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Part 1 We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Summary"We Should All Be Feminists" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is an essay adapted from her TEDx talk, which provides a personal and passionate perspective on feminism and its relevance in today's world. Key Points of the Essay: Definition of Feminism: Adichie defines feminism as a movement for the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. She emphasizes that feminism is not about disregarding men but about striving for equity in roles, opportunities, and treatment for both genders. Personal Experiences: Through anecdotes from her life in Nigeria, Adichie highlights the subtle and blatant forms of gender discrimination women face. She recounts experiences from childhood to adulthood that illustrate societal expectations and pressures on women and girls, including how they are often discouraged from pursuing ambitious goals compared to their male counterparts. Cultural Conditioning: Adichie discusses how culture plays a significant role in shaping gender norms, asserting that society raises boys and girls differently, leading to power imbalances. She stresses the importance of awareness of these biases to challenge and change them. Importance of Feminism: The essay argues that everyone—regardless of gender—should be involved in feminist activism. Adichie asserts that true equality would benefit all, leading to a more just society. Challenges to Feminism: Adichie addresses common misconceptions about feminism, including the belief that it is a threat to men. She emphasizes that dismantling patriarchal norms can also free men from toxic expectations placed upon them. Call to Action: The essay concludes with a call for collective action against gender inequality. Adichie advocates for education and dialogue about feminism and encourages individuals to stand up against sexism in their daily lives. Overall, "We Should All Be Feminists" is a compelling argument for gender equality, providing insights into the ways in which society can work towards creating a more equitable world.Part 2 We Should All Be Feminists AuthorChimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian author born on September 15, 1977, in Enugu, Nigeria. She is well-known for her engaging storytelling and insightful perspectives on topics such as feminism, identity, and post-colonial experiences. We Should All Be FeministsRelease Date: The book "We Should All Be Feminists" was first published in 2014. It began as a TEDx talk given by Adichie in December 2012, which became widely popular and led to the book's publication.Content: The book is an essay that discusses the definitions of feminism and argues for a more inclusive and adaptive understanding of gender roles in contemporary society. Other Notable WorksChimamanda Ngozi Adichie has written several acclaimed novels and essays. Some of her other notable works include:Purple Hibiscus (2003) Her debut novel, which tells the story of a young Nigerian girl living in a stifled home and exploring themes of freedom and oppression.Half of a Yellow Sun (2006) This novel, set during the Nigerian Civil War, delves into the impact of the conflict on individuals and communities. It won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2007.Americanah (2013) This best-selling novel follows the story of a young Nigerian woman who immigrates to the United States and explores issues of race and identity. It received widespread critical acclaim.The Thing Around Your Neck (2009) A collection of short stories that address themes of immigration, culture clash, and personal identity.Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions (2017) A letter to the author's friend on raising her daughter to be a feminist, which outlines practical advice and insights. Best EditionIn terms of editions, "Half of a...
VDM Arrested After APC Threats Over Talks On Akpabio Attending Pope Burialhttps://osazuwaakonedo.video/vdm-arrested-after-apc-threats-over-talks-on-akpabio-attending-pope-burial/05/05/2025/#Issues #GTB #Akpabio #APC #Benue #Enugu #Kwara #Ogun #Plateau #Pope #Vatican #VeryDarkMan ©May 5th, 2025 ®May 5, 2025 10:26 am There is apparent tension in Nigeria over the arrest of a popular Human Rights activist, Martins Vincent Otse aka VeryDarkMan or VDM who was allegedly seized by Nigeria Security operatives in a manner that have kept many wondering, suspecting acts of oppression and intimidation based on threats issued by the ruling political party, All Progressives Congress, APC against the Human Rights activist, after the activist condemned the Nigeria Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, for traveling to Vatican in Italy to attend Pope Francis burial ceremony, while, he said, the Senate President has failed to visit states where almost daily burial ceremonies are often held, in some states like Plateau, Benue, Kwara, Enugu and Ogun States where gunmen, bandits are killing the Senate President fellow citizens in large numbers unabated in recent time in Nigeria, and angered by the talks, the APC South South Zonal Organising Secretary, Blessing Agbomhere issued seven days ultimatum to VeryDarkMan to apologize to the Senate President who led five-man Federal Government delegation to Rome to attend the late Catholic Head funeral ceremony, but immediately, VeryDarkMan in a video issued the public apology to the victims of insecurity in the West Africa country, and in the video, he further accused and condemned the Senate President and other Nigeria leaders for being insensitivity to their institutional responsibilities of protecting lives, saying, insecurity, killing hundreds of people often in Nigeria is as a result of Leadership failure on the part of the Senate President and members of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu led Government, and surprisingly, Deji Adeyanju, the lawyer to the activist, said that VeryDarkMan was arrested at Guaranty Trust Bank, GTB in Abuja on Friday in a more dehumanizing manner, and after he was trapped at the Exit Door at the GTB premises for five minutes, some security operatives came and cover his face with a black cloth before he was led away, and for more than 48 hours, Nigeria authority is yet to issue statement over the arrest of the Human Rights activist who had on Friday went with her Mother to the GTB bank to get clarification over the unauthorised withdrawals constantly done on his mother savings account, after the activist suspected that someone may have used his mother National Identification Number, NIN to take loan from the GTB bank. #OsazuwaAkonedo
Peace In South East - We Didn't Surrender - Biafra Grouphttps://osazuwaakonedo.news/peace-in-south-east-we-didnt-surrender-biafra-group/15/03/2025/#Issues #Abia #Anambra #Biafra #ebonyi #Effium #Enugu #Ezza #Imo #Mba #Nwifuru #Soludo ©March 15th, 2025 ®March 15, 2025 11:58 am Biafra Secessionist armed group led by Innocent Orji has refuted media report that suggested that the current and apparent peace in the South East geopolitical zone of Nigeria which comprises the previously troubled states of Abia, Imo, Enugu, Anambra and Ebonyi is not because his men surrendered to the state governments, adding that, the News Band Blog that published what they described as misleading information betrayed the journalism profession and the media should not be trusted with the true state of affairs of activities in the Southeast region the Biafra Group described as Biafra land. #OsazuwaAkonedo
Police Killing, No More - IGP Warns Biafra Groups, In Enugu Ahead Tinubuhttps://osazuwaakonedo.news/police-killing-no-more-igp-warns-biafra-groups-in-enugu-ahead-tinubu/03/01/2025/#Nigeria Police Force #Biafra #Bola #Egbetokun #Enugu #Igp #Kayode #Police #Tinubu ©January 3rd, 2025 ®January 3, 2025 8:50 pm Nigeria Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun has issued a stern warning to Biafra armed groups and other non state actors killing police officers in the Southeast states and other geopolitical zones in the country that the Force will no longer tolerate any act of assault or killing of policemen in the country, stating this on Friday in Enugu State ahead the official visit of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the state on Saturday, IGP ordered policemen to respond appropriately to any aggression against men of the Force. #OsazuwaAkonedo
ENLIGHTENED || SOAR CONFERENCE 2024 || HOTR || ENUGU-NIGERIA || APOSTLE JOSHUA SELMAN SOAR CONFERENCE 2024 (RESTORE) HOTR
RESTORE! (MIRACLE AND PROPHETIC SERVICE) 2Kgs.8:6 || HOTR || ENUGU-NIGERIA || APOSTLE JOSHUA SELMAN SOAR CONFERENCE 2024 (RESTORE) HOTR
Court Fines CP ₦20m Over Missing Suspects In Enugu Anti-Cult Police Custody https://osazuwaakonedo.news/court-fines-cp-%e2%82%a620m-over-missing-suspects-in-enugu-anti-cult-police-custody/04/11/2024/ #Law #Agbani #Enugu #news #Police #suspects ©November 4th, 2024 ®November 4, 2024 3:22 pm High Court sitting in Enugu State has ordered the state commissioner of Police to pay the sum of ₦20 million naira to the family of Chika Chukwu Onwe, one of the suspects who went missing at the State Anti Cult Police Custody since 2019.r #OsazuwaAkonedo
Police Dismiss, Sent Officer To Prison Over 'Igbo Jah's Killing In Enugu https://osazuwaakonedo.news/police-dismiss-sent-officer-to-prison-over-igbo-jahs-killing-in-enugu/28/10/2024/ #Issues #Chikezie #Ekpa #Enugu #IgboJah #Joseph #Nwamba #Ogene #Okezie #Ozonwanji #Police #Simon #SitAtHome ©October 28th, 2024 ®October 28, 2024 9:54 pm Nigeria Police Force has dismissed and arraigned before Magistrate Court in Enugu State, Inspector Ozonwanji Joseph who allegedly shot dead a popular Ogene Musician, Chikezie Okezie Nwamba aka Igbo Jah at the premises of the state Anti Cult Police Command Headquarters on Friday after the musician and his group members had entertained the police officers. #OsazuwaAkonedo
EFCC Invades Radio Station In Enugu, Arrests Presenter Mid-Air https://osazuwaakonedo.news/efcc-invades-radio-station-in-enugu-arrests-presenter-mid-air/15/10/2024/ #Breaking News #EFCC #Enugu #journalists #UrbanRadio ©October 15th, 2024 ®October 16, 2024 9:27 am Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has invaded Urban 94.5FM radio station in Enugu State and arrested a journalist while She was on Mid-air presenting a programme. #OsazuwaAkonedo
We Arrested Prime Time Host In Enugu Radio Station Over ₦700m Fraud - EFCC https://osazuwaakonedo.news/we-arrested-prime-time-host-in-enugu-radio-station-over-%e2%82%a6700m-fraud-efcc/15/10/2024/ #Breaking News #EFCC #Ekoh #Enugu #Favour #UrbanRadio ©October 15th, 2024 ®October 16, 2024 9:31 am Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has stated that its personnel moved into Urban Radio station on Monday evening to effect the arrest of Prime Time Programme Host, Favour Ekoh following allegation of fraud she allegedly committed. #OsazuwaAkonedo
This week's episode started light and bubbly but got quite serious towards the end because if your girls are not anything, they are multifaceted! The episode began with a recap of a friend of the pod, Dimma's wedding in Enugu. Dilemmas this week are all over the place, from a young man who has reconciled with his dad behind his siblings' backs to a young lady tired of her friends always having conversations about men and a young man trying to own FK's spot. The podcast ended with an honest discussion about life's sunk costs and how to come to terms with being unable to provide yourself with the life you wanted. You can buy Pemi's book here - https://masobebooks.com/ng/book/ghostroots/ Don't forget to use #ISWIS or #ISWISPodcast to share your thoughts while listening to the podcast on Twitter! Rate the show 5 stars on whatever app you listen to and leave a review, share with everyone you know and if you also watch on YouTube, subscribe, like and leave a comment! Make sure to follow us on Twitter: @ISWISPodcastInstagram: @isaidwhatisaidpodYoutube: @isaidwhatisaidpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Enjoy the crew banter and discuss different stories around the world; - The Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) said yesterday that it has put everything on ground to surpass the achievements of the country at previous Olympics. - After a superb performance in her recent outing in Luxembourg, Nigeria's Taekwondo star Elizabeth Anyanacho has confirmed her readiness for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. - The Lagos state government has promised to renovate the Molade Okoya-Thomas indoor sports hall inside the Teslim Balogun stadium in Surulere, Lagos. - Just five weeks after becoming the first undisputed heavyweight boxing champion in nearly 25 years, Oleksandr Usyk has given up one of his belts. - South Africa have recalled two-time World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi for next month's Test series against Ireland. - Police have advised the Mercedes Formula 1 team that no criminal offences were committed by the sender of an email that claimed Lewis Hamilton's car had been "sabotaged". - Thousands of football faithfuls in Enugu trooped out Monday morning in defiance to the now traditional Sit-at-home order by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to welcome the newly crowned Nigeria Premier Football League champions, Rangers International of Enugu. - Indications have emerged that Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) giants, Kano Pillars will announce the appointment of a new Technical Adviser on Thursday, June 27. - The Executive Governor of Oyo State, Engineer Seyi Makinde, says a CAF club competition slot will be the major focus for Shooting Stars Sports Club in the 2024/2025 Nigeria Premier Football League season, PUNCH Sports Extra reports. - The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has dispelled reports it has established contact with Herve Renard for the vacant Super Eagles coaching job. - Southampton striker Paul Onuachu has put in a transfer request to leave the club. - Legendary former Arsenal and France striker Thierry Henry is one of the names being considered to succeed Rob Page as Wales manager - Belotti moves to the Serie A new-boys for a fee rising to €5m - Real Madrid striker Joselu is a step away from signing with Qatar's Al Gharafa. - A masked Kylian Mbappe scored his first-ever Euros goal but France were held to a draw by an already-eliminated Poland to finish second in Group D. - England moved into Euro 2024's last 16 at the top of Group C - but it was only achieved after another drab display with a draw against Slovenia in Cologne.
