A group under the auspices of Atelewo Cultural Initiative has promised to build Cultural Innovation hub in order to preserve African culture.
The group made this disclosure during a press conference held in Ibadan.
Co-founders of Atelewo, Rasaq Malik and Ibrahim Oreola while speaking at the media briefing to mark the 5th yearr⅝p5 anniversary of the organisation , explained that the innovation hub would be built in the next five years.
The duo while speaking, added that the cultural hub will be a place for young people to collaborate physically and virtually to develop the next startup, idea, project and initiative that promotes African cultures and languages.
The duo said that the organisation believes that the future of the world is both Tech and Youth.
“The Cultural Innovation Hub will be a place for young people to collaborate physically and virtually to develop the next startup, idea, project and initiative that promotes African cultures and languages.
“At ATELEWO, we believe that the future of the world is both Tech and Youth, and if we want to preserve and promote African culture and languages, we need to create the right environments for young people to develop assets so they can take up the agency for the responsibilities around building for culture.
“On the 1st of June, 2017, we started ÀTẸ́LẸWỌ́ Cultural Initiative as a response to the myriads of challenges and threats facing the preservation and survival of the Yorùbá culture and language.
“It is a well-known fact that a majority of Nigerians and Africans at large are unable to read or write in their indigenous African languages, this is not helped by education policies that do not mandate students to learn an African language up to secondary school level and the waning presence of quality literature materials in these languages.
“As a course changing initiative, we started ÀTẸLẸWỌ́ ́to solve some of these problems by making it a platform dedicated to the reviving and repositioning of the Yorùbá culture with the mission to provide a platform for stoking interest and generating fulfilling engagements with the dynamics of the Yorùba ́culture through competitions, lectures, dialogues, and regular meetups; to provide a platform for the documentation and preservation of Yorùba ́ancient knowledge, culture, and language in keeping pace with technological advancement; and to rekindle people’s interest in Yorùbá literature by organising readings, making Yorùba ́literature accessible and publishing new voices in the Yorùba ́Language.
“For the past five years, we have been committed to these ideals and mission and we have strived to ensure we don’t depart from them.
“For five years, we have been at the forefront of promoting Yorùbá literary culture through a series of projects involving online publishing, research, competitions and Yorùbá books promotion.
“For five years, we have organised both free and paid Yorùbá literacy training events online and offline. For five years, we have worked with national and international organizations to translate and create messages promoting values in the health, education, and agriculture sectors. For five years, we have committed to works documenting the lives of the old veteran Yorùbá authors and academics. For five years, we have consulted and provided valuable support, insights and advocacies for various Yorùbá projects and initiatives nationally and internationally. For five years, we have provided a platform for culture and language enthusiasts to engage in rich dialogues about issues relating to and affecting the Yorùbá people.”
Meanwhile, the African Development Bank Group President Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina has pledged his institution’s support for South Africa, announcing a $2.8 billion package for the country over the next five years. Some $400 million (ZAR 6 billion) will support South Africa’s Eskom and the country’s energy transition.
Adesina was speaking at the opening of the South Africa Investment Conference in Johannesburg today. President Cyril Ramaphosa opened the South African Investment Conference, the first physical convening of participants since 2019, with a message of optimism and determination in the face of a global pandemic, tough economic headwinds, and millions of job losses.