‘Speak no evil. Hear no evil. See it all.'

I am ashamed to say that I did not know about Jane Alexander until today. She is one of South Africa’s best-known and most prestigious artists, having  created many Anti-Apartheid pieces throughout her career.

I do not usually discuss Apartheid, because it annoys me (quite simply), but I felt that the above image made such an impact on me, I had to share it. I cannot put it in specific terms, but she hit the nail on the head with this piece, ‘The Butcher Boys’.

For me, the message is in the blank, black eyes that both haunt and are haunted. As the mouths and ears are sealed, the sculpture conveys the following message: ‘Speak no evil. Hear no evil. See it all.' 

I think this was the dilemma that encapsulated the Apartheid era and all other 20th-Century freedom movements that occurred under similar circumstances while the rest of the world sat by and watched.

The wonderful thing about this piece is its duality. Some interpreters have decided the animal heads represent the dehumanised engine that way the Apartheid government, as below. Others have picked up on the anger, the angst, and the inability to speak out and decided the beasts represent the oppressed society. 

One description reads (from Wikipedia):

The work consists of three lifesize humanoid beasts with powdery skin, black eyes, broken horns, and no mouths sitting on a bench. The beasts are devoid of their outside senses - their ears are nothing more than deep gorges in their heads and their mouths are missing, appearing to be covered with thick roughened skin. The artwork represents the brutal dehumanizing forces of Apartheid in South Africa. The animal parts show how people stripped themselves of their humanity and put themselves above others, thinking they were better. The sculpture means it is and should only be animals that would be so cruel to each other and not humans.^[3]

ACS AGM 2012 - Run For A Position!

President (Muhammad Abubakar Yar'Adua)

1. A clear Vision of ICACS 2012/2013: What is the society's next frontier? What does he/she see it doing better/more next year? In which direction does he/she intend to lead it in 2012/2013? What vision does he/she have for ICACS 2012/2013?

2. Ability to raise sponsorship funds: Ready to lead sponsorship drive in March-April 2012 and Summer 2012; Imaginative as per avenues through which funds can be raised; Pragmatic as per what shall have to be done to ensure funds are raised in a timely manner.

3. Able to lead the team as a team: Ability to handle the different and often polarised personalities that shall exist in the Committee and within society, such that progress is maintained

4. Ability to inspire the Committee and the ACS: Ability to catalyse the contribution of ideas from all committee members and create a fertile atmosphere in which good, imaginative ideas can blossom; Ability to excite current and potential members to become involved with the society

5. Ability to make good decisions: Required decisions based on clear understanding of their practicality and required commitments, yet still daring and adventurous; Many decisions shall be made under pressure

Vice Presidents (Ada Onwubiko and Misimi Osekita)

As Vice president you act as a supporting role to the President and must work to help ensure the correct decisions are made to benefit the society. You must also understand that the president is the leader and his/her decisions must be respected; even if you may disagree, it is a case of making it work.

A lot of work takes place over the summer to secure sponsorship for the society; therefore the qualities of dedication and persistence are required from a very early stage

You act as a bridge between all committee members and should therefore have a rough knowledge of each department of your committee and what their delegated tasks/responsibilities are to ensure that they are being undertaken

Qualities that you should have are good communication skills (especially when securing sponsorship), strong support skills, you must be a team player, encouraging to all and a positive attitude

Most importantly be prepared to work ANYWHERE with ANYONE!! Whether it be acts, scholarships, meetings, rehearsals you need to be flexible and willing to help or oversee every aspect of the society

Events Officer (Toyin Oni)

As events co-ordinator, the committee looks to you to provide ideas for the society’s events. This requires creativity, thinking outside of the box and the confidence to execute your vision, sometimes when others may not see it. You need to find ways to take events to the next level and make them something to remember. ACS’s signature events – Afrogala, Chop Chop, the Big Chill etc should be better in 2011/2012 than they were in 2010/2011!

You’ll need to communicate with many different types of people – staff at Imperial’s union, the Conferences office, other societies (Dramsoc, OSC), external companies, external performers as well the committee and society members. This requires the ability to interact with lots of different kinds of people and know when to bite your tongue in order to get things done.

You should not be afraid of delegating and asking for help, especially during the Afrogala season. Your organisation needs to be at the highest level, as you will be the point of call of the committee, sub-committee and performers. You are by all means supported in your duties by the rest of the committee, but YOU must take responsibility for the execution of the event’s planning.

