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Highlights
of Visit to Nigeria: 19th October to 2nd November 2006 The
visit began with a meeting with Bode Omokaro, Programme Coordinator of
DIFN (Development Impact For Nigeria, UK Charity Commisssion No 1091028). It
was my first meeting with Bode, my previous contacts have been with Yomi
Oloka the UK coordinator of DIFN. Together Bode and I gave a
presentation to the head teachers from ten schools in the Lagos area. The
meeting was opened by the local government chairman.
The “Teachers Talking About ICT” programme was explained.
The head teachers were interested in making the training available
for their staff and the local government chairman also expressed support.
Subsequently I gave Bode initial training as a TT presenter and
presented him with course materials so that he can prepare to Next
I met with the OCDN chairman, Chief Gbade Adejumo, and the OCDN secretary,
Chief Michael Mojoyinola, in. OCDN is the Oke-Ogun Community Development
Network, and was responsible for the successful art competition for “A
Ray of Hope” in Oke-Ogun earlier this year.
I showed the chiefs the sports and educational equipment I had
brought and we completed detailed planning for the trip. On
Monday October 23rd I travelled with Chief Adejumo to Ago-Are. There I
stayed at the home of Pastor David, manager of the OCDN InfoCentre in
Ago-Are, for a week. During that time we met with the chairman and the
ex-chairman of the Community Association to discuss the support that
outsiders can give to the Information Centre.
I also collected information, for the Commonwealth of Learning
(COL), regarding an agricultural distance learning programme, which had
been delivered though the InfoCentre. We hope this may lead to closer
future links with COL. I
was asked by Pastor David to help raise the profile of the InfoCentre with
local schools. I made The
schools club was attended by one hundred and twenty two people, at least
six of whom were teachers. The teachers were also interested in "TT"
(the "Teachers Talking About ICT" programme). We agreed to set up a separate teachers club, which would be
a first step to including the teachers, through the TT-Online part of the
TT programme. Saturday
was a social day. The Oba
(local hereditary ruler) was celebrating thirty years as
On
Monday I travelled to Okeho with Mrs Victoria Adetona. We made the presentation at a ceremony attended by the Oba of
Okeho. I was also shown the
computers that have been installed by OCDN in a room of the town hall and
we discussed the possibility of future TT programmes there.
I was also updated on the local micro-credit scheme, and visited
its office. There I was shown
a laptop (which is used for administration and IT training) which was
awarded through a world bank scheme,.
This was particularly gratifying for me as I had sent the details
of the scheme to Chief Adejumo a couple of years ago and he had forwarded
them to Mrs Adetola, who had then applied.
Mrs Adetola also told me about her work with the Oyo State
"National Council of Women's Societies" (NCWS) a women's
empowerment group. We agreed
that if she would send me reports of her women's work and micro-credit
work then I would raise the visibility of both these initiatives on the
Internet. My
next visit was on Tuesday with Chief Mojoyinola, to Iseyin, where the
final presentations were On
returning to Ibadan on Wednesday I attended a meeting with Professor
Francis Egbokhare, director of the Distance Learning Centre at Ibadan
University, to discuss his plans for collaborating with OCDN, and with
others in our network. This was another encouraging example of positive
results coming years after initial efforts.
I was shown a thick
file of correspondence which had lead to the Wednesday meeting – it
began with a letter I had written back in 2000, in support of the founder
of what is now OCDN, suggesting collaboration with Ibadan University. The
university is now planning to set up a new distance learning initiative
for rural areas, building on our initial work in Ago-Are. The
trip was extremely useful for mutual updating and future planning for
continuing to work together. The
resources were well received. The
face-to-face meetings gave encouragement and new direction to the projects
on ground, and enabled various new links to be established.
I will be following these up and strengthening them in the coming
months now that I am back with my home computer -
with the easy access to the Internet and the reliable electricity
supply that makes my access to information and communication systems so
simple compared to the challenges faced by my friends and other contacts
in Nigeria. On
behalf of those friends and contacts, and the people they aim to serve,
and myself, I thank BA for making the trip to Nigeria possible.
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implement the programme. He will get ongoing support online.
visits to several secondary schools and suggested starting a schools club
at the InfoCentre, which could include linking up with schools overseas.
The first meeting was held on Thursday 26th October. Despite very short
notice, the participants were greeted with messages through the Internet,
from London (Charity for African Welfare and Development) and Northern
Ireland (Don McBurney, A Ray of Hope UNESCO Youth Ambassador for the
Culture of Peace) and the children of Largymore Primary School.
ruler of the town
and surrounding area.
On
Sunday the sports and educational resources were presented.
made.