A good one, but do we have to copy?

Pscheeew

Hw many children these dayz cn wtc dat program knwin fuly wel dat kids these daz spend more time at skul,comin bak late and tird.wil phcn alow dm.dose daz i cnt remba anytn lights off.talkn abt "speak out"my most educatv program as a kid.indeed tins hv realy changd.wish i culd go bk 2 childhood.

dazzle37:

@ Akunta and Lastpage

i think the name you guys are looking for is '' TALES BY MOONLIGHT ''

Ojumiii:

That is right, i still have the memories of that as an adult now and mind your language etc. 80s and 90s was really fun

No, it's storyland, not tales by moonlight

Nigeria is getting its own edition of Sesame Street. You know, for the kids. And if there’s one thing that kids love it is AIDS. From CNN:

culled from http://videogum.com/232501/can-you-tell-me-how-to-get-aids-to-sesame-street-nigeria/tv/childrens-television/

O boy, i remember those good old days too. lots of educative programmes for kids: Sesame Street, Contact, Terra Hawks, Dr Who, Muppet Show. There were other good family soaps then such as Checkmate, Giant in the Sun, Ripples etc. KAI, all those good programmes. now what we see on tv is nothing but Aki and paw-paw, P-Square and Dbanj.

@AdamuW

This is very interesting. First of all I’d like to say I’m a Sesame Street fan through and through before anyone comments on what I’m about to say. This is an issue close to my heart especially as I’m an animator and cartoonist. I commend Sesame Street for doing this. I’ve been following this story for ages.

But for me the most important question was raised by @last page. ‘What about our own content?’ and he got shot down for asking it. Children’s media is a very important and powerful medium and is a subtle way of maintaining culture and also spreading propaganda. We don’t have any global African children’s programs that can match Sesame Street, Ben 10 , Dora the Explorer, etc. That’s very dangerous on many levels. Many families complain that they can’t find any African content for their children.

I and some other Nigerian/African animators and studios have stopped complaining and are facing the problem head on. My company has developed a cartoon which is now on sale called Bino and Fino. There’s also the O twins coming out soon. But we don’t have the firepower to market and distribute that Sesame Street has. I know that the Nigerian Sesame Street project got about $2 million funding from USAID which effectively means it’s subsidised and it doesn’t have to make a profit. We used less than a 10th of that to develop produce our cartoon.

So if you want to know more about Nigerian cartoons for kids check out the Bino and Fino Cartoon project website here http://www.binoandfino.com/and our blog here http://binoandfino./.

We have a vision to make it as big as Dora the Explorer. Other companies share the same vision for their titles. Sesame Street had to start from

Thanks very much for, not just your incisive thinking (something very rare nowadays!) but for taking it to "the Next Level"!
I dont bother anymore about "infantile shot-downs",  Nairaland is where l come to "relax" and take it easy!

I do understand that we are not all equal, in all ramifications and being "anonymous on the internet", even if l get tackled by my "grandson", ITS GAME! The few people that are matured enough "in understanding" have already concurred on my suggestion, what else do l want?

I watched the clip of your programme and l must say l was very impressed!
This is the type of thing we are talking about: Something Nigerian an completely original!
(Imagine some saying we cant do anything original, just because others have one something similar? )
Peeps like you are TRAIL_BLAZERS and you have my respects.

How can we "get there", if we dont even have the confidence to "start"?
I particularly like the way the voice-over was done, the "tone" sounded very African (words like "Maama" thrilled me a lot!).
And again, you are not just doing kiddies, it was very educative (I never knew all the many countries that were fifty along with Nigeria!; we all learn everyday! )

I urge everyone to just visit the site and watch the preview, its just six minutes! Come back and tell how you felt.

http://www.binoandfino.com/black-african-kids-cartoon-tv/

My Suggestion: If you take the DVD to Schools all over the country and "offer" it to them in person for the price (Self-marketing like some start-up Musicians do!), l feel it will not only drive volume-sales, the Schools might even encourage parents to buy same for their children.

I would rather my kids watch something as educative and informative like this, than watch Ben10 Alien Force, all day!

Please keep it up and improve on this.
Rome was not built in a day and likewise, "Sesame Street" did not spring up from thin air, it was started by "humans" like you, in small-small drops like this.

THREE "GBOOSA" FOR YOU GUYS.

