Originally posted on Shades of Us.

I was sitting in the bus when a thought came into my head.

‘What happened to Kainene?’

For those who may think me crazy, let me explain who Kainene is and possibly, why she came into my head today.

One of my all-time favorite persons in the world is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. From the moment a friend walked up to me and said I needed to watch a TedX Talk titled, We Should All Be Feminists, I have been enamored of her. Prior to this time, I had never heard her name and I didn’t know that she authored books. Or if I am more truthful, I didn’t read African authors at that point in my life, so I didn’t know who was in the scene.

When I heard that great (GREAT) speech, I was blown away by the very essence of who she was and, I wanted to guzzle everything she had ever put out. Thankfully, not long after that, I heard one of her books – Half of a Yellow Sun – was going to be adapted into a film. I was excited! At that point, I had not read the book, and though I usually prefer books to their film adaptations, for some reason, I wanted to see the film first.

So when it got out, I immersed myself in the film. I was introduced to Olanna and Kainene, twin sisters who had returned to Nigeria after studying in the United Kingdom. Through the story, we see how the lives of five people – Ugwu, Odenigbo, Olanna, Kainene and Richard – are changed as a result of the Nigerian Civil war which happened from 1967 to 1970.

This brings me to what happened to Kainene.

At first, it seemed that Kainene was ‘unfazed’ with the war that was leaving a trail of death and carnage all around her. Then, seeing first hand just how brutal the war was, she put on a more humanitarian persona; which was translated in her running a refugee camp. Due to the lack of food and drugs, she decided to go into ‘enemy’ territory and trade with them for the basic necessities which her people desired.

That was when she disappeared. No one knows what happened to Kainene; till today.

Kainene is a reminder that so many people who lost loved ones during and after the war do not have closure.

Let me explain this.

If someone you love dies during a war or a crisis or an accident or anything bad that you can think of, you may possibly have a body to grieve over, or a gravesite to put in that person and the memories you shared. You can begin to heal every day and in time, their memories become less painful. Your mind tells you that you can only grieve so much before you have to stop. That is the finality that comes with death.

But if they just disappear, with no hint of whether they are alive or not, you remain in a state of perpetual grief. You continuously wonder if today will be the day they walk in the door; if they would reach out; if they are held against their will; if they have eaten; what they have eaten; how they look; if they had children; if they were doing well; and every other thing that your mind can possibly fathom. If you take a cup of water, you wonder if they have water where they are. If you laugh, your mind wonders if they can laugh and torments you for daring to. Every day, every hour, every second of every year that they remain ‘unfound’, you lose a bit of yourself and your sanity because there is no closure.

I once read of a story of an old woman who sat a certain couch everyday staring at the streets in front of her house. When her children asked her what she was doing, she said she was waiting to see if her brother would return home. He had been in the soldier in the civil war. She did this until her children had their own children; until her grandchildren wondered if grandma was losing her mind; until she could barely see the road in front of her house. Still…her brother never returned and the day she believed he was not going to come back, she died of a broken heart.

So why did I think of what happened to Kainene? It was more about a group of other girls far, far away from Kainene’s Nsukka. I was thinking of the Chibok girls and every other person that has been kidnapped by the insurgent group, Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād, or as they are commonly called, Boko Haram. Beyond that, I was thinking of family members who had been separated by the insurgency; families who didn’t have phone numbers and couldn’t contact themselves. I thought also of internally displaced people whose loved ones were scattered about in different IDP camps, with no hope of reaching them. It made me ask myself, ‘how were these people doing?’

Kainene is a fictional character. Yet, I am constantly wondering what happened to her. Imagine the people with the real Kainenes in their lives; people searching for answers about their loved ones; people wondering what horrors said loved ones are going through; people holding hope up that one day, they would return home; and people who will die with that hope never becoming a reality. These people cannot heal because their loved ones have been separated from them without the necessary closure they need to move past the pain.

Where is this all heading to? For starters, the security situation in Nigeria is becoming more severe, with daredevil abductors taking up citizens at their whim. Many of these victims will return home. Many will not. And for people like the Chibok Girls, or Leah Sharibu, or any number of women, girls and children who may have been abducted, their parents may never recover from not knowing what is happening to their child in this very moment of existence.

And that right there, is one of the worst things that can happen to anyone.

