[Music]
I want to first of all give us some
questions have this in mind as I make my
presentation why do we see things from
certain perspectives why do i why do I
have certain beliefs or believe in
certain stereotypes what makes us part
of a group and why do we feel our ways
of life are superior or inferior to
others and the main question I would
like all of us to ask is what do I know
and how does my knowledge work in
deciphering the information that I
received mind the gap is a regular catch
phrase in the London Underground
stations and it is a way of cautioning
commuters that there is a gap between
the platform and the Train the Train and
it is on this caution that I want us to
be wary of the danger of standing still
and to throw caution to the wind when it
comes to issues of learning we travel in
different wings but mostly we travel
through the mind in our thoughts in our
heads in the information we receive
every day through the use of our
imagination when we receive information
even as a child it has a lot to do with
our environment what we know what we
learn what we hear what we see and
traveling which is my topic of the day
for me has a lot to do with learning I
see myself as a nomad I’m a photographer
and I’m a nomad because I do not stand
still I love to travel I love to
document I love to tell stories and so
traveling for me
is through the physical realm through
space and time you know and growing up
as a child I lived all across the
country and in other places around the
world because my father loved to travel
and my mother due to her job was always
deployed to different cities across
Nigeria from and GUI by John be means
circle to about she Kaduna I can go on
and on different cities most times in
every other year we’re in a different
city and I was lucky enough to have a
father who loved to have to take his
children with him I realized one day
that I was a very curious child I wanted
to understand how things work at all
times I saw a picture on the wall and it
was a black-and-white image I was
probably six or seven at the time and
the contrast between the black and white
was so beautiful and the story was
amazing because it could I I could see
like this was reality and it got me
asking how did this picture come from
real life and Ascot on the wall I wanted
to understand this I kept bugging my dad
it was at a family friend’s house I was
like how did they make this it’s not a
drawing I was used to drawing as yes I
saw images here and there we were used
to the polaroid system at the time and
pictures happen but I wanted to
understand how it happened and he said
to me well it’s a Sumi smut hole I asked
him or what what does that mean and he
says well sue Meeks Marco is a
photographer there he is right there
who documents stories and creates art
with photos so that black and white
picture you saw is us is not just about
the story it’s not just about the people
but the way he captured the light and
the dark and that really got me thinking
and that was my first proper
introduction to photography
i bugged my dad the whole day I needed
to understand this really explained to
me so what do I need to do how do I get
the picture on the paper do I draw it
and imagine it and it becomes reality
what what and he tried as much as he
could but what he did for me was on my
birthday he gave me a camera rolls of
film and explained to me how to use it
and the rest was history I took pictures
of everything cracks on the wall you
know my dirty feet and I would always
ask what that meant to me I started
seeing the world in little boxes and no
more has just a hole and you’re lucky
enough just a couple of this this
picture was a couple of months ago I met
this ooh nice Matt Cole again I hadn’t
seen him in many many years and I had to
thank him for making me who I am today
because of his story so like I said I
was very curious of it as a child I
always wanted to understand how I
understand how things worked I remember
my brother and I destroying my aunt’s
water bed
we took a knife to it and tore it apart
because I wanted to understand how the
water was stuck in a bed we kept that
secret for 25 years she only just found
out a couple of years ago and through
the foam and the gauze and the layers of
of rubber we flooded the whole house but
I learnt a lesson that I could have
found easier ways around understanding
that by either asking questions or
looking for just where they pumps the
water in so moving forward I watched a
movie called Serafina a couple of years
after it had come out I was probably 16
17 and it was a story about the Soweto
riots in South Africa it touched me and
that had me thinking about how I could
tell our own stories because I had
experienced riots in so
when a certain Mei was deposed and I
wanted to also tell those stories but of
course I was scared to go out to
document I was young I did have my
camera but it didn’t make any sense at
the time
moving forward I started to tell myself
I love to absorb information and I told
people randomly as much as I could like
I would say random things like do you
know that you got your drinking has
bacteria in it
Oh a snort is what an antelope makes I
just absorbed random information and I
always wanted to share so Seraphina
changed my mind about how we can tell
our own stories and I was too young to
understand what that meant to me I
always say that the antidote well for
ignorant is learning an interaction so
which means me back to my my idea of
travel I’m a strong supporter of the
National Youth Service Corps because it
takes people out of their comfort zone
and forces them to places that they
probably never would go through in
Nigeria the youth find themselves having
to create solutions whether they liked
it or not because the scheme is not
perfect and is not implemented properly