At times, you need to make unpopular decisions. As the events co-ordinator, you know how each person’s contribution to an event will manifest as a whole, so you sometimes need to disagree with other people’s plans. Don’t be afraid to say no and be critical. In the end, people will appreciate your fire!

A high level of perseverance, patience and a high tolerance for stress is needed! Stay calm and trust in your abilities! Your passion for ACS should carry you through!

Treasurer (Bola Ajekigbe)

1- organised: to cope with the amount of claims needed to be done and also keeping an eye on the budget requires one to be fairly organised. Dating, filling the budget book, etc

2- Critical: make sure all purchases keep under budget, all big purchases should be passed by you just in case. Also be ready to question and possibly turn down some requests depending on the circumstance.

3- Analytical: questions will pop up and problems regarding events. Solving these problems, financial or not is something everyone in the committee should be able to do.

4-Informed & Dedication: It gets hectic at times. When at least 5 receipts come in a day. One has to be willing to dedicate time to not just filling claims but also other requests, internal transfer requests. Also equally important is to have some knowledge about school regulations and types of forms to fill out, etc

5- Team player: be willing to contribute and help others on the committee, and outside the committee. Working with other societies is necessary and we work as a society. Every decision should be made with each member chipping in. Only then will decisions be optimised.

Marketing Officers (Joanna Kefas, Bayo Ibirogba and Zeme Olotu)

Being in the marketing team means being directly responsible for maintaining a good image of ICACS to the Imperial student body and beyond. You should be:

Innovative - Be able to bring great ideas to the table & find new and interesting ways of marketing events, sometimes Facebook status updates just won't cut it and you will need to learn how to spread the word like wildfire.  It’s just like making a product that you are going to sell in a shop - you will have to think about what makes my product good, why would someone want to buy it and what can I do make sure they do!

Approachable, confident and a conversation initiator - Marketing membership to Non-Members (white, black, yellow, green - even bacteria should know about ACS!!) + getting people excited about IC ACS & will only happen if you have a passion for ACS and the brute force to let people know about it! You will be surprised how many friends you will make in the process.

Creative and Open minded - Organising tickets sales and promotional material for all events + maybe learning a new skill or two & using all the tools + connections at your disposal to get the job done!

Supportive - Be able to work well in a team and complement the skills of others - really picking up the best in people and knowing how you work best and what you and others are good at in order to produce the best quality marketing.

Expect to do more than Market! As a team you are part of a unit so expect to do a bit of PR in writing emails to companies, expect to do some treasurer work and collect and count up gains. Expect to carry coolers of rice and generally running from here to there, and be able to do it with an honest smile on your face whilst you simultaneously sell the ACS to everyone around you.

Secretary (Claire Rotich)

A secretary needs to be On hand!! - When it comes to being in a committee like this, you need to be able to use many talents in doing jobs for the committee. As someone who can be counted on, don't just expect to be typing and writing emails. You have to be proactive.

A secretary needs to be a People person!! - You need to be able to approach people in a friendly manner whether they may be industry contacts, union contacts or just friends. You need to have your happy face and manners on because you are the first person other people contact and want to speak to!

A secretary needs to be a Mediator!! - This is not just applicable to the outside environment in the public eye! This is mainly done within the committee to make sure everyone knows what job they are doing and to make sure that it is done and then relay this to the whole team.

A Secretary needs to be Supportive!! - As a secretary it is important that you help out in anyway you can. We count n each other to bring the enthusiasm but you need to keep it going with emails sent to the Society and to ones sent within the committee!!

A Secretary needs to be Organised!! - Dates, Times, Names, Place ... You need to make sure you have them all at hand (or at least have the contact number of someone who does!!). From little things like keeping the time and minutes of each meeting, to sending out emails and sending out advertisements within the emails, to helping the committee market and form and event, don't write off the secretary job as a no-brainer!! I've had fun with this job and its amazing committee and I know the next person will do so too!!

Public Relations Offcer (Ore Bajomo)

•         Be able to speak with corporate clients confidently and comfortably. Requires good communication skills and excellent Networking skills.

•         Also requires good interpersonal skills.

•         Be willing to accept tasks delegated by other officers e.g. President, Events officer, Marketing Officers etc.

•         You will need to have good written communication skills especially when writing proposals for external funding.

•         Don’t be afraid to challenge the ideas of others in the team because you could be saving the whole team a lot of future problems!

