Top Posts This Week
Hey guys. So this week was full! We had a lot of things that we talked about and we were excited to have you follow us on this journey. We crossed the 30000 view mark and we are excited about this achievement. With your continued love and support, we are heading for the furthest part of the galaxy. Thank you darlings. So these were the top stories, pieces, videos and the likes we had on our various platforms. On the blog; 1. We started the week by sending a letter to parents on how important they are in building their children’s self-worth and esteem. It was a no holds barred kinda piece and you should check it out if you ever want to be or are already a parent; 2. For #TalkTuesday, we looked at catcallers and wondered what you thought of them; 3. Wednesday, November 16, was International Day of Tolerance and we expressed why we MUST tolerate one another regardless of race, religion, tribe, strata, gender or sexual orientation and finally; 4. The gruesome mob killing of a boy (or man if the news is to be believed) prompted us to talk about the possibilities that we may all be murderers. It was pretty serious stuff on the blog but the podcast was more fun. We; 1. Celebrated BLESSING TIMIDI for her work on activism and human rights, with special bias to women and children and; 2. Did a throwback of our 5 favorite R’n’B songs of the 90s done by Divas; the good type. Or in Mariah Carey’s case, just Diva. And because our founder, Ramatu Ada Ochekliye, was one of the facilitators for the Save Our Women Foundations’ “RUNNING WITH A PURPOSE CONFERENCE 2016”, she shared excepts from her lecture on our vlog channel. She spoke on ‘SOCIAL MEDIA: LOOKING THROUGH THE MEDIA LENS’ and shared the excerpts in a four part series broken down below; 1. GIRLS AND SOCIAL MEDIA; 2. CHALLENGES GIRLS FACE ON SOCIAL MEDIA; 3. PRIVACY ON SOCIAL MEDIA and; 4. WHY SOCIAL MEDIA IS IMPORTANT FOR GIRLS. We also finally decided to be on Instagram and yes, we know we are 2000 and late! But we are here now, so follow us at shadesofbrownng. So this is an overview of all the things we did this week. Which is your favorite piece? Catch up on our work and enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Complicit in Mob Justice
Armed African MobImage: Otago Daily Times The news of a ‘7 year old boy’ gruesomely tortured and burned to death for stealing Garri broke yesterday (November 16, 2016) when a user on Twitter, @Adeyanjudeji, tweeted pictures about it and Linda Ikeji carried it on her blog. In a matter of hours, a video had surfaced to join the pictures and though I didn’t watch it, the pictures were enough to show people standing by as this little boy was beaten up, draped with a tyre and set ablaze; all by a mob of men and women frothing at the mouth with supposedly righteous indignation. It was later discovered that he was a full grown man as opposed to the little boy that was originally reported. This is not the first time mob ‘justice’ has happened in Nigeria or Africa even. In fact, this is one of the many instances that have been in the news so far this year. Children, adults, groups and even whole communities are set upon by mobs and burned to ground; with wanton disregard for human life and humanity. There are all sorts of mob murderers in the country (and continent) and they can be classified into the following; 1. The Religious Zealots: These ones are the deeply uneducated yet easily offended members of a religious group. They are machete-happy and cannot wait to cut down and burn any and every one who dares blaspheme their precious gods. They are found in Traditional religion, Christianity and Islam. Depending on where you are in the country, you don’t want to be caught by these men. In Central African Republic, it is almost common place to hear of Christian mobs beating and killing Muslims. In Nigeria, we are still reeling from the mob killings in Zamfara, Niger, Abuja and Kano by Muslim Zealots. I wrote extensively about this in my post, ‘Attacking Christians?’ In fact, killers of Bridget Agbahime were just released by the Kano State Attorney General few days go. 2. The ‘Crime Reduction’ Killers: These groups are always on ground to deliver jungle justice to anyone who steals; whether that theft is money or Garri. Do you remember the gruesome Ejigbo pepper incident where a woman and her daughters were stripped down and rubbed with alligator pepper mixed with gin for allegedly stealing pepper? With the culprits even going as far inserting this mixture in the women’s vaginas and using sticks to ‘stir’ it in? Or the gruesome killing of four buys in what has been called the ALUU4 killings? Or the many cases of alleged thieves been beaten and burned to death across the country? In their view, killing these ‘thieves’ serves as a deterrent for others and in a way, a strike back at the number of terrible robbery attacks they themselves have had to face. 3. The Foreigners-Are-Taking-Our-Jobs-So-We-Must-Be-Xenophobic Lot: This is especially true for South Africa where citizens of the country targeted and killed immigrants and visitors for allegedly taking their jobs. From Johannesburg to Soweto, these rampaging crowds went about beating and killing fellow Africans in one of the worst xenophobic attacks in recent time. No one was brought to justice and even the South African Zulu king, Godwill Zwelithi, is still enjoying himself in his