Author: Ada Okoli

On Leaving Africa: Migration in the 21st Century

Update: The outrage over the exposed Libyan slave auction in Libya has sparked much needed public outcry about the fate of African immigrants. This is a take on modern African migration from a Nigerian perspective.

There’s a popular joke that says: “The Nigerian dream is to leave Nigeria.”

While that may be a reach, it’s a fact that between January and May 2017 alone, over 10,000 Nigerians died while trying to illegally migrate through the Mediterranean Sea and the deserts.

And those are just the available stats for the first half of this year. For illegal migrants, who have died. So think of how many more casualties exist in total.

Officially, the country’s net emigration rate as of 2017 according to the CIA’S website is -0.2/1000 which means that in theory, 2 people out of every 10,000 left the country.

To put this figure in perspective, the U.S. remains the top country in the world for receiving migrants, taking in up to 989,900 legal migrants in 2013 and with a net immigration rate of 3.1 per thousand.

All things being equal, this index should give a picture of a country’s well-being and if a lot more people are going out than coming in, then that may be some cause for concern.

In reality, migration involves different push and pull factors that revolve around social, political, economical, and environmental factors according to Migration Trend. The general picture is that people naturally diffuse from unstable areas to places where they can lead better lives.

Here’s a clear idea about the top destinations for Nigerian emigrants:

The U.S. – no surprise here – is the single most visited country on the list. However, the bulk number of Nigerians migrate to other nearby African countries, for clear geographical reasons.

According to World Bank data, there are 1,117,000 Nigerians living abroad in total – but obviously those are just the ones with Nigerian passports. For example there are 3.2 million Nigerians in the United States. However, only 252,000, or 12%, still carry their Nigerian passport. That means 88% have opted for their host country citizenship.

Over 1 million Nigerians live in London. The UAE and various parts of Asia also have their own fair share of growing Nigerian communities there too.

It’s really not surprising; Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and one of the most populous in the world and it’s economy is barely able to support it’s citizens.

Immigration itself is not a problem. In fact, it is a normal part of urbanization and globalization. However, it becomes a problem when all of the youth of a country have their minds set on nothing more than to leave. This article in Vanguard captures the attitude of most Nigerians to leaving the country. Should one set out to interrogate the conditions that create the desperation to leave the country, one would find it is an interesting combination of Political, social and economic factors at play.

First and of immense importance, we live in a country where many are not only poor but cannot find jobs because unemployment is steadily rising. The chances of finding a livable paying job as a graduate are rare, so what are the hopes for majority of the largely uneducated population? Worse still, upward social mobility is almost non-existent and education, it’s best vehicle is being largely ignored.

For those who engage in enterprise or are creatively inclined, Nigeria is not the easiest place to thrive. Although – hurray – the country recently moved 21 places up World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking, it is still 145^th out of 190. Besides, ironically, such improvements are never really felt by the small – medium businesses who need it the most. In short, 80% of everyday business owners in Nigeria are put out of business within 3 years.

Since the prominence of Boko Haram, many Nigerians have left the country to declare asylum both in neighboring African countries and places further away like North America and Europe. A large proportion of these recent migrants are young people and families, finding themselves in foreign countries; some return, others do not.

There are also social undertones to some reasons for leaving the country. In Africa generally, there is a sort of prestige attached to ‘abroad’; the foreign or white man’s land. People actually use travelling abroad as a yardstick of social status, they travel to study or for medical reasons that should normally be treated at home.

For some of these ones, living outside Nigeria is enough success, even if they are worse off on arrival – which is often the case, according to this news article. Earlier this year, we were troubled with reports on the abuse of other African immigrants in South Africa and the crisis in Libya has shown us again, that the fate of many Africans who leave for greener pastures is discouraging – with many being trafficked or forced to work odd jobs in incredibly shitty conditions.

But for those who are lucky, or perhaps manage to make it to favorable tides, the glimmer of hope is the self promoted notion that Nigerians are resilient, and stand out in all walks of life in the places we go. A recent example is 20 year old Kayode who broke an academic record in Poland this year – Kayode and many more like him are considered in Nigeria to be proof of the Nigerian ‘excellence’ factor which many believe will only manifest when they leave the country.

Those who leave to become citizens elsewhere come from all social strata – the middle class, the newly rich, old rich and the very poor, all with one thing in common – they see a bleak future for themselves at home. It’s easy to see why. A lot of things are only staying the same but many are only getting worse. The population is increasing meanwhile more than half remains uneducated. The region’s politics, despite trendy new policies promoting youth inclusiveness, is still not accessible to the people. We are under the governance of the same old leaders who have tried to mortgage our futures for their pockets.

In the midst of all this, there are those who refuse to abandon hope. A lot of perceptions are evolving. 47% of over twenty respondents voted in a twitter poll that they would choose to stay and ‘fix’ Nigeria rather than relocate abroad if they had the chance. This hope for the future may be what will keep us going years from now. Like someone said “the things we are reaping now are a result of the foundations laid long ago. The future we want to see, has to be laid today.“

November 25, 2017
#WomenInMusic: Evolution Of Efya.

“My drive is really just to be great. I want to be great. I want to be one of the biggest musicians that have come out of Africa, not just in my prime but to make music that lives forever so that when I die, I can still live (forever). I want to make music that impacts on a whole generation.” – Efya.

Many of us know Efya as the female vocalist on Daddy Yo, Wizkid’s last hit for the year 2016.

What you probably didn’t know is that long before Efya, there was Miss Jane; young novice artiste from Kumasi, Ghana. We had a ‘brief chat’ with the artiste which somehow spanned over a number of days, often interrupted by photo shoots and studio sessions –things that come with living the life of a fast-rising artiste in Ghana. She tells us a few things about her evolution to this point and what really gets her moving.

Like the popular cliché; Efya [ born Jane Awindor ] began her music career through the reverberations of the church choir. Her first big break came after participating in the maiden edition of a talent show ‘Stars of the Future’ where she emerged as the second runner-up. I think it’s safe to say that this acted as a catalyst in the realization of her passion for music and as a would-be career. She confirms;

“I always knew it was something I loved doing but I didn’t decide to take it as a career until after the competition”

At the time, Efya went under the stage name “Miss Jane“, a younger, more naive version of herself now. Three years and one joint album later [with the winner of the contest], produced the birth of Efya; the multi-faceted artiste we know today.

“Miss Jane is who I used to be when I was younger” she says with a laugh, “Efya is the woman that I have become. Finding my sound, finding what I wanna do. Being able to mix my music, growing into the person that I have become. Miss Jane is the young Efya I would say.”

Some of this self-discovery, she says involves hard working on her art, while discovering the kind of sound she is more cut out for. Apparently, being talented isn’t all it takes. Efya discloses:

“As a musician, you’d love to appeal to everybody but it’s not everybody that’s gonna like your music so it’s about finding out what you’re good at and doing it well so you can appeal to your [right] crowd that will appreciate your sound.”

At the same time, Efya also had to go through the rough process of finding her footing in the business world of music, a side that most people, including new and aspiring musicians often forget is necessary.

“In the beginning, there was a little management issue, you have to get a team together, but after that is done, it’s really about you tryna put your game up and making sure you reach the impact that you wanna make as a musician.”

Looking back, One thing Efya wishes the young Jane had known is the importance of having a strong team from the get-go. “If you wanna do music”, she advises “you need a team behind you that supports you, believes in your art and the kind of music you wanna do and that has the resources to push you to the place that you need to be.”

Around April last year, there was news of Efya signing to Wizkid’s Starboy records, she tells us that the deal is still in progress and there isn’t much to be said about it for now.