Francesco Ferracin"La leonessa"Linea Edizioniwww.lineaedizioni.itLa Leonessa è ispirato a una storia vera. Berlino Est, 1964. La ventiduenne Friederike “Rike” Beck è una studentessa dell'Università di Potsdam. Madre di una bambina di sette anni, avuta da una relazione con Klaus, il suo primo marito, un uomo violento e pericoloso, a Berlino conosce Alexander Onyemo, uno studente di ingegneria nigeriano. I due non potrebbero essere più diversi tra loro. Contro ogni convenzione sociale, Rike e Alex cominciano a frequentarsi e la loro relazione sentimentale li porta alla nascita di una bambina. Decidono di sposarsi e, una volta terminati gli studi, di andare a vivere a Enugu, in Nigeria, dove Alex sarà destinato a ricoprire una posizione di prestigio presso la più importante compagnia mineraria del paese. L'impatto con l'Africa è al principio traumatico, ma in pochi mesi Rike entra a far parte dell'élite locale, composta soprattutto da bianchi provenienti dai più diversi paesi occidentali: uomini d'affari con le loro mogli, diplomatici, spie. Ed è proprio all'interno dei club da essi frequentati che Rike si rende conto che il paese è sull'orlo di una guerra civile.Francesco Ferracin nasce a Venezia nel 1973. Il suo debutto letterario avviene nel 2008, con il romanzo hard-boiled Una vasca di troppo (Fanucci). Nel 2009 comincia la sua collaborazione con Franco Battiato con il quale ha co-sceneggiato il film Handel e portato in scena il melologo L'incubo della farfalla, liberamente tratto dal suo omonimo poema. Per Linea Edizioni ha scritto i romanzi Technoshock (2018) Venezia Sunrise (2019) L'incubo della farfalla (2022) e Feroce (2023). Francesco vive fra Berlino e Venezia e si dedica allo sviluppo e alla scrittura di romanzi, film, serie televisive, opere teatrali, videogame e progetti trans-mediali.IL POSTO DELLE PAROLEascoltare fa pensarewww.ilpostodelleparole.itDiventa un supporter di questo podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/il-posto-delle-parole--1487855/support.
In the second part of our series on the Luaka Bop record label, this month TNT brings you a total jammer - 2013's "Who is William Onyeabor?" by the mysterious and prolific Nigerian electro Afro-funk pioneer William Onyeabor. The first official re-issue of Onyeabor's music since being recorded in the late 70s/early 80s, this compilation serves up Onyeabor's space-age synthesizers, disco-funk rhythms and pulsing drum machines - all created, produced and recorded by one fantastic man.
Bio Victor is a Lean/AGILE Strategy and Transformation Consultant, helping organisations in emergent environments navigate the path to a successful future via "Agile Ways Of Working". This usually involves developing and implementing Lean/Agile Strategies for these organisations, coaching & mentoring Senior Leaders, Managers and Teams in attaining the Agile Mindset that allows them to achieve high performance. Experiencing this evolutionary journey with clients from traditional ways of working to successfully achieving full Agility is his career passion. With a career path spanning over 30 years, starting as an accountant and Business Analyst, Scrum Master to being an Agile Coach today. His best skill amongst many is as a motivator and his work ethic is all around making work fun. Other passion outside work include helping Africa as a whole achieve Agility – Victor is the creator of the A.P.I.A.M-R.A.T.S Agile Culture Model and also an amateur chef, gastronome and suffering Chelsea FC fan. Victor lives in England with his family, 3 dogs and 12 fish. Interview Highlights 01:40 & 08:00 Childhood bereavement 04:00 The importance of adapting 09:45 A.P.I.A.M-R.A.T.S model 14:50 Using local language 20:00 WakandAGILITY 22:25 Sustainable transformation 29:00 Transformation buzzword 32:15 The importance of timing Social Media · LinkedIn: Victor NWADU | LinkedIn · Email: victor@wakandagility.com · Medium: Victor Nwadu – Medium · Twitter: @wakandagility Books & Resources · The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt: The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement: Goldratt, Eliyahu M · Turn the Ship Around! by L. David Marquet: Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders L. David Marquet · The Wisdom of the Crowds by James Surowiecki: The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations: James Surowiecki, Erik Singer · WakandAGILITY.com: Enabling Agility for Africa: Agile Training, Support and Networking | Wakandagility · The A.P.I.A.M. – R.A.T.S. MODEL | LinkedIn Episode Transcript Intro: Hello and welcome to the Agile Innovation Leaders podcast. I'm Ula Ojiaku. On this podcast I speak with world-class leaders and doers about themselves and a variety of topics spanning Agile, Lean Innovation, Business, Leadership and much more – with actionable takeaways for you the listener. Ula Ojiaku So I have with me here Victor Nwadu, who is an agility strategist, Agile coach, everything-in-between, maestro. Victor, it's an honour to have you on the Agile Innovation Leaders Podcast. Thank you so much. Victor Nwadu Thank you, Ula, thank you for having me. Thank you. Ula Ojiaku So let, just tell us, Victor, about your background. What are the things that you've experienced, that have shaped you into who you are today and how you've ended up to where you are professionally? Victor Nwadu I mean, just cutting to the flow, I'm from Nigeria. I'm also, like all Nigerians, educated in Nigeria and then for some, you know, reason found myself here in the UK. If I wanted to pick on anything that has, you know, brought me to where I am and what has driven me to who I am today, I think it's just, it's my childhood, right. I was born to working class parents that, you know, Catholic people that worked hard for everything they've got. And as a Nigerian, you are told, it's instilled in you from a very young age, what the benefit of hard work is. Unfortunately, I was traumatised at the age of 13 by the death of my mum. So, and yeah, left with five siblings and my dad was broken by the course of events, but, you know, at that young age getting to where I am, having to, you know, do what I had to do to get to school and all that and still have these five siblings with me as well. Ula Ojiaku Because you're the first. Victor Nwadu Yes, I'm the first. You know how it is, especially when you're Igbo, right, you're expected to be strong and do it. Ula Ojiaku Di-Okpara (First Born) Victor Nwadu Di-Okpara, you say, that kind of thing, you know, so, yeah. But thank God for today and I find myself here today talking to powerful people like yourself. And I mean, I think that that has made me stronger, and I miss my mum terribly, but if I look back, to be honest with you, the course of events in one's life really defines, helps one define one's destiny. And that's how, you know, so I believe that what I went through in life has made me stronger, you know? So, yeah. I came to the UK, became an accountant, funnily enough, I did what we need to do. Then I find myself being a BA then a, after systems accounting, because I loved computers and all that, you know, then find myself doing, I don't know if you know what SAP is, so I did that for a while. Met a chap, a BA guy that I was doing his invoice, I saw how much was earning and I said, what, Jesus, I mean, tell me what to do, man. I then became a BA from that, then became, at that time, luckily, Scrum was just coming into the industry and, you know, we, I found myself doing something called an Agile BA, that's how I got into Agile. Then became a Scrum Master, became an Agile coach, and the rest is history. So that's basically it in a nutshell. Ula Ojiaku That's interesting, that you started off as an accountant and now you're an agile coach. I mean, I'm not throwing stones. I started off as an Electronic Engineer and I'm an agile coach, but yeah, it's all about, what I'm trying to also tell young people, including my children, that what you start off with doesn't necessarily mean that that's the career you're going to have for your whole life, you know, there is a whole lot of options, but it's just about starting somewhere. Victor Nwadu Especially now, I say the same thing to my kids, especially my son. You need to be in a state of mind where you need to adapt. A lot of paradigm shifts are happening underneath us and, you know, you need to be ready, and you need to be ready to go and adapt to the present circumstances. Otherwise, you know, and this is why we do what we do. Ula Ojiaku Yeah, and I think it starts with a mindset as well, you know, just having that Agile mindset, not to flog it, but agility starts first with the mind. What's your take on it? Because things are changing to be able to adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing world. Victor Nwadu Exactly. I mean, so we are living in exciting times, like you know already, agility was born out of the times that we're living in. It all started with the internet and outsourcing and all that, the world becoming a small village and all that. Then, we then have this digital thing going on and the information age and that brought yourselves all sorts of fantastic things. Things are, because we are utilising and leveraging the power of technology, we find out that we don't need to do certain things. Unfortunately, some jobs have to go, but then new ones are coming in. So all these things started happening, and again, it's affecting generations right now. If you were Generation X like me, you would've seen at least three more generations in your time when these changes are happening. It's crazy. So we now have, how do we survive? You know, you survive by adapting. If you don't adapt, you become obsolete, extinct, and that has tailored it to the industry, and the way we work. And even now talking to you, I'm working from home, I have a home office, you know, and that makes it even more fantastic because I can work anywhere in the world. Right. So what it does now is that it creates a bigger competition, right, where anybody can apply for any job anywhere in the world. It also helps the earth, and I don't want to go into that working from home debate, but that's all these things that are happening are as the consequences of the various paradigm shifts that are happening. So we need to adapt, like you said, in the mind, our mind needs to be open to change. And we need to put ourself in a place where we leverage all the advantages of those changes for our own benefits and so yeah. Ula Ojiaku Well said Victor. I mean, I completely associate with what you've said so far and the changes that are happening, especially with technology. For example, the recent one that's making waves is like AI, you know, so we're now in, someone said we're in the knowledge, information age, but now it's something like augmented age. So it's not just about the information, but it's also about being able to leverage, you know, technology like AI to still do productive work. But it still ties back with being adaptable, being able to learn and unlearn, to remain creative because machines are not taking over anytime soon. Victor Nwadu They can't take over the creative aspect and we need to automate and become, the competitive