kingdom, even though his hateful speech about foreigners stirred the xenophobic attacks and his silence intensified it. 4. The Politicians-With-Authority-Over-The-Police-And-Military Killers: Many governments in Africa are directlyresponsible for the deaths of their citizens through organized mob action. Look at what is happening in Nigeria. Murdering herdsmen go on rampage in many towns across the country and almost nothing is ever done. Southern Kaduna is still broiling from the 31 people that were just killed two days ago. Many residents of Benue, Jos, Ekiti, Enugu and Taraba are still mourning the loss of their relatives. And what does the government do? Almost nothing! The government is complicit in the deaths of these Nigerians. On the other hand, bandits go into communities in Northern Nigeria (Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina) and kill at will. Cultists in the Southern part of the country (Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Rivers etc) act like nothing can be done to them. And what happens? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! All we have are a group of elected officials who always ask for understanding when these acts occur. When these killings begin to affect them or people like them, you then see a show of force. Even more so is the direct killings of Shiite Muslims by the government’s mob; the army. Hundreds of Shiites have been killed and hastily buried because they are dissenting voices from what is popular and accepted as the norm. And even though I do not agree with the beliefs of the Shiites, I do not think it is an excuse to kill them. People who protest peacefully are set upon by angry crowds and killed in the very glare of the army. You begin to wonder which minority is next on the list. 5. You And I: Oh you didn’t know? We are all complicit in these murders! You and I are part of the problem. We contribute to the mob killings by being silent. Oh yes! We stand and watch when people are killed and we even take out our phones for our favorite pastime; recording the moment. If there are no pictures, it didn’t happen right? We talk about it in anger on social media, spewing all manner of self-righteous indignation at the horrific way someone was killed and when it stops being a trending topic, we forget about it until the next incident happens. We come out en masse for rallies to protest increase in fuel price hike but we don’t do the same to demand that our government protects the lives of EVERY NIGERIAN AND AFRICAN. Well, who really cares about Nigerian (or African) lives? After all, it doesn’t affect us now, does it? We share pictures and videos of gruesome killings in our moment of shame and then we move
International Day of Tolerance 2
TolerancePicture Culled from: ODYSSEY Tolerance. Noun tol•er•ance ˈtä-lə-rən(t)s, ˈtäl-rən(t)s : Willingness to accept feelings, habits, or beliefs that are different from your own Merriam-Webster Dictionary A relatively simple word. Why then is so hard to understand? Why is it so difficult to apply in our everyday lives? The world is filled with greatly intolerant people unwilling to understand that by virtue of our humanity, race, gender, sexuality, nationality, tribe or religion, we CANNOT ALL HAVE THE SAME VIEWS OR BELIEFS. This lack of understanding has led to tribal and religious conflicts and violence, wars, terrorism, genocide, supposedly honorable killings, mob violence and so much more. Sometimes, intolerance leads to denial of an individual’s basic human rights; which in some cases is more terrifying than been killed. We believe that every human being has a right to the following; 1. A right to believe in any set of religious tenets they choose and in like manner, a right to not believe in any religion or God; 2. A right to be treated equally regardless of race, tribe, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, social strata, physical disability or level of education; 3. A right to dress in whatever manner a person chooses; 4. A right to hold views, opinions, beliefs or thoughts about any and every thing; 5. A right to form ideologies and belief systems based on the knowledge they have; 6. A right to share knowledge without forcing it down people’s throats or coming to harm for sharing that knowledge and best of all; 7. A right to believe differently from the norm or popular belief, culture, law or tradition. We believe these core values come with a limitation; that our beliefs SHOULD NOT cause harm to any human life. We may not have the same beliefs but we can TOLERATE each person’s right to their own. This mean that even if something goes against our core values, we have no right to try and force others to live, think and believe as we do. We have to find a way to respect people’s differing opinions; even if we dislike their views. As the world marks the INTERNATIONAL DAY OF TOLERANCE (as done every year on November 16 since 1995) we urge you to be more tolerant of one another and of people (slightly or vastly) different from you. We also urge you to shun bigotry, racism and perceived racial supremacy, sexism, religious intolerance, gender bias and inequality, forced sexuality and sexual orientation and all other forms of intolerance. If we do this, maybe Africa – and the world in general – can be a much better place. Do your part! Join the fight and stop intolerance today! Picture: Scary Mommy
For the Idiots That Catcall