But a whole lot has changed, not just for Efya herself and her career, but for the industry as a whole since 2008 when she made her first appearance. For one thing, the music landscape which was once predominantly a space for Afrobeats is now diversifying and Efya is here for it. Although, she predicts it may take a while before the alternative sounds become a little more mainstream, at least in Ghana.

“In Ghana right now, I think the music is changing gradually. Not the mainstream though, the mainstream is still very very afrobeat dominated but I think as time goes on other genres will have their stage and will flourish as much as they can with the kind of change that is coming in the industry. International artistes are also taking to afrobeats. I’m very interested in how that allows us to impact our music onto the world as African musicians”

Efya’s own genre of music, she tells me she likes to call, high-soul, as a tribute to her two greatest music influences –soul and highlife music. She says she grew up listening to a lot of Fela, Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin who all play a big role in the style of her music. She also has love for contemporary artistes like Anderson Paak , Nonso Amadi, Amaarae, Bbymutha, Adomaa, Simi, Wande Coal, Sarkodie et al.

Efya admits that she’s currently rocking to Until the Dawn; her latest single produced by Maleek Berry. In order of favorites, she ranks her 2016 album Janesis over her initial mix-tape, T.I.N.T [This is not the album].

Efya also tells us about her other passion, working with the Awal Children of the Future foundation, where she helps orphans and disadvantaged kids.

“Most of the kids we work with are homeless, abused or orphans. We just try to help as much as we can. It doesn’t really matter how big it is, as long as we help. That’s what I think is important about it” She also sometimes works to raise awareness about breast cancer in communities of Ghana.”

For her fans, we can expect her coming mixtape this year in November, “it’s a little music I’ve been compiling since the last drop.”

In the meantime, enjoy Until the Dawn here:

Exclusive Images Of Efya by Kwadwo Abrokwa.

November 20, 2017
Fake News is an Affront to Nigeria’s Democracy

The President’s health is just one of the many things Nigerians are consistently kept in the dark about by our current government. But the problem didn’t start with them; we have always lacked public access to credible, transparent information from the government and other proper information sources.

To a certain degree, this has created an ideal environment for fake news to thrive among the population. But even more disturbing is the fact that the fake news and so called ‘real news’ are sometimes indistinguishable from one another, further reducing the ability of Nigerians to decipher between them.

In August, for example there was breaking news from the presidential villa that the Nigerian president had been ejected from his billion naira Aso Rock office by rodents. If that doesn’t sound ridiculous enough, just a few days ago I came across a headline story about a certain former national security adviser who is now facing a court case and -get this -apparently now claims to be suffering from memory loss. This is no joke; these are the types of unverifiable, far-fetched stories that supposedly pass for normal, everyday news in Nigeria. On the other hand, it has also become the norm for public figures to cry ‘fake news’ and blame the opposition for every headline they simply do not like. Discrediting factual news more or less has the same effect on the public as promoting fake news.

This seemingly minor issue has eaten deep into the fabric nation as a whole. It has resulted in a perpetual state of confusion for both the people and the leadership, where nobody seems to know what is true and what is not.

Headline from Sahara reprters, calling out fake news

In a study done by Team Lewis, it was discovered that Millennials are more skeptical of fake news than older generations. 74% of people said an article was fake news if it purposefully misrepresented facts or included articles without all the relevant facts, according to the study. 3/4 of those surveyed said a sign of fake news was fabricated information while 61% said a lack of a credible source indicated that an article could be fake news.

Globally, the issue of fake news has become a popular concern because of it’s unprecedented impact in the 2016 US Presidential campaigns and elections. Collins Dictionary even named “fake news” its Word of the Year for 2017. The term refers to any untrue information spread under the guise of true reporting. It could be as a deliberate hoax, to spread propaganda or simply for the sake of disinformation.

In today’s world where social media rewards speed and sensation over accuracy, objective facts are scarcer than ever. Almost everyone has received those persistent broadcast messages on social media, spreading outright false information.

They could be harmless hoaxes like the one I got this weekend that read:

There is a video circulating on Whatsapp called Popcorn carnival. Do not open it under any circumstances. Be warned, it will hack your phone in seconds and you cannot stop it in anyway. Please forward to all your contacts as soon as possible

But others can quickly turn harmful, as in the case of a viral message that circulated during the 2014 ebola epidemic. The message persuaded people to drink and bathe in water saturated with salt, as a prevention against the deadly disease. What may have been an innocent prank eventually left 20 people hospitalized, and 2 dead.

Creators and perpetrators of these fake news prey on ignorance. Because majority of Africans are illiterate and there is already a huge information scarcity from appropriate sources, it is quite easy to proliferate fake news among the largely susceptible population. The internet and social media which held such promise for staying informed, fostering communication and democratic engagement, are now promoting misinformation for those who find it hard to differentiate fake news from the real deal.

There are no limits – the internet’s pay per click economy has made it so that people will do anything to attract viral traffic, and that includes crafting purposely misleading or inciting headlines or news stories, sometimes going as far as to manufacture video evidence and references.

In fact, in this illusory world of alternative facts, research papers are skewed and data misinterpreted to advocate a set of beliefs or elicit public reactions. As long as there is no enforcement of consequences against reporting fake news, the problem is only going to get worse because the influence of the internet is not going away anytime soon. Facebook and Google are now putting steps in place to improve quality control and combat false information from being spread on their platforms. But even such attempts will not cut it, there are so many variables to be considered.

An important question to ask is: for those of us who know what fake news is, and are aware of ways to fact check, how many of us actually validate the accuracy of news stories we read?

“I’m usually conscious of the headlines, for clickbait” says Dayo. While for Oluchukwu, “It depends on the site”

Tackling issues of fake news are of fundamental importance to democracy. The greatest enemy of democracy is disinformation, which is even worse than a pure lack of information.

So far, the internet media has played a big role in opening up political discourse in Africa as a whole, where the press is traditionally stifled by government. Most offline sociopolitical movements in Nigeria now often begin online. And although it is unlikely that the internet influence is big enough yet to sway votes in Nigeria, it can definitely skew public opinion about certain important matters.

According to this ‘How Africa Tweets’ study, political hashtags make up 8.67% of all hashtags across the African continent. This proportion is higher than in the US, UK, France and Canada, which is perhaps suggestive of a more politically engaged population in Africa, or perhaps it is due to the lack of freedom of speech in certain African countries which pushes people online to express their views.

Earlier this year, a fake news report about Kenya’s election claiming to be from broadcaster CNN was circulating on social media. It came after a fake video imitating the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme was also distributed. Both videos had bogus surveys showing President Uhuru Kenyatta well ahead in polls ahead of the August election. CNN and BBC both confirmed that the reports were fake, possibly circulated to influence public opinion about the election. That is just one example of how fake news can influence political outcomes in Africa.

Reports like this one from AlJazeera, show the key role that social media will increasingly play in influencing coming elections. Proper regulations need to be put in place to combat the epidemic of fake news without stifling people’s right to free speech.

The minister for information and communication in Nigeria; Lai Mohammed has acknowledged the prevalence of fake news in the country. His plan of action is to assign information officers who will monitor both online and offline news media to identify such fake news and develop timely and credible counter narratives to respond to fake news.

If Africa is to move forward, people must be well informed and the media plays a huge role in achieving this. The need exists now more than ever to bridge the gap for proper communication. Individuals also need to become more vigilant in spotting and discerning fake news, especially on social media.

November 6, 2017
Are all Human Lives Equal? Global Neglect For African Life

I recently found out that Economists can measure the worth of a mortal life using the term, ‘value of life‘. So I looked it up: Apparently, the value of life is simply a concept in economics used to quantify the benefit of avoiding a fatality. In social and political sciences, it is the marginal cost of death prevention in a certain class of circumstances.