but you have to start to think about
yourself that’s for those who are
committed to actually serving the
country for the one year that they are
and I went back to any which served my
country in 2001 I found out so much
about the ebo culture which reminded me
that I had a blood running in my veins I
come from a mixed religious mixed tribe
mixed-race background all of it I have
in my family so we had Christians and
Muslims I have a DOMA Yoruba ebo cousins
you know cousins from different
countries around the world and I didn’t
realize how important that was for me
until I started traveling around Nigeria
people looked at me with a certain
stereotype not because they wanted to
but because that’s all they knew and it
didn’t matter who I said I was
where I’m from I’m dressed a certain way
your name is Aisha that’s it you’re a
northerner you’re a Muslim you’re Hausa
and it was fine I’m always very proud of
that I I get some really annoying
questions from time to time like wow you
went to school oh how come you are
allowed to work your father your husband
lets you out of the house or the worst
one of all
you don’t sound outside you sound
intelligent I get that one so many times
and it always hits me
but I realized instead of trying to
force Who I am
or the person I am to the people is best
to just show them and in showing them
they it opens up their minds to who a
northerner is or to who a house the
person is because I’ve broken the idea
of the stereotype to them you know and
we have all of these kind of stereotypes
it doesn’t matter where you are we
believe certain things about certain
people based on the information we have
and we sometimes interact or over act
based on things that they do thinking
that we know better because of our
information some people believe that
certain cultures doing certain things
they must be crazy right
I’m sure if you see someone half dressed
running around cutting knives
using a knife in his chest or trying to
entertain
he’s probably crazy right but that’s
part of his culture that’s his way of
showing the world that I’m strong and I
can handle anything that comes to me so
I also started to see things in a
different light how do I view other
people other tribes other countries how
do I see them based on the information
that I have so I decided I am learning
through travel as always
this quote says though we travel the
world over to find the beautiful
we must carry it with us or we find it
not and I say the same for those in
Nigeria we don’t travel around Nigeria
enough we do not interact with each
other enough and that is why we get to
have so many conflicts between each
other because we don’t understand
ourselves and sometimes just because the
other generations have told you certain
things about people you come with a
defense mechanism automatically so the
little that they do sparks up something
and that’s why we have conflicts and
fights all over the place we have no
empathy from certain tribes because we
feel ours is better but we’re all
Nigerians were all human so traveling
around the world I visited Kenya
Tanzania and I couldn’t believe the
world-class beaches and resorts they had
I found out that Tanzania had a
population that was 99% Muslim and they
thrived based on tourism no conflict I
also visit her Korea and I kept asking
them when do i that when do we actually
get to South Korea because the Korea I
knew was the one I watched in the
traditional films with the palaces and
the knives and the samurai looking
people but the Korea I found was more
developed than most of the countries I
had visited and I was able to study the
country as a case study on agriculture
how to build ourselves from nothing
because Korea was nothing after the war
and they built everything they had with
their own hands and today they provide
us with most a lot a lot of the
equipment we find around because they
focused on exports they use their people
to build their own villages and it
wasn’t about whether you were from here
or there how do we get ourselves up to
meet the world and moving forward I also
learnt
about the Fulani culture why because
most people look at me and think I’m
Fulani they always I have people who
just come up to me and start speaking
for foodie or people who just ask you
must be feeling but I’m not so that got
me interested to know more about the
people and in the last 10 years I have
been documenting Fulani herdsman the
fulani nomads the the more developed
ones and the more modernized versions
this is a Fulani home and this is the
typical Fulani room this is actually
right here in Abuja in May Tama and
these these you can see it’s made out of
cement but you have the temporary
structures because they travel they’re
nomads and in all their travels around
Nigeria around Africa they still stick
to this wherever they are
why not because they don’t see
development not because they don’t see
our cars and our phones and our laptops
but because they are loyal to their
culture and their tradition and we have
no rights to tell them that ours is
better or they need to drop all of this
to stick to us there’s a science to this
they designed these homes thinking about
their next move the nomads wants to pick
up and move when the grazing season
begins and when he leads the pack up he
doesn’t need cupboards and beds and and
things that would keep them behind
they don’t need material stuff that
would slow them down they want to be
able to stand pick up their spoons and
their plates and their cups that are
hanging on their ceiling they want to be
able to these are like Milou hot
chocolate containers and they’re able to
just pick up and move put the things on
their horses or their camels and move to
the next city and I realized meeting a
lot of them that they spoke sometimes 8
to 10 languages I went to a Fulani fest
of all and we had Fulani coming from