It is important that we know what happened to Kainene, and all the other girls like her across the globe, because that may be key to how we can save the thousands of citizens condemned to a life of pain (and maybe death) because we have failed as a nation and as a people.

https://www.shadesofus.co.uk/2019/05/what-happened-to-kainene.html[url][/url]

They fear getting raped.

Play this scenario in your head.

It is late at night. The streets are poorly lit. The occasional car passes by but beyond that, it is quiet. There is a slight breeze teasing the earth and flirting with the skirt of a woman walking down the road. Her steps are brisk…increasing ever so slightly as she walks to her house just around the corner. She just wants to get home and off these streets. As she turns the corner, she sees a man lurking in the shadows. What do you think her first reaction is?

Let me help you.

Shock. Rush of adrenaline. Crippling fear. And hope that he is a friendly face. But almost instinctively, her hands go up to protect her breasts, not her purse.

If he is a friendly face, she breathes a sigh of relief and becomes thankful that there is now a man on the road with her. Nobody will try to attack her.

If he is someone she knows but doesn’t have a relationship with, the fear stays. She ponders why he is out late and whether he will attack her because she doesn’t say ‘hi’. She has to make a choice; either say ‘hi’ and deflect any possible attack or continue the status quo. Either way, she has to go past him on her way to her house. When she passes him, she will keep stealing glances behind until she gets home, constantly worrying that any footfall (real or imagined) is him springing to attack her.
If however, the man is not someone she knows, the fear grows. Every step she takes becomes leaden with the choking fear that she will be groped, attacked or the worst, raped.

How about this? Play this same scenario but change one thing. There isn’t one man lurking in the shadows; there are three, maybe five men. What do you think would happen?

Even if the girl woman knows all the men, she would still feel uncomfortable walking past them on her way to her apartment. But if she doesn’t know them at all, she has two choices; feign a calm that she cannot possibly hope to feel and walk past them or dash into a run to up her fighting chance. When you think about it, you see that she has another choice; go back to where she is coming from.
Even if it isn’t as dark and lonely, women don’t feel secure walking down streets. It is common place to see women cross the road to the other side when a group of men are coming.

Why is fear women’s instinctive response to seeing a man or a group of men on the road?

For one, men constantly attack women…and most of the time, these attacks are sexual. Let me give you an example.

When I was in the university, I started a routine of running in the morning for an hour; from 5am to 6am. I would jog from my house off campus to the school field, do some laps and then walk home. I always ran with a male friend and didn’t think much of my safety. A week after we started, my friend said he wasn’t running because he had an early day. So I went on my own. I had not walked two minutes when a man came out of nowhere, grabbed my right breast and squeezed hard. Before I could snap out of the paralysis that held me bound, he ran off. I was so shocked I couldn’t be angry. Two minutes away from my house!

In another instance, I was returning from work late at night – which in the real sense was about 9pm – when a guy grabbed my buttocks and attempted to grope my breasts. When I challenged him, he said I wore a short skirt and so he had a right to do so. When I attempted to fight him off and saw I would lose, I ran away, spraining my ankle in the process. My view is that, even if I was wearing a hijab and face mask, I still would have been attacked because I was alone on the road at night.

Many women have reported being groped and raped while walking the streets. And when I say reported, I don’t mean to any constituted authority because many of those people make such situations worse.

Another dimension to this is rape during a robbery.

A lady I know was about to get married and went to stay in a hotel with a couple of her friends. In the middle of the night, their room door bust open to reveal a couple of dangerous looking men. Seeing that the people occupying the room were all women in various stages of UnCloth, the men tried to rape them. According to them, by some sheer act of faith, and I don’t mean fate, the police arrived just before they did. One of my aunties wasn’t so lucky when we were robbed way back in 1998. She was pulled out from amongst us and raped by the men whose guns stayed pointed at us as we waited for some sort of help to come our way. Women who have been robbed on the highway also tell something similar. Armed robbers would attack buses plying our roads to various states and would only think of raping women, not necessarily robbing them. Even recently, armed robbers attacked a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) camp in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt and in the female hostels, it was reported that many women were raped.

These men were not interested in their possessions. They were mostly interested in their vaginas and the power their guns (or whatever arsenal they have) avails them.

Let us flip the scenario I described in the beginning.