For example, in the event of life-threatening crises, with only limited resources available to intervene, who would get help? Well, there’d need to be a quick weigh in on the cost of intervention versus the lives’ worth. Factors to be considered would include the person’s quality of life, expected lifetime remaining, as well as the earning potential of a given person.

via Chicago Tribune.

I am not an economist but I am mortal and naturally, curious about what my life is worth if shit ever hits the fan. Maybe you should be too.

Already, we know that in theory all human lives are considered ‘equal’. But of course, that’s not what we see in practice. For example, it would appear that a white American life is more valued than a black life, as exemplified by the murder of Trayvon Martin and controversies following, or the treatment of white terrorists in relation to those of any other race. There have been ongoing discussions on how the current ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement relates to Africans. The leading argument is that it does not, simply because Africans and black Americans do not go through the same experiences and cannot be considered in the same light.

It also seems that the life and death of Africans are far less relevant than that of a European or American, black or white. The closest example is this August when hundreds of Sierra Leoneans were killed as a result of a terrible mudslide in Freetown. Very shortly after that in September, over a hundred thousand people were rendered homeless in Benue state, Nigeria by a devastating flood which received minimal international coverage or attention. Yet that same month, the world stood still, grieving with victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

Of course, this is not a suffering or tragedy Olympics. After all, every human life is equal and priceless. But, paraphrasing the all-important question from Owen Jones’ 2013 article highlighting the Western world’s shameful hierarchy of death,

Why is a slaughter in Vegas, for example more shocking or newsworthy than constant tragedies in Nigeria?

It is a sharp contrast; the way the world responds with urgency when a Western life is threatened as opposed to the lone tears of loved ones shed on behalf of victims of the massive calamities in Africa or the Middle East. And it leaves one wondering. Who decides the value of a life?

Sierra Leoneans killed in mudslide in Freetown. Image via NBC News.

It is possible that, subconsciously, the world has come to accept death and suffering as a normal part of African life. How else would you explain how quick we are to move on from tragedies in our land, with bare minimum questions asked and short-lived outcry? Perhaps we ourselves have accepted that the death of a white man is more serious than our own. Our leaders seem to think so; in the wake of tragedies, often no public address is deemed fit, no remembrance observed. Lives are simply lost and forgotten to Boko Haram, diseases and ‘accidental’ government bombings as if we are a little less human, for being African. But our own leaders are quick to publicly sympathize with Western countries over their own problems.

If you look at those 3 factors economists use in judging a life’s ‘value’, then maybe you can make sense of the whole thing.

For one thing, the quality of life for a typical African is nothing to speak of. Sub Saharan Africa is one of the poorest regions of the world, as reflected in the living conditions of the majority of its people. It is only the rich who have access to most things because they can travel abroad.

As for expected life remaining, the life expectancy of an African is only 60 years compared to 76.8 years in Europe. Our lives are often cut short by avoidable crises, disease or some other poverty associated symptom. As for earning potential? Many Africans are already at a disadvantage. Defunct educational systems and scarce opportunities leave over 120 million people, in Nigeria for example, living on less than $2 a day.

So the worldwide politics begin to make a little sense. If a scale of value existed based on these three parameters alone, then the lives of ordinary Africans would be somewhere at the bottom, right after that of Rich Africans. So maybe it is just that – the life of an African is just not worth rescuing or remembering. Perhaps the rest of the world simply doesn’t care.

This is something that we as Africans need to understand; that the Western world doesn’t care for us beyond their interests. Here at More Branches we say,

African for Africa by Africa.

We need to appreciate ourselves and decide our own value. The African skin isn’t simultaneous to death, pain, and corruption alone. In our madness, there’s creativity, innovation, art, style, music, agriculture – our lives are beautiful and so is our environment.

IF WE DON’T TAKE CARE OF OURSELVES, WHO WILL?

October 14, 2017
#WomenInMusic : Lady Donli.

#WomenInMusic is a series of articles/interviews curated by Adaugo Okoli which places the spotlight on African Women breaking boundaries and shaping the future of the music industry, this edition highlights the encapsulating songstress Lady Donli.

Forget what you know about popular Nigerian music.

Lady Donli is proving that people will still pay attention to the alternative acts, after all. For the 21-year-old soul singer, it hasn’t been a bad year. 2017 has seen Lady Donli’s music received deserved radio airplay, television time, international acclaim and skilled stage performances from the artiste who headlined her own concert also over the summer.

Amidst the buzz surrounding her widely popular hits, Ice Cream, Kashe ni, and now Poison (the new single fans have been expecting since September), Zainab Donli chats with More Branches about what she’s been up to, and what’s next for the young artistes career.

Lady Donli admits that she still has a few frustrations over the reach of her music and her struggles as an independent artiste. She tells us,

“There’s always the fear that your music isn’t getting heard or it’s getting heard by the same people over and over again. That comes a lot when you’re an independent artist ’cause you don’t have the resources to push your sound. Sometimes I get so frustrated because there are some ideas I have that I can’t execute because of the lack of resources.”

But then, it wouldn’t be practical to expect much different. Donli says

Nothing good comes easy so I’m prepared for the hurdles. All these things are great. Radio play, TV play it’s been great but I can’t be content because what I see for myself is much greater than what I am now.

In that light, she shares a couple of next year’s new goals which include covering the FADER, getting featured on Pigeons and Planes and reaching 500K streams on Spotify for at least one of her songs. Adding;

But my album is still the number one goal.

This forthcoming album will be Lady Donli’s first and she’s working towards a release date next year. The project is still mostly in the works; the only thing we can expect for sure is a shift from the soulful, introspective-sounding Donli that we’re used to. “I’m happy and scared.” she admits “The project is way more funk-inspired, electric, uptempo. But there’s actually a ballad off it and I’m excited for people to hear ’cause I never do ballads.”

The first single off the album should be out in the beginning of 2018. Meanwhile, Lady Donli reveals that she’s currently taking a break from recording music. She’s putting that on hold to work on vocal training and also learning to play the keyboard.

I’m trying to become a better artiste. That’s what’s most important to me.

One wonders how the law graduate started this love affair with music. Zainab’s appreciation for music started at a very young age and now the artiste tells us that although there may be plans for a Masters degree next year, she’s all about the music for now.

Since I was little I’ve wanted to be a ‘star’ (and) to create music. My parents and family have always known, I mean maybe they thought it would fade away but now that it’s all I’m pursuing it doesn’t shock them.

Now that she’s done with school, Lady Donli has more time than ever to fully focus on becoming the version of herself she wants to be.

I’m fully concentrating on music. Life literally revolves around music. It’s interesting. I mean it does get hectic but I don’t mind. I can literally be sick but content because I’m sick for something I love.

She tells us about her very first emotional encounter with music; which has remained vivid in Donli’s mind, even though she was young at the time,

When I first heard Roses by Outkast I was perplexed by how music could sound so good. I’d never heard sound at such a level before. It was so different, the sound was so organic, I was little but I still remembered how it felt.

Donli pinpoints Erykah Badu, Nneka, Asa and Andre 3000 as her major musical influences. Sade Adu and Nina Simone also play a big part in her musical style today. But mostly, what inspires Donli’s music are her everyday life experiences including the supposedly mundane like sitting on a train, or having a favorite dessert.

Specifically, her hit song [Ice Cream featuring Tomi Thomas] which helped to win a space for Donli in the hearts of many fans – is really about her allergy to the dairy-based treat just as much as it is the artiste’s take on the toxicity of bad relationships.

