Sorry about the formatting, my computer was acting up.
Famous Nigerians and Contemporary Nigeria
- Contemporary Nigeria
- Nigeria has many resources which include oil, lead, gold, iron ore, clay, gemstones, marble, and many more resources. ("Nigeria Natural Resources." Federal Republic of Nigeria. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. <http://www.nigeria.gov.ng/2012-10-29-11-05-46/2012-11-05-09-52-15>.)
- Nigeria has become a hub for technology in Africa, with co-ops that promote technology and robotics, to solar panels made from weeds. ("Nigeria robots driving in Africa technology hub!." Battabox. Battabox, 11 Apr. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. <http://battabox.com/nigeria-robots-driving-in-africa-technology-hub/>.) ("Justus Nwaoga - Solar Innovator." Timbuktu Chronicles. Africa Report, 3 Sept. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. <http://timbuktuchronicles.blogspot.com/2013/09/justus-nwaoga-solar-innovator.html?q=nigeria>.)
- SafePay is also working on making e-commerce in Nigeria better by making it safer to pay on the internet. ("SafePay to empower Nigerians through e-commerce says Rocket Internet Managing Director, Lukas Zels." CP-AFRICA. CPAFRICA, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. <http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/06/28/safepay-to-empower-nigerians-through-e-commerce-says-rocket-internet-maaging-director-lukas-zels/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CelebratingProgressAfrica+%28CP-Africa%29>.)
- In Nigeria they have created a online marketplace for local artisans, repairmen, electricians, and more to help ("New online marketplace, Naijaworkman.com to connect Nigerians to artisans, tradesmen and service providers." . CP-AFRICA, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. <• http://www.cp-africa.com/2013/12/09/new-service-naijaworkman-com-to-connect-nigerians-to-artisans-tradesmen-and-service-providers/>.)
- Nigeria is also making an effort to provide aforidable electricity to more people in Nigeria who are off the main grid ("MTN Nigeria and Nova-Lumos Partner to Bring Affordable Alternative Mobile Electricity to Nigeria for the First Time." . CP-AFRICA, 8 Apr. 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. <http://www.cp-africa.com/2014/04/08/mtn-nigeria-nova-lumos-partner-bring-affordable-alternative-mobile-electricity-nigeria-first-time/>.)
Chinua Achebe - In 2004 he refused Nigeria’s second highest award to protest government leadership
- He is the most well-known author from Nigeria (Soyinka, Wole. "Soyinka on Chinua Achebe." . Tine Magazine, 11 Nov. 2006. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. <http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/newsflash/time-heroes-professor-chinua-achebe-fela-anikulapo-kuti-mandela.html>.)
- He is very connected with Bard College in New York
- After a car accident in 1990 he was left in a wheel chair, which was very problematic in Nigeria
- He has written other books besides things fall apart (Shipley, Jesse. "Chinua Achebe: A Poet of Global Encounters." . Africa is a country, 5 Apr. 2013. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. <http://africasacountry.com/chinua-achebe-a-poet-of-global-encounters/>.)
Fela Kuti
- Nigeria has many resources which include oil, lead, gold, iron ore, clay, gemstones, marble, and many more resources. ("Nigeria Natural Resources." Federal Republic of Nigeria. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. <http://www.nigeria.gov.ng/2012-10-29-11-05-46/2012-11-05-09-52-15>.)
- He created AfroBeat
- He was a polygamist
- “He recognized the need to renegotiate the social pact between the genders and stood up for the rights of prostitutes as “sexual workers” deserving respect and legal protection.”
- He was against Nigeria’s government
- Groomed and pampered in youth by a pre-independence middle class but morphed by Black Power and pan-Africanist politics into a revolutionary ghetto hero, Fela voiced relentless condemnation of the so-called New Africa, attracting to himself a deluge of repression. (Moore, Carlos. "Fela Kuti." . knitting factory records, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. http://www.knittingfactoryrecords.com/artists/fela/.)
Wole Soyinka
- He is a Nobel prize winner
- He went to college in England
- He was a drama and literature teacher
- “During the civil war in Nigeria, Soyinka appealed in an article for cease-fire. For this he was arrested in 1967, accused of conspiring with the Biafra rebels, and was held as a political prisoner for 22 months until 1969.”
- He writes mainly poems, dramas, and novels ("Wole Soyinka - Biographical". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2013. Web. 29 Apr 2014. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1986/soyinka-bio.html)
Nigeria's Promise, Africa's Hope
I think the thesis is "Africa has endured a tortured history of political instability and religious, racial and ethnic strife."
Evidence 1: "...The political situation deteriorated rapidly and Nigeria was quickly consumed by civil war..."
Evidence 2: "After the civil war, we saw a “unified” Nigeria saddled with an even more insidious reality. We were plagued by a home-grown enemy: the political ineptitude, mediocrity, indiscipline, ethnic bigotry and corruption of the ruling class."
Evidence 3: "...we will have to find a way to do away with the present system of political godfatherism. This archaic practice allows a relative handful of wealthy men — many of them half-baked, poorly educated thugs — to sponsor their chosen candidates and push them right through to the desired political position, bribing, threatening and, on occasion, murdering any opposition in the process."
(Achebe, Chinua. "Nigeria’s Promise, Africa’s Hope." . New York Times, 15 Jan. 2011. Web. 26 Apr. 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/opinion/16achebe.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&.)
Evidence 1: "...The political situation deteriorated rapidly and Nigeria was quickly consumed by civil war..."
Evidence 2: "After the civil war, we saw a “unified” Nigeria saddled with an even more insidious reality. We were plagued by a home-grown enemy: the political ineptitude, mediocrity, indiscipline, ethnic bigotry and corruption of the ruling class."
Evidence 3: "...we will have to find a way to do away with the present system of political godfatherism. This archaic practice allows a relative handful of wealthy men — many of them half-baked, poorly educated thugs — to sponsor their chosen candidates and push them right through to the desired political position, bribing, threatening and, on occasion, murdering any opposition in the process."
(Achebe, Chinua. "Nigeria’s Promise, Africa’s Hope." . New York Times, 15 Jan. 2011. Web. 26 Apr. 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/opinion/16achebe.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&.)