When I got Microsoft’s invitation to the Local Language Programme (LLP) in Abuja, I almost dismissed it because of the pressure on my time at the moment. but after speaking with the Citizenship Manager and reading the details of what was to be done, I gave it a thought. The last straw came when I saw the volume of work (close to 600 pages) that had been done with the glossaries!

Led by another Microsoft partner, Alt-i (led by one of my long-time mentors, Dr. Tunde Adegbola), the work that was presented by the Minister of Education at the Shehu Musa Yaradua Centre Board Room in Abuja included the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba translations of glossaries that have now laid the foundation for the integration of these local languages into the Vista and Microsoft Office environment. Imagine working on your machine and speaking Igbo to your machine when asking it to shut down. Or, click in Yoruba. How about caps lock in Hausa?

The minister’s keynote, which she clearly stated was coming from her as a research person and not as minister (I like that!), was quite insightful. She touched on Nigeria’s lack of a Language Policy and the fact that our National Policy on Education actually states that every child must be taught using their local language as language of instruction for the first 3 years of primary school. Such a brilliant way of keeping languages alive but our schools think it’s “local”. I look forward to the day that policy will be implemented, it’ll help many of us stay connected to the root. It is NOT cool to be unable to speak your local language!

Nigeria’s young people are everywhere across the world. I have met Nigerians in countries where I assumed there would be none! One major error, though, is the way we often consider our local language something meant for the back burner. Truth is that civilizations that were able to internalize technology in their local languages have been able to make more sense of it. Just imagine how much details are lost when you translate a proverb into English… While we master the language that would help us communicate on a global level, we must build content in our local language and extend the perimeters of innovation through that.

The glossary translations are available for download on PIN’s website through these links: Hausa | Igbo | Yoruba. Please feel free to provide feedback through nigeriallp[at]live.co.uk!

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I am sitting in the eInclusion Ministerial Conference and Expo beginning in Vienna today, and I have very (very) mixed feelings. While I admire the obvious effort put into this conference and the entire eInclusion concept as driven by the European Union, I am wondering when African governments will quit the low-hanging fruit of “pot belly politicking” and focus on the real essence of governance — improving the lives of the people. This is the 21st century and the average African youth is increasingly becoming less competitive in a world that has obviously lost all its borders. But I am glad that even in the face of this obvious neglect on the part of African governments, there are people (and institutions) that are consistently bridging the gap between what is and what must be. They are my heroes!

I return to Lagos (tomorrow), happy about how my discussions have gone at the various preparatory meetings — and also with some renewed passion to catch up with the many demonstrations I have seen at the 2 different conferences I have attended here in Austria (in Graz and now Vienna) thanks to the Salzburg-based International Centre for New Media. My return to Lagos is made more exciting by the fact that in six (6) days, the Ajegunle.org project will be celebrating the first set of graduates who have now gone through the various phases of the project — orientation, capacity building, internship, peer training and consistent reports to PIN; another reminder of those efforts that dare to confront the status quo in order to take Nigeria (and her youth, especially) to the New Economy. The project is driven by a young man whose passion I am yet to fathom; he knows how to deliver even in the face of near-zero resources: Ugochukwu Nwosu.

Ugo started volunteering for Paradigm Initiative Nigeria even before we became a legal entity. At the time when PIN was just an online group that tried its best to connect youth to any possible ICT opportunities, Ugo joined others to contribute man-hours to make this possible. I was quite surprised that he chose to return to that same role of a volunteer when he completed his undergraduate studies, and he has since moved on from volunteer to intern and then full time staff. While I keep myself busy with the task of institutional development and also attend to the commitments that come with my service in a number of roles, Ugo is the one who keeps the engine of progress in PIN going. When PIN becomes the institution I’m working hard to build, it should not be a surprise to see Ugo play a role that many of his peers will consider lucky. It would have been duly earned. I am not afraid to celebrate you, Ugo, because you represent the generation of youth who are now leading the campaign I spent my last decade working on. Thank you!

Each time I look to the corner of my office where a good number of award plaques sit, I think about the people who have now taken the message and have turned it into a lifestyle. To Ugo and the many young people who still understand the principle of delayed gratification (and forge ahead to deliver change even under the least comfortable circumstances), I salute you. You are my heroes, I celebrate you!