I will never allow my  children to watch that GARBAGE - they got a character there that got aids !! and were proud that this show is being aired - people wake up!  Let the Americans keep there show and teach their delinquents the virtues of HIV - when i was growing up they taught numbers and letters and stuff - NONSENCE.  Leave it to the parents to educate their children about AIDS not TV. Disgrace!

pelezico:

I will never allow my  children to watch that GARBAGE - they got a character there that got aids !! and were proud that this show is being aired - people wake up!  Let the Americans keep there show and teach their delinquents the virtues of HIV - when i was growing up they taught numbers and letters and stuff - NONSENCE.  Leave it to the parents to educate their children about AIDS not TV. Disgrace!

so basicxally educating children about the dangrs of HIv is wrong??looking at it anothert way,are you suggesting children with hiv do not deserve to be loved like they were being neglected even by their families?or are you suggesting that that child in the programm got it via sex?have you ever heard of infected parents infecting their off-springs
am sure you also have a problem with sex eduction,not the one wey unilag lecturers dey do o,but the informative one

I read this same news on the Washington Express on my way to work; though it was quite thoughtful but the theme about the HIV POZ character kinda made it uncool to me particularly if the target audience is for younger kids.

Tales by moonlight beats sesame street hands down, now can we go and market that to America in exchange for sesame street; it will help their kids have morals
Maybe they should air sesame street AIDS episode in america and Europe too since the western kids start sex at an earlier age and have too many partners. AIDs is growing rapidly in their countries the last time i checked; oh wait they can afford to be in denial

pelezico:

I will never allow my  children to watch that GARBAGE - they got a character there that got aids !! and were proud that this show is being aired - people wake up!  Let the Americans keep there show and teach their delinquents the virtues of HIV - when i was growing up they taught numbers and letters and stuff - NONSENCE.  Leave it to the parents to educate their children about AIDS not TV. Disgrace!

i think the idea of having the HIV+ child is to teach children acceptance & non-discrimination. with this attitude you might be teaching your kids the opposite.


@ topic,

i think sesame street is a good idea, though NTA may not be the best station for it because it's not really appealing to kids. Hopefully the program would make enough of an impact to encourage kids to watch NTA.

i don't know what age the show is aimed at, but i think this can only be good for the really young kids (2-6). sesame street would be too boring for older kids (7+), because nigerian children seem to be hooked on adult programs. apparently, mexican soap operas are a hot topic among primary and secondary school kids. and the type of children's programmes that they enjoy are the sci-fi, action or adventure kind or the disney teenage ones.

The Yam monster is the shit

the original sesame street is still on in the us. i wonder why its not being broadcasted in nigeria no more.

USED TO BE ONE OF MY FAVORITES GROWING UP! of course, my favorite monster was Elmo. sooo cute

THE AMAKA:

USED TO BE ONE OF MY FAVORITES GROWING UP! of course, my favorite monster was Elmo. sooo cute

Cute but how can you forget Kermit the frog

Hey do you remember that song Rainbow Connection ? That is one song that makes me cry every time I listen to it

OgidiBoy:

Cute but how can you forget Kermit the frog

Hey do you remember that song Rainbow Connection ? That is one song that makes me cry every time I listen to it

no, i hardly remember any of the songs though. i guess they weren't catch enough. Kermit used to kinda scare me, so no way.
Elmo and Zoey were the best.

The count used to scare me

Elmo was too commercialized like bunny so I was not a big fan.

Sesame street brings back a lot of wonderful memories for me as a kid back then in primary school!

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Sesame street brings back a lot of wonderful memories for me as a kid back then in primary school!

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[flash=350,350]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltDePH9fptc&feature=related[/flash]

watched the pilot and it was a crap. The cast was too local, the children as if they were gottem from one remote village in zamfara! Secondly, if we must have sesme street, cant we use local content.

seunlayi:

A good one, but do we have to copy?

why not, haven't we copied, American idol, who wants to be a millionaire, miss Nigeria, gsm, red carpet, naija sing, Big brother, hip hop, rap, sag trouser, democracy, shirt and mini skirt, lawyers and judges wig, wreath laying, one minutes silence, English language, make I go on?

we have copied good, bad and ugly,

so why not sesame street

Remii:

why not, haven't we copied, American idol, who wants to be a millionaire, miss Nigeria, gsm, red carpet, naija sing, Big brother, hip hop, rap, sag trouser, democracy, shirt and mini skirt, lawyers and judges wig, wreath laying, one minutes silence, English language, make I go on?

we have copied good, bad and ugly,

so why not sesame street

LOL!

lastpage:

@AdamuW
Thanks very much for, not just your incisive thinking (something very rare nowadays!) but for taking it to "the Next Level"!
I dont bother anymore about "infantile shot-downs", Nairaland is where l come to "relax" and take it easy!