Burkina Faso knee jerk Cameroon and to
Nigeria because it’s one of their
pathways during the grazing season and
to them they pick up the different
languages but because we don’t know them
you’re automatically thinking there’s
something wrong with these people and
the news doesn’t help because we’re told
about the herdsmen and the fights and
the clashes but because we don’t
emphasize with who they are they are
nomads and the number one thing to them
in the world is their actual anything
that comes against that is his danger
and on the other on the other hand we
have the farmers everything for that
farmer is what he’s going to reap from
his farm and a full animal coming to
pass through his farm is danger but if
both sides understand each other they
can emphasize so in places like cities
like let’s say in Benway
Kevi circuit oh you have farmers that
are willing to give the their harvest
after they’ve taken out the harvest they
give the stalks to the to the Fulani so
that they can feed their animals instead
of roaming through their farms there’s a
there’s a there’s a way to it there’s a
there’s a thing that complements each
other they interact and the Fulani man
gives his dog which he piles up as he
moves along to the farmer so there ways
that we can we can interact with each
other just based on knowing how we are
so this like I said is a very beautiful
culture I’m in love with them so now two
years ago if I was told I would be in
government I would say no I had
times that I sit down and ask myself
where do I want to see myself in the
next five years government was not one
of them
I said no creative people don’t have a
place in government maybe as a
consultant but not as an official but
because of my photography and travel I
found myself taking the leap to tell the
story of my people in kevie state and to
also be able to get information to the
government on what they need to
implement we’re seeing changes because
there’s an interaction now between the
people and the government using social
media same goes to me going out of my
way to ensure that certain people make
it to see the governor because one way
or the other we have to find ways to
interact and like I said we have to
learn about each other and understand
how we work so moving forward in cabby
now I try to tell our stories our needs
and what we need and it’s all based on
where I travel and how I move along the
way so you reap what you sow and I have
three children three beautiful boys and
I want them to wake up believing that
there is love in anybody you meet we
can’t see each other as enemies at any
time we should be able to empathize and
understand why people do the things they
do why they have certain stereotypes why
they are who they are
self reflection I have seen the vanity
in all of us through photography and I
will continue to explore and learn and I
hope that you do the same thank you
you
I want to first of all give us some
questions have this in mind as I make my
presentation why do we see things from
certain perspectives why do i why do I
have certain beliefs or believe in
certain stereotypes what makes us part
of a group and why do we feel our ways
of life are superior or inferior to
others and the main question I would
like all of us to ask is what do I know
and how does my knowledge work in
deciphering the information that I
received mind the gap is a regular catch
phrase in the London Underground
stations and it is a way of cautioning
commuters that there is a gap between
the platform and the Train the Train and
it is on this caution that I want us to
be wary of the danger of standing still
and to throw caution to the wind when it
comes to issues of learning we travel in
different wings but mostly we travel
through the mind in our thoughts in our
heads in the information we receive
every day through the use of our
imagination when we receive information
even as a child it has a lot to do with
our environment what we know what we
learn what we hear what we see and
traveling which is my topic of the day
for me has a lot to do with learning I
see myself as a nomad I’m a photographer
and I’m a nomad because I do not stand
still I love to travel I love to
document I love to tell stories and so
traveling for me
is through the physical realm through
space and time you know and growing up
as a child I lived all across the
country and in other places around the
world because my father loved to travel
and my mother due to her job was always
deployed to different cities across
Nigeria from and GUI by John be means
circle to about she Kaduna I can go on
and on different cities most times in
every other year we’re in a different
city and I was lucky enough to have a
father who loved to have to take his
children with him I realized one day
that I was a very curious child I wanted
to understand how things work at all
times I saw a picture on the wall and it
was a black-and-white image I was
probably six or seven at the time and
the contrast between the black and white
was so beautiful and the story was
amazing because it could I I could see
like this was reality and it got me
asking how did this picture come from
real life and Ascot on the wall I wanted
to understand this I kept bugging my dad
it was at a family friend’s house I was
like how did they make this it’s not a
drawing I was used to drawing as yes I
saw images here and there we were used
to the polaroid system at the time and
pictures happen but I wanted to
understand how it happened and he said
to me well it’s a Sumi smut hole I asked
him or what what does that mean and he
says well sue Meeks Marco is a
photographer there he is right there
who documents stories and creates art
with photos so that black and white
picture you saw is us is not just about
the story it’s not just about the people