Full article here.

http://www.shadesofus.co.uk/2018/07/women-do-not-fear-getting-robbed.html

Have you seen this documentary on our work with female cassava farmers in Imo State?

Watch the video here.

#PINDFoundation #NigerDelta #NigerDeltaDevelopment


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIOEshuBStQ

Here is a story from Ikot Idem Udo in Akwa Ibom state which showcases the promotion of sustainable peace through water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) advocacy.

#PINDFoundation #NigerDelta #NigerDeltaDevelopment


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irhSHQBBVWY

We teach Niger Delta farmers best farming practices to improve the quality and quantity of their yield; but that is not all we do. We also partner with organizations like Nigeria Agriculture Enterprise Curriculum (NAEC) to promote business skills that improve their income.

Nosa Confidence Amayo took one of such trainings and decided to share the knowledge gained with his community of farmers.

Watch his story here.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZTP4qMs3xM

By harnessing the power of film, video, and radio, the Media for Development (M4D) unit serves as an essential tool for PIND to effectively use media to inform and educate stakeholders about key issues and needs in the Niger Delta.

Learn more about our M4D project here.

#PINDFoundation #NigerDeltadevelopment #MediaForDevelopment

http://pindfoundation.org/project/media-for-development/

Margaret Adedeji, Executive Director of Better Living Foundation, Akure, Ondo State, participated in the CAPABLE intermediate training course from October 2014 to April 2015. She narrates her experience with the training and how it is opening up new opportunities for her as an individual and her organization.

#PINDFoundation #NigerDelta #NigerDeltaDevelopment #CAPABLETrainingCourse

http://pindfoundation.org/capable-training-course-is-earning-me-additional-income/

The Integrated Peace and Development Unit (IPDU) of the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND) produces a Monthly Conflict Trackers for the 9 Niger Delta States. The monthly trackers are designed to update peace agents on the patterns and trends of conflict risk factors and violence as identified by the Partners for Peace (P4P) Peace Map and the IPDU SMS-based Early Warning system.

Download the Conflict Trackers for November and December, 2017, below.

http://pindfoundation.org/conflict-trackers-niger-delta-states-november-december-2017/

New!

Ja Rule featured Lil Mo and Vita on his love song, Put It On Me, which was released in 2000.

In this throwback edition, we discuss the song and share what we think about it.

Listen to #TheReview here.

#ShadesofUs #MusicReview #PutItOnMe

http://shadesofus.podbean.com/e/the-review-put-it-on-me-by-ja-rule-featuring-lil-mo-and-vita/

New!

One of the biggest movies in Nigerian cinemas today is Shirley Frimpong-Manso’s Potato Potahto.

Starring OC Ukeje, Joselyn Dumas, Joke Silva, Kemi ‘Lala’ Akindoju, Blossom Chukwujekwu, Chris Attoh and more, Potato Potahto is a film about a divorced couple who, bent on flexing their egos, decide to share the house that once was their matrimonial home.

We reviewed the film on this episode of #ShadesofUs #TheReview and we would like to hear what you think.

Listen to the episode here.

http://shadesofus.podbean.com/e/the-review-potato-potahto/

For PIND’s Deputy Executive Director Tunji Idowu, the 2017 edition of the Niger Delta Development Forum (NDDF) was special. While he had been to NDDF before, this one had him neck-deep in planning to make it happen. Here, he shares his experience and hopes for the future of the region.

Read here http://pindfoundation.org/reflections-on-nddf2017/

#TechTuesday

The Mechanical Adjustable Harvester is an innovative technology which increases harvesting efficiency of fresh fruit bunches of oil palm and drastically reduces the risk of injury and death from traditional means of climbing trees to harvest.

Here is a video on how to use the Mechanical Adjustable Harvester.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD64uQQ6vTQ

#TechTuesday

With the small scale processing equipment, oil palm farmers are able to extract up to 15% more oil from fresh fruit bunches.

Read more here http://pindfoundation.org/project/small-scale-processing-equipment-sspe/

New Episode!

Triqx Otsima Ebiega from Akure in Ondo State, Nigeria, asked that we review MI Abaga’s 2008 hit song, Safe. The song features singer, Djinee.

We reviewed the song on the latest episode of #TheReview. Have you heard the song? What do you think about the song?

Listen to our review here and share your thoughts with us in the comment section.