How Women Are CatcalledPicture Credit: GURL Walking down the street is a chore for women; especially if there are men positioned anywhere on that street. Most ladies will tell you they have been catcalled one way or the other. Catcalling is one of the most annoying things uncultured men do to women that just set our teeth on edge. If you don’t know, ‘catcalling’ is; ‘…a loud whistle or a comment of a sexual nature made by a man to a passing woman.’ English Oxford Living Dictionaries The calls may be as simple as ‘see fine babe’ or as crude as ‘chai! See nyash’. The latter happened to me recently. I was crossing the road when this car sped up, making me break out in a run. When the car got close to me, the idiot of a driver slowed down and shouted, ‘see as your nyash dey bounce as you dey run.’ He laughed and drove away when I donned on my ratchet persona and cussed him out. What this driver did to me is pretty regular for many girls. Recently in fact, news outlets carried the story of a big breasted lady who was followed by lascivious and leering men in Computer Village, Lagos. She smiled in the pictures but you know she was doing so from a place of embarrassment and fear. The men however didn’t think they were doing anything wrong. They laughed and openly stared at her breasts and some idiots even went as far as trying to touch her. Many of these men do it be appreciative of a woman while others do it because they have the feeling of entitlement. They are taught that they can have any woman they want and women should be happy that they deigned to show us some appreciation. Either way, catcalling is fucking wrong! And before bigger idiots say this type of behavior only happens to women who are scantily dressed or who wear clinging clothes, let me shut them down quickly. On one Friday while I was in Lagos, I wore my custom Abaya – a long flowing dress mostly worn by Arab women – and tied my hair. I looked like a Muslim woman and assumed that few people will bother me, what with how women generally dress in Lagos. When I got to Ojuelegba, this agbero saw me and started following me. He kept saying, ‘Hausa girl, wetin you dey hide under that cloth? Come make I show you big prick.’ I was shocked beyond words but continued on my way. When I lost my cool was the moment the man put his hand on me. I flipped and went ham on him and rather than be chastised by the other men, even the ones who seemed educated, people patted his back and laughed at me. I was nearly moved to tears and my only escape was quickly taking a bike and getting the hell out of that place. People say only uneducated men catcall. Well…I disagree. Even very educated, uncultured men catcall. It is important to know that being educated does not instantly mean being cultured. For the English maybe but not for the African and on behalf of women everywhere, I am saying we are sick and tired of this vile and disgusting behavior! What the hell men?! Oh! There are some women who love it when guys catcall them because they feel it is a compliment but these women have to check themselves. Their self-worth must be in the gutters somewhere. The truth is that most men who catcall think that it will somehow lead to sex. Like I am going to take off my clothes and sleep with a complete idiot who sees me on the road and comments on the size of my butt. Dude, wake the hell up! Almost 99.99% of the time, a woman doesn’t respond favorably to catcalls. In fact Bustle’s ‘Do You Respond to Catcalling? 23 Women Reveal How They Reply To Street Harassment’ is a direct proof of this. So why do men think it is okay to continue doing so? This has to stop. And men have to help make it stop. Women have been complaining about this forever with very little respite so it is time to get men to join in on the complaint. If these men didn’t think that catcalling is wrong, why do they almost never do it when a woman is walking with a man? Or even when they do, it is probably because the man is smaller or far less threatening than they are. There are many times when we see a man so fine that we just want to say hello. But you never see us catcalling men, howling or whistling to show him our ‘appreciation’, do you? Whether men accept it or not, catcalling is sexual harassment and like all forms of sexual harassment, it is demeaning! Again, this has to fucking stop! This was an answer that was given to the question, ‘Does Catcalling Happen In East Asia and if so, Is It a Big Issue?’ on Quora. ‘It is extremely rare, if it ever happens. In East Asian countries, it is rude to display your sexuality so overtly. People are a lot more conservative there and public displays of affection are frowned upon. Catcalling is a very forward act and in East Asian countries, overt flirting is not really done in public, especially with strangers. People are expected to act properly and to be so loud, crude, and overtly sexual would be considered a flagrant violation of that. There is something very immodest about catcalling and that also violates the social norm of modesty in East Asian countries. If you choose to catcall, you will be seen as an oafish boor whose parents shamefully did not raise you properly. In South Korea, family background is emphasized and if you display such crudeness, that will be put into doubt, putting your prospects of marriage and employment at risk. You will not be popular at the very least.’