edge now is about who does things quicker, who gets to the market quicker and who get to the customer quicker? Who satisfies the customer in terms of the value threshold. So yeah, that's what we are, you know, we're creative, but we'll still be the same, but if you don't have creative guys in your design and engineering design, or software design, you're still going to fall back into that obsolete group of people that don't change or are not changing as quickly as it should. So yeah, I agree totally with that. Yeah. Ula Ojiaku Thank you. I know we went off into a rabbit hole, but I did want to just take you a little bit back to what you said earlier when you were talking about the things that happened to you that shaped you into who you are. And you mentioned your mum's death at 13, you know, I'm really sorry about that, and I can't imagine how tough it would be because my son just turned 13 and I can't imagine the difficulty it must be, well, you did say it must have been for you. You said events in one's life defines one's destiny. Can I, so my twist would be, because the same thing could happen to two different people and you have two different outcomes. So could there be something about how they react to it as well? Victor Nwadu Yeah, obviously. I mean, the way people react is the key, right. Yeah. So one person could react, have reacted, okay, fine. You hit the ground, I mean, you fall and you cry, and you get traumatised. Then you kind of rebuild yourself and stand up and keep going. And some people, it's just like a tough man's thing, right? It's a storming it and all that. So people stay in that trough, they never, some teams just stay there, they never rise above, you know, so some people, not because it's their fault, maybe their environment, maybe because resources that are not there to guide them, to help them stand up, you know? Yeah. We're not the same. So, yeah, I just happened to be who I'm hopefully strong enough to have been able to lead myself from that trough. Ula Ojiaku Well, you inspire me and I know that you are an inspiration to many other people as well, so thank you for sharing your story. So you did put together this model, agile culture model A.P.I.A.M-R.A.T.S. Can you tell us a bit about that? Victor Nwadu Actually, I have a little of pause on that. So it's something that, you know, that's been on my mind, the pet project, purely because, you know, some people are saying, are you trying to create another agile, and no, it's not. It's just like a clarion call to people that are coming to Africa and the Middle East to engage in a transformation process. We're looking at the way Agile is, when the forefathers of agile went to Utah to dream up this fantastic thing. I'm sorry, they were not thinking about Africa, they were thinking from their own Western perspective, right. And then we Africans, Agilists and change leaders from Africa, we know that things we've learned from what the manifesto and the principles have taught us, are not that straightforward in from where we come from. So it manifests itself with many of my colleagues in the West that have gone to Africa and met these challenges and have complained. And I say, yes, it's because we are totally different, mindset is different, the Western mindset is totally different. So I've kind of modelled it more to Africa and the Middle East, and mainly to Nigeria and South Africa because that's where I got most of my data from. And it's A.P.I.A.M-R.A.T.S it's actually Agile Practice in Africa and the Middle East. Okay. And the R.A.T.S, I get lots of stick from my friends, the R.A.T.S is just when I kind of listed out the main things, main factors, some of them not that bad, some of them, the bad ones, it just, the best way I could figure it out to make, to create a soundbite was, it came out as R.A.T.S. So you have your religious intrusion, the R is religious intrusion, the A is an age respect paradox, and the T, obviously time. The other one is secrecy cults, and the fifth one, which I've added on later on was language, the leverage language and that kind of stuff, right? So the religious one is the effect of religion in the way we work. If you go to any African or if you go to Nigeria today now, you will see, say for example, people doing their standup. The standup, daily standup is, that's supposed to take an average of 15 minutes. They will give an average of five minutes for prayers and, you know, the way we pray, evangelistic sometimes things more than that. And imagine a Muslim guy in that scene. You know, imagine a Western guy, a Western agile coach and like woah, really? You know, so you have that aspect of it. You also have the age respect paradox. So it's a paradox because yes, while people in the West understand age and respect, in Africa and in the Middle East we take it up a notch or two. You know, where sometimes actually the negative aspect is that somebody that is older than you now thinks because he's older, you cannot allocate well as part of a member of the team, you feel, oh, it's an insult for you to tell them what to do, which is wrong and very crude, but it happens, it happens. So we have that and we also have the African Time, so it's not fair to call it African because the French do it. It's not labelled an such connotative when the French do it… Ula Ojiaku I've been to different countries. They do it. I'm not going to name it, name them. Victor Nwadu Yeah. So, exactly. So the way it's been made to feel as if some kind of, like we, Nigerians and Africans started it. I don't really like it, but, you know, that has become something that of note and something that has kind of embedded itself in our culture and our behaviours. Yes, the French do it, but is in social circles, however, we've kind of brought it into professional, our professional lives, where we lack that discipline for some reason of keeping exactly to time. And that itself, obviously as you and I know, has an effect on cost of delay and all that kind of stuff. Ula Ojiaku And morale as well. Victor Nwadu The fourth one is secrecy cult. For some reason, we don't share knowledge. And I'm happy, agile is, has brought the fact that we need, when we bring transformation into an organisation, part of it is making the organisation at the end of the day, a learning organisation, where we collaborate and collaboration means we have to share knowledge, we have to share, you know, for us to win. Okay? So, yes, so for some reason in Africa, that doesn't take place as much as we would love to see that. The last I've put there is language, so this one is very important for me because, and Sophie Oluwole that's one of the, she's late now, but she's one of the people that have kind of been evangelising the need for us Africans to get rid of the Western language, like English or French. We should start teaching our kids chemistry, maths and everything, the academic learning journeys should start with our local language. It's easier on the brain, it's less stressful, and they learn. Then we can learn English later on, or however, we shouldn't waste time to learn a foreign language, then start learning the basics of academia, right. So if you look at it, it's timeframe itself is a waste in terms of agile thinking, right? So for me, I brought it into an agile space because you find out that, I have worked across global teams, right? And when, as an agile coach, you give teams freedom to please, create and design within yourself with your local language. Only come to me when you, you know, when you need to, when you need me. And then you'll normally find a language champion that will do the translation or whatever. And so you find out that it's easy, the engagement is easier, and they're loving you for giving them that freedom. So I've been bringing it to Africa to be the way we work in Africa so that we as teams are, we don't become too stressed or thinking of how we sound when we speak English. When we are designing, we are talking about, and when we are in an agile space, we are talking about and discussing with our local language, we are free, and you find out the mind is less stressed. So these ideas just keep flowing, the brainstorming session is fantastic, lively, because you don't have to, oh, let me think of how I'm going to put, structure this, my idea in English before I have to speak, it just comes out, like it's easier. So I think we have more benefits if we trace ourselves back into our local language, especially if the team is regional and everybody there is speaking the same language. Ula Ojiaku I was going to get there, so it seemed like you read my mind. I was going to say, but what if the team, because in Nigeria there are over 200 languages or 200 ethnic groups, since we've started off with Nigeria, you know, what happens? Because you might still have to go to a shared common language. Victor Nwadu That's a very good question. So, but the thing is, like most African, especially in India, places like India and even in the Middle East, we have a kind of broken English, we have a local slang anyway, that's a kind of, it's mixed with English, like in Africa, Pidgin, we call it Pidgin, it's a mixture of Creole and Hausa, Wazobia, that kind of thing going on there with English, everybody already speaks that language. Why don't we use that? So that's a tie breaker anyway, that, why don't we use that, you know? So yeah. So, but basically, when you go to places like Enugu or Kaduna, you tend to be of that particular region. But if we have a thought person there that's from other place, let's use our local vernacular to break that ice in terms of the way we speak and communicate. So that's my answer to that. Ula Ojiaku Okay. And where you have someone, if there's only maybe one person who's not of the culture, not from that country, doesn't know it, where does inclusion come in here? Victor Nwadu It's highly unlikely, but however if it happens, because in the small village that we have now, the global village that we have, I normally would have a language champion, somebody that's, you know, you should be able to find some kind of, somebody within the, just like your Agile champion, the team. You find somebody that can translate, right? Otherwise, I've developed all sorts of apps right now, where you can use something as Google translates. So when you, when you want to give important meetings and you want to write, you just do the one in English, then translate it to their local language and just send it out. Everybody will understand and they'll come back to you. So, yeah. But it's very rare, very, very rare, to find a place where the English language and French has not touched on this planet, or Spanish. So when that happens, you just, we just use tools that, simple tools are available to us, Google translate, use an Agile champion to kind of leverage and that, kind of make that disability or handicap a non-existence or minimise the impact of it in the way we communicate. Ula Ojiaku On a slightly off tangent point in terms of languages, Mandarin is also like going up there, you can't ignore that. So what have you been working on lately as you've talked about the A.P.I.A.M-R.A.T.S model, why you came up with it and how, in a little way, how it could be used, but what else have you been working on lately that you'd like to share with the world? Victor Nwadu Apart from work and all that, I give a lot to my people. I have tried to empower a lot of people, so I've created this WakandAGILITY group where we, it's a global support thing where we kind of give masterclasses to people that are coming into the industries from masters and Agile coaches already there, but want to, you know, so I kind of hold these master classes for free actually, because, I am looking at the scope of how we can kind of create, make sure that as Africa develops and becomes more hungry, resource hungry, we have the resources on the ground to accommodate those requests, right? Ula Ojiaku So skilled manpower, you mean? Victor Nwadu Exactly. We don't have it. So, and now to train up, agile training is expensive. So that's my own way of giving back. But apart from that, I've been working with people, great people, great change analysts, internationally based people like, I don't know if you know her, Mary Laniyan, she's based in the UK and we have a lovely woman that did African something sometime ago that invited me to Lagos Abiodun Osoba. We also, in fact, I think we have somebody, her name is Anu Gopal, she's even a powerhouse in agile affairs, I think one of those, yeah. I also have Etopa Suley from Canada. You know, all these guys who come together in the last Agile 20 something, we came off with the whole government manifesto for Nigeria. That was our presentation, it's fantastic, right? It is there on the internet right now, so yeah, so it's people like this I'm working with, we came up with the manifesto for good governance for Nigeria and