I do understand that we are not all equal, in all ramifications and being "anonymous on the internet", even if l get tackled by my "grandson", ITS GAME! The few people that are matured enough "in understanding" have already concurred on my suggestion, what else do l want?

I watched the clip of your programme and l must say l was very impressed!
This is the type of thing we are talking about: Something Nigerian an completely original!
(Imagine some saying we cant do anything original, just because others have one something similar? )
Peeps like you are TRAIL_BLAZERS and you have my respects.

How can we "get there", if we dont even have the confidence to "start"?
I particularly like the way the voice-over was done, the "tone" sounded very African (words like "Maama" thrilled me a lot!).
And again, you are not just doing kiddies, it was very educative (I never knew all the many countries that were fifty along with Nigeria!; we all learn everyday! )

I urge everyone to just visit the site and watch the preview, its just six minutes! Come back and tell how you felt.

http://www.binoandfino.com/black-african-kids-cartoon-tv/

My Suggestion: If you take the DVD to Schools all over the country and "offer" it to them in person for the price (Self-marketing like some start-up Musicians do!), l feel it will not only drive volume-sales, the Schools might even encourage parents to buy same for their children.

I would rather my kids watch something as educative and informative like this, than watch Ben10 Alien Force, all day!

Please keep it up and improve on this.
Rome was not built in a day and likewise, "Sesame Street" did not spring up from thin air, it was started by "humans" like you, in small-small drops like this.

THREE "GBOOSA" FOR YOU GUYS.

@lastpage Thank you very much for your support. It has not been easy. We still have a long way to go on this but we have a long term vision for the Bino and Fino cartoon. As you said, sesame Street did not get to where it did in one day. We have to do the same. Like I said before I’ve got nothing against Sesame Street. I just think it’s more important we have the confidence to develop our own high quality children’s programs. I don’t see why we can’t export our own stories and culture just as we import others within the children’s sector.

There are many young talented Nigerian artists out there, just look at the Graphics section on Nairaland. There are other cartoons being developed by Nigerian studios. Some have stalled others are still going and should also be launched this year. With good support and planning they will be successful.

It's a worthwhile venture because i could remember in those days while  growing up as a kid i couldn't do without watching cartoon series like Voltron, the fraggle rock, The fantastic four, The superted et al. but the best of them all is sesame street because of it's educative, entertaining and interesting episodes. You sure can't do without characters like big bird, kenneth the frog, the cookie monster, ernie and bud. if the Nigerian adaptation is good then our kids are in for the good television times that we enjoyed in the past.

Why do we have to copy copy? Kai na wah o! Can't we have the likes of "Tales by Moonlight" showcasing our lost culture? Kai na wah for us o! I enjoyed watching Sesame Street while I was growing up but that's not a reason why we should go acopying! Are we going to copy the snow part too? lol!!!

I may be wrong, but how many kids watch NTA these days?    DSTV, HiTV and the likes have decentralised TV viewing. I remember as a kid it either NTA 2 channel 5, NTA 10 etc, all the adverts were centralised, programmes like sesame street, the same. With the variety now, things can't be the same anymore. Cbeebees on DSTV will give them a run

Anyway sha , i pray the proposed Sesame Street makes an impact on Nigerian kids

All over the world, someone starts something and others emulate especially if its good. Sesame street is a house hold name, even if we start our own, it may never beat sesame street. if its going to be sesame street, let it be sesame street, if its going to have Nigerian content, let it be something else. why dilute the whole thing. it may in turn lack what we used to enjoy and be heavily criticized because its not the sesame street we used to know. never the less, its a good idea and its welcome.

A day was not complete for me as a kid without sesame street and Voltron. these two program lured me to science and animation which today am partly an animator and am working on several projects to give back to the society and young ones to enjoy what we enjoyed that is no more there today.

Our children spend lots of time on DSTV these days and watch programs that do not connect them to their society and not meant for their age because our local TV won't show what is good for them. So many silly music videos, children belt is corrupt with music videos. My daughter is so crazy about one Hanna Montana and so angry about that because i see nothing educating about the program, its just another mere western distraction from these westerners of no pedigree.