When I came up with ice cream, I’d literally just gotten out of a train: And I started singing “you’re sweet like ice cream. I recorded it on my phone. And flew with the idea. Mostly came from the fact that I love ice cream, but it really does make me sick.

No matter how the inspiration comes, for Donli creating music is definitely an inner experience. “Writing is therapeutic for me. I need to write more than I need to sing.”

As for Kashe Ni, her most recent track, she discloses that it was mostly a freestyle she came up within about 30 minutes. Interestingly, this happens to be the artistes personal favorite of all her songs.

The lawyer in Donli comes out when she discusses her perception of Africa’s changing music industry – the artiste feels particular about copyrights and trademarking laws.

I like what the music scene is becoming, it’s just a bit frustrating because we don’t have the proper structures in place to protect artistes’ rights, but it’s changing. Artistes are beginning to understand their rights so that’s brilliant to see.

Her top 3 Nigerian acts are Asa, Blackmagic and Wizkid. Donli says she looks forward to a time when different genres will all be able to strive properly in the system.

“I think it’s possible. But Nigeria is the main problem. We don’t have a proper media structure. In fact, we don’t have proper anything, so it’s difficult for progressive growth [in the industry] when the rest of the country is regressing.”

Lady Donli has already proved that difficult is not impossible and there’s a lot to look forward to from her. In the meantime, she teases a new project with Tomi Thomas, the captivating male counterpart on Ice Cream. Other than a mischievous “sometime this year”, there’s not much more detail to go on but if their first collab is something to go by, then it’s definitely worth the wait.

Listen to Lady Donli on SoundCloud

All Images by Thompson. S. Ekong.

October 8, 2017
What do You think of the proposed NGO Bill?

Last week Friday, the Nigerian House of Reps proposed a Bill which was sponsored by Hon. Umar Buba Jibril of Kogi state. The bill seeks to monitor and regulate the activities of Non Governmental Organisations in the country.

Since then, there have been mixed responses, from Nigerians, religious groups and human rights organizations across the board. It’s clear from some of the voices in the mix that a lot of people do not fully understand the bill or simply have not considered both sides of the argument.

You can download the bill and see more of it’s contents indepth here.

This article is neither for or against the bill but simply aims to present the facts as they exist and to hear your answers to the question: What do you think of the NGO Bill?

To begin with, there are a number of points in favor of the passage of this bill, some properly elucidated in this article on Premium Times. The crux of the matter seems to be the current lack of transparency and accountability in the operations of NGOs and Civil Society Organisations. The unfortunate truth is that some of these organisations are simply an avenue for groups of people and even sometimes politicians to embezzle financial aid from charitable international organizations and the contributions of benevolent individuals.

This was rampant in the recent cases of IDP relief where several amounts were donated and never accounted for; subsequently a lot of Boko Haram victims continue to suffer and die of malnutrition and disease. In addition, NGOs are often used as an easy cover for individuals and groups seeking to evade tax and audit.

Suddenly, it begins to make sense that there should be some sort of regulatory body governing the activities of these organizations, as is the case in several other countries including Kenya and Israel. In saner climes, this would be a reasonable move. But of course, Nigeria has it’s own unique problems. Opponents to the bill are worried for different reasons. The main concern is that the Nigerian government is notorious for dishonesty and underhanded motives.

Lack of trust in the government leads several groups of people to believe that they might be up to something more sinister with this new bill.

For example, NGOs which monitor political processes and speak against government discrepancies are worried that this is a move by the current administration to try and stifle their activities.

source: Twitter/@nighealthwatch

Then religious organisations believe that the bill is a means to monitor and control their activities, [and you know how Nigerians love their religion]. Some have even suggested that the NGO Bill is part of a grand plan to Islamise the country.

Let’s not go too far and overlook the fact that this proposed NGO Regulatory Commission could as well turn into another avenue to waste government funds on, redundant functions, bureaucracy and further enable corruption.

Meanwhile, Human Rights bodies are against the bill because they see it as a means for the government to impose unnecessary control on the people’s freedom. For example, the Nigerian Human Rights Commission is of the view that most of the roles and functions ascribed to this ‘Commission’ in the proposed bill already falls within the mandate of Corporate Affairs Commission. They are however suggesting a modification of certain sections of the bill as opposed to complete denial.

So far, it’s unclear what the outcome of this one will be as both sides have some valid reasons. What do you think? Should the NGO Bill be denied or passed into law?

September 29, 2017
Amaarae Pushing Boundaries, Talent & Pasta

Fact of the day: It is physically impossible to listen to ‘Whoa’, from Aylo’s new mixtape, and not be the least bit curious about the identity of the captivating female vocalist.

Amaarae’s verse on the song is exactly what gives it a certain ethereal appeal that listeners can’t get enough of. More Branches caught up with the ‘Shawty with a Bald Head’, to find out more about the intriguing 23 year old Ghanaian singer/songwriter.

Ama Serwah Genfi. Source: Twitter/@amaarae

Ama Serwah Genfi became known as Amaarae amongst friends first in 2009; after a Facebook username she coined in the 9th grade using the last name of her favorite singer, Corrine Bailey Rae. When she tried and failed to shake the nickname, Ama decided it was a lost battle. The same year, Ama started dropping freestyles on Facebook under the name Amaarae and it just stuck.

“I can live with Amaarae” she admits in mock of her earlier embarrassment, “it could have been worse, I could have called myself some shit like killa wolf bitch.”

Amaarae makes stirring, sultry and simultaneously vulnerable music for the soul of the modern sexual youth. She listens to a lot of different genres too; the influence of which clearly contribute to her unique style of music. For example, she kicks it back to the music of jazz legends like Charlie Christian and Billie Holiday, whom she calls her idol but Ama also has a soft spot for 90s R&B and hip hop. She tells us “I love rap music, that’s where it all began for me”, naming Missy Elliot, Jay-Z and Eminem as her top 3 rappers. Then there’s alternative rock with the likes of Nirvana, Fleetwood Mac and Pink Floyd. Ama adds, “And I love me some Avril Lavigne when I’m feeling angsty or Sheryl Crow, I love Janet Jackson too, Gwen Stefani & Shaggy”

For the young artiste, her ideal collab would be with Anthony Kedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. She also thinks Mr Eazi’s voice would complete the vibe of a song she’s currently working on, titled ‘Catching a wave’.

Having spent a lot of her childhood moving from Accra to Atlanta and then New Jersey, she says she moved back to Accra aged 11 to find that “everyone was now making laptop tracks.” Ama recounts, “So I got this software called mix craft and made my first mixtape in one week. Hopefully it will never see the light of day”. But one crappy attempt wasn’t going to stop Ama Genfi. She soon realized that music was far more than a passing fancy for her and she was determined to take it further. Commenting on her artistic growth, she says proudly,

“It’s been good, it’s taken a lot of work for me to even scratch the surface but I’m happy with where I’m at creatively”

Perhaps if music hadn’t chosen her, Ama might have been a DJ or an author of short stories. All of the studio equipment she currently owns was paid for by 4 years of DJ-ing through college.

“I’m actually a poet and I write short stories and I’m also funny as fuck once u get to know me -I have impeccable comedic timing but only my brother knows this”

As if all that wasn’t enough, Amaarae also makes mean pasta! And she’s quick to say what every true pasta lover knows; that “Pasta is life.”

But despite the abundance of talent, Ama reveals that everyday, making music, is a challenge. “To be honest, I always doubt myself” she says. “I never feel like my music is good enough. For instance, the songs that people love, like my verse on Woah, or The Obsolete Truth… I can’t listen to those songs because to me I don’t feel like they are good enough.” Like every artist, Amaarae admits one of her biggest problems is battling insecurities and believing in herself. “I always think; this could be better”.