many other projects like that. So yeah, that's what I spend my time doing behind the scenes, apart from work and spending time with my family. Ula Ojiaku That's really awesome, and I'm sure some of the listeners would want to know more about it. So we'll make sure the links are in the chat. Do you still do run these sessions? Victor Nwadu Yes, I do. It's keeping with the requests. I have a lot of requests, and you know. Ula Ojiaku So there is a question I have for you with respect to transformation, because as an Agile coach, I would expect that you've been involved in a number of transformation efforts with organisations in involving leaders and teams. Can there be a sustainable transformation without vision or strategy? Victor Nwadu So, it's possible for you to have a transformation, well a transformation, it's possible for that to just happen once, right? So it's like a rider, you know, you are told to ride through one end of the Serengeti to the other with dangerous animals and valleys and all that. With a horse, no compass. And you don't have a compass, you have a map or maybe don't have a map, you just know just face there, you get to the end, right? And you don't have a compass. You don't know the health of the horse and you just got on that horse. And yet, it is probable that you may be able to get to the end. But how sustainable is that? That is why the word sustainable that you use is very important. How sustainable is that for us to now create some kind of tourist pamphlet for other people to come behind us to use? It's exactly the same way. So it's probably, it's very, very probable for you to run this kind of transformation rather than just win with one team or whatever, then where's the playbook for those coming behind you, if you want to kind of multiply that, accelerate it within the organisation. So that's why sustainability is important. You know, how sustainable is that? How can we we create a model, or a playbook for us to use as an organisation for our own peculiar transformation, right? That's why it's important for us to have vision. I mean, you know, we need to have a strategy, you know, so the vision itself, first of all is the what and the why we are doing it, and all that kind of stuff. Then the strategy, the Agile strategy is very important. The Agile strategy itself is the vision plus how we're going to do it. Under it, in a timeframe, and how we're going to fulfil the objective required to actualise that vision, right? And with regard to the scope, timeline, course and the organisational culture. So that's the strategy. We need to have all that. When you have that and you place it, and you can start to kind of base it under the kind of, your playbook of entry, the change itself and the exit, then you have something to go with, you know? So, yeah, that's basically how it works. You cannot have a sustainable transformation without a clear vision, without a realistic strategy that kind of makes sure that all these aspects of the scope itself, the objective, the goals, and then taking into consideration the culture I dealt with, you know, you cannot have a, what is known as transformation, a sustainable one without having a transformation strategy. So that's it. Ula Ojiaku You may have touched on this, but I'll say, just going back to your Serengeti Crossing analogy. I mean if you are crossing, or the person has been assigned a horse cross, that it's important to say why are we crossing the Serengeti? Because it might be that if you evaluate the why it might be better for you to stay where you are and don't put yourself and other people in danger and waste resources crossing, just for crossing's sake. Victor Nwadu Yeah. I mean, all these things will come in when we are laying out the strategy and, you know, we will have the vision, somebody comes, you know. I have to say transformation is sexy nowadays. So the metaphor is dealing with the, the Serengeti itself is the transformation, what we assume to be all the wahala inside the transformation. Ula Ojiaku What is wahala? Beause not everyone understands what wahala is? Victor Nwadu Wahala means all the troubles in life, all the challenges you meet in everything. So we need to first of all understand that nowadays transformation is sexy. Where many organisations, I heard a rumour that many leaders engaged in these big companies engaged transformation purely for the benefit of their PE ratio in the stock exchange. It's a rumour, I haven't confirmed it, but I don't know how to confirm it, but I do know that it's very sexy to say your organisation is carrying out its transformation. Everybody wants to be a saviour, that's what we're doing. So that is part of the big problem and the challenges that we face as change leaders in the transformation, because the success of the transformation depends on the leaders and the person at the top. How committed they are to it. So the commitment of that leader is tasked from the top. If they don't have the buy in, if they're not convinced about it, they're just doing it for show, when push comes to shove, and it will happen, the challenges will come and hit you. Cultural challenges, personality challenges, the ego of leaders or middle managers, and you'll hit them as you already know. How committed is the leader at the top to come down and say guys, and create that space for us to be able to make this transformation happen? Because as the ultimate impediment remover, that person should be able to have the time, to have the commitment to come down to the team level, to the whatever program level, whatever, and be able to remove that impediment for that to happen. So if this leader or sets of leaders or whoever is given the mandate to commission a transformation doesn't have total commitment or is not bought in, is not doing it for some show or for some reason, it's not going to work. Ula Ojiaku Very true. Do you have any anonymised stories of your experience in guiding organisations in enterprise agility or transformation journey. Because one thing you've said, you know, transformation is sexy, it's really a buzzword. And if you ask two people, and they could be in the same leadership team, you know, C-suite team, what is transformation? And they'll give you different answers. It's just a buzzword, which means different things to different people. But do you have any story underpinning, you know, what you have said about leadership being key? Victor Nwadu If I give you all the stories, you're not going to leave here, right. However, I want to make a few things very, very clear that just standing in most organisations, that starts their transformation journey with a few teams, as you would expect. When they succeed in that they then call it an enterprise wide transformation. Where you take a few teams to delivering some funky, sexy, innovative products, that is not enterprise wide transformation, that's not business transformation or business agility, right. It is you showing that, and delivering a particular product as quickly to the customer, whatever works using agile ways of working. So there's that misconception there, that's the number one misconception that people think, oh, when we succeed with a few teams, yeah, we have, no, we haven't, because you still need to scale it, you know, to the entire enterprise, to non-IT enterprise to both upstream and downstream and all that. It is when your organisation as a whole, no matter how tall it is, can have a transparent view of where everything is, when an organisation can adapt to news in the market very quickly, when an organisation can innovate, it has the people they have been enabled to, to have a different idea, different mindset towards failure and seeing failure as a learning bridge, all those kind of mindset things, but happening in very large scale so that the organisation becomes a learning organisation, everybody's learning, we have a lot of COPs (Community of Practices), you know, that's when you say a transformation has been successful, that's when you can actually say the organisation has transisted from a traditional stoic, siloed set up to where we have open collaboration, and the cultures, mindsets and the culture have been changed in that the mindset of people that lead and those that make things happen is one, and they have this adaptive way of behaving. When something happens in the market, nothing shocks them. Even when it does, you have some, I understand some people even have an anti-disruptive, you know, when you come up with an idea in your organisation and you go back and you go out to the market and sell it, you become disruptive, you disrupt the market. However, some organisations as well are having anti-disruption strategies. If somebody else comes, how quickly can we respond? So those are the kind of things that shows that organisation has actually transisted from those traditional ways of working to an agile way of working. However, the other aspect I want to draw to our attention is about timing, when we are thinking of transformation. So for me, my advice is first of all, number one, to get the top person involved in it. Timing is very, very important. You need to have time for this transformation, to start this transformation. The time when you start transformation is very important. You don't want to start it when you have disruption in the market, things will not happen normal way, and it's better for you to do transformation in peace time, what I call peace time, before some major disruption, so that you can leverage what you've learned from that transformation in that, when that disruption happens. Timing is very important when you're carrying out a major transformation in your organisation, okay? You need to have committed leaders, leaders that are really committed to the cause, they're not just doing it for show and leaders should be able to come down and do Gemba walks, and see that what is actually happening in the kitchen is what their executive information system is relayed to them, right? There needs to be complete transparency from the top to bottom. So that we are sure that what the developers and the guys creating all our products are doing is exactly tied to the revision and objective of the executive. So that's part of it. And for me it's common sensical things that we already know. However, when we have transparency, this transparency increases trust. And it needs to start with the leader, he needs to show transparency by example, right? So it increases trust, and trust enables organisation-wide collaboration, right? So when teams start collaborating, teams that were locked in silos start collaborating, we start seeing silo breaking, and when you start breaking the silo, you start seeing aggregates, paradigm shifts happening. And that is when you now then see that almighty cultural change emerge. So it comes from, and transparency, it comes from transparency leading to trust, and trust leading to collaboration that breaks down silos. And when that thing happens, you start having all this shift because we now trust each other. There are no more silos, then the cultural shift that people say is hard to do, it is, however, if you follow this, if you allow this thing to flow the way I just listed, it'll flow in its normal cadence, right, without having to have unnecessary, you know It's not easy to have a cultural, don't get me wrong, when we are as change analysts and change agents, it's not easy for cultural change. No matter where we are in the world, people don't like change as a result. However, it starts with common sensical things like the leader taking the first step, the leader coming into, sometimes when you have a Gemba walk, you come into a meeting and you, like, for example, in some recent, not recent, about two years ago, where the leader came into a meeting or for an impediment that had been there, so kind of a Scrum of Scrum meeting, that had been a feature type impediment, and had been there for quite a while. And he came in and after they've had the conversation, he just raised his hand and everybody was surprised to see him and just said, what is it? And he kind of listed back to him, you know, this impediment that I've been there for roughly about almost a month was dealt with within two days. That is one of the major advantages where you have the leader there, and you need to ask yourself a question, what was causing the impediment delay? The verification of the impediments and the delay of the action of impediments before the leader came in. Middle management, also cultural things, bureaucracy, my space, your space, so the person at the top comes in and slashes through. If you have leaders that are prepared to do that, that have the time to do that, transformation will take its normal course without unfortunate circumstances happening. Ula Ojiaku You've said a lot of things in this time and space and they make sense to me, but is it