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Guest Noise Maker: Introducing Nnamdi Nwoke

Making Noise Crew — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:24:40 +0000

GenerationNAIJA's Response from Nnamdi Nwoke on Vimeo.

Pumzi: Kenya's First Sci-Fi Film. LOVE IT!

Making Noise Crew — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 06:56:39 +0000

Uzoma Okere Awarded Damages

Making Noise Crew — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:47:30 +0000

Hello everyone. The world's attention has (quite rightly) been focused on the terrible tragedy in Haiti. The last post on this site was about Haiti too. I don't want to detract attention from Haiti at all, but I do want to highlight some good news elsewhere.

Last month I posted about the young lady named Uzoma Okere who was brutally beaten up by some navy men. Well in my last post,I mentioned that she sued and that the judgment was pending. See

http://www.livethenoise.org/home/2009/12/29/remember-uzoma-okere.html

Although this site is dedicated to highlighting social injustice issues, I thought it would be good to also mention those occasions when things go right. The judgment in the Uzoma Okere case has been delivered and the judge happily ruled in her favour and ordered the men who assaulted her to pay her 100 million Naira in damages (over $US660,000).

The judge in her ruling strongly condemned the men who assaulted her, saying they:

"can only be described as barbarians in uniforms as they have shown by this incident that they have no respect for womanhood - dragging a woman on the road and partially getting her naked. They have no fear of God at all.It is highly shameful and unimaginable that such could happen in this 21st Century in a civilized society and democratic one. It should therefore be condemned in very strong language." Kudos to Justice Opeyemi Oke. :-) You can read more about the judgment at:

http://www.channelstv.com/newsdetails.php?news_id=15885

http://allafrica.com/stories/201001280213.html

Regards, John Ubani Jr.

Please pray for the men, women, and children of Haiti. Here are six ways you could help...

Making Noise Crew — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:05:11 +0000

1) Text "HAITI" to "90999" to donate $10 to the Red Cross

2) Text "Yele" to 501501 to donate $5 to Yele Haiti

3) Donate to Partners in Health

4) Donate to Architecture for Humanity

5) Donate to charity:water

6) Learn more about Haiti

Guest Noise Maker: Introducing Lindsay Branham

Making Noise Crew — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:59:47 +0000

I (Okey) am excited to introduce you all to my friend Lindsay Branham. Lindsay lived in DR Congo and Rwanda for 18 months working as a writer and photographer for Food for the Hungry (FH). She has produced film and photography throughout Africa and her work on child soliders has been featured on CNN. Lindsay is currently co-directing a documentary film about child soliders in DR Congo. Click HERE to check out the amazing work she is doing.

WHISPERS by Lindsay Branham

Whispers of hope have settled into words. The rain fallen has not yet dried.

A sad maturity marked her face. Her provocative black, lacy clothing clung loosely to her constantly thinning frame. Her deep sultry voice and swanky gait, as she threw her hips around, reminded me of a little girl playing dress up.

But she wasn’t playing.

Aisha is a prostitute. A child prostitute. A former Mai-Mai child soldier, beginning when she was 13,

Remember Uzoma Okere?

Making Noise Crew — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:49:44 +0000

First of all apologies for my recent silence. After that introduction I (John!) went incommunicado. Let it be known that my 2010 new year resolution is to post more frequently! ;-)

Remember Ms Uzoma Okere? This was the high profile case last year during which a young lady in Lagos was physically assaulted by the men attached to a senior navy officer. Apparently the lady's crime was that she did not get out of the way quickly enough when their boss' (a navy Rear-Admiral) convoy passed her. They decided that solving the issue with her via dialogue was too complicated, so they beat up this young lady, ripped up her clothes and even tried to horsewhip her - in broad daylight, in the middle of a street.

Unbeknown to them, the whole incident was witnessed and filmed by someone with their mobile phone...and within days the assault had been posted around the world (see video clip above).

Ms Okere did not let the matter die, and has filed a lawsuit (judgment due January 27 2010). One thing to note though....this kind of incident happens all the time. There are lots of other people who get harassed, beaten up or even killed by security forces that we never hear about. The reason why Uzoma's case came to public attention is because her father (Colonel Emeka Okere) is the Sergeant-at-Arms of the National Assembly, and a retired army Colonel. Plus Uzoma is an educated lady who works for PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Lagos.

Had she been poor, uneducated and not from a "prominent family", we probably would not have heard about her case.

The parties have completed the arguments in her 100 million Naira lawsuit. Let us see how it pans out. This will be a major test and statement of whether the courts are serious about punishing cases of security forces mistreating civilians.

New Boy

Making Noise Crew — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:44:43 +0000

Ory on TEDTALK

Making Noise Crew — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:51:35 +0000

Okay, so I think its really cool that one of our good friends had the opportunity to be a speaker for TEDTALKS. So proud of you Ory, keep MAKING NOISE! Click HERE to learn more about Ory's work.

An Evening with Chimamanda Adichie

Making Noise Crew — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:40:24 +0000

On Friday, October 30, 2009 YAP (Young African Professionals) and the Global Development Matters Meetup hosted an evening with Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie at the Center for Global Development in Washington DC. Being a big fan of Chimamanda's work, this event was the highlight of my weekend. The evening started with Chimamanda reading a few pages from her latest book, "The Thing Around Your Neck." Without a doubt, Chimamanda is a gifted storyteller with the ability to pull readers into the lives and experiences of the characters in her stories.

It happens here too by Leslie Ibeanusi

Making Noise Crew — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:39:27 +0000

Sometimes when I sit in the clinic in between seeing patients, I like to remind myself of my “other life.” Not the girl that still fumbles as she’s learning how to draw blood, but the other side that is a diehard advocate- the girl that felt empowered to empower girls who’d been victimized and sold in some of the harshest conditions. In my mind I took myself back to my time in Italy, and thought of the girls who’d been sent back to Nigeria after being released from their madams who’d coerced them into sexual slavery. Okey and I have been pushing ourselves: “Don’t forget the girls we’re fighting for. Don’t forget we’re working to one day be able to help them.”