At least, the growing music scene in Ghana and Africa at large is cause for cheer and Ama says she certainly sees a future for herself in the midst of it.

“It’s poppin like a mf! It’s dope to see so many people coming up and pushing the boundaries of African music and what people consider viable African music, our entire generation of artists is just like nah fuck y’all we’re gonna do what we want and it’s working! And it’s rad, it’s just bad ass”

Ama is definitely committed to the music but, she tells us, not so much towards choosing a hair color. Attributing her edgy hair style to commitment issues; “Having it low means I get to cut it every week, no strings attached, and I get to change the colors often without worrying about damage”

Amaarae filming a new live video. Source: Twitter/@amaarae

For an artist with poetically profound lyrics, Amaarae admits that the songs she never takes time to write are always the best ones. “I freestyle a lot, or I write things in my head when I’m in the shower, or doing mundane activities”

“I wrote lonely when I was cooking rice for my friend, Allure. He started playing the guitar and I just sang along to it and he was like yo… record that”

“I get my inspiration from the sex I’m having and whoever I’m dating at the time. When I create, my mindset is always like dang! I really want someone to have sex so deep to this that my DNA is encoded in the baby that becomes a product of that sex”

She also says, “My mom is such an ace when it comes to my music. She lets me film all my live performances in our house, my studio is in my room and it’s hella dudes passing through here, she’s actually helping me build an attachment studio to our house so that she doesn’t have all these niggas rolling through the crib”

Watch the live video for Lonely, recorded in Amaarae’s living room

If like us, you’re wondering what else Amaarae has got cooking up, her EP; Sex, Heartbreak & the Beach is set to be released at the end of October. We’re promised lots of tropical, relaxing vibes and soft beautiful music to ride with friends or have sex to, just in time for the holidays.

One Last Thing

We didn’t want the interview to end so we posed one last question and this was what she had to say:

Q: What’s one thing in this world you wish you could change that you have no control over?

Amaarae:

I wish I could change the fact that people hurt and suffer, I genuinely wish there was no poverty in this world and that we were all born with equal opportunity. Some of us are lucky, some people literally have nothing to hold on to.

Also the fact that Donald trump is the leader of the free world. That mf is all the way out of his natural born mind…. and that damn toupee 🙄🙄🙄 Jesus be a fence 😩

Follow the talented and hilarious Ama on Twitter: @Amaarae and stream her music on Souncloud here.

September 25, 2017
Welcome to ‘Generation Hustle’

I actually like my job, but maybe I have no choice. It’s quite uncommon in present day Nigeria to find a well paying job that you actually enjoy doing and that gives you freedom to pursue your other interests.

Our parents had it much easier. It’s a fact that the 80’s were a pretty good time in Nigeria for employment-after-school hopes. With an unemployment rate of about 9% at the worst, most of our folks from average backgrounds got out of school with no doubt that the system would come through for them, and they were hardly disappointed. My mom for example could easily save to buy a car on her assistant lecturer salary, right after university.

Nowadays it’s difficult to find a job at all and with rising unemployment rates, it gets harder every day. Should you eventually find a semi-decent one, it usually comes with absurd demands. My first official job as a graduate was an 8-5 pm gig, although most times we closed later. I worked on Saturdays as well and took home N30,000 ($83) every month as recompense. Even then, I was considered lucky by some to have found a job ‘so soon after school’. It’s possible I was lucky – In Nigeria, the minimum wage is N18,000/month (about $50) and some private employers pay even less. Teachers are paid just a little over that in private schools and there are medical doctors who have to work several consultancy jobs just to earn up to N100,000 a month.

Nigerian Youth Unemployment 2015-2016. source: tradingeconomics

It’s no wonder so many of us are turning to entrepreneurship. I use entrepreneurship here in the broad sense of the word to cover both business ownership and creative freelancing. With the inflation rates and low average salaries, it’s difficult to survive otherwise. That is, unless you work at Shell, or a government agency like NCC that’s known to pay in millions each month. Anyway, chances are you don’t.

So first and foremost, in Africa -business ownership is a means of survival; usually in the form of trading, artisan-ship and now, e-commerce. Small businesses make up about 80% of Africa’s economy and my guess is that if you’re in Nigeria, at least 3 out of every 5 persons you know are running a business, whether or not they are otherwise employed.

It makes sense that e-commerce is increasingly popular because the internet is making us all more connected.

Social media has effectively stripped the barriers of starting a business down to a simple “my customer may be on your TL” so young people are coming to equate doing business with easy, social media hustles. The ‘retweet economy’ will have you believing you are only a viral tweet away from making your first million or winning a free Mercedes! And maybe it is possible.

The world of work is clearly evolving. Most people have always done business as a means to supplement income or to invest disposable cash but today; younger entrants into the workforce, especially those with adequate financial support find themselves making a choice between full time employment and a series of side hustles.

As someone who is fully employed; who still freelances and runs a small business mainly on the internet, I’m clearly on the fence about the issue. But after asking around, some patterns became clear. Besides survival and apart from a few who have an idea to change the world, there are a few reasons people make this choice. The first is to have control over their time; which almost never happens.

“Reclaiming my time” – Maxine Waters. source: tenor

Another growing phenomenon is the desire to follow passions and inclinations. This isn’t odd when you consider that a good number of African kids go to university and study courses that their parents would approve of but they personally have no interest in. Upon graduation these young adults are facing down career paths they feel the need to escape from. Now that it’s less improbable in this part of the world, a lot of these ones are quitting their desk jobs to pursue dreams in freelance photography, tailoring, web design and other creative skills.

Then there are those who say they cannot put up with routine (or authority). Their dream is to bear the prestigious title of ‘CEO’ and answer to no one.

Lastly, a reason why more people want to start a business is the idea that it’s a ticket to riches. They see wealthy men like Dangote and Otedola and try to pre-empt how many more customers on the Timeline need to buy an Ankara dress or book a make-up session before they too can roll in the riches. Never mind that 80% of small businesses in Nigeria fail after 3 years due to lack of adequate planning and capital. The abundance of ‘sudden’ success stories in popular media make some believe that entrepreneurship is a shortcut.

A number of the above reasons for business ownership often interplay; as was the case last year when I quit a job I didn’t like to start a certain business. Of all my lifestyle experiments, I quickly realized that was the most unreasonable I had made. Maybe it’s the economy; maybe I’m just not courageous or rich enough yet to take that drastic route.

Similarly for a lot of Nigerians like me, the income stability of regular, paid employment is not something they are able to trade. However, it’s still not a matter of choosing employment over business ownership unless the two strongly conflict. For example, you would easily find a practicing lawyer who owns a graphic design business and also drives for Uber.

The hustle is real! And even then, such a person may just be managing to comfortably pay their bills and save towards other purposes.

Whether in it for survival or you’re looking to change the world, these businesses come and go, and they help to keep the economy stable. As they increase in number along with freelance careers, creative gigs and other alternatives to traditional employment, I’m curious to see what sort of noticeable impact ‘generation hustle’ will have on the economy, especially as a lot more traditional jobs continue to disappear globally.

September 22, 2017
Military, IPOB Clashes: A Timeline of Events

Possibly the latest threat to Nigeria’s peace and unity is the emergence of a new, more determined brand of agitators in the South East demanding for the secession of ‘Biafra.’