possible, because you said transformation is ideal when done in peace time. How can you, it's almost like saying you time the markets. Because there are other people, many organisations that have admitted, for example, the Covid, the pandemic accelerated their transformation per se. Victor Nwadu Accelerated, but many of them died. You know, yes we have unforeseen circumstances that you cannot help that, right? Aliens landing on the planet and disrupting the world, you cannot help that, right? But I was saying that if you are given a time to select, so it's better for you to do it now before any, covid is part of it, but you also have market disruptions as well, right? So the best time would be when you think just kind of stability, because it starts from a small team, then expand. So you want to make sure that team is not distracted by bigger factors that may be beyond the help, the beyond the reach of the remediating powers of the leaders in the organisations, right. So that's given, if you are given, you know, if you can help it. If you can't help it, start it as quickly as possible, but you know, it's better to have it started in peace time. Ula Ojiaku Awesome, thanks Victor. I can see that you are quite passionate about what you are saying. So what books have you recommended to people about this topic or anything else and why? Victor Nwadu I have many books. The main book, that for me has kind of created powerful insights in the way I do my work, the way I even see life. One of them, the top one is The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt. Then the other one is Turn the…. Turn the Ship Around! by David Marquet. We'll put it in the links. You know, I use that a lot. And it's just leadership should be, you know, it should be about enabling, self-managing, self-organising team. I mean, in the way we work nowadays, you can't know everything. And that was what the point he was trying to say that as a captain, yeah, he's supposed to know how they work, but the details, there are experts that is within his reach, there are the guys that are the experts, so enable them to do the thing and you just deal with it. And the third one will be this one. I just read this book, it's called The Wisdom of the Crowds by James Surowiecki. He was saying that data shows that if you take, if you ask people to solve a problem and a group of people from just non-experts, and you get the experts to predict that same problem, the crowd will be, the answer will be closer to the reality than the experts themselves. Why, I don't know, maybe it aggregates knowledge of the crowd coming together rather than experts, and the other point he was making also, is how the HiPPO opinion (HiPPO: Highest Paid Personality), like when you have a team of engineers and the manager comes in that meeting and you ask a question of how do you think we can do this and he gives his opinion first, his opinion is going to skew the answers of everybody else. So this is why it's important, where you have a meeting and some HiPPOs are there, let them be still, let us hear the opinions of the team, the ordinary members of the team before if they need to give their opinion, right? Otherwise we just have a skewed opinion and that opinion will not be the best for that particular question. So that is another very good book. Ula Ojiaku Thank you. So there are three books. The Goal, Turn That Ship Around, The Wisdom of the Crowds. So how can the audience find you or contact you? Victor Nwadu You can get me at wakandagility.com, you can get me at victor@wakandagility.com. You can get me at LinkedIn, Victor Nwadu, you just type it there, you'll see m there. Ula Ojiaku Any ask for the audience, or any final words, Victor? Victor Nwadu Final last words, yes, Agile is real. Agile is here. And so be inspired, be prepared, be Agile. First of all, you be inspired to change, to have that mindset to adapt to your present circumstances. You know, be prepared for future disruptions, for anything, and be Agile, right? That's it. Then you will definitely succeed. You will definitely live longer. You will definitely transcend all the challenges, all the Covid 19 time, even aliens coming to this world or whatnot. Ula Ojiaku So can we hold you to, to account for it? Can we take it to the bank and say Victor said if we're inspired, prepared, and agile… Victor Nwadu It will help. I mean, from my experience in life, it'll help if you're inspired, you have to be inspired. People that are not driven cannot achieve much. You need to be passionate about what you do. And then you need to be prepared. You need to be prepared by having the skillset, challenge yourself to learn, constantly learning. Then be agile, all those things that we do, your mindset, the way you think, you know, having agile ways of doing things, you know, having a different mindset towards failure. When you fail, it doesn't mean you have, you know, you've done anything bad or the end of the world, failure is a sign that that option is not going to work and you've learned something new, you pivot and try a new one. So if we have that kind of mindset, we'll be innovating every year, every six months, every three months. If we have a different attitude towards failure, so be inspired, be prepared, be Agile. Ula Ojiaku Thank you so much, Victor. It's been a pleasure having this conversation Victor Nwadu It's been an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much, Ula. Ula Ojiaku The pleasure is mine. That's all we have for now. Thanks for listening. If you liked this show, do subscribe at www.agileinnovationleaders.com or your favourite podcast provider. Also share with friends and do leave a review on iTunes. This would help others find this show. I'd also love to hear from you, so please drop me an email at ula@agileinnovationleaders.com Take care and God bless!
Margaret Ekpo (1914-2006) was a Nigerian women's rights activist and one of Nigeria's first female elected officials. She worked tirelessly for the rights and political representation of women, as well as for Nigeria's independence from British colonial rule. For Further Reading: Remembering Margaret Ekpo and the Enugu strike massacre Igbo Women and Political Participation in Nigeria, 1800s-2005 Ekpo, Margaret This Black History Month, we're talking about Revolutionaries: Black women who led struggles for liberation from violent governments, colonial rulers, and enslavers. These women had the courage to imagine radically different worlds – and used their power to try and pull those worlds into view. History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn't help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should. Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we'll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures. Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones and Abbey Delk. Special thanks to Shira Atkins. Original theme music composed by Miles Moran. Follow Wonder Media Network: Website Instagram Twitter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Middle Daughter (Dzanc Books, 2023) by Chika Unigwe opens with a happy, well-to-do family living in a guarded community in Nigeria. The loving father owns a business, the formidable mother is a doctor, one daughter is at university in America and the other daughters are in private school. The story is told from the perspective of the youngest daughter, Ugo, and middle daughter, Nani, whose life in thrown off balance by the death of her father. A single bad choice leads to her giving up a college education in America to become a browbeaten mother of three married to an abusive husband who keeps her locked in a tiny apartment, chops off her hair and buys her ugly polyester dresses. Like Persephone in the underworld, she's unable to see or contact her powerful mother. When she has an opportunity to escape, she needs strength and courage that she isn't sure she possesses. Chika Unigwe was born and raised in Enugu, a hilly city in the southeast of Nigeria. Also known as the coal city because it was a significant coal mining city in the 1900s, Enugu literally means "top of the hill." In elementary school, Chika was enamored with the magazine Highlights for Children that a friend brought to school. Her parents, who encouraged reading, took out a subscription for her and her sister, and Unigwe spent years sending in stories and poems to the magazine, with no success. At the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where she earned her BA in English, she met the man who would become her husband. Right after her final exams, they moved to Belgium, and her family relocated to the United States in 2013. Unigwe has won several awards for her writing and was most recently knighted into the Order of the Crown by the Belgian government for her contributions to culture (in literature). Her previous works include On Black Sisters Street (which won the $100,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature), Night Dancer, and a collection of short stories, Better Never than Late. Her works have appeared in The New York Times, Guernica, Aeon, The Kenyon Review, Wasafiri, Georgia Review and others. She teaches at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, and lives in Atlanta with her family and two spoilt dogs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
The Middle Daughter (Dzanc Books, 2023) by Chika Unigwe opens with a happy, well-to-do family living in a guarded community in Nigeria. The loving father owns a business, the formidable mother is a doctor, one daughter is at university in America and the other daughters are in private school. The story is told from the perspective of the youngest daughter, Ugo, and middle daughter, Nani, whose life in thrown off balance by the death of her father. A single bad choice leads to her giving up a college education in America to become a browbeaten mother of three married to an abusive husband who keeps her locked in a tiny apartment, chops off her hair and buys her ugly polyester dresses. Like Persephone in the underworld, she's unable to see or contact her powerful mother. When she has an opportunity to escape, she needs strength and courage that she isn't sure she possesses. Chika Unigwe was born and raised in Enugu, a hilly city in the southeast of Nigeria. Also known as the coal city because it was a significant coal mining city in the 1900s, Enugu literally means "top of the hill." In elementary school, Chika was enamored with the magazine Highlights for Children that a friend brought to school. Her parents, who encouraged reading, took out a subscription for her and her sister, and Unigwe spent years sending in stories and poems to the magazine, with no success. At the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where she earned her BA in English, she met the man who would become her husband. Right after her final exams, they moved to Belgium, and her family relocated to the United States in 2013. Unigwe has won several awards for her writing and was most recently knighted into the Order of the Crown by the Belgian government for her contributions to culture (in literature). Her previous works include On Black Sisters Street (which won the $100,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature), Night Dancer, and a collection of short stories, Better Never than Late. Her works have appeared in The New York Times, Guernica, Aeon, The Kenyon Review, Wasafiri, Georgia Review and others. She teaches at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, and lives in Atlanta with her family and two spoilt dogs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature
The Do One Better! Podcast – Philanthropy, Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship
Chiwetel Ejiofor is an Oscar-nominated actor and engaged philanthropist, collaborating closely with the Geanco Foundation as they drive forward education, health and gender equity in Nigeria. Chiwetel shares his journey into philanthropy, influenced by his family's medical background and his own passion for education and healthcare. He discusses his collaboration with Afam Onyema, CEO of the Geanco Foundation, and how this partnership has led to significant advancements in education and medical care in Nigeria, particularly through the development of the Brightland Academy in Enugu. The episode delves into Chiwetel's personal involvement in various projects, his approach to using his platform for amplifying important causes, and the transformative impact of these initiatives over the last decade. Chiwetel's reflections offer insights into the power of philanthropy in fostering change and building a better future, particularly in challenging environments like Nigeria. Thank you for downloading this episode of the Do One Better Podcast. Visit our Knowledge Hub at Lidji.org for information on 250+ case studies and interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship.