I was listening to a song by Angeliqu Kidjo sometime last week titled "babalawo", and i wondered who told me that story. I remembered I'd watched a kiddie drama on it for years while i was growing up e.g. on children's day and some other days for children. I wonder how my children can get that feeling, knowledge and cultural belonging. My parents never told me the story, i watched it on TV, where are those TV programs that will transcend our cultural values to our children? little wonder they have no love for their father land and all want to go abroad. I believe NTA being a government station owe is a duty to uphold these cultural heritages. Do schools these days tell such stories? Most schools are busy imbibing and copying western jargon either sensible or not and as such sky-rocketing schools fees.

sometimes i get scared of how to train my children in this society to develop their minds the way mine was. As a kid, i learned moral values from my parents and learned cultural values more from the society which includes TV. Our society has losing it all. God help us.

fred4alabi:

All over the world, someone starts something and others emulate especially if its good. Sesame street is a house hold name, even if we start our own, it may never beat sesame street. if its going to be sesame street, let it be sesame street, if its going to have Nigerian content, let it be something else. why dilute the whole thing. it may in turn lack what we used to enjoy and be heavily criticized because its not the sesame street we used to know. never the less, its a good idea and its welcome.

A day was not complete for me as a kid without sesame street and Voltron. these two program lured me to science and animation which today am partly an animator and am working on several projects to give back to the society and young ones to enjoy what we enjoyed that is no more there today.

Our children spend lots of time on DSTV these days and watch programs that do not connect them to their society and not meant for their age because our local TV won't show what is good for them. So many silly music videos, children belt is corrupt with music videos. My daughter is so crazy about one Hanna Montana and so angry about that because i see nothing educating about the program, its just another mere western distraction from these westerners of no pedigree.

I was listening to a song by Angeliqu Kidjo sometime last week titled "babalawo", and i wondered who told me that story. I remembered I'd watched a kiddie drama on it for years while i was growing up e.g. on children's day and some other days for children. I wonder how my children can get that feeling, knowledge and cultural belonging. My parents never told me the story, i watched it on TV, where are those TV programs that will transcend our cultural values to our children? little wonder they have no love for their father land and all want to go abroad. I believe NTA being a government station owe is a duty to uphold these cultural heritages. Do schools these days tell such stories? Most schools are busy imbibing and copying western jargon either sensible or not and as such sky-rocketing schools fees.

sometimes i get scared of how to train my children in this society to develop their minds the way mine was. As a kid, i learned moral values from my parents and learned cultural values more from the society which includes TV. Our society has losing it all. God help us.

I agree with most of what you said. Sesame Street and Voltron were my major shows as a kid. With Tales By Moonlight and Battle of the Planets.

But I would stop short at saying that all modern ‘western’ programs are morally bad and that Nigerian/African ones are good by default. Or to be more general that western society is bad and African morals and values are better. I think that line of thought takes responsibility away from us and provides a scapegoat. We’re just as moral and as immoral as the ‘west’ it’s just a different flavour. If we were so moral and we were as religious as we all claim, our country would not be in the position it’s in today. That’s my opinion. I know it’s a socio political debate that’s complex and for another time but it relates to children’s programming in a way. And you said it yourself. Sesame Street inspired you.

NTA has a HUGE responsibility here. They were ones in the past who funded good programming but things are totally different now. PBS in the US I think gave us Sesame Street and the BBC in the UK gave so many children’s cartoons. The NTA should be taking the lead here because our children’s social, basic and cultural education is so important. NTA in theory has the mandate and power to do so. Even if the Nigerian/African stations want to import programming they can choose suitable ones of which there are plenty out there and not be lazy and go for the default ‘popular’ ones.

@Lastpage, you meant Storyland with Jimi Solanke. Yeah! I agree, quality programme. Although the Fabu in those stories is at par with that in Ben 10 or Avatar. I guess local fabu is better than the imported one. The only thing that foreign cartoons have that our local children's programming don't have is some real science content embedded in them.

For example, I did not imagine or ever think there was such a thing as liquid oxygen until I watched a particular episode of the Amazing Spider Man Cartoon were he was trying to get rid of a bomb he was handcuffed with. You will agree with me that the chances of learning that in any current Nigerian children's programme is next to zero. Funny thing is that millions of kids would have watched the same episode with me and would not have deduced that if Oxygen is a gas, it must surely have a liquid and dareIsay solid form. The only challenge to getting its solid state is the extremely cold temperature that would be required. And I was not even a science student.