but the way he captured the light and
the dark and that really got me thinking
and that was my first proper
introduction to photography
i bugged my dad the whole day I needed
to understand this really explained to
me so what do I need to do how do I get
the picture on the paper do I draw it
and imagine it and it becomes reality
what what and he tried as much as he
could but what he did for me was on my
birthday he gave me a camera rolls of
film and explained to me how to use it
and the rest was history I took pictures
of everything cracks on the wall you
know my dirty feet and I would always
ask what that meant to me I started
seeing the world in little boxes and no
more has just a hole and you’re lucky
enough just a couple of this this
picture was a couple of months ago I met
this ooh nice Matt Cole again I hadn’t
seen him in many many years and I had to
thank him for making me who I am today
because of his story so like I said I
was very curious of it as a child I
always wanted to understand how I
understand how things worked I remember
my brother and I destroying my aunt’s
water bed
we took a knife to it and tore it apart
because I wanted to understand how the
water was stuck in a bed we kept that
secret for 25 years she only just found
out a couple of years ago and through
the foam and the gauze and the layers of
of rubber we flooded the whole house but
I learnt a lesson that I could have
found easier ways around understanding
that by either asking questions or
looking for just where they pumps the
water in so moving forward I watched a
movie called Serafina a couple of years
after it had come out I was probably 16
17 and it was a story about the Soweto
riots in South Africa it touched me and
that had me thinking about how I could
tell our own stories because I had
experienced riots in so
when a certain Mei was deposed and I
wanted to also tell those stories but of
course I was scared to go out to
document I was young I did have my
camera but it didn’t make any sense at
the time
moving forward I started to tell myself
I love to absorb information and I told
people randomly as much as I could like
I would say random things like do you
know that you got your drinking has
bacteria in it
Oh a snort is what an antelope makes I
just absorbed random information and I
always wanted to share so Seraphina
changed my mind about how we can tell
our own stories and I was too young to
understand what that meant to me I
always say that the antidote well for
ignorant is learning an interaction so
which means me back to my my idea of
travel I’m a strong supporter of the
National Youth Service Corps because it
takes people out of their comfort zone
and forces them to places that they
probably never would go through in
Nigeria the youth find themselves having
to create solutions whether they liked
it or not because the scheme is not
perfect and is not implemented properly
but you have to start to think about
yourself that’s for those who are
committed to actually serving the
country for the one year that they are
and I went back to any which served my
country in 2001 I found out so much
about the ebo culture which reminded me
that I had a blood running in my veins I
come from a mixed religious mixed tribe
mixed-race background all of it I have
in my family so we had Christians and
Muslims I have a DOMA Yoruba ebo cousins
you know cousins from different
countries around the world and I didn’t
realize how important that was for me
until I started traveling around Nigeria
people looked at me with a certain
stereotype not because they wanted to
but because that’s all they knew and it
didn’t matter who I said I was
where I’m from I’m dressed a certain way
your name is Aisha that’s it you’re a
northerner you’re a Muslim you’re Hausa
and it was fine I’m always very proud of
that I I get some really annoying
questions from time to time like wow you
went to school oh how come you are
allowed to work your father your husband
lets you out of the house or the worst
one of all
you don’t sound outside you sound
intelligent I get that one so many times
and it always hits me
but I realized instead of trying to
force Who I am
or the person I am to the people is best
to just show them and in showing them
they it opens up their minds to who a
northerner is or to who a house the
person is because I’ve broken the idea
of the stereotype to them you know and
we have all of these kind of stereotypes
it doesn’t matter where you are we
believe certain things about certain
people based on the information we have
and we sometimes interact or over act
based on things that they do thinking
that we know better because of our
information some people believe that
certain cultures doing certain things
they must be crazy right
I’m sure if you see someone half dressed
running around cutting knives
using a knife in his chest or trying to
entertain
he’s probably crazy right but that’s
part of his culture that’s his way of
showing the world that I’m strong and I
can handle anything that comes to me so
I also started to see things in a
different light how do I view other
people other tribes other countries how
do I see them based on the information
that I have so I decided I am learning
through travel as always
this quote says though we travel the
world over to find the beautiful
we must carry it with us or we find it
not and I say the same for those in
Nigeria we don’t travel around Nigeria
enough we do not interact with each
other enough and that is why we get to
have so many conflicts between each
other because we don’t understand
ourselves and sometimes just because the
other generations have told you certain
things about people you come with a
defense mechanism automatically so the
little that they do sparks up something
and that’s why we have conflicts and
fights all over the place we have no