•         You are part of a team and you need to be willing to cooperate, especially in the Afrogala period; you will be delegated jobs that will be crucial to the success of the show. You need to be confident enough to go and speak to the union people to help out your events officers, who will indeed be extremely busy!

Society Welfare Officer (Natalie Ansuh)

Being such a new role, there is still so much that can be done! From my experience this year, I would say you need to.....

•         Be able to communicate with primary and secondary school children, school teachers and the equality department in IC and provide them with any help that you can. Enjoy giving talks to school children

•         Be inspiring to others and have a general passion for ACS and promoting education.

•         Work closely with the charity that ACs is sponsoring. Be able to communicate effectively with them, work alongside them. You are essentially the link between the ACS committee and this charity.

•         Enjoy fundraising and come up with innovative and manageable ways to fundraise

•         Be willing to support your own committee in whatever way possible. Being accommodating and remaining calm will help!!

IT and Communications Officer (Seshane Mahlo)

• As an IT Officer, you should have a general understanding of how websites work and be able to adapt to the ways our website can be edited

• Will be responsible for the updating of the website and Facebook group and profile, as well as the blog and Twitter page.

• Should liaise with the marketing officer and events coordinator to promote events

• Should be readily available to help other members of the committee

• Should be actively involved in committee meetings and general ACS proceedings so will know what to update on the website or Facebook group and  profile, blog and twitter accounts.

SUCCESS!

For another year running, Imperial ACS's AFROGALA was a huge success!

Once again, thank you to everyone who participated and supported. 

Check out a review of the show here, 

and make sure you take a peep at the pictures!

COMING SOON: Video leaks from the night! Get ready to pre-order your DVD so you can relive the night with family and friends!

º•º ACS Love! º•º

In case you didn't believe the HYPE

Have you heard? Twitter is going HAM on 

AFROGALA 2012!

The show is almost SOLD OUT. Buy your ticket NOW to avoid disappointment.

http://www.imperialcollegeunion.org/afro-caribbean-11/african-caribbean-afrogala-premium-tickets-2552/product.html

HOW TO SAVE TIME BY BUYING YOUR TICKETS ONLINE

12 Days until AFROGALA 2012: GENERATIONS!

SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE AND GET YOUR TICKETS ONLINE: http://www.imperialcollegeunion.org/afro-caribbean-11/african-caribbean-afrogala-premium-tickets-2552/product.html

AFROGALA 2012 OFFICIAL TRAILER ★ GENERATIONS ★

If you haven't seen it yet, here is your chance:

TICKETS: 

http://www.imperialcollegeunion.org/afro-caribbean-11/african-caribbean-afrogala-premium-tickets-2552/product.html

EVENTS PAGE: 

http://www.facebook.com/events/226123934131751/

AFROGALA 2012:★ GENERATIONS ★

Well, it's that time of year again. As of now, AFROGALA fever is on the agenda. We have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that this year's AG is bigger and better than ever, and we won't stop until we deliver. For more information on what to expect, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/226123934131751/


So get ready and join us in the hype as we launch our marketing campaign. Look out for flyers, posters, Promo Videos and the OFFICIAL TRAILER. 

AFROGALA 2012 Official Promo Video

Also, for the first time ever this year, as part of the lead up to AFROGALA 2012:★ GENERATIONS ★ ICACS is proud to present "With Love," an art gallery showcasing some of our finest artists. From poems to photography, from acrylics to figurines, and special designs from #Friday_Born designs, we have a variety of things to show you!

Money raised will go to African Revival, where children are given access to education, opportunity and choice. We hope to see you there!

For more information on "With Love" please visit:  https://www.facebook.com/events/226123934131751/

Imprison the Gays (and Senators *cough* *cough*)

I was on Twitter yesterday during a dead lecture on the the pharmacological management of dementia and the different types of dementia.... (I know it sounds important - I will revise it later, promise!! ;^D) and this pops onto my timeline:

 

So I then proceed to read the article (by @JonahFisher a BBC correspondent in Nigeria) which was talking about what was going on in the senate (where reasonably, one would believe important decisions are being made about the countries future).

If you'd like to go to the trouble of reading the intial article before continuing you can go for it:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15992099

 

But I'm going to rant about it anyway so yeah.... s'up to you really.