#ShadesofUs #MusicReview

http://shadesofus.podbean.com/e/the-review-safe-by-mi-ft-djinee/

One of the components of the PIND - UNICEF partnership to implement various Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) projects across the Niger Delta is mainstreaming peace building in WASH, which was demonstrated to be an effective means of promoting peace and conflict resolution through WASH activities. Here is a story from Abbi Community in Ndokwa West, Delta State, which showcases this.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_orEH_YWoXc

“I trained as an accountant at school, but I am a farmer now,” Michael Omosule, one of 40 participating farmers under the PIND-WECA partnership, told us. “There is no work anywhere, and you have to just find something. I didn’t even know anything about WECA before. I was doing some work installing satellites when I found out about the WECA program. I applied, and now I am here.”

Read more about how our partnerships are improving lives in the Niger Delta. http://pindfoundation.org/reports/portfolio/partnership-on-cassava-targets-youth-development-in-ondo-state-2/

Throwback to when the Executive Director of the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta, Dr. Dara Akala, was the Programs Director discussing with Georges Collinet of the Afropop Worldwide podcast.

Dr. Dara discussed PIND’s market-based approach and private sector solutions to developing and improving efficiency in the cassava value chain in the Niger Delta region.

Though time has passed, PIND is still working in the core development areas Dr. Dara mentioned and improving their innovative approaches in the #CassavaValueChain.

Listen to the podcast here https://soundcloud.com/afropop-worldwide/making-farming-cool-dr-dara-akala?in=afropop-worldwide/sets/making-farming-cool

Today on #ShadesofUsTheReview, we are discussing Nate Parker's 'The Birth of a Nation'.

Tune in at 1pm.

#ShadesofUs

Thanks to our tireless work with local partners to link farmers to these harvesting technologies, 1,591 farmers had access to these technologies by the end of 2016, increasing incomes by N107,375,476 as a result. No wonder the farmers love it!

Read more here http://pindfoundation.org/how-great-has-the-mechanical-adjustable-harvester-been-for-farmers/

NEW!

We collated all the conflicts in the Niger Delta between August and September, 2017.

Read more here http://pindfoundation.org/augustseptember-2017-monthly-conflict-trackers-for-the-9-states-of-the-niger-delta/

In continuation of follow-on training for Civil Society Organizations who have taken the Capacity Building for Local Empowerment (CAPABLE) Training Course, the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND) facilitated a 3-day training for Antof Rural Resource Development Centre (ARRDEC) on Social Media for Better Story Telling from October 10 - 12, 2017 in Oron, Akwa Ibom State.

Participants learned to use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram, and tools like Analytics, Tweetreach, Storify, Hootsuite etc., to better tell their stories.

The session was facilitated by Dayo Ibitoye, a social media specialist.

'What a great opportunity PIND has given ARRDEC to become competitive amongst other 21st Century organizations in the development sector. We are very grateful to PIND Foundation and our Facilitator, Dayo Ibitoye. Thank you PIND.' ARRDEC wrote to PIND.

This training is part of PIND's #CoachesAndMentors project for the aforementioned civil society organizations in the Niger Delta.

PIND Foundation is partnering with the Market Development Program in the Niger Delta (MADE) and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group to produce a road map for the growth of agriculture in the Niger Delta at the Group’s annual summit slated to hold in Abuja on October 10-12, 2017.

Read more about the summit here http://pindfoundation.org/pind-partners-with-nigerian-economic-summit-for-session-on-agricultural-development-and-green-economy-in-the-niger-delta/

#MondayMotivation:

Tee Mac is known for his music, philanthropy and his work to promote peace in the Niger Delta. And he is a Partner for Peace!
We are inspired by Tee Mac.

Read more here http://pindfoundation.org/tee-mac-iseli-is-a-partners-for-peace-p4p-brand-ambassador/

NEW PODCAST!

Nzinga Stewart wrote and directed a romantic comedy called 'With This Ring'. It starred Regina Hall, Jill Scott, Eve Cooper and so many more.

I reviewed the film in the latest episode of #ShadesofUsTheReview.

Listen to my review here and share what you think.

http://shadesofus.podbean.com/e/the-review-with-this-ring/

New Podcast Alert!

Hey people! Have you seen ‘Dope’, a film written and directed by Rick Famuyiwa? We did a review of the film and want to know what you think.