The Indigenous People of Biafra and their demands aren’t new per se. They just seem to have evolved rapidly in the last few years till date, recurring in the limelight as a cause for worry, with Nnamdi Kanu at the forefront. These past 2 years coinciding with Buhari’s administration seem to have been particularly thick with inter-tribal tension that has led to where we are today.

On 14^th September, a disturbing eyewitness video was in circulation showing members of the Nigerian army violently abusing a group of alleged IPOB members. This, along with accounts of indiscriminate killings of civilians in the state raises important questions once again about the role of the Nigerian military in internal security issues and the value the State places on civilian life.

According to the Constitution, the job of the army is to defend Nigeria from external attacks, maintain territorial integrity and to aid civil authorities to restore order in times of chaos. So why is it then, that our armed forces are too often mixed up in civilian issues, and end up misusing their power and taking the lives of innocent citizens?

On Sunday, as we are led to believe, a group of IPOB members in Aba started an attack on Northerners in the region, leading to public outrage. We saw videos of militants stopping and searching buses, looking for fleeing Northerners to attack and possibly kill. If at all as a Nation we have learnt anything from the past, it’s that such acts are a close precursor to full-blown warfare and we all expected the police to step in and restore peace and justice.

Following the deployment of the Nigerian army and their documented acts of unwarranted abuse in the region, now it’s hard to believe that restoring peace was the agenda at all. Already, public response has been a backlash – from civil rights groups to military authorities – including talk of military presence being removed from the state, but the growing seed of discord and agitation has already been watered by their actions.

Previously, the majority acknowledged Nnamdi Kanu as an extremist but this agitation has served to gain new sympathizers to his cause from among the already alienated ndi igbo who are rightfully embittered by the military’s actions. Another sore point is the lackadaisical attitude of the government and security forces when Fulani herdsmen earlier this year were slaughtering people of the South East. Where was this swift response from the armed forces in the area then?

This conflict is coming when tensions are already high after a group of northerners issued a warning for all Igbos in the North to vacate or face acts of violence. Even though this happened while Mr President was away on one of his ‘sick leaves’, we already know his take on the issue. In his return address to Nigerians, PMB made it clear that no group would be allowed to threaten the unity of the nation.

Let’s remember that not too long before now, Amnesty International had already accused the Nigerian army of massacring about 150 IPOB members in 2016, which the President is yet to address directly. Indeed, this new incident is only a reopening of that scar.

It would do us well to look closely at other countries in crisis today, or even at our own past experience. They all started a similar way. Do we really want to go down that road? I speak for myself and many of Nigeria’s youth that we are uninterested in the bigotry and ethnic divisiveness our predecessors have so tried to pass down to us and that continues to hamper the progress of the country.

We are not stupid and we can see clearly that in most cases, influential men push such narratives for political agenda while impressionable youth and our less privileged kinsmen suffer the most. When will we refuse to play along in the schemes wicked leaders?

September 14, 2017
Our mothers and feminism

Hi, I’m Tired.

I refuse to have discussions relating to feminism any longer. It’s not that I’m not still wholly and entirely feminist, it’s more that I no longer see a reason to explain (often argue) my right to exist as a whole individual to anyone.

I guess I find it stupid — this refusal of some people to accept that 50% of the population is just as important, capable and as human as the rest. I want nothing to do with such arguments. Maybe I’m ‘lucky’ – to be born in a time and place where I get to choose to be around people who do not always require this discussion to be had; many women didn’t/don’t have that privilege.

painting by Ndidi Emefielie via okayafrica

Growing up in Africa around such mindsets can have strange impacts on a woman’s psyche. In a typical African home, as a girl child, you notice some things. Feelings, moments that slip through the cracks of bravado and perfection your parents almost always try to paint. Heartbreaking unfairness and imbalance and you swear that this will never be you. Our mothers were very strong women, and I learnt a lot from mine. But they knew a different kind of strength. Strength on behalf of others; at the expense of themselves –they gave and gave.

…and gave.

How do you explain to the person whose silent strength and endurance groomed you, that you have learnt to want more, and that what they had is not enough for you? Is this selfishness?

My explanation might go like this:

Dear mothers,

We see your strength

We are the same as you

But not in the ways that you expect

Maybe strength for you meant:

Silence, endurance, forgiveness, tolerance

But for us it is different

Our strength lies in speaking up,

Refusing anything short

Of what you taught us we deserve

We’re strong women

We’ll be fine

But is that even enough?

I remember four or five years ago, my baby brother came home from school with his end of term report sheet. He had come second position over all, instead of his usual first and my mother wanted to know why. After much (aggressive) persuasion, he finally admitted that a new pupil who happened to be a girl had come first this time, and I cannot forget the response my mother gave:

So you are letting a girl take your position? A girl?

I was distressed. I knew little about feminism then but something definitely wasn’t right. I couldn’t help thinking. This same woman had always encouraged me to do my best in school. I was a brilliant kid and I’d taken first position several times, too. (No, I’m serious)

How could you teach your daughters to be capable of everything and then teach your sons that a woman’s everything will never be as good as theirs?

What does that even mean? I was so confused; and perhaps I didn’t speak up like I should have. I later made it a point to start an argument whenever she made such statements that offended my senses. Recently, we were having one of such confrontations and she said to me: Yes, a lot of these things are unfair. But that’s the way it is and we can’t do anything so we just have to accept it.

Or something along those lines. And I was so mad. Who made it like that? Accept what? Never!

Since then, I’ve had time to think about it from her point of view, and I realize that much of my anger came from a realization that there is some truth in her advice. A lot is yet undone. A great deal! Feminism has come a long way, but there is an even longer way to go. And it makes me so angry that most of the problems I would like to see changed will probably not be fully rectified in my lifetime; like rape culture and sexual policing, or how society encourages women to enter and stay in unhappy marriages because they are nothing without a man. Hopefully our own daughters (and sons) reap the benefits of our agitation.

If the only choices I have are to accept my ‘place’ in a world (that has no real place for me as who I am, but as what I am expected to be) or to refuse and be labeled some sort of outlier, then I choose the latter. I am done explaining my decision to anyone who asks why.

Sincerely,

Tired.

feature image via Tumblr/Nigeria Nostalgia Project

September 4, 2017
Victims of Sierra Leone’s Mudslide: The Climate Change Discussion in West Africa

Anyone who’s seen the movies Freetown or Amistad, probably has an idea of the importance Sierra Leone played during the Slave trade. The city of Freetown, founded in 1792 for the convenience of transatlantic traders is a city built in the midst of shaky hills; now home to over 800,000 Sierra Leoneans from all walks of life.

The country is one rich in arts and culture, but whose economy is not fully recovered from the 10 year Civil war fueled by greed of the international diamond trade. After the war ended in 2002, a lot of the population remains impoverished. This particular demographic was the worst affected by last week’s disaster, according to BBC.

The mudslide happened in the early hours of the morning on August 14th as people slept, killing over 450 people, rendering hundreds more missing and about 20,000 displaced.

image from CNN

Now in the aftermath, mass burials are being carried out to prevent disease outbreaks that could result from leaving decomposing bodies out in the open. Already, the people are facing the threat of cholera and malaria outbreaks from the flood water. The scenes bring to mind flashbacks of 2014 when the city was among the hardest hit by the West African Ebola pandemic.

image from BBC

Interestingly, this recent disaster didn’t come as a surprise. Several warnings had been given by the Environmental Protection Agency, said Abdulai Baraytay, a spokesperson for Sierra Leone’s president. In his chat with the BBC, he said the EPA had spoken to residents about the danger two weeks earlier and tried to put some trees in but they had been chased away.