Dear Parents, Here Is Some Much Needed Advice
Image: Parent Pump Radio Dear parents, First, congratulations on having that child or those children. It must have been nerve-wracking going through the process of carrying and birthing your children. It should even be scarier trying to raise those kids to be stellar individuals who you can be proud of. Well done indeed. Having said that, there are some things you need to learn if you are to be a wonderful parent. This has nothing to do with changing diapers or effectively calculating sleeping and eating pattern. No; let the books educate you on those. This has to do with developing your children’s personalities and temperament. 1. You are your children’s FIRST ROLE MODELS; While this is self-explanatory, it begs to be explained. You need to show your children how to be responsible by doing your share of house chores and contributing your share of the finances. Let them know that whether they are boys or girls, they each have duties and responsibilities to the family. If you do not, your boys will learn to expect women to take care of them and your daughters would think their lives should revolve around taking care of their men. Do not hit your spouse or be violent in any way to them. Of course there are days when you will quarrel and have heated arguments but as much as you can, do this away from the children. Let them learn to respect each other because you respect each other and yourselves. Don’t go about fighting each other in public when you can sort out your issues privately. Don’t go teaching your children that it is okay to be deliberately taunting and nagging and rude. It is not a good look for anyone. Get a job, or a business or an advocacy organization and spend your time on more meaningful things than house chores while watching Telemundo, ZeeWorld or Super Sports. Teach your girls to aspire for more than being a kept woman who depends on her husband for every single thingshe needs. That is no way to live and that is no way to raise your daughters. It is also no way to raise your sons who might grow up to expect women to depend on them for all they need. Teach your children that marriage is a partnership, with each partner contributing time, energy, and financesto the process. 2. You are the first to BUILD YOUR CHILDREN’S SELF-ESTEEM AND WORTH; Many parents are okay telling their children that they are ‘stupid’, ‘foolish’, ‘a dunce’ or even more derogatory terms. This is wrong! No child is stupid. They may do stupid things but that doesn’t make them stupid. Understand that each child is different and learns at their own pace. Don’t force your children to all excel at mathematics when one may love French more. Find out what each child is capable of and reaffirm their self-worth by making them better at it. Also, you need to let your children learn to do things by themselves. You should allow them try to solve problem without needing you there. These problems could be algebra or bullying. What you should do is tell them that you trust their abilities and their decision and help them understand that sometimes, it is okay to be wrong. There are parents who tell their kids that they are ugly or too black or have long or wide mouths or slit eyes or are too fat and stuff like that. Well…don’t! These seemingly simple utterances go a long way in cementing your child’s self-worth. As they grow up, these words will make them feel insecure in a society that thrives on insecurity. And when your kids are insecure, they become susceptible to all sorts of vices to make them feel better about themselves. 3. Your child should NOT HAVE TO EARN YOUR LOVE; It is a known fact that parents do not love their children equally and have favorites but never show your children that! Love each of your children as equally as you can and better than that, your children should not have to earn your love. It is unnatural for children to do things to make you love them. Loving them should come as naturally as breathing. This means that you shouldn’t threaten to withdraw your love when they do wrong and even worse, tell them as some parents do, that they wish the kids were never born. How is a child to feel loved when these are done? How is a child to thrive? And yes, some children can be very trying but that is no excuse to make them work at getting your love. You should be able to understand the dynamic nature of each child and use that dynamism to make your relationship with them better. 4. Your child should respect (NOT FEAR) you; Most African parents thrive on instilling fear into their children. Their children are not allowed to have opinions of their own and must cower when these parents talk. Well guess what? They are your children, not your slaves or puppets! When children fear their parents, they hide things from them and in some instances, hate them. Such children cannot wait to leave their homes and when they do, they almost always never return. They will also keep communication at the barest minimum because no one likes to constantly have to face their fears. Respect is very different from fear. It is respect that will make a child do what you ask. And this respect has to be mutual! That you brought that child into the world is no reason to be disrespectful to them. You must treat them like fully functional human beings who have a right to their own thoughts, opinions and ideologies. The plus side to this is, if you respect each other, your children and other people you meet, your children will most likely pick your ideologies as theirs too. 5. Tell your children YOU LOVE THEM; African parents are
Dear Governor Elrufai…