I apologise to those reading this who are not Nigerian. Being half Nigerian and having travelled a lot to that amazing part of the world (no, that was not sarcasm), I just find it easier to speak about it. I definitely think that the parralels that can be drawn from what is going on there may be applicable to other parts of Africa/the World.


So basically, the Nigerian government (this being its Senators) finds it necessary to sit down and create legislation about homosexuality, and to specify that individuals who are found to be in same sex civil partnerships/marriages etc will face a penalty of 14 years in prison (not 13, not 17, but 14) and those who are found to be helping them do so or who support these kinds of individuals will also face some sort of repercussion - basically, being homosexual and Nigerian is just not a great place to be right now as the government deliberates.


"This is to be pro-active so no-one catches us unaware," says Senator Ahmed Lawan, one of the senators pushing for this legislation - and it seems that he has no one opposing him. It has all been pretty speedily agreed on and everyone seems to be on the same page (interesting for Nigeria eh?).

I say this because Nigeria has a history of factioning between different tribes and religions and a scarring civil war (in the 1960's when the population of the East came to be at war with the rest of the newly formed, indepenent Nigeria). Today, similarly sad situations can be observed in Nigeria's socio-political climate, as an extremist sect of idiotic, uneducated individuals (I don't think its fair to the rest of Islam to label them as an "Islamic Sect"): Boko Haram are threatening to become Nigeria's "Al Quaeda" as they fight for Islamic Law to be imposed on the whole country - and have successfully carried out a couple of significant "terrorist attacks". Meanwhile their Christian brothers in the North of Nigeria kindly "turn the other cheek", however with a blood-stained cutlass in their hands and not after they have murdered a couple of random Muslims on the road, whose only fault in life was for looking Muslim, in the process. I digress...

One thing that has been said is that Christians and Muslims alike have been united on this matter.
"Even though we are said to be secular by our constitution, Nigerians are very religious people," Mr Lawan says.

Hmmmm.... well thank you Mr Lawan for your insight, its amazing that you can still speak over your quadruple chin & that you haven't yet had a stroke due to your arteries being clogged with caviar and the other fineries of life that you enjoy with the stolen money that probably put you in your position of power.

(Apologies, from here on in, I promise to be civil)

The BBC article and discussion that I was reading came two days after I had noticed something on a random persons facebook page. & no, I wasn't stalking! I'll share what I read with you



Equally interesting for me was that we (some Imperial College students & affiliates) had discussed some the issues that were still keeping Africa and certain countries and peoples within Africa divided and in dis-unity (you know what I mean). This took place in a focus group session called POP (People of Principle), which takes place every Thursday afternoon/evening at 17:30-18:30 in the library cafe of Imperial College's South Kensington campus. What this focus group aims to do is to identify what the problems in Africa are today, what we can do to solve those problems and how we can become the people that solve the problems & don't propagate them further.

An interesting parralel was made with the comic-made-movie, Watchmen, where it took an outer-worldly catastrophe i.e. an alien invasion, for the two superpowers (America and Russia in the 80's - the Cold War, & the Iron Curatin etc) to stop fighting each other and bickering over their differences while each trying to take over the world. This mass shock to both their systems led to them working together to counter the problem & eventually they all got along & world peace was achieved etc etc blah blah (by the way, if you're confused with the whole superpower thing - you need to revise your GCSE History or go on Wikipedia or something!)

One of the students present suggested that it would take something similar, a mass catastrophe or some shock to our system for us to stop bickering against each other internally. How sad it is to see that the one time when we are unified, and very strongly so, is not when we stand up to protect ourselves but to act in complete and unadulterated prejudice against a part of our own society.

The thing I that I find distressing is that the Nigerian senate feels it necessary to sit down and create legislation on homosexuality, especially spelling out the period of imprisonment. Meanwhile, they are driven to work everyday by their queue's of 25 different 2011 model BMW's and rake up a salary of 2.02 Million Naira a year (Source: http://www.elombah.com/news/node/3824). The masses of wealth that Nigeria's elite politicians hoard just makes you ask the question how does that even happen? & more importantly, what legislation is being put in place to safeguard the poor in Nigeria, ensure stable and sustainable economic development, equity and prosecute fraudulent practices?