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I’m in Austria to conclude talks on a new initiative that will help Paradigm Initiative Nigeria and other partners connect young Nigerians (and eventually Africans) with the opportunities that come with innovation (with a special leaning towards mobile applications). Like many first-time visits, this has been a splendid one for me. From the diplomatic intervention to the 9-hour wait in Doha (thanks to the lounge whose name I’ve now forgotten), “where’s my 30 year-old blonde” wait at the train terminal, nice 3-hour trip with my guide-turned-friend, warm welcome by my hosts and progress on the mission, I’m loving it! I think I should also say I love the snow too, because it was actually fun getting lost last night and falling twice (do I now have to buy anti-slide shoes?) in the snow. Confession: I love Lagos more, even if the heat is often unbearable

The meetings were timed to coincide with the Europrix Festival in Graz and it’s been 2 full days of inspiration! Meeting young Europeans who are showcasing their innovative projects has added new flavour to the content of my meeting discussions — and I can’t wait to see young Africans come together to celebrate innovation and create new pathways for their respective industries. Listen to the organizers: The EUROPRIX winning projects are the best of young multimedia contents and design in Europe. The projects and products are the top selection from all entries to the Top Talent Award. They show that the new developments are not isolated, but that from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, from small towns to the European metro centres, young media designers have taken charge of the technologies to create new applications and contents that work in the real world.

Following yesterday’s beautiful session that featured a keynote presentation and discussions led by past winners of Europrix awards in different categories, today’s session focuses on demonstrations by category finalists. You can see a complete list of nominees here but the Robovox demonstration was really cool! The Robovox, a large interactive public sound installation using SMS for general public interaction, allows anyone to say anything out loud (and anonymously) by sending text messages to the robot via a short code. Even though the demonstration was made with a much smaller (about 2m) robot, the Robovox installation is usually 8m tall and has traveled to a number of public squares across the world. During the presentation, various text messages made their way to the short code and Martin Bricelj had to allow Robovox to say the many things that anonymous text authors just had to let out.

I wonder if the idea can be integrated into the existing public monuments so that the three elders that greet you as you enter Lagos can say Eko o ni b’aje! to remind everyone who drives into town that we make Lagos whatever it becomes.

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Smart Growth.org
A SERVICE OF THE SMART GROWTH NETWORK
http://www.smartgrowth.org/about/default.asp?res=1024

In communities across the nation, there is a growing concern that current development patterns -- dominated by what some call "sprawl" -- are no longer in the long-term interest of our cities, existing suburbs, small towns, rural communities, or wilderness areas. Though supportive of growth, communities are questioning the economic costs of abandoning infrastructure in the city, only to rebuild it further out.

Spurring the smart growth movement are demographic shifts, a strong environmental ethic, increased fiscal concerns, and more nuanced views of growth. The result is both a new demand and a new opportunity for smart growth.

The features that distinguish smart growth in a community vary from place to place. In general, smart growth invests time, attention, and resources in restoring community and vitality to center cities and older suburbs. New smart growth is more town-centered, is transit and pedestrian oriented, and has a greater mix of housing, commercial and retail uses. It also preserves open space and many other environmental amenities.

The Smart Growth Principles and Issues below describe in greater details the various aspects of planning and development that make up smart growth.

The Management of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife (OAU) through its Advancement Office is presently updating the institution’s Alumni Database. This initiative, as part of the University Strategic plan seeks to increase the database to 30,000 from the pool of about 66,000 graduates which the University has produced in the last 46 years of its existence.

We therefore appeal that you support this initiative by sending us the list of OAU Alumni that you know, stating their names in full (former names if married), course of study, year of graduation, phone numbers, e-mail addresses and current rank/status at work.

It would be appreciated if the information is sent to us through these addresses: advancement[at]oauife.edu.ng or alumnire[at]oauife.edu.ng.

We assure you that the information we receive will be treated confidentially.

Thank you.

Signed
‘Ronke Ajibola
Executive Director
University Advancement Office
Obafemi Awolowo University
Ile-Ife.

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Nudist Stories and Revelations, Nudist Photos and Videos

Yes, he did! And you can be sure I did not swap names, that’s right: Obama’s campaign ran just like the kind of campaign Prof. Pat Utomi discussed with his team.

I had the rare priviledge of being close to the campaign Prof. Pat Utomi ran towards his April 2007 candidacy for the presidency of Nigeria and I wasn’t surprised when he told me sometime during Obama’s 21-month campaign that the ideas he saw in play were very close to what he advocated in Nigeria. I remember discussions around setting up RestoreNigeria.org, when he hinted that he wanted a grassroots campaign that allowed market women, students and every stakeholder to contribute their single-digit contributions so that government would truly be driven by these people (the true stakeholders) and not the moneybags who usually expect their own dividends of democracy after bankrolling campaigns.

He also insisted on creating a platform to allow all Nigerian citizens to contribute ideas towards the governance of Nigeria — as he presently advocates through the opposition website, www.shadownigeria.org. How could I also forget his choice of Web 2.0 tools during the campaign — he blogged at UtomiNotes.com, uploaded YouTube videos and he’s now on FaceBook! I remember a few people asking if he was truly the one running the FaceBook page himself, noting that Nigerian public officers are known to have secretaries who have deputies — who in turn have assistants (and those assistants often have Vice-Assistants). I also remember his request for some high-level animation to go along with his Public Declaration at the Musa Yar’adua centre in Abuja.