This is as a result of widespread ignorance in the region about environmental issues. Sierra Leone is an overcrowded city with the highest rainfall in Africa. This in addition to its high percentages of slums, failed waste/drainage systems, and persistent indiscriminate felling of trees is a recipe for disaster. After last months catastrophe, the region still remains at risk of more mud slides.

Apparently, it’s not just Sierra Leone that should be concerned, but a whole chunk of West Africa. The 2009 Unjust Water report found examples of worsening floods in Ghana, Uganda, Mozambique and Kenya.

Recently, Nigeria seems to be joining this subset of flood prone regions. The Benue flood of last week has been said to have rendered 100,000 homeless and poses a serious threat to the nation’s food availability for the remainder of the year.

This is coming on the heels of the July Lagos floods, which were argued to be the result of inadequate drainage systems.

Knowledge they say is power, but that depends on how it is put to use. Will these tragedies attract more focus from citizens of West African countries towards Climate change and environmental policies? What do you think?

How You can Help Now

The survivors of these tragedies need your help! Very Little can go a long way. Below are the Links to donate:

Sierra Leone

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/freetownflooddisasteremergencyappeal

https://businessconnectworld.com/donate-sierra-leone/

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/sierra-leone-mudslide-relief-fund/

Benue

http://culturecustodian.com/benue-flood-donate/

September 4, 2017
Knowledge is power: In Africa, Especially.

It’s a tough world where the ultimate currency is power. In this world, only the strongest thrive and the weak are left to pick up what is left. That’s just the way things have worked since the beginning of humanity.

These days, the power/influence of countries is ranked based on these 5 qualities: the leader, economic influence, political influence, strong international alliances and strong military alliances. Unsurprisingly, most African countries remain very close to the bottom of such rankings. Where do we start? Our leaderships are ridden with the frequent political crisis. As for military and economic matters, African countries always appear to be dependent on foreign intervention. It’s no wonder then that little value is placed on the lives and products of African society. Sadly, we have not consciously created much value for ourselves.

At the beginning of 2017, UN humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien declared that more than 20 million people in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria alone faced the threat of starvation and famine. Did you know that there’s still an ongoing starvation crisis in Nigeria as we speak? Or that mudslides in Sierra Leone have claimed over 500 lives so far and rendered nearly 1,000 missing; which remained under-reported until very recently, even within Africa?

source: OkayAfrica

Al Sharpton asked once, “Africa is the most mineral rich continent in the world. Why do we ignore (crisis) in Africa until we can’t ignore it any longer?”

The answer to this is hardly veiled. In a world where the number one motive is personal interest -safeguarding power and influence — relationships are only built on the mutual transfer of value. As long as African countries are unable to leverage strategically on our potential offerings in exchange for needed value, our position remains one of perpetual distress. In essence, we will continue to be disappointed by allies who have no reason to show up for our own causes.

So, the question shouldn’t be why African crises are ignored by other parts of the world but why even we, choose to ignore ourselves. Why do we not take our problems seriously until they attain international recognition? And why are we not harnessing our strong suites effectively, leaving them to be manipulated by outside parties?

Who are we waiting for to save Africa? This is a question much more of us need to consider. Popular consensus is that Africa alone can come to her own rescue. After all is said and done, it is left to us alone to build up our own independent institutions and strengthen them to the point where we can now talk about building relationships of value.

The key to doing this lies first of all in dispelling ignorance. Mirroring these exact thoughts,

No African country is truly free or independent; all of them are still being destabilized and manipulated so that their former European colonizers can still make profit. Education is the only way Africa can free itself from the oppression of the first world. — Kalidou Diouf.

source: OkayAfrica

Worldbank.org agrees that a sure way to end poverty in Africa is to promote poor people’s access to information.

But how? This, it seems, is the Herculean task and it is where you and I come in. Our educational systems, media and the internet have a huge role to play in bringing useful information closer to more Africans. The people need well-informed news stories that clearly centre on us, including insight into modern ways of creating opportunities and solving problems.

Having an idea about the cause of our problems and productive discussions on what it takes to make the kind of change we really want, takes away that resigned feeling of powerlessness and defeat. By promoting the right knowledge, it is possible to become a continent of problem solvers rather than one permanently in need of salvation.

September 2, 2017
Starting with Impact: Why Social Entrepreneurship will fix Africa.

If digital technology is fueling the new rise of Africa, then social entrepreneurship is the motor. As the British Council concisely puts it “The African narrative is gradually shifting from aid-led solutions to enterprise-led solutions to developmental problems.” This is where we’re at.

Here’s how I look at it:

For a long time, African societies were largely dependent on their individual governments for basic things like power, housing, transport systems, communications, education, and healthcare. Needless to mention, the governments failed in their duties to the people and these areas suffered. Because these are very basic needs, much progress in other sectors was stalled or frustrated as long as these needs remained unmet. Hence, the long-enduring cycle of repression and poverty that has plagued the African continent for decades. A few good men made progress to fix some of the problems on small scales. Most times, their efforts were thwarted by the deep-seated rot and the people were filled with everlasting complaints.

Everything began to change when the era of problem-solving arrived. A large number of our population (read youth) became more empowered. Due to the opportunities for knowledge presented by globalization and technology, they started to realize that the future had already started to happen in other parts of the world while we crossed our arms waiting for the government to do their part. Faced with unemployment, entrepreneurship began rising to an all-time high. Innovative ideas found a more fertile ground and people became encouraged to look inwards for solutions to problems. Ultimately, some level of ignorance is being shed and we are realizing that the answers have been in ourselves all along. Now, it is clear that the real impact Africa needs will come from our personal and collective contributions.

Hence, the exponential growth of social entrepreneurship. I won’t go into details on that because this very interesting article already does it a lot of justice. For the most part, traditional businesses operated on capitalistic models. They existed mainly because the entrepreneur saw an opportunity to make money by exploiting a need. Now, the goal is slightly different. Africans today are a lot more knowledgeable and becoming determined to address continental problems head on. Social entrepreneurship is a balance: finding a way to solve specific societal problems by providing a good or service.

A social entrepreneur sees an opportunity to fill a very important social/environmental gap. He has an idea and develops a feasible plan that is profitable or at least sustainable and implements it.

Making money isn’t excluded from his plans; it is actually necessary that he does. But his primary concern is social impact.

In Kenya for example, literacy rates are low due to failing educational systems so different startups are coming up with ways for less privileged students to access and share educational resources. In Lagos Nigeria, an overpopulated city with a housing and transportation crisis, Seventh Space is creatively making houses more affordable to people. The banking sector in Africa has almost been completely transformed by innovations in financial technology. As for health, Africa has a long way to go. Kenyan startup Totohealth(tsk, I know what you’re thinking) is similar to Nigerian Help Mumin providing personalized maternal health information via mobile updates to pregnant women in rural areas. Many other Nigerian health internet companies are also tackling various problems in their own unique way, some more effective than others.

Some areas still remain largely unresolved, mainly because they are a lot trickier. Transportation, education, and power for instance in Nigeria. I’d recently been researching an idea for making public transportation in Abuja (where I live) more accessible and mainstream when I came across lara.ng, a chatbot interface with a simple and direct problem-solving approach. The service offers assistance for public transport routes in Lagos.

The same creativity is being taken to electricity and power. Our power distribution companies were recently privatized and have gotten considerably better. Still, our current hydroelectricity model is clearly insufficient for our multiplying population. Renewable energy, the next big thing is more viable but expensive in the short term. So Azuri, a solar company launched an innovative pay as you go solar plan to power rural households living off the grid.