empathy from certain tribes because we
feel ours is better but we’re all
Nigerians were all human so traveling
around the world I visited Kenya
Tanzania and I couldn’t believe the
world-class beaches and resorts they had
I found out that Tanzania had a
population that was 99% Muslim and they
thrived based on tourism no conflict I
also visit her Korea and I kept asking
them when do i that when do we actually
get to South Korea because the Korea I
knew was the one I watched in the
traditional films with the palaces and
the knives and the samurai looking
people but the Korea I found was more
developed than most of the countries I
had visited and I was able to study the
country as a case study on agriculture
how to build ourselves from nothing
because Korea was nothing after the war
and they built everything they had with
their own hands and today they provide
us with most a lot a lot of the
equipment we find around because they
focused on exports they use their people
to build their own villages and it
wasn’t about whether you were from here
or there how do we get ourselves up to
meet the world and moving forward I also
learnt
about the Fulani culture why because
most people look at me and think I’m
Fulani they always I have people who
just come up to me and start speaking
for foodie or people who just ask you
must be feeling but I’m not so that got
me interested to know more about the
people and in the last 10 years I have
been documenting Fulani herdsman the
fulani nomads the the more developed
ones and the more modernized versions
this is a Fulani home and this is the
typical Fulani room this is actually
right here in Abuja in May Tama and
these these you can see it’s made out of
cement but you have the temporary
structures because they travel they’re
nomads and in all their travels around
Nigeria around Africa they still stick
to this wherever they are
why not because they don’t see
development not because they don’t see
our cars and our phones and our laptops
but because they are loyal to their
culture and their tradition and we have
no rights to tell them that ours is
better or they need to drop all of this
to stick to us there’s a science to this
they designed these homes thinking about
their next move the nomads wants to pick
up and move when the grazing season
begins and when he leads the pack up he
doesn’t need cupboards and beds and and
things that would keep them behind
they don’t need material stuff that
would slow them down they want to be
able to stand pick up their spoons and
their plates and their cups that are
hanging on their ceiling they want to be
able to these are like Milou hot
chocolate containers and they’re able to
just pick up and move put the things on
their horses or their camels and move to
the next city and I realized meeting a
lot of them that they spoke sometimes 8
to 10 languages I went to a Fulani fest
of all and we had Fulani coming from
Burkina Faso knee jerk Cameroon and to
Nigeria because it’s one of their
pathways during the grazing season and
to them they pick up the different
languages but because we don’t know them
you’re automatically thinking there’s
something wrong with these people and
the news doesn’t help because we’re told
about the herdsmen and the fights and
the clashes but because we don’t
emphasize with who they are they are
nomads and the number one thing to them
in the world is their actual anything
that comes against that is his danger
and on the other on the other hand we
have the farmers everything for that
farmer is what he’s going to reap from
his farm and a full animal coming to
pass through his farm is danger but if
both sides understand each other they
can emphasize so in places like cities
like let’s say in Benway
Kevi circuit oh you have farmers that
are willing to give the their harvest
after they’ve taken out the harvest they
give the stalks to the to the Fulani so
that they can feed their animals instead
of roaming through their farms there’s a
there’s a there’s a way to it there’s a
there’s a thing that complements each
other they interact and the Fulani man
gives his dog which he piles up as he
moves along to the farmer so there ways
that we can we can interact with each
other just based on knowing how we are
so this like I said is a very beautiful
culture I’m in love with them so now two
years ago if I was told I would be in
government I would say no I had
times that I sit down and ask myself
where do I want to see myself in the
next five years government was not one
of them
I said no creative people don’t have a
place in government maybe as a
consultant but not as an official but
because of my photography and travel I
found myself taking the leap to tell the
story of my people in kevie state and to
also be able to get information to the
government on what they need to
implement we’re seeing changes because
there’s an interaction now between the
people and the government using social
media same goes to me going out of my
way to ensure that certain people make
it to see the governor because one way
or the other we have to find ways to
interact and like I said we have to
learn about each other and understand
how we work so moving forward in cabby
now I try to tell our stories our needs
and what we need and it’s all based on
where I travel and how I move along the
way so you reap what you sow and I have
three children three beautiful boys and
I want them to wake up believing that
there is love in anybody you meet we
can’t see each other as enemies at any
time we should be able to empathize and
understand why people do the things they
do why they have certain stereotypes why
they are who they are
self reflection I have seen the vanity
in all of us through photography and I
will continue to explore and learn and I
hope that you do the same thank you
you
Please follow and like us: