NAIJ: A History of Nigeria

I saw this docu-film NAIJ: A History of Nigeria this evening at the LifeHouse.

The 2007 film by director Jide Olanrewaju, tells the story of Nigeria through its tumultuous transition from British Colony to Oil State. Using a combination of rarely seen archive footage, historical papers and interviews, the film attempts to explain how Nigeria has developed into the country it is today while shining a light on some of the individuals whose actions have helped shape the nation.

Whether you agree with the views of the director as presented in this film, you will relish the video, audio and newspaper footage shown in the film. It was a revelation for me to hear the voices of Tafawa Balewa and to learn how Anglicised he sounded. And indeed most of the early political leaders spoke in very polished tones. It was interesting to see how this changed over the years.

The director Jide is not a professional film-maker nor has any formal training. He made this film on his home computer over a period of 2 years. Working as an investment banker in mergers & acquisitions, his typical work day ended at 2am, after which he would return home and spend an hour on the film.

I was stunned to learn of his dedication to this and made me realise that, if you're sufficiently motivated, you can do anything.

This is a trailer for the film.

I'm not sure how you can get to see the whole film, but I commented at the Q&A that many Nigerians need to see it.

Read posts on Naij: - My Random Thoughts - Afrogreek

Dr. Tony Marinho Reads from “Hope’s Wristwatch” at Patabah Books – February 17, 2012

Bookcraft and Patabah Books presents a book reading with Dr. Tony Marinho. He will be reading from and signing his latest collection of short stories and poems, “Hope’s Wristwatch.”

Dr. Tony Marinho is a practicing obstetrician and gynaecologist in Ibadan, Nigeria. He is an author of several books of short stories, poetry and childrens’ books and he has also abridged Wole Soyinka’s childhood memoirs Ake for children. He is a frequent social commentator maintaining a regular weekly column in The Nation.

Details of the reading are:

Date: Friday, February 17 2012
Time: 5 – 7 PM
Venue: Patabah Books, Adeniran Ogunsanya Shopping Mall (Ground Floor), Surulere, Lagos

A Royal Wedding in Lagos - Part 3

CNN's Inside Africa features a royal wedding in lagos.

The Traditional Nigerian Engagement - Part 2

Planning a Royal Wedding in Lagos - Part 1

The planning for the wedding.

The Swim Club

Photo Credit

After my swimming lessons ended last November, quite unbelievably, I have not swum a single stroke. How that happened is rather like a mirage to me, but the hard fact is that it’s due to work (an incredibly busy schedule, not enough hours in the day – that kind of thing …).

My sole form of exercise these days is walking, which I do for 1 to 2 hours every Saturday morning. A friend joined my sister and I today and we discussed the local running/walking club, which meets unfailingly every Saturday to sprint/amble/crawl (it’s open to different levels of ability) around our estate.

I mentioned that I wished for a similar association for swimmers. My sister – ever practical – retorted “Well, why don’t you start one?”

Hmmm. Now, why didn’t I think of that?

So, I started to mull over the idea. Well, why not? The lack of a readily available (and let’s be honest, cheap) pool might be an obstacle. Then another potential problem could be that I know far more people who cannot swim than who can. What else? Well, among the few women I know who can swim, most don’t because they’re averse to ruining their carefully coiffed hair dos and often monstrously expensive weaves. On top of that, Thursday’s surprise and very heavy downpour reminded us that the rainy season is on its way.

However, once I’m sold on an idea I tend to look beyond the challenges and trust that God will make a way.

So, the long and short of this is that I’ve decided to start a swimming club. What will we do, one might wonder? You mean, aside from swimming?

Swimming is a wonderful activity, but one that can get boring when done alone and frequently. Often once I find my rhythm, I enjoy the routine of the strokes, however some days I swim a lap or two and then can’t get out of the pool fast enough.

Swimming with other people would certainly be a lot more fun – especially when you’re there to swim and not just chit-chat. Though if you want to chit-chat too, there could be time for that. Structured routines and healthy competition could improve swimming performance. Then, we could share techniques too. The benefits are endless …..

So, now all we need are people who love to swim and somewhere to swim. I suppose an idea of how to go about this would help too.

I follow several swimming blogs and some mention swimming groups. My favourite blogs are:

www.swimwellblog.com
rorylbuck.wordpress.com
swimmingiseasy.blogspot.com
www.goldmedalmel.typepad.com

If anyone has ideas, resources and favourite blogs/sites to check out, I would certainly love to hear them.

Uche Eze of Bella Naija on CNN

Young Nigerians are doing big things and Uche Eze of the Bella Naija entertainment and style website is certainly one of them.

As part of CNN's coverage of Nigeria's 50th anniversary, they interviewed and profiled many individuals and organisations who are leading important social and economic changes in the country.

JG on Facebook

So our president is moving with the times and now has a presence on Facebook.