Nasir Ahmed el-RufaiGovernor of Kaduna StateCredit: The Guardian Good day Your Excellency, I would like to start by applauding you on the strides you have made in the months you have been in office. I appreciate the fact that you and your cabinet took a 50% pay cut as a result of your commitment to the state and her advancement, thus setting precedence for good governance and leadership. I hope you continue to keep your word to the people of Kaduna State as promised in your campaign and town hall speeches. That being said, I am writing this letter to make some complaints. I live in Ungwan Romi, in the southern region of Kaduna State. For years, there was hardly any development done in this area until late Governor Patrick Yakowa started major road constructions in the area. These projects included; 1. Road construction from the Romi Junction at Polytechnic Quarters (Romi Burial Ground) to Ungwan Sule; 2. Road construction from Romi Bus Stop through Lussawa and out to the Gas junction close to Peugeot Nigeria; 3. Road construction from School Road to Karatudu which leads to Karatudu, Gonin Gora, Buwaya and Federal Housing and; 4. The Bridge linking Unguwan Romi to the communities mentioned in 3 above. Unfortunately, he could not finish the projects he started before he passed on. When former Governor Ramalan Mukhtar Yero was elected, many people thought that he would complete the projects started by his predecessor. We shouldn’t have held our breaths. The projects were abandoned by the former Governor for roughly three years. When you came into power, you promised to ensure that all contracts given by Late Patrick Yakowa would be honored by you and completed by your administration. I am glad that in some regards, you have stayed true to your campaign promises. The bridge has been completed and you cannot begin to imagine the relief the completion has brought to residents who need ease of access between these communities. For this, I applaud your commitment. However, the roads that were started by Late Patrick Yakowa are still in the state they were at his death. Yes, they have been cleared, excavated and fine graded with red sand but that is just about it. As a result of this neglect, most of these areas have houses, farms, schools, businesses and shops caked with red dust. This means these areas have a permanent ‘dirty’ look. But beyond aesthetics are the health consequences of this neglect. Food sources from shops are caked with dust and adding that to the constant inhalation of dust raised by pedestrians and vehicles, we have a recipe for a large scale health disaster. The major respite we have is the annual rainfall – which itself poses some problems, chief of which is slippery roads – and the government’s efforts to wet the roads during the dry season. The government’s part stopped a while back. The rains have been gone for maybe two week and with the harmattan that has set in, the roads are so dry, resulting in a marked increase in dust particles in the atmosphere that is a slow poisoning of the residents of these neighborhoods. Your Excellency, I am hoping that these roads are part of your infrastructural plans for Kaduna state. If they are, I would like to implore you to do something about them as soon as you can. And while we wait, I am hoping that you direct the ministry of works to send out trucks of water daily to wet the roads. This will go a long way in helping the residents of these communities. As I wait in anticipation, I thank you in advance. Yours Faithfully, Ramatu Ada Ochekliye School Road, Unwan Romi Uncompleted road in Ungwan Romi Vehicles kicking up dust in Ungwan Romi Graded road in Ungwan Romi Houses caked with red dust in Ungwan Romi Lussawa Road Pedestrians kicking up dust in Ungwan Romi Bus top, Ungwan Romi
Why We Love Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham ClintonPicture: MISES INSTITUTE The first time I really took note of Hillary Rodham Clinton was when she was propelled to national (and international) ridicule by Bill Clinton’s affair in 1998. I was nine years old then and didn’t really understand politics. I was however very sad that Hillary Clinton had been publicly embarrassed by the scandal. I didn’t have access to the internet then but I followed every article that mentioned Hillary Clinton on the dailies. And even though I didn’t completely understand a lot of what I was reading, I grew fascinated with her. I learned that she wasn’t the typical woman of the 90s. She had a mind of her own, a drive that could rival most men and a desire that was as infectious as it was surprising. She was a lawyer, held strong political views that she was willing to work for and was actively fighting for children’s rights in her country. What was most impressive was that she was all of these before she even met Bill Clinton. The results of my research on Hillary and what I knew about Oprah Winfrey made me sit down – all 9 years old of me – to write out my life plans, the things I wanted to do and achieve and the person I wanted to be remembered for. I wrote these plans knowing that it wasn’t wrong for women to be intelligent, passionate or driven; things I was already displaying at that age. As I grew older, the strides Hillary made – in her law practice, humanitarian work and on the board of many committees – cemented my views about who I was meant to be. She was shattering glass ceilings way before it was a fitting catchphrase. What was most inspiring was her drive. She couldn’t be stopped for anything! Yes, she was less prominent during the time leading to the 1996 elections, but she didn’t stop pushing for the causes she was passionate about. From a driven lawyer, she became the first ‘First Lady’ to share her desire for elective post, campaign for that and win. But that was not the end for her. After serving for eight years in the US Senate, she announced that she was going to run for Presidency in 2008. I was so excited when I read this and even though I was a total fan of Barack Obama, I was happy that she dared to aspire for the highest post in one of the world’s greatest nations. And even though she didn’t get the Democratic Party nomination, she didn’t remain bitter. She joined forced with President Barack Obama as his Secretary of State. When she expressed her desire again for office in 2015, I was again inspired. She couldn’t be put down! And best of all, she wouldn’tbe put