More and more private enterprises are taking this kind of hands-on approach to grassroots problems and it’s great. This is an encouragement to many of us who may be going into ventures for the wrong reasons, to think about impact. Let us all look where it is pinching us collectively. Why? Why get creative when you can easily copy a successful business model based solely on profit? Right now, I have 3 major reasons: 1. Impact is more marketable than goods & services 2. Social innovation is more sustainable in the long run, not to mention more rewarding. 3. Besides, if not you then who?

Of course, there are challenges and we can’t ignore them. Africa isn’t the most straightforward place to make investments; the lack of infrastructure and shortage of adequate human/financial capital has killed many business efforts. Besides that, good ideas are sometimes thwarted by unfavorable bureaucracy as well as corruption and its related problems. This is where there is much need for adaptability and open-thinking. Even though it’s true that major impact will be spearheaded by private efforts, the public collaboration will definitely make it work better.

One straightforward way the government can support such efforts is by creating empowering platforms for innovators. Such as funding National Innovation prizes, grants, financial aid, and investment. Another is to equip more people with skills and heeding the age-long call for infrastructural development. On the other hand, more stakeholders that are able should invest more in civic hubs that bring like-minded people together to try and find ideas to common problems. This, in turn, will help put in place piece after piece of the puzzle that is Africa.

August 29, 2017
What a time to be alive! A lot is happening in Gen Z Nigeria

A lot is happening.

Generation Z Nigeria (and Africa) is evolving a dynamic pop-culture of its own. A paradigm shift that is inspired by the different unique facets that have made up our sociopolitical environment, and a considerable dose of Western influence.

This renaissance as some may choose to call it is a direct effect of our increasing interconnections associated with the media age; powered by the internet and associated technologies. These inventions truly did set the pace for life in the 21st century and beyond.

As Richard pointed out in his article How connected are we, no walk of life is being left out. Our tech eco-system(although industry veteran Emeka Okoye would rather not call it that) is growing rather rapidly. I touched here in this article how the impacts of this growth are being felt already in grass-roots sectors like education, finance, agriculture, health, and transport. In fact, I just recently read about a young Nigerian creating affordable accommodation in Lagos using old shipping containers.

Now the big question is, what should all this mean to the average Nigerian living in this time?

The answer is this: This is not a time to sit back and find solace in the old excuses. We have historically been known as a nation of big thinkers and little opportunity. Good news, a lot is now more attainable so a reshaping of the old narrative is in order. Let’s capitalize on that in whatever area of life we have chosen or stumbled into.

An interesting reference is the reinvention of our art, film and lifestyle industry. Recently, our artists have been reaching for more prospects, targeting previously unattainable international milestones. In effect, the arts, as a bonafide industry is gaining more widespread acceptance and export potential.

Here’s a point of view that resonates:

“What moves men of genius, or rather what inspires their work, is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough.”
— Eugene Delacroix

It has long been established that the duty of the artist is not only to be a documenter of culture but to actively influence it. I am a strong believer, like the legendary Robert Schumman in the power of conscious art not to change, but to awaken the mindset of a people. Just take a look at the lasting effects of the Renaissance or any other major art movement on Europe.

I want to be clear — this is not a dramatic romanticizing of new, superficial art movements. I’m already aware that quirky terms like ‘new age’ have come to be perceived as another fanciful expression of restless youth. I make it a point to resist that direction of thought.

I choose to interpret what I see as a wake-up call, particularly to those of us including myself who are yet to fully digest our immense opportunities in this volatile time we live in. Let’s wake up and smell roses: The impossible is becoming increasingly less so. It’s time to go for it!

A lot is happening and we need all of our minds on this journey.

August 29, 2017
A Question for the Nigerian Youth.

In the days of spirit (youth), thoughts grew till they overtopped my head, whose offspring they yet were.

Which of these do you think is the reason Nigerian youth are so completely disadvantaged politically, socially and economically in the country today?

1. Lack of opportunities

2. Laziness

3. Under-representation

4. Oppression

5. All of these

6. None

The quote that began this article is a line from Max Stirner’s 1910 contemplation on the follies of youthful idealism. He went on to contrast the fickleness of youth against the subtle selfishness of manhood (adulthood). Currently, this line is a reminder to me not to get carried away, as we are prone to do by youthful ideals such that I forget to take action in my interest.

If you answered the question above but were concerned that the options may not have covered all possible answers to that question, you are right. They were compiled based on the most recurring themes after interviewing a handful* of Nigerian millennials (I know, this term sometimes makes me cringe too). Stay with me as I briefly examine them all and please share your views.

Lack of opportunities

Nigerian youth have a knack for blaming the previous generation for every situation we find ourselves in today. “They took everything and left us with nothing.” “They have run the place to the ground.” etc. While these allegations are not out of place, we have to admit that assigning blames is a convenient substitute for action. Blame throwing, more often than not, takes away the burden of responsibility from a situation. Yes, these statements are true; our leaders have failed us — what next? I doubt that there was ever a time when opportunities were easy to come by and even if there was, that time is clearly not now — it simply means we have to work smarter to create our own. I don’t know if that’s what Dr. Kayode Fayemi meant when he urged Nigerian youth to, “Quit whining” because “no one owes you anything”. While he may have been the wrong person to have conveyed that message, he may have been on to something.

Laziness

We are a generation already notorious for wanting things easily without having to struggle for it. Many of us have not accepted that we might have to make sacrifices for it, but we all want a better country. Although activism on social media might be a clever way to start one, a revolution cannot be won on Twitter. Outside, the real work begins. Retweets are good for raising awareness, but highly unlikely to influence a change of economic policies. Take for instance, the recently passed #NotTooYoungtoRun bill — it was a result of a persistent action. The truth is, the only thing that can bring about the stable change we want is our involvement in politics, social development and in business and financial markets. Sometimes, this may involve championing causes that do not immediately benefit you or anyone you know. What sacrifices are you willing to make for the good of people who may never know you or hear your name?

Under-representation

Foster The People’s “Are you who you wanna be” is the official soundtrack in my head to this post. Is your life true to your beliefs? Under-representation of the youth in politics and society simply means we are not getting out there enough. Even if we claim to have nothing else, as a generation, we have all the tools at our disposal to make ourselves heard not just in the highest parts of the country but across the whole world. In this age of ‘disruption’, it shouldn’t be so difficult to find our voices and use them in all spheres of our lives, in areas that matter to us. Build new systems if the old ones don’t work, infiltrate already existing ones with a new voice. It’s not a case of “Where are the activists now?” where everybody thinks everything is the next man’s job. Think: If not you then who? What is nobody’s job is often everybody’s business.

Oppression

noun op·pres·sion \ə-ˈpre-shən\

1: unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power

Going by the Merriam Webster definition above, I personally think that the Nigerian youth is an oppressed demographic in our society. For obvious reasons, the previous generation currently occupies most positions of power, and it is definitely being unjustly exercised. But what is the remedy for oppression? The answer is determined confrontation–refusal to be oppressed. Nelson Mandela didn’t sit in a South African suburb crying about the unfairness being dished out on his race. Over time, he probably decided he’d had enough and just wouldn’t have any more of it. It’s been the same way with every person/group of persons who have successfully fought against oppression.

Maybe I should add that this is not a call for violence or civil unrest as there are many more effective ways to expose or resist oppression. The unpleasant fact remains that if we are currently being taken for a joke, it is likely because we have not yet shown that we can be taken seriously.

Then we come to the most probable option — that the answer to the question is a combination of all these factors and even more. A special country that we are, all our challenges are multi-layered; which makes them that more difficult to address.

If you picked none of the above, I’d really like to hear your answer to the question. Perhaps it could help get the conversation moving in the right direction.

August 29, 2017