Sharing Ideas With Nigeria

Yesterday I had the honor of talking with Aliyu B. Solomon, who lives in Abuja, Nigeria, which is the capital city of that country.  Here's the link to the recording of our talk.  

Here's the link to the slides that I shared while talking.  In this document you can see the questions I was asked to address along with some responses. 

We first connected via the Tutor/Mentor Connection Ning site in the late 2000s. A few years later we re-connected on Twitter, where we've done most of our interactions since then.  Yesterday was the first time we've actually talked to each other, which reinforces my belief in how people from around the world, or around your city, can connect and build strong relationships via the Internet. 

Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa at over 203 million in 2018 and is projected to grow to about 401.31 million by 2050.   I've circled Abuja, where Aliyu B. Solomon lives.  It's the second largest city in the country, with Lagos, on the coast, being the largest.  See details here.

As with any large country there are substantial areas in each major city with high poverty, and there is much poverty in rural areas. In the interview I talked of the importance of building an information library similar to the Tutor/Mentor library, with a research section that collected information about poverty and inequality, and a programs section, that shows existing efforts to help kids through school and in to jobs. 

If you visit this group on the TutorMentorConnection Ning site you'll see that I've been encouraging people from Africa to take this role for many years. 

Anyone who views this interview is encouraged to form a group and begin studying the Tutor/Mentor Connection strategies, launched in 1993.  Then begin to build a library, pointing to these strategies, my web library and to information you can find related to poverty, inequality, school-to-work and tutor/mentor programs in your own city and country.

As you and others collect this information, or look at different parts of my website, write blog articles showing what you are seeing and what it means to you and your city. Share these and let them be conversation starters among people in your group, and others who will join you.  View the work interns did while working with me between 2004 and 2015 and duplicate their efforts. 

At the right is a concept map showing actions and key events from 1965 to now, which led to the growth of tutor/mentor programs I led in Chicago, and to the Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present) and Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present).   See the 1992-present map at this link. 

Hopefully in 50 years many cities will have a timeline full of intentional actions like these. 

Thank you Aliyu B. Solomon, for inviting me to mentor you and your friends.  I look forward to similar conversations in the future with you and others.

I did not charge a fee for this conversation and don't charge others who ask me for help. I do have a page where I ask people to make contributions to help me continue to do this work.