human achievement.
I left campus knowing little about the millions of young people cheated out of educational opportunities here in this country. And I knew nothing about the millions of people living in unspeakable poverty and disease in developing countries.
...[Melinda & I] were shocked. We had just assumed that if millions of children were dying and they could be saved, the world would make it a priority to discover and deliver the medicines to save them. But it did not. For under a dollar, there were interventions that could save lives that just weren't being delivered.
If you believe that every life has equal value, it's revolting to learn that some lives are seen as worth saving and others are not. We said to ourselves: "This can't be true. But if it is true, it deserves to be the priority of our giving."
...So we began our work in the same way anyone here would begin it. We asked: "How could the world let these children die?"
The answer is simple, and harsh. The market did not reward saving the lives of these children, and governments did not subsidize it. So the children died because their mothers and their fathers had no power in the market and no voice in the system.
But you and I have both.
We can make market forces work better for the poor if we can develop a more creative capitalism – if we can stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or at least make a living, serving people who are suffering from the worst inequities...If we can find approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes for politicians, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce inequity in the world. This task is open-ended. It can never be finished. But a conscious effort to answer this challenge will change the world.
If we can really see a problem, which is the first step, we come to the second step: cutting through the complexity to find a solution.
Finding solutions is essential if we want to make the most of our caring. If we have clear and proven answers anytime an organization or individual asks "How can I help?," then we can get action – and we can make sure that none of the caring in the world is wasted. But complexity makes it hard to mark a path of action for everyone who cares — and that makes it hard for their caring to matter.
Cutting through complexity to find a solution runs through four predictable stages: determine a goal, find the highest-leverage approach, discover the ideal technology for that approach, and in the meantime, make the smartest application of the technology that you already have — whether it's something sophisticated, like a drug, or something simpler, like a bednet.
The AIDS epidemic offers an example. The broad goal, of course, is to end the disease. The highest-leverage approach is prevention. The ideal technology would be a vaccine that gives lifetime immunity with a single dose. So governments, drug companies, and foundations fund vaccine research. But their work is likely to take more than a decade, so in the meantime, we have to work with what we have in hand – and the best prevention approach we have now is getting people to avoid risky behavior.
Pursuing that goal starts the four-step cycle again. This is the pattern. The crucial thing is to never stop thinking and working – and never do what we did with malaria and tuberculosis in the 20th century – which is to surrender to complexity and quit.
The final step – after seeing the problem and finding an approach – is to measure the impact of your work and share your successes and failures so that others learn from your efforts.
You have to have the statistics, of course. You have to be able to show that a program is vaccinating millions more children. You have to be able to show a decline in the number of children dying from these diseases. This is essential not just to improve the program, but also to help draw more investment from business and government.
But if you want to inspire people to participate, you have to show more than numbers; you have to convey the human impact of the work – so people can feel what saving a life means to the families affected.
You can't get people excited unless you can help them see and feel the impact. And how you do that – is a complex question.
Still, I'm optimistic. Yes, inequity has been with us forever, but the new tools we have to cut through complexity have not been with us forever. They are new – they can help us make the most of our caring – and that's why the future can be different from the past.
The defining and ongoing innovations of this age – biotechnology, the computer, the Internet – give us a chance we've never had before to end extreme poverty and end death from preventable disease.
When you consider what those of us here in this Yard have been given – in talent, privilege, and opportunity – there is almost no limit to what the world has a right to expect from us.
In line with the promise of this age, I want to exhort each of the graduates here to take on an issue – a complex problem, a deep inequity, and become a specialist on it. If you make it the focus of your career, that would be phenomenal. But you don't have to do that to make an impact. For a few hours every week, you can use the growing power of the Internet to get informed, find others with the same interests, see the barriers, and find ways to cut through them.
Don't let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives.
...You graduates are coming of age in an amazing time. As you leave Harvard, you have technology that members of my class never had. You have awareness of global inequity, which we did not have. And with that awareness, you likely also have an informed conscience that will torment you if you abandon these people whose lives you could change with very little effort. You have more than we had; you must start sooner, and carry on longer.
Knowing what you know, how could you not?
And I hope you will come back here to Harvard 30 years from now and reflect on what you have done with your talent and your energy. I hope you will judge yourselves not on your professional accomplishments alone, but also on how well you have addressed the world's deepest inequities … on how well you treated people a world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity.
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