New Nigerian Web Tools

More Nigerian-developed content on the web. Here are two new ones:

1. Style House Files, Nigerian style website, "aims to be a leader in fashion, style and beauty for fashion insiders, industry professionals and the savvy internet user."
www.stylehousefiles.com

2. Gistcaster, like Twitter and NaijaPulse, this micro-blogging tool "is a social messenger that helps you share and discover what's happening right now, around you."
www.gistcaster.com

I.T Training Opportunities for Nigerian Women

The Women's Technology Empowerment Centre - W.TEC has two information technology training programmes coming up for women in April and May.

1. Information Management 101 is an introductory-level ICT programme. For details: www.w-teconline.org/blog/?p=500

2. The Young Women's Programme will equip young women to use online tools for learning, leadership and professional development. For details: www.w-teconline.org/blog/?p=503

Please share widely.

The March 16th march - Enough is Enough Nigeria

Information of the March 16th "Enough is Enough" march:

***********************************

March 16 is the date that young Nigerians will march in Abuja to say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

Time: 11am

Venue: National Assembly, Abuja (We gather at Eagle Square at 11am PROMPT)

Demands:
1) President Yar’Adua should resume, resign or be removed
2) The promise of 6000megawatts must be fulfilled
3) The 5-month fuel crisis needs to end now.

HOW CAN YOU BE A PART OF THIS HISTORIC PROTEST/RALLY?
· From wherever you are in Nigeria, come too Abuja and join the rally – if you book early on many airlines, you get cheaper tickets, and you can return on the same day!

· If you are in Abuja, attend the rally with an average of TEN of your friends/family.

· If you are in any of the neighbouring states - Plateau, Kaduna, Niger, Nasarawa, Kogi – attend the rally with an average of FIVE of your friends.

· Get at least FIVE of your friends and family who live or work or school in Abuja to attend the rally.

· Get at least FIVE of your friends and family who live or work of school in neighbouring states – Plateau, Kaduna, Niger, Nasarawa, Kogi – to come to Abuja and join the rally.


· If you cannot attend yourself and you can afford it, sponsor at least one other young person to attend on your behalf. To get more information about how you can do that, call 0702.810.1959 or mail info@enoughisenoughnigeria.com.


· On your Facebook (groups and profiles), Twitter, and BBMs, update DAILY with the date and time of the rally, as well as the website www.enoughisenoughnigeria.com until the 16th of March so that people do not forget.


· Join the Facebook group Enough is Enough Nigeria and invite your friends and family to join. Our target is 10000 members by the end of March. We need more people involved!


· Put up information about the rally daily on your website and blogs to sensitise young people so they don’t forget the date, venue and time.


· There are plenty of logistics that we have to deal with – buses, water, legal, media & publicity, crowd control, mobilization, distribution of publicity materials etc – if you have experience or resources in any of this, please call 07028101959 or email info@enoughisenoughnigeria.com to offer your help.


· SUPPORT the rally. There is so much to do in so short a time and we NEED the support of as many young and older people who are fed up with Nigeria’s situation. If you are ready to support, please call 0802.222.6712 or 0702.810.1959 NOW!

Email: info@enoughisenoughnigeria.com

Website: www.enoughisenoughnigeria.com, www.whereisyaradua.com

A Perspective on Contemporary Nigerian Photography

This is an exhibition on contemporary Nigeria by Nigerian photographers, including: Sunmi Smart-Cole, Don Barber, Kelechi Amadi-Obi, TY Bello and Mudi Yahaya.

Where: Omenka Gallery, The Ben Enwonwu Foundation, 24 Ikoyi Crescent, Ikoyi, Lagos

When: Opening is on Friday, September 25 at 5PM. The exhibition ends on Saturday, September 26

World Information Society Day 2009

May 17 is World Information Society Day. To understand its significance in history, it is important to journey back 144 years ago. That same day in 1865, the first International Telegraph Convention was signed and the International Telegraph Union (the second-oldest international organization in existence) was established. That same institution became the International Telecommunications Union in 1947 – the same year that the transistor was first demonstrated, with the solid-state computer soon to follow. Since 1969, May 17 has been celebrated as the World Telecommunication Day. Thirty-seven years later, following the World Summit on the Information Society, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution which identifies 17 May as World Information Society Day. The day is intended to remind the world of the vision of the World Summit on the Information Society, which promised to build “a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented information society” based on fundamental human rights. According to the UN resolution, the Day will "help to raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICTs) can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide".