Listen to the podcast here and leave a note below.

#ShadesofUs #ShadesofUsTheReview

http://shadesofus.podbean.com/e/the-review-rick-famuyiwas-dope/

NEW PODCAST!

Faruq Osoku Kharisi Ng from Kaduna, Nigeria, asked us to review Ric Hassani's 'Gentleman' and we were more than willing to oblige!

Do you like the song? Listen to our review and tell us what you think!

#ShadesofUs #ShadesofUsTheReview

http://shadesofus.podbean.com/e/the-review-gentleman-by-ric-hassani/

Soon, we will be making announcements about the 2017 Niger Delta Development Forum (NDDF).

NDDF is a catalytic information sharing and collaboration opportunity for government, private sector, and civil society organizations pursuing approaches for equitable and inclusive economic growth in the Niger Delta.

You can read the NDDF 2016 report here

http://pindfoundation.org/nddf-2016-report-summary/ as we begin to prepare for NDDF 2017.

NEW!

We reviewed THE PERFECT MATCH starring Terrence J, Cassie, Dascha Polanco, Donald Faison, RealMsLaurenLondon and more.

PS: Our review wasn't too nice! �

Listen here and tell us what you think!

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-854q6-735f38

In five days, we will be launching the Patani Partners for Peace (P4P) chapter in Delta State.

P4P adopts a unique approach to peace building that seeks to enable people, businesses and civil society organizations in the Niger Delta to work together to advance their cause for livelihoods free from violence and conflict.

If you are in Delta State, plan to attend. More information on the flyer.

#Peace #PeaceBuilding #Partners4Peace #P4P #Patani #DeltaState #PINDFoundation #PINDPrograms #NigerDelta #NigerDeltaDevelopment

PIND and the DFID-funded Market Development Program in the Niger Delta (MADE) collaborated to produce a report on the impact on the recent naira devaluation and import tariffs on agriculture in the Niger Delta. You can find the full report here.

Our lead researcher on this report and CEO of Time Economics Dr. Ogho Okiti has traveled with us to present this report to different stakeholders, including the international donor community, government agencies and private sector. In this interview, Dr. Okiti shares observations he made while working with us to put together the report and gives insight into what the reports’ conclusions mean for both government and non-government actors working in agriculture in the Niger Delta.

More here http://pindfoundation.org/naira-devaluation-and-agriculture-in-the-niger-delta-the-way-forward/

What do you need to know about harvesting Cassava?

1. Most cassava varieties are mature for harvesting at 10-12
months after planting;

2. Cut the stem 20cm above soil level and lift roots by pulling the stump;

3. Harvest when the soil is moist, not too dry, to avoid damage to the roots;

4. Harvest on time to avoid loss;

5. Harvest as soon as the storage roots are mature.

Learn more insights from the PIND Cassava Manual here https://www.slideshare.net/PINDFoundation/improved-agronomic-practices-for-sustainable-high-yield-of-cassava-in-nigeria

In continuation of the Capacity Building for Local Empowerment (CAPABLE) 'Coaches and Mentors' project for Development and Civil Society Organizations in the Niger Delta, the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND Foundation) facilitated a session on Monitoring and Evaluation System Strengthening for Antof Rural Resource Development Centre (ARRDEC) on August 25, 2017.

ARRDEC is a non-governmental organization partnering with stakeholders for the improvement of the quality of life of Nigerians. They contribute through grassroots interventions in primary healthcare delivery, the fight against HIV/AIDS and Malaria, as well as income earning activities in agriculture and enterprise.

The coaching and mentoring session was facilitated by Mrs. Tessy Ochu, a Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist who has worked with the Strengthening Advocacy and Civil Engagement (SACE) project jointly funded by PIND Foundation and United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and other development organizations in the Niger Delta.

ARRDEC was appreciative of the session. In their words, 'A big thank you from ARRDEC to PIND for a well packaged and successful training. Lessons from this are very beneficial as ARRDEC's next step is to develop a robust monitoring and evaluation plan for its newly launched MicroCredit project, an internally funded project at Uyo, Akwa Ibom.'

Through the ‘Coaches and Mentors’ project, PIND Foundation provides follow-on training to development and civil society organizations who have taken the CAPABLE Training Course.