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EMMANUEL PART ONE: THE EVIDENCE OF HIS PRESENCE || HOTR ENUGU-NIGERIA || APOSTLE JOSHUA SELMAN
EMMANUEL[PART 2]THE BLESSINGS OF HIS PRESENCE ||SOAR CONFERENCE 2023 ||HOTR ENUGU-NIGERIA ||APOSTLE JOSHUA SELMAN
A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts. www.catholicnewsagency.com - The Diocese of Enugu in Nigeria has expressed its gratitude to God and the faithful following the release of Father Marcellinus Obioma Okide, who had been abducted on September 17. Father Wilfred Chidi Agubuchie, the chancellor of the Enugu Diocese, said: “We are glad to inform you that our brother and priest, Father Marcellinus Obioma Okide, has been released from the den of the kidnappers.” Nigeria has been experiencing insecurity since 2009 when Boko Haram insurgency began with the aim of turning the country into an Islamic state. Since then, the group, one of largest Islamist groups in Africa, has been orchestrating indiscriminate terrorist attacks on various targets, including religious and political groups as well as civilians. The case of Okide is the latest in a series of kidnappings and murders in Africa's most populous nation involving members of the clergy, seminarians, and other Christians. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255468/abducted-priest-in-nigeria-released-diocese-grateful The Diocese of Rome on Monday said it is anticipating thousands of pilgrims in attendance at an ecumenical prayer vigil at the Vatican later this week, with the event scheduled ahead of the start of the historic synod taking place in Rome in October. The diocese said in a press release that “approximately 3,000 people” are expected to attend the event “Together — Gathering of the People of God” being hosted in that city over Friday and Saturday. The prayer service is occurring just days before the launch of the 16th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which will take place in Rome over the course of October. The vigil “will be an opportunity to entrust the work of the [synod] to the Holy Spirit,” the diocese said. Hundreds of visitors are expected from numerous countries including France, Hungary, Vietnam, and the United States. Nearly 500 are projected to come from Poland alone. The overall synod itself — dubbed the “synod on synodality” due to its focus on synodality, or collaboration and participation among the Catholic faithful in the furtherance of the Church's mission — is occurring over the course of several years. Next month's gathering of bishops is the first of two major assemblies, with the second planned for October of next year. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255464/diocese-of-rome-says-thousands-expected-at-vatican-for-ecumenical-prayer-vigil-ahead-of-synod California's attorney general, Rob Bonta, sued five pro-life pregnancy centers September 21 over their promotion of a drug that is meant to reverse chemical abortions. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255466/california-ag-sues-pro-life-pregnancy-centers-over-abortion-pill-reversal-drug Today, the Church celebrates Saints Cosmas and Damian, twins born to Christian parents in Arabia, in the third century. They lived in the region around the border between modern day Turkey and Syria. They were physicians who were renowned for their skill as well as their refusal to charge for their services. Their charity and Christian witness won many converts to the faith and earned them a place of prominence in the Christian communites of Asia Minor. They were both martyred by beheading. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/sts-cosmas-and-damian-606
@nigeriasbest and @phoenix_agenda discussed the following news stories:1. Atiku's lawsuit in Chicago requesting access to President Tinubu's academic records.2. The appointment of Yemi Cardoso as the new Central Bank Governor.3. The electoral tribunal rulings in Enugu and Kano States.
A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts. www.catholicnewsagency.com - Pope Francis extolled Wednesday the “apostolic zeal” of Saint Daniele Comboni, an Italian missionary priest and bishop who fought to end slavery in Africa. Comboni witnessed “the horror of slavery” as a missionary in the mid-19th century in what is now Sudan. Pope Francis shared the “energetic and prophetic” life story of the founder of the Comboni missionary orders during his general audience on September 20. “Saint Daniele testifies to the love of the Good Shepherd who goes in search of the one who is lost and gives his life for the flock. His zeal was energetic and prophetic in being opposed to indifference and exclusion,” Pope Francis said. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255422/pope-francis-lauds-catholic-saint-who-fought-to-end-slavery-in-africa Ethnic Armenians in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Artsakh, have agreed to lay down their arms and dissolve their military forces following a short but intense Azerbaijan offensive on September 19. Pope Francis made a public appeal on Wednesday for both sides to “silence the weapons.” “I make my heartfelt appeal to all the parties involved and to the international community to silence the weapons and make every effort to find peaceful solutions for the good of the people and respect for human dignity,” Pope Francis said at the end of his Wednesday general audience. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255426/ethnic-armenians-surrender-and-disarm-following-azerbaijan-offensive At least 11 people were killed September 15 after members of the Islamic State attacked a village in Mozambique and opened fire on Christians after hand-picking them from Muslims, the Catholic pontifical and charity foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International reported. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255427/11-killed-as-islamist-jihadists-reportedly-target-christians-in-mozambican-village The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has condemned the September 16-17 kidnapping of more than 30 people across Nigeria's Enugu State, including a Catholic priest, and called on police officials in the Nigerian state to either act on the lack of security in the region or leave office. Father Marcellinus Obioma Okide was abducted September 17 on his way back to Saint Mary Amofia-Agu Affa Parish in the Enugu Diocese, where he serves as parish priest. A prayer appeal has been sent out for the priest's safe release. Okide is among dozens of people who were taken by armed Fulani bandits in separate locations within Enugu State. Intersociety challenges those in charge of security in Enugu to “retire voluntarily from the army and the police” if they cannot live up to what is expected of them. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255429/human-rights-group-to-nigeria-security-agents-after-priest-s-kidnapping-act-or-resign Today, the Church celebrates Saint Matthew, also known as Levi, an apostle of Jesus and, according to tradition, the author of one of the four Gospels. Surprisingly little is known for certain about Matthew's life, even though his Gospel is so crucial for the Church. The manner of Matthew's calling by Jesus is well-known — Matthew was a Jew, but worked as a tax collector for the Romans in Capernaum near the Sea of Galilee, making him a pariah among his own people. When Jesus called Matthew to follow him, Matthew gave up his presumably materialistic life as a tax collector to follow the Lord. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-matthew-apostle-601
MIRACLE AND IMPARTATION SERVICE || SOUTHEAST APOSTOLIC INVASION || ENUGU-NIGERIA || APOSTLE SELMAN
SEND ME(BECOMING GOD'S VESSEL)|| SOUTHEAST APOSTOLIC INVASION ||ENUGU-NIGERIA||APOSTLE JOSHAU SELMAN
THE GLOBAL HARVEST || SOUTHEAST APOSTOLIC INVASION || ENUGU-NIGERIA ||APOSTLE JOSHUA SELMAN
Ep.164 features Chidinma Nnoli (b. 1998 Enugu), a visual artist working primarily with painting. Her practice contemplates the importance of a single subject's embodied experience(s), often overlaying the past unto the present while insisting on the emotional link between body and space in conflict with self and a background mostly saturated with religion and gendered obligations. Growing up within a conservative Catholic home, Nnoli's work moves between enclosed structures and ethereal landscapes where ideas of freedom and entrapment continuously overlap. Inspired by self-written poems, Nnoli empathetically captures women in paintings that feel like a hazy yet vivid memory. These figures—with their enigmatic expressions—find solitude and introspection within themselves. The same eerie atmosphere is consistent across the paintings, blurring, splattering and piling up paint in creating textures that reference efforts made at reaching or uncovering healing. Nnoli earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Benin and has been invited to participate in residencies through PM/AM, London (2023), Atlantic centre for the Arts, Florida (2023) and Oxbow School of Art, Michigan (2023). Her paintings have been presented in solo and group exhibitions at Marianne Boesky Gallery, NewYork (2022), Rele gallery, Lagos (2021) and PM/AM gallery, London (2023), among others. She currently lives and works in Lagos. Rele Gallery https://www.rele.co/artists/30-chidinma-nnoli/art-fairs/ Marianne Boesky Gallery https://marianneboeskygallery.com/exhibitions/288-chidinma-nnoli-when-will-my-feet-catch/overview/ PM/AM https://www.pmam.org/online Fowler at UCLA https://fowler.ucla.edu/world-arts-local-lives-march/ Art Facts https://artfacts.net/exhibition/chidinma-nnoli-to-wander-untamed/963003 Art News Africa https://artnewsafrica.com/ana-podcast-in-studio-visits-nigeria-presents-chidinma-nnoli/ Juxtapoz https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/painting/radio-juxtapoz-ep-69-chidinma-nnoli-and-the-great-escape/ Document Women https://documentwomen.com/sisterhood-in-family-and-friendships-chidinma-nnoli-paints-experiences Populist Magazine https://populistmagazine.com/post/chidinma-nnoli-interview/ The Huts Magazine https://thehutsmagazine.com/issue-8/ She Curates https://www.she-curates.com/interviews/artists/chidinma-nnoli/ Vogue https://www.vogue.com/article/nigerian-artists-challenging-gender-norms-chidinma-nnoli-renike-olusanya-chigozie-obi