Yes, I understand Nigeria has a longstanding problem with corruption and lots is being done to tackle it and its really hard to change things (we've heard it all before). A former head of the governments' Economic and Finanicial Crimes Commission (which stands to tackle corruption), Nuhu Ribadu was exiled from the country for doing his job and being damn good at it. But even in its glamorous past with Ribadu, the EFCC has been limited in what it can achieve as it is subject to the desires of those in power with vested interests. Under the nose of the current EFCC, individuals like Gbenga Daniel (former governor of Ogun State in the South West) have been able to steal sums of up to 84 BILLION Naira from their own state governments allocation of the national pie (in Pounds that is 333 Million!) (Source: http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5748349-146/story.csp)

PLEASE TELL ME HOW THE FLIP YOU DO THAT?!?! PLEASE, I NEED TO KNOW!

What angers me is that if we are going to spend time discussing and debating the issues that are really going to change our nation, then why are we not spending time creating legislation to inprison those who steal government money? If the senate is so adamant on safe-guarding Nigerias future, why is legislation not being made to tighten accountability on state money and tax-payer funded projects and make whistle-blowing easier within the public sector. Why are the leaders of our country not encouraging responsible economic practices and punishing those who steal, embezzle and futher worsen the appaling economic inequalities that exist in a lot of African countries? Instead, we find the time and need to publicise to the world that we are going to imprison the gays; and then proudly wave our Bibles, Qu'rans and the Nigerian flag in their face saying, "and what?!"

I am not gay, or a gay rights activist in any way; however as a follower of Jesus, I am taught to and relish opportunities to love, accept, engage and try to understand and people whom I may not agree with; especially those discriminated, stigmatised and rejected by society. Knowing some homosexual individuals myself, I don't believe that these are people who need to be imprisoned (a couple of them make bad jokes, but really?) I feel that pushing homosexuals deeper into the recesses of society due to fear of imprisonment is completely not what Jesus would do (if you want to take it there) and sorry but I am SO sick and tired of all the Bible and Qu'ran bashing that goes on in Nigeria - when are we going to actually apply the principles found in those books into our everyday lives people?! Don't bash them, READ THEM - THEY ACTUALLY HELP YOU IN LIFE!!

What we need is to engage the gay African community and try and understand, provide support and discuss the issues that are important to them. Only this way will we be able to better understand them and how to move forward in a wholistic, tolerant and balanced way in which we look after the best interests of all members of our society and we're not just lining our palaces in obscure villages in the vestiges of Nigeria with gold, imported Range Rovers and LCD TV's.

If you managed to read this far, you probably either have a LOT of free time or are quite interested in this topic (or you thought, let me read on, it will probably end soon). I challenge you to think, what would you do in this sort of situation if you were a Senator/Important kind of person in Government in Nigeria/Cameroon/South Africa/The UK? What legislation would you feel the need to push and what sort of changes would you want to see in your society? How would you best protect and fight for the rights and interests of those people who put you into power? How does promoting prejudice, judgement and fear safeguard your society for the future?  

Oh yeah, that's right, if you're any politician in power in Africa right now you probably just gave truckloads of bags of rice to your constituency with your face on it - that kind of wins their vote and doesn't really make you responsible to them so you can happily embezzle the money allocated to your constituency and buy some more bags of rice to help you in the next election - WIN!

I wonder how many politicians have seen this diagram. Yes, Africa is the bit where its really RED (that means there's a LOT of HIV there, not that there's a lot of chicken stew there Mr Senator) and yes, HIV is OUR problem. From a medical perspective (as I do see through medic goggles), the stigmatisation and marginalisation of homosexuals in a lot of African countries simply pushes them underground and makes them less likely to try and come forward medical treatment when they know they are ill or are putting themselves at risk having unprotected sex, due to the fear of the consequences. This will only serve to worsen the prevalence and raise the infection rates of rapidly spreading infectious diseases like HIV within these sub-groups and this can have implications for the wider population. Now I know the AIDS epidemic is mainly in the heterosexual community in Africa, but we cannot simply not engage with homosexuals and push them into a corner of our society, even worse imprison them?

You're probably thinking, alright mate... calm down. I just guess I'm passionate about a lot of things. One thing I know is that when I grow up (lol), I do not want to be the kind of person that discriminates against homosexuals, Christians, Muslims or people who feel the need to steal government money until their fingers hurt.

I lie, the last group I would imprison and flog till they bleed, then make good use of vinegar, salt and other such livid condements as ointment for their wounds.

I'll let you decide if that was a joke or not.

Rant over.

Tobi Isaac Obisanya
@itobisanya on Twitter
Guest Blogger