SMS was central to the Utomi campaign too. And you can probably remember that the words “change,” “values” and “issues” were not far from most of his speecehs! Okay. If he ran the kind of campaign Obama ran much after his own, how come he lost. Well, the answer is obvious: amongst many others that are too political for this page, many of us didn’t seal the deal. Think about the role that American youth played during Obama’s election and you’ll see a missing opportunity from our 2007 elections in Nigeria. How many of us were excited about the opportunity to vote for change following 8 years of a president who had become quite unpopular (let’s face it, they share similar near-exit ratings and I bet you know the two people I refer to here.)

Will we do something different in 2011? Will young professionals ensure that they are registered on time? Will students mobilise their friends towards active involvement in that election (and we know just how to do that, don’t we?) Unfortunately, Nigeria’s middle class has created a pseudo-government of their own by installing generators to replace a dysfunctional power utility company, bore holes to stand in for some agency we used to call “Water Corporation” when I was growing up, private guards (of all shades, sizes, uniforms and languages) to take care of what the “Men In Black” are paid to do, and self-created happiness (either through religion, extra hours with colleagues who’re also scared of the bridge during high-traffic hours at work or … you know) to make up for that joy that comes from a government’s fulfilment of its promises to her citizens. Thus, it is difficult for that same middle class to be bothered about elections, it’s only one of those things they’ve learnt to “endure.”

But not in 2011. The lessons of Obama’s choice as “leader of the free world” will be lost if we don’t wear the robes of citizen participation now — not when 2011 suddenly happens on us. We must start mobilising the majority that is right so that the minority that has held us bound can feel the pulse. This is already November 2008 and if you discount the holidays, 2009 is here. The budget debates and new year lull (and possibly some breaking news — as we usually have it but hopefully not with the price of PMS this time) will then make way for mid 2009 by which time the political parties will be preparing for the string of primaries and fundraising events that will lead to the full-blown campaign for April 2011. We should have new dates for some positions owing to tribunal rulings but April 2011 (or thereabout) will be time to decide who the next president will be.

We must not miss the opportunity to tell the world that Nigeria — just like the US — knows just when to surprise the world. We always do that with football, and we don’t lack the intelligence (or number) to achieve the same in the most important part of our socio-political existence. I know that we’ll have many Utomi-like (and if you prefer, Obama-like) campaigns towards 2011 but the difference this time should be our response to the call and deliberate choice to follow through with the message of change. We’re not lacking in technology gurus who can help mobilise 60% of Nigeria’s population (the youth) towards virtuous political involvement, and this should meet with political genius that can take advantage of that wave of change — and also deliver on its promise as, and when, due. Obama’s 21-month campaign and the 2007 candidacy of Pat Utomi are serious pointers to the possibilities that are ahead for Nigeria.

Regardless of where you are, get ready for the much-needed revolution. At home, on holiday, in diaspora, on extended stay, planning to return or officially back in Nigeria? Arise and obey the call. Arise, O compatriots. Nigeria’s call obey. To serve our Fatherland with love and strength and faith. The labour of our heroes past “should” never be in vain. To serve with heart and might, one nation bound in freedom. Peace. And unity! O God of creation, direct our noble cause. Guide our leaders right. Help our youth the truth to know: In love and honesty to grow, and living just and true. Great lofty heights attain, to build a nation where peace and justice shall reign! As for me, I pledge to Nigeria, my country: To be faithful, loyal and honest; to serve Nigeria with all my strength. To defend her unity, and uphold her honour and glory. So help me, God. The journey towards 2011 presents Nigeria with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to return to our place as (or fulfil the dream of becoming) the Giant of Africa.

My name is ‘Gbenga Sesan and I approve this message… but with no political ambition for now (maybe later).

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He should be tired by now. It’s been a long 21 months of hard work (you can capitalize and underline that) and even though the strength you draw from speaking with a crowd of over 120,000 can be intoxicating, it’s already 11:30pm in his time zone and it will be a long day tomorrow — not with the thousands of names and roles that need to be sorted out.

At exactly 5am Nigerian time (GMT + 1) today, Barack Obama was declared the winner of the US elections — following one of the most interesting series of events (from the primaries through to election day) that literally caught the world on the edge of its seat. When he announced his candidacy, many laughed off the ambition of the skinny guy with a funny name, some admired his courage but wished he could wait for his own time and others simply told him what many of us have been told: don’t disgrace yourself. Now, after an almost impossible process that will be the subject of near-eternal analysis, that one is the leader of the free world.