TW: sexual assault, domestic violence and grief.Have you ever read a book where you feel immense rage towards a character? So much so, you're beyond glad that this is a piece of fiction. Well, that was my experience of reading The Middle Child by Chika Unigwe.In The Middle Child, we meet Nani, who after some devastating loss, ends up trapped in an abusive marriage. On this episode, I spoke to Chika Unigwe about what stories she wanted to explore, rage at characters, systems of oppression, patriarchy, grief and so much more. Born in Enugu, Nigeria, she is the author of four novels, including On Black Sisters Street and Night Dancer. Her short stories and essays have appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian, Guernica, Aeon and many other journals.Her works have been translated into several languages. A recipient of several awards and fellowships, she lives and works in the USA. The Middle Child is her latest novel, published by Canongate Books in 2023. Support the show
Chika Unigwe was born in Enugu, Nigeria. She was educated at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and the Catholic University of Leuven prior to earning PhD from Leiden University in the Netherlands. She now lives in the United States and teaches at Georgia College in Milledgeville, Georgia. Her work has been widely translated and has won multiple awards. Unigwe's previous publications include the poetry collections Tear Drops and Born in Nigeria, novels The Phoenix, On Black Sisters' Street, Night Dancer, and The Black Messiah, and the short story collection Better Never than Late, along with numerous other short stories, essays, and works of journalism. She has been widely anthologized and has published works in the New York Times, Guernica, Kenyon Review, the UK Guardian, Wasafiri, and Transition. She teaches at Georgia College, in Milledgeville, Georgia. Chika Unigwe's highly anticipated new novel, The Middle Daughter, will be released by Dzanc Books in April 2023.https://www.dzancbooks.org/all-titles/p/the-middle-daughter
African sacrifice in Europes' Wars: Some incredible tales of courage and a murderous Brit that left TMT speechless
An African Soldier makes a bomb out of a milk tin, An African Stretcher-bearer faces landmines and with bullets in his body continues carrying men on his back from the frontline to safety and Miners go on strike in a British government owned mine in Nigeria & are Massacred...
Quote: "Don't approach entrepreneurship from a position ofdesperation; instead, build and have leverage."The Afropolitan Podcast highlights Afropolitans who embrace theunknown and walk with purpose. Through this podcast, we aim to empowerAfricans in the Diaspora to maximize their potential and contribute tothe development of a vibrant and progressive black community.In this episode, we chat with Obinna Ukwuani, Chief Digital Officer atthe Bank of Kigali Plc, where he drives digital product development toachieve digital financial services objectives. Obinna, born in Americawith Nigerian roots, studied Economics at the Massachusetts Instituteof Technology (MIT). He founded and directed the Makers RoboticsAcademy Rwanda and NESA by Makers, and now serves as the Founder andDirector of Bruk Oil Mills in Enugu. Obinna previously worked atPaystack and shares his entrepreneurship insights in this episode.Obinna is passionate about education, entrepreneurship, and thetransformative power of Web3/Blockchain technologies for peopleworldwide. Join us as Obinna discusses his journey to the Bank ofKigali and the importance of digital technology and services insolving Africa's challenges.Obinna's Reading List:1. Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty byDaron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson - https://amzn.to/3kD1fbO2. The Biafra Story: The Making of an African Legend by FrederickForsyth - https://amzn.to/3Zt7vBN3. The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis - https://amzn.to/3ICWJlDShow Notes:1:22 Introduction to the Afropolitan Podcast1:42 Obinna's background and journey to MIT, earning a BSc inEconomics7:28 Obinna's decision to return to Nigeria and his role innation-building and creating opportunities12:09 Obinna's work with the Makers Robotics Academy Rwanda and itsimpact on the local community14:14 Obinna shares his first significant encounter with failure andthe lessons learned20:46 Obinna discusses insights from working with Paystack and Bank ofKigali on technology's potential for Africans24:19 Obinna talks about his experience raising funds for startups andoffers advice for first-time founders navigating the fundraisingprocess28:35 The importance of managing desperation and balance whendealing with investors31:20 Sam Altman's New Yorker profile and the need for Africa toleapfrog - https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/10/sam-altmans-manifest-destiny38:12 Obinna shares his thoughts on Web3 and Blockchain, addressingskepticism and guiding principles42:53 Books that have profoundly impacted Obinna's life50:27 Hypothetical title of a book about Obinna's life51:35 Obinna's perspective on what it means to be AfropolitanThe Afropolitan Podcast is hosted by Eche Emole, co-founder ofAfropolitan. Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Jamit,or wherever you get your podcasts.Connect with Afropolitan:Twitter - https://twitter.com/afropolitanWebsite - https://www.afropolitan.io/
Follow Chuks as he continues his tale and narrates his ordeal when he decides to embark on a road trip to Enugu to visit Precious.It only gets more interesting by the minute.Don't be a stranger, reach out to us with all your thoughts and feedback on the episode.JTC LISTENERS EPISODEFollow the link to send in your comments on the story: https://www.speakpipe.com/TTPConvosYou can also send audio recordings of your comments to us via email to be featured in the next JTC episode.Contact us@dtalkingphoenix (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok)Email: dtalkingphoenix@gmail.comYouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS3AirvqUhskkdWO25aMChACASTKelvin - Byron Okeke (@byronmoola on Instagram)Precious - Princess Odey (@sallyodey on Instagram)NDLEA (Paul) - Minister Saidu (@bigfish_cruise on Instagram)NDLEA (Joseph) - Philip Chigbue (@1swele on Instagram)Chuks, Ibaku, Doctor, ZieZie, Fuel Pump attendant - Austin Okeke (@00_phoenix on Instagram)SFX CREDITSPixabay.com:Hospital Heart Monitor Sound Effect from: PixabayCar crash Sound Effect from: PixabaySound Effect from PixabayAlsoSound Effect by 25347980 from PixabayAll other SFX used in this are from https://www.fesliyanstudios.comTheme Music By Byron Okeke: @byronmoola (IG)Song on radio also by Byron MoolaImage for Artwork: Photo by M. R. on Unsplash
God gives Rabbi a vision of the night and then opens a door to spread the Gospel to Nigeria. Healing, deliverance, and salvation were seen as God deepened His Word to the heart of Enugu, Nigeria.
itsENJ is comprised of CHIMDI & OTITO aka “The DAPPA DUO.” The two brothers are Nigerian American singers-songwriters, and producers, raised between Enugu, and New York City. Join me on this exclusive interview session as the duo talk about their journey in the music industry thus far.
Chika Unigwe is a celebrated and highly acclaimed Nigerian-born Igbo author, whose honors include winning the Nigeria Literature Prize, the Sylt Fellowship for African Writers, and many other distinctions. Chika is Creative Director of the Awele Creative Trust, and she was a judge for the Man Booker International Prize in 2016. In 2016-2017, she was Bonderman Professor of Creative Writing at Brown University, Providence RI, USA, and then went on to lecture in creative writing at Emory University, GA. In 2020-2021, she will be joining Georgia College and State University's MFA in Creative Writing as a core faculty member.Chika was born and raised in Enugu, Nigeria. She graduated from the University of Nigeria, KU Leuven (Belgium) and has a PhD from Leiden University, Holland. Author of The Middle Daughter, Unigwe's previous work includes novels On Black Sisters Street and Night Dancer as well as the short story collection Better Never than Late. She was also a contributor to Of This Our Country: Acclaimed Nigerian Writers on the Home, Identity and Culture They Know; Lagos Noir; New Daughters of Africa; and Regiones Imaginaires. The Middle DaughterDzanc Books, 2023A World Without Books was created to help writers connect with readers during the pandemic. This Micro-Podcast provides authors a platform to share stories about writing, discuss current projects, and consider life without books. Listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you podcast.Past Forward is a curiosity company dedicated to educational accessibility. Our public podcast service, paired with millions of discounted books curated into topic-themed collections, provides guidance and tools to support lifelong learning.