The Nigerian telecommunications industry – which started with the postal system – is now over 100 years old, but it was only in 1999 that the National Policy on Telecommunications was launched. A National Policy on Information Technology followed in 2001, along with the establishment of the National Information Technology Development Agency, under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology. Fortunately, Nigeria’s participation in the World Summit on the Information Society process helped shed more light on the need for Nigeria to benefit from the undeniable convergence that has brought Information Technology, telecommunications and content together for good. At about the same period in Nigeria’s history, a telecommunication revolution was born – with the number of telephone lines growing from 450,000 in 2000 to over 14 million lines in 2005, and now 66.6 million, thanks to independent regulation through the Nigerian Communications Commission, private sector participation, broadened competition, and consumer spending. Many benefits have come to the Nigerian Information Society since then, including a rapid rise in the number of Internet users from 200,000 in 2000 to 10 million today! Many of these users are also contributing to the growth of local content on the World Wide Web, which was previously lacking in content from Nigeria. The private sector and civil society (including the media) also continue to add immense value, using varied models to work towards the task of bridging the digital divide.

Building a strong and vibrant information society that is accessible to all Nigerians is at the heart of W.TEC and PIN’s work. The Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) is a Nigerian non-governmental organization helping to empower Nigerian girls and women socially and economically using ICTs. This is done through technology literacy training, technology-based projects, mentoring, work placement and research. Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN) is a social enterprise that connects young people – especially those in underserved communities – with the opportunities that ICTs provide. We do this through our Ajegunle.org initiative, Information Society research, capacity building sessions for youth across Nigeria and the Internet Safety, Security and Privacy Initiative for Nigeria, among others. PIN’s program graduates have gone on to demonstrate the impact of ICTs on their small-scale businesses and through inspiring career progress!

This year, W.TEC and PIN wish to commemorate the World Information Society Day by appreciating ongoing initiatives in various sectors and calling on all stakeholders (government, private sector, civil society, media, individuals, etc) to act faster on efforts that will improve Nigeria’s opportunity to maximise the benefits of the Information Society. Please join us to spread the message, “Nigeria’s Information Society is making progress but we call on stakeholders to act faster. Our ‘20:2020’ vision depends on our ICT prowess!” on May 17 by:
- Lending us your Twitter or Facebook status message;
- Changing your email signature to reflect this message;
- Sending this article to 5 friends;
- Discussing the impact of ICTs in your life with friends and family;
- Volunteering for a non-profit ICT initiative before the next WISD anniversary.

Ore (for W.TEC) & 'Gbenga Sesan (for PIN)

Generation Make It Happen

My friend Oghomwen Ehigie is setting up the blog Generation Make It Happen, to profile people under 30 who are "making it happen" in their communities.

The blog will feature mini documentaries directed by Oghomwen, about young people who are creating some positive changes in Nigeria, through their work, activism, businesses, art, NGOs, and other area. She will profile young people whose personal stories are inspiring and who had to surmount mountains in the pursuit of their dreams.

If this sounds like you or someone you know, please get in touch with her by email, oehigie.auditions@gmail.com.

National ICT Youth Rally – Nov 7, 2008

The 2008 edition of the National ICT Youth Rally is scheduled to hold on Friday, November 7, 2008, at the National Stadium, Surulere in Lagos. The theme is "Nigerian Youth: Plugging into the ICT Revolution".

The National ICT Youth Rally is the principal gathering by and for the Nigerian youths for the purpose of bridging the digital divide. It offers a unique opportunity for brainstorming, sharing of ideas, interaction, mentoring and display of ICT projects/works by young people in the country.

Activities at the National ICT Youth Rally 2008 include the finals of the ICT Quiz Contest, ICT debate, SMS competition, workshop/special project exhibition, scholarship/sponsorship opportunities and special guest appearance from Nollywood and the music industry.

Ernest Ndukwe, executive Vice Chairman, NCC, is billed to deliver the keynote address while Prince Ademola Adeniji-Adele, commissioner for Youth, Sports and Social Development, Lagos State, a seasoned technocrat and youth development enthusiast would serve as chief host.

Read more about the event.

Nigeria Transmitted

Being out of Nigeria, you start to realise the potentially dominant influence that Nigeria can wield and sometimes does over the rest of the continent. In most cases, it's our popular culture that carries most easily to other borders via the power of Nollywood and the DSTV channel Africa Magic.

I am miles away from home, but every night I can watch a host of Nigerian films and feel like I'm still at home (afterall, virtually every other show on the channel is Nigerian). People I meet tell me all about the Nigeria they've come to know from films, which includes hateful mother-in-laws, juju, over-the-top theatrics, focus on flashy possessions, extreme wealth, extreme poverty, and the list goes on. People tell me me about our food, as conjured from descriptions in Things Fall Apart and The Concubine, books from their secondary school reading lists.

Tonight I watched an old episode of Moments with Mo on Africa Magic, featuring Adesuwa Onyenokwe. And as corny as it is to say, I felt very proud: to be Nigerian; that we have some good productions coming out of the country; that our culture is so rich and diverse.

The Returning Set

Each month, I hear of more and more people moving back to Nigeria from wherever they have been working or living for the last few years. This article, interestingly called "Siege of the Nigerian Expatriate" follows some people who decided to move back home, their challenges, the rewards (of course) and what happens when it all becomes a bit too much.