As the fine words eased their way through his lips, my phone rang a number of times. Odd hours, yes, but there were many who stayed awake to watch the turn of events as the voice of the people was being interpreted through the votes of millions who despised the odds to support change. It’s the first time a man of colour will be president in the United States but that’s not the major attraction (even though no one can deny its historic significance). Yes, his success in this venture will help many truly believe that dreams do come true, including those eloquently expressed by a King who once had a dream. One of the text messages referred to the possibility of tears in the eyes of Rev. King but even if it’s tough to picture tears in the eyes of the dead, it won’t be difficult to imagine how his voice would have expressed the words: “Yes, we can!” Actually, he would now say, “Yes, we have!”

The major attractions here are the many lessons that this beautiful story (third in the series after Dreams of My Father and The Audacity of Hope) teaches the individual, developing nations and the world at large. It should now be a taboo for anyone to laugh at another person who dares to express their hope to become something greater than themselves — even if their name, background, experience or your assessment offer them no hope. It should also be a thing of shame for any African leader to offer up excuses that good leadership is far from those who are blessed with a certain skin colour. Born to a Kenyan father and discouraged by those who should be his mentors, Barry showcased an example in working deliberately towards set objectives. But as he said during his speech almost half an hour ago, the true winners are the people. Now, that is a direct challenge to the citizens of Nigeria and other nations where we have almost left elections to those who try to scare us away from the process.

Young Africans followed this election with so much passion. Many disagreed on the choice of candidates in elections that would not accept our opinion, but shall we shy away from that with possible outcomes that can shape our future? Ghana goes to the polls in December and many others (South Africa, etc) are waiting for 2009. Can young professionals shed the garment of apathy and decide to get involved? There would have been no President-Elect Obama if those who voted assumed that he was going against too powerful a machinery during the primaries, or if they returned home on election day because the queues were long. Many will spend much of today looking many times over at the same document (for lack of sleep) and the Kenyan government has declared a public holiday for Thursday. Will we see this same passion translated into citizen participation and possible contribution to the development of the land whose song we sing?

Congratulations, Barack, and all the best with the huge work ahead of you! For the rest of us, we have found inspiration to aim for any heights and we have seen the power of the seeming minority that refuse to stay away from a process that could tip the scale for them — and for generations ahead. It’s the day after Barack, let’s ride the wings of change here at home too.

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If a group has Nelson Mandela, Graça Machel, Desmond Tutu, Kofi Annan, Ela Bhatt, Lakhdar Brahimi, Gro Brundtland, Fernando H Cardoso, Jimmy Carter, Mary Robinson, Muhammad Yunus and Aung San Suu Kyi as its members, then you can be sure that it deserves the name, The Elders.

As stated on the group’s website: “Out of deep concern for the challenges currently facing all of the people of our world, Nelson Mandela, Graça Machel and Desmond Tutu have convened a group of leaders to contribute their wisdom, independent leadership and integrity to tackling some of the world’s toughest problems.” I was glad to read these words spoken by Madiba:

This group can speak freely and boldly, working both publicly and behind the scenes on whatever actions need to be taken. Together we will work to support courage where there is fear, foster agreement where there is conflict, and inspire hope where there is despair.”

Desmond Tutu, a man whose shadow lights my path (as a Desmond Tutu Fellow) also had this to say:

“Despite all the ghastliness that is around, human beings are made for goodness. The ones who ought to be held in high regard are not the ones who are militarily powerful, nor even economically prosperous. They are the ones who have a commitment to try and make the world a better place. We - The Elders - will endeavour to support those people and do our best for humanity.”

The Elders’ group is supported by Richard Branson, Bridgeway Foundation, Michael Chambers, Ray Chambers, Peter Gabriel, Humaity United, Amy Robbins, Shashi Ruia, Jeff Skoll, Dick Tarlow and The United Nations Foundation. I spent some time earlier in the year following the work that the group has done and I decided to support with the little help I may be able to give to these men and women who have not only inspired hope — but whose actions (shadows) are bright enough to light the path of those of us who believe that one (wo)man can make a difference regardless of location or complexity.

Yesterday, I got word from Joshua Robert Wiese who works on the ICT side of The Elders’ Every Human Has Rights campaign and I’m glad to invite everyone to sign the declaration in commemoration of it’s 60th anniversary. Signing the declaration this time is not for ratification by any nation-state or group, but as a sign of your decision to live out the declaration. If we all lived out the words of that declaration, we’ll probably not have to lobby any governments to make true it’s words. “2008 is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 60th anniversary. It’s time for a global conversation about human rights and the values that unite us as one human family. But it can also be a time when each of us chooses to take human rights into our daily lives, by joining a powerful people network,” was how the campaign website aptly put the message.

Read it, understand it, sign it, and pass it on.

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