Helped By God [Part 3]: The Holy Spirit | Soar Conf 2022 | HOTR Enugu-Nigeria |Apostle Joshua Selman ...........https://youtu.be/mMif4az27OY....... The Official YouTube Channel of Koinonia with Apostle Joshua Selman Nimmak Contact Us Via Phone: Public Relations: +2348147214444 +2349077777853 +2349150227448 Prayer Line: +2348075770001 Protocol: +2347087777765 Media: +2348100289892 Social Media Platforms: Facebook.com/Koinoniaglobal Instagram.com/Koinoniaglobal twitter.com/koinoniaeni
Helped By God Part1:Obtaining Mercy||Soar Conference 2022||HOTR Enugu-Nigeria||Apostle Joshua Selman .......https://youtu.be/Pd0gZsvFGIU..... The Official YouTube Channel of Koinonia with Apostle Joshua Selman Nimmak Contact Us Via Phone: Public Relations: +2348147214444 +2349077777853 +2349150227448 Prayer Line: +2348075770001 Protocol: +2347087777765 Media: +2348100289892 Social Media Platforms: Facebook.com/Koinoniaglobal Instagram.com/Koinoniaglobal twitter.com/koinoniaeni
Helped By God [Part 2]: The Gift of Men| Soar Conf 2022| HOTR Enugu-Nigeria |Apostle Joshua Selman ...https://youtu.be/MorwcrLlLVk...... The Official YouTube Channel of Koinonia with Apostle Joshua Selman Nimmak Contact Us Via Phone: Public Relations: +2348147214444 +2349077777853 +2349150227448 Prayer Line: +2348075770001 Protocol: +2347087777765 Media: +2348100289892 Social Media Platforms: Facebook.com/Koinoniaglobal Instagram.com/Koinoniaglobal twitter.com/koinoniaeni
I went to serve my fathers land and in the process met amazing persons who were all invited on this episode … listen to our experiences being a corper … trust me we had a lot to say
For this episode, I talked to Janet Taylor, art teacher and writer for the Art of Education. She actually taught be about Njideka Akunyili Crosby, the contemporary Nigerian/American painter. Njiedeka Akunyili Crosby was born in 1983 in Enugu, Nigeria. Her father was a surgeon and mother was a professor of pharmacology. Her mother won the green card lottery allowing Njideka to come to the U.S. to study when she was 16. She spent a year studying and prepping for the SATs then went back to Nigeria to perform a year of service. After completing the year of service, she came back to the U.S. She took her first painting classes at a community college in Philadelphia then went on to Swarthmore. She was initially pre-med before deciding to pursue art. After Swarthmore, she went to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, then went on to get her MFA from Yale. A lot of her work focuses on straddling different worlds and her connections to Nigeria and the U.S. She uses painting with some collage methods like integration of fabric but particularly transfers. These methods not only integrate patterns and textures but also enrich the work through the connections to pop culture and other icons embedded as details to be discovered within her work. In 2017, she got the MacArthur genius grant which pretty much says it all right there. Her CV could make even the most accomplished among us question their adequacy. For this episode we looked at Predecessors from 2013. As always you can see the piece linked here in the show notes, or visit www.WhoArtEdPodcast.com to see this week‘s work as well as previous pieces and free resources for art teachers. If you enjoy the show, please help spread the word. Like, Subscribe and leave a review on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
CHRIS TAYLOR There isn't much to be said about Christopher A. Taylor that he can't articulate himself. He's amongst the greatest rappers of his generation. After you listen to Christopher A. Taylor you will be unable to stomach any other rapper. His lyrics are inspirational and ahead of everybody else. His flow is like Niagara Falls meets the Nile river meets your wife on her period. His voice is like 1000 angels in heaven singing at the same time, all in perfect harmony. These are not opinions these are facts. High truths. Until you hear Christopher A. Taylor, you are not fully alive. Wake up sleeper, welcome to awakefullness. Sincerely yours, a random music critic who totally isn't the artist. DEREK LITTY Born and raised in Enugu, Nigeria known to many as International DJ Derekz Effect. Curious about emerging within music, DJ Derekz, decided to join his brother, Flavour of Africa, who at the time was honing in on his musical talent, regularly performing at local bars. DJ Derekz envisioned one day he would be performing just like his brother. Being one to strike whilst the iron is hot, DJ Derekz invested in a used compact disc player and DJ mixes and would play a selection of mixes in the DJ corner after his brother's performances. DJ Derekz soon built a strong following, with club and bar revelers requesting special mixes. This encouraged him to save more funds, which enabled him to buy a used professional DJ mixer, from friend and popular DJ personality at the time, DJ Bala. From here, DJ Derekz performed sets at small gigs, under the mentorship of his brother.
WOLFGANG STEINWIDDER My name is Wolfgang Steinwidder, and I am born at 7th of November in 1973. I am a scorpio. I am proud to say that I am artist, composer and producer. I am writing my own music, and I am playing all needed voices on my own. My skills I got at the conservatory, and got lessons in piano, organ, singing and guitar. Later on I was playing in different bands, and sometimes the church organ. I do love the mighty sound of the church organ, which sounds a bit like eternity for me. It was always my dream to compose and arrange my own songs. My dream came true, and I am really happy about it. Although I know about classical music and composition, my heart belongs to pop music. I am trying to compose my music like all the big, wonderful musicians did. It is a long process of many, many ideas and visions….coming finally together in the song. When it is ready…it is like the birthday of your baby. I love my songs forever. And like ourselves, they can grow, and getting bigger with the time. And then we are so very proud of our babies. Yes, we are. I am. Derek Litty formally known as DJ Derekz Born and raised in Enugu, Nigeria known to many as International DJ Derekz Effect. Curious about emerging within music, DJ Derekz, decided to join his brother, Flavour of Africa, who at the time was honing in on his musical talent, regularly performing at local bars. DJ Derekz envisioned one day he would be performing just like his brother. Being one to strike whilst the iron is hot, DJ Derekz invested in a used compact disc player and DJ mixes and would play a selection of mixes in the DJ corner after his brother's performances.
Father Mbaka, a Charismatic Catholic priest of Enugu diocese in Eastern Nigeria who started the Adoration Ministry has been in the news in the last few years for many wrong reasons. His political prophecies have created a lot of problems and confusion in the church and the Nigerian state and undermined the credibility and reputation of the Catholic Church. In this theological and pastoral commentary, Fr Stan Chu Ilo, shows the theological, pastoral, and canonical grounds for suspending the ministry of Fr Mbaka, while commending the local ordinary, Bishop Onaga for making the right call. The episode also demonstrates that Fr Mbaka has violated core theological, canonical, and pastoral principles that the Catholic Church has offered to guide popular piety. Fr Mbaka is invited to take a break, to retool, rethink, and reflect with a spirit of humility on his vocation as a Catholic priest, and discern with his bishop how to carry out this vocation through any ministry or assignment that the Church will offer to him when the canonical process on the Adoration Ministry is completed.
The family of the Queens mom-of-four who was crushed to death between two parked cars in a hit-and-run crash on Mother's Day is trying to send her body to her native Nigeria for a burial, her niece told The Post. Florence Ngwu, 49 — who died after she sustained horrific injuries when an out-of-control stolen truck slammed into a car outside of her home — is set to be laid to rest next month in a funeral in her birthplace of Enugu, Nigeria, her niece, 29-year-old Nnenna B., said Thursday. Nnenna launched an online fundraiser Wednesday, seeking to collect between $35,000 and $50,000 to cover the family's expenses associated with shipping her aunt's body back to her home country, --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/leah-gordone/support
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 above prayer is the Nigerian national pledge. I remember the first time I said these lines, and I think it was in my Primary School. I consider it a true prayer from the heart, committing to something tremendous and expressing my faith concerning my Country's fate, a place God has given me to live, lead, and show forth His Glory.The pride of nationhood cannot be over-emphasized; it gives that identity, dignity, and confidence that one belongs to something significant and enduring.Nigeria is my Country, and I consider her a miracle. She (Nigeria) is the most populous black Nation on earth with a very complex people spread in terms of diversity and ethnicity, and each yearns for identity and belonging. This yearning has brought about so much agitation within the Nation. I have come to see about the Nigerian spirit because it has defied logic and has created this unique voice of resilience that cannot be denied globally.Nigeria and Nigerians – The younger population- are searching for nationhood, a place that they will call their own and home. A place to dream, desire, and grow into a fulfilled and satisfied human being with dignity.This cry can be heard and felt across the land; even those who have somehow found their way out of the Country still have these tears on their faces and hope that someday not too far from this day, our collective prayer will be answered.A good number of well-meaning Nigerians have come to a place where the belief in their Country is now questionable, and they are in dire need of a Miracle to turn the Nation's fortunes around.In this Epistle of the Word Café, I have the opportunity of discussing Nigeria with Dike Chulkwumerije.Dike Chukwumerije is a Nigerian spoken word and performance poetry artist and an award-winning author. He has eight published books, including the novel Urichindere, which won the 2013 Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Prize for Prose Fiction[1][2] and a poetry theatre production - Made In Nigeria - currently touring the Country. As of May 2022, it has been to 17 Nigerian cities: Abuja, Lagos, Enugu, Benin, Ile-Ife, Maiduguri, Yola, Bonny, and Jos. Minna, Kano.Chukwumerije was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine in 2016Support the show
In this episode, the WTP crew is joined by 3 female friends, and the conversation gets spicy. Would you wait for your partner if they went to prison for 10 years? Is sex during a break with your significant other considered cheating? What are your relationship deal breakers? Enugu mummies are wilding. Florida man gets the mumu of the week. Guest(s): Ije (@eej_o), Temi (@(@dayodheartist), and Becca (@izzybecks) Available now on Spotify, Anchor, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. Link in Bio! IG: @waveytalkspodcast, @anti7kz, @sirmie_slim, @isaac_olumor, @201yalaway E: waveytalkspodcast@gmail.com [Ad]: Ankara Paint x Sip, hosted by @201yalaway. Follow and watch out for tickets ON SALE SOON! (WTP_22x005_20220320) --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/waveytalkspodcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/waveytalkspodcast/support