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Open Mic

IT IS OPEN MIC GUYS

Are you a Poet, storyteller, artist or musician looking for an audience to listen and enjoy your original piece?

Custodians of African Literature COAL is creating an expressive and safe space for others to enjoy and critique your work.

Come early, register to perform and wait for your turn.

Date: 31st March, 2019
Time: 3pm, registration starts at 2:30pm.
Venue: 3rd Floor Nhub, Bluewhale building, opposite NITEL office, before old airport junction.

Come, be heard and perfect your skills.

For further info email info@coalng.org or call 0906 572 3243

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Gender Balance: a needless competition

The quest for gender parity all over the world is beyond just a campaign, it is a reflection of the inner yearning for societal balance driven by social justice for all. The 2019 International Women’s Day is another time to reflect on what gender equality is or should be, and why it is needed for sustainable growth in nations. As the old aphorism goes ‘where the value of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable,’ this has been the case for most women all over the world. A reason for the abuse of women is tied to the underdevelopment of the collective consciousness of humans in what is right and beneficial to the overall existence of all.

As great as the Sustainable Development Goals are towards achieving gender parity, if people do not know why they should respect and take these goals seriously then it is of no use hammering on them. And rather than becoming reactionary to societal problems, we should first seek to know and understand the root causes of these problems to be able to provide any sustainable solutions to them.

Gender balance is a given in nature; animals, plants, the human physiology are palpable proofs of how all things work effectively when in a state of balance. Therefore, the campaign for gender parity should not be competitive in its approach, rather, it should be complementary to the value of balance and necessity for mutual growth and benefit to both genders in all aspects of life. There is no need to persuade people to respect what is naturally of value to them and every human being needs to be given equal respect and value irrespective of what gender they are.

Women and girls represent half of the world’s population, thereby revealing the enormous importance for their development and contributions to the overall development of the world, it will be foolish to discard the smallest fraction of this huge population. However, over the years, the female gender hasn’t been given equal value and respect in the world, this also is evident in some disturbing statistics.  In 2015 there were only 21 female Heads of State, over 150 countries have at least one actively sexist law and each minute 28 girls are married before they are ready. 1 in 3 women have experienced physical or sexual violence at some point in their lifetime, and there are approximately 781 million illiterate adults worldwide- two-thirds are women and about 63 million girls still need to go to school. The staggering statistics is a wake-up call on all humans to embrace their shared humanity in upholding the dignity of life and respect for all people.

‘‘The 2019 International Women’s Day theme Think equal, build smart, innovate for change focuses on innovative ways in which gender equality and the empowerment of women can be advanced, particularly in the areas of social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure.’’ Real innovation stems from the love which seeks the good of all. Gender parity shouldn’t be a one-sided struggle of two opposing standards, rather, it should be a complementary struggle upholding the equal importance of both genders in appreciation to their peculiarities, intelligence, and contributions to the development of the world.

As we celebrate women today, I call on everyone to advocate for value-based equality and not competitive equality, in doing so, we hold each other accountable for the enhancement of our collective consciousness in what is right, in what is of value and of overall benefit to all. A woman shouldn’t beg to be respected and treated fairly, she should simply be accorded respect because she is human, and should be treated equitably just like anyone else.

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International Women’s Day Mini Saga Challenge

To celebrate 2019 International Women’s Day, we are delighted to team up with Caprecon Foundation for a mini saga writing contest on the theme ”Balance for Better”⠀

How to Participate:

  1. like @coalng and @caprecondevelopmentfoundation pages on facebook 
  2. Mail your fifty word story to custodiansofafricanliterature@gmail.com
  3. Top five stories selected by our judges would be reposted on our Facebook page where the public would vote for the winning story.

Price:
• 10,000 naira cash.

Competition is open from 27th February to March 6th 2019. Winner would be announced on the 8th of March 2019.

Good luck writers and tag a friend !

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Coal Founder Patience Andrew becomes an Atlas Corps Fellow

Literature has been imperative in society as an active tool of advocacy for civil melioration. Once again, it proves true as COAL founder enlists with the Atlas Corps fellowship program. The social activist, poet, on-air-personality, has shown commitment in using and providing the platform for literary expression towards development and innovation. The very plinth COAL rests on.

Patience Andrew has a deep-seated desire to use her skill for societal development as seen in her enrollment of the Atlas Corp fellowship – an international organization established for more than a decade of promoting innovation and cooperation among leaders while providing solutions to address current world challenges.

The COAL founder will serve as Boston Program Coordinator Fellow and will primarily focus on direct youth work including daily intensive group facilitation with teens. She will work as part of TE (Teen Empowerment ) Organizers responsible for the day-to-day operations of a TE operations site. the 12-18 month long program will see her associate with skilled professionals of like minds from across the world and from different sectors of leadership, a step further in making literary consciousness and participation a vanguard in the campaign for societal development.

We at COAL are proud of her and we will continue to push for social transformation using the art.