down. Never in my life have I prayed to be American more than at that time so I could vote for her; vote for a woman who refused to toe the line society tried to force down her throat. Hillary was more qualified than her husband when he ran for presidency but she waited. She was probably more experienced than President Barack Obama when he ran but again, she waited. You can imagine my pain when the time finally came and she had to face a racist, sexist, homophobic, misogynist, unintelligent, vile and inexperienced man! I honestly thought she had it in the bun. But alas, racism, James Comey, sexism, homophobia, Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, white supremacy and blatant tomfoolery would have none of that. In spite of her loss at the US Elections, I have never been more proud of a person like I am of Hillary. Hillary Clinton is a woman who has pushed for the things she believes in, giving her all – and then some – to her dreams, even when everything seemed against her. Many people wanted her to stand behind her husband, aspire for garden parties in the white house and be a beautiful potted plant. Most people couldn’t understand a woman who dared to have her own mind, her own dreams, her own vision and even her own sense of style. I mean, how dare Hillary think she can wear those pantsuits and three-inch heels and be president? Well, those people won! For now, anyway. Why was it so important for Hillary to win? Would she have been the first female president? No! We have African female presidents. Plus, I am Nigerian. How does it affect me? Well, it does! Many people have accused me of supporting Hillary Clinton only because she is a woman and I laugh because the reaction is typical. I wanted her to win because she was the most qualified person for the position as a result of her extensive work in government and because she worked hard; even harder than most men have to. Nut more than that, and she daredto. I wanted her to win because I saw her policy plans and agreed with them. I wanted her to win because she had demonstrated better character for humanity and basic human rights than Trump has or will ever. Beyond that, I wanted her to win because she had her failings too and has learned from them. But no; she is a woman, so that was my only reason for supporting her (*shaking my head). It is worrisome however that most people would rather vote a bumbling unqualified man than a woman. We get it; society has its tethering rope. Hillary may have lost this election but she has inspired me, and many people globally, to fight for what we believe in, to push for what we want and to stay the course, even if it takes forever. She may not get to be the first female president of the United States of America but her drive would make some woman the first. Many of the suffragettes didn’t get to see Hillary Clinton contest but their
What Donald Trump’s Victory Should Mean for Africa
Donald Trump,President of The United States of America.Picture Credit: TIME As the world reels from the news that Donald Trump is the President of the United States of America, we need to take a look back at what the win, combined with the proposed British exit – Brexit – from the European Union means for Africa, Africans and black people in general. Like the push for Brexit, Donald Trump’s campaign was riddled with fear mongering, describing a world where minorities are supposedly overwhelming the (predominantly white) population of these countries. The purview of these two world powers hold is that by ‘letting’ more ‘minorities’ into their nation, the people indigenous to these countries are being pushed out; from leadership positions, jobs, opportunities and other benefits of being a citizen. To the majority of Americans and Brexit voters, these foreigners are making them less than they are supposed to be and they need to take their power back. In plain speak, keep the bloody foreigners out! While this is being touted as nationalistic for those who hold these views, we cannot help but see the underlying (in the case of Britain) and most times, glaringly obvious (Trump couldn’t be clearer) tones of racism, bigotry and hate. It is shocking to note that these two countries that pride themselves on being progressive and the most tolerant of the world powers have massively voted to stop acting like they consider all human life equal. George Orwell couldn’t have been more accurate. The United States of America and the United Kingdom have voted to stop pretending that there aren’t racist undertones in their country. They have also voted to stop pretending that they care about ALL human life. Why is this a historical time for Africa particularly? The answer lies in the fact that Africans and black people keep going to these countries for one reason or the other. Before I look at the Black people from these countries, I will discuss those of us from Africa. The data collated by NOI Polls and Pew Research Center show that rate of emigration of Africans to the US and UK has increased. This is especially explained by Monica Anderson in her article, ‘African Immigrant Population in U.S. Steadily Climbs’ posted on Fact Tank, Pew Research Center on November 2, 2015. Of particular interest to me are these paragraphs: “There were 1.8 million African immigrants living in the U.S. in 2013, up from 881,000 in 2000 and a substantial increase from 1970, when the U.S. was home to only 80,000 foreign-born Africans. They accounted for 4.4% of the immigrant population in 2013, up from 0.8% in 1970. The growth is evident among recently arrived immigrants. When compared with other major groups who arrived in the U.S. in the past five years, Africans had the fastest growth rate from 2000 to 2013, increasing by 41% during that period. (Africans are also a rapidly growing segment of the black immigrant population in the U.S., increasing by 137% from 2000 to 2013.) One factor behind this recent wave can be traced to the Refugee Act of 1980, which made it easier for those fleeing conflict-ridden areas, such as Somalia and Ethiopia, to resettle in the U.S. Back then, less than 1% of all refugee arrivals were from Africa, compared with 32% today, according to figures from the U.S. State Department’s Refugee Processing Center. Statistics from the Yearbook of Immigration Statistics confirm this point. Among refugee arrivals in 2013, five of the top 10 countries of nationality were in Africa: Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia.” But more than a desire to flee war-torn countries is an emigration for proper (and more advanced) health care, better education, more effectively working systems’, tourism or just having a go at ‘greener pastures’. Each of these by themselves is not too much of a problem but when put together, we see the problem as clearly as day; Africa is a failing continent. It breaks my heart to say this because of my optimism about Africa but it is imperative that we accept that we are failing; and woefully so! The rest of the world took pity on us for centuries and allowed some of our excesses. Of course they did this for their selfish gains but we are more to blame for this than they are. We cannot continue to funnel our resources, wealth, revenue or intellect towards improving these countries when ours, and hence our continent, continues to suffer and bleed out. We cannot continue to continue to perpetuate the ‘white savior’ complex and expect more developed countries to solve our problems. And now, even if we want to, these countries are not having it anymore! They are sick and tired of our neediness and constant dependence. They are done with us! So what can we do? 1. First, we need to wake the hell up! These countries see us as nothing more than pests and leeches and what do you do to these? I will let you figure it out. Before that time comes, we need to borrow ourselves some sense and wake up; 2. We need to stop believing in the ‘white savior’ ruse because guess what? They have not saved us from anything! In case you don’t know, South Sudanese people are still dying. So are Somalians. Many African countries are still dirt poor. Aid after aid after elaborate event to raise more aid and the problems we have are still very glaring. No country will save us as long as they need us to remain dependent. We have to save ourselves! The black race has to save herself! 3. There is no better time to strengthen our institutions than at this very moment. We need to start investing – heavily – in our educational and health sectors, our military, government systems, infrastructure, landmarks, power, communications and best of all, our human capital and resources; 4. The bloody brain drain has to stop! We cannot continue to take so much money
Ramat: The Angry Black Woman
Hey guys. So two, maybe three, weeks ago, I decided to switch my style of presentation and become more demure. This is because my presentation role models – Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres, Angie Martinez and Toolz – are these super calm women who seem to be making so much impact and getting so much paper. Also, someone told me that I sounded like I was ‘always angry’. I didn’t want to come off as petty and angry as Wendy does (in my opinion) and I didn’t want to be known as ‘Ramat the angry black woman’. So…I switched my style. I did this video where I was uber calm, where I counted my words, tried to enunciate better and basically, was a complete opposite of my normal self. I was excited about the video and couldn’t wait to get it up. The first thing that happened was the feedback. I was told I ‘looked tired and bored’, didn’t ‘have energy’, ‘acted like I was being forced to do it’ and other such statements. In essence, the video I was excited about was boring at best, or just plain horrible! I was shocked! Here was a video I so proud of but was one almost everyone didn’t like. To say I was burnt is the understatement of the century. I sulked a bit, refused to talk to some of my biggest supporters and generally felt like quitting. After the requisite time of unhappiness, I went back to the video and watched it again. And again. And one more time. I removed myself from the work I had done and watched it like a stranger. When I was done, I came to the same conclusion; the video sucked! I told my sisters why I switched my style and they said something that jolted me back to reality. They said, ‘Ramat, angry black woman works for you. Why do you want to stop being that?’ So I thought about it. I had a pretty important topic to discuss and I tried to sound like other people when being myself would have been awesome. Yes! I am a bit of a talker. I have plenty (if not too much) energy and my voice is a bit high pitched (whom am I kidding? My voice is very high pitched!) Some people think I am shouting when I talk but that is what comes naturally to me. I am a super excited person and when I feel anything, I feel it with all of me! And yes! I am angry about many things! It is that anger that pushed me to give my voice to many injustices of society. I realized that as different as I am from my role models (and other women in broadcast media), we all had our audience and each a space in this life. People may think Wendy is petty but there are so many other people who worship the ground she walks on. I remember when someone said Oprah was boring and after I took quick breaths to calm down, I realized that it was valid thought for that person. We all like what we like and that is what makes the world a diverse place. So today, I am back! The real Ramat, with the ‘loud’ voice, crazy body gesticulations, hyperactive persona and plenty ginger (who uses that anymore Ramat? Rolling my eyes) is back! There is nothing wrong in learning from others as you try to be the person you were created to be. What is wrong is trying to be like other people when you are awesome just being you. Different isn’t wrong. Find what makes you tick and follow your own path! So darlings, what are you going to do? Follow the herd or chart your own course?
Shayo Tinuoye: The Global Citizen
Shayo Tinuoye Oluwashayo Tinuoye – or Shayo as most people call her – is a young Nigerian lady who has traveled to thirty four countries in her quest for knowledge and an opportunity to impact lives. And she isn’t done yet. She intends to visit as many countries as possible before she is too old to travel. But where did it all start from? To understand her will, we may have to go way back. Shayo was born into a blended family, the daughter of a Reverend who lives in Kaduna and a retired teacher who lives in Ibadan. She is the first child of her father and the last of her mother. She has eight siblings in total, four from her dad and four from her mum. It’s a large family with Shayo as the middle child. I asked how she was able to cope with the drama that was likely to come with such family dynamics. “Growing up, it was more challenging having to deal with separated parents and being caught up in the heat sometimes. But it is way better now.” She had to balance her relationship with her family by spending time in Kaduna when school was in session and in Ibadan during the holidays. Despite the family issues she was facing, she always maintained her happy-go-lucky personality. In high school, she was ribbed a lot for being a tall girl – she was 5’7 at the time of graduation – and she found a way to tease back, making her a favorite among many of her classmates. Nothing, it seemed, could dampen the bubble of happiness that was Shayo. Shayo knew she always wanted to travel but apart from shuttling between Ibadan and Kaduna, she didn’t really think much about it. It wasn’t until she got to the university that an opportunity similar to the start of a cheesy love story presented itself. “So I was sitting on the walkway after a boring lecture one glorious day back in 100 level and a couple of cute boys walked up to me and my friends. And they were like, ‘What’s your passion?’.We couldn’t answer in a way that was convincing. “So they told us about this amazing organization that helps people explore their leadership potential blah blah blah… But what I took out of all the mumbo jumbo they said was the fact that I could travel to work on a social issue. And I was very passionate about HIV/AIDS. So I was like ‘Why not? After all, na plant we dey study!’.” At a Temple in Guangzhou, China You see, Shayo had written JAMB three times because she wanted to study medicine. When university admission was not forthcoming and she absolutely needed to leave home, she agreed to study Plant Biology at the University of Ilorin. This was a course she didn’t have any interest in, so her stay in the university was just to pass time. Cue cute boys to change the narrative. The organisation they were raving about? AIESEC. When Shayo found AIESEC, her university days finally became interesting. She was glad to have found something that was practical and she gave it a greater portion of her energy. She was not really clear on the objectives of the organisation until, at the 200 level break, she went to Ghana. “I went to Kumasi, Ghana, for an internship where I worked on a project called ASK (Answers and Solutions around HIV/AIDS). It was mainly creating awareness in high schools. So I worked on this project alongside other interns from about 10 counties. We partnered with a couple of organisations focusing on similar issues in Kumasi. After I got back, I had more clarity on what AIESEC was about. So I became a super active member.” Getting clarity came with a price. The internship was self-funded and unpaid, as all the participants were volunteers. I became very curious about how a 21-year old girl managed to travel abroad to work with little funds. How did her parents react? “Haha! My parents were in full support, although my dad became skeptical at some point. And he was like, ‘What are you going there to do… blah blah blah…’ But I managed to go, being a stubborn head. Plus, mum was in full support. She paid for my transportation. So I went via ABC – longest trip of my life! And she also gave me pocket money. My dad also gave me some cash, plus I saved a little. So I managed.” From that moment, the travel bug bit Shayo and she couldn’t be cured. Even though most of her trips have been for work, she has used every opportunity to enjoy the people and cultures of each country she has been to. So far, that number has been thirty-four. You begin to wonder how many times she travels a year. “It’s hard to take an average – the reason being that my trips were totally dependent on my role. For example, when I was Director for Talent Management in Ghana, I traveled only twice. When I became Country Director, I traveled more and then when I became Director for Africa, I had to visit even more countries. So those visits were almost always work related.” Shayo’s plate is clearly full, when it comes to travelling for work. I wondered if she had any time at all for personal vacations and leisurely trips. “Yes I do. Every year. Two years ago I spent my entire vacation exploring Italy. Last year, Malta Island and Cambodia. Okay… let me answer your question. On an average, I travel thrice a year, at least.” Isn’t she living the life?! Shayo’s job is certainly interesting because of the opportunities it provides, but don’t be fooled – it’s not an endless vacation. She worked incredibly hard to build herself from a young volunteer into the organisation’s Director for Africa. She talked me through her journey, and emphasised the importance of seizing opportunities
