Afrikare Group Publishing and Media

24/09/2024

STAY ALIVE EVEN IF YOU PROTEST

October 1, 2024 is fast approaching. That is why I feel constrained to share this relevant material I had written some years back about civil demonstrations and protests, and about how to stay alive and safe in them.

THE PRIVILEGED ONES:
Remember, it is rare to find the children of the privileged classes getting involved in socio-political clashes with the police or military. They are either in expensive private institutions, at home or abroad, garnering an education that would establish them as controllers of power and authority in future. It is a feature of the laws of life that likes seek to promote their continued existence. Thus the older generation grooms the nascent ones to take over from them.

STAYING SAFE IN CROWD SITUATIONS:
What do you do when you find yourself in a crowd situation? How do you comport yourself so as to avoid attracting undue attention of the law enforcement agents, who may be armed, to your person? My children and a number of our relatives went to university at a time when institutions of higher learning were very restive.

In the 1980s military regimes ruled in most African countries and student unionism was at its highest level. Youths in my family went to one of the institutions where demonstrations and protests, and sit-ins and lockouts were rampant. The authorities dealt with this brand of student activism by sending in security agents every time there was a breakdown of law and order.

RELEVANCE OF FAMILY BONDING:
Many young people lost their lives in these protests. But in my entire family, not a single soul was lost. Reason? Family leaders had given young family members definite instructions about how to choose their friends, how to avoid being inculcated into cults and how to conduct themselves so they remain unobtrusive in public.

They were taught that:

1. In crowd situations, never carry anything that may be construed to be a weapon – stone, knife, stick, broom, rod, pan or plate. Do not carry any tomato, book, water container, rotten egg or fruit. First, it is a criminal offence to carry unauthorized weapons. Next, law enforcement agents may be waiting for just that lapse in behaviour as a motivation to apply their crowd controlling measures.

2. If the crowd is moving in one direction, quietly manage to move in the opposite direction. In other words, if the demonstrators are moving northwards, head for the southern direction. If they are moving eastwards, head for the western gates. This must be done very discreetly in order to avoid colleagues labeling one a turn-tail or an opposer of the protest.

3. Never be in the fore-front of any demonstration unless you truly are a recognized leader and have something definite to gain out of the entire process. Law enforcement agents will generally aim their weapons at the ring leaders who usually are in the front. Statistics show that these are the people who generally get wounded, killed or arrested. In essence, stay in the middle or at the rear end of the protest if you want to survive the action.

4. If you are tall or have a large frame, make yourself look shorter, smaller and less threatening in appearance. Having come from a family with tall huge men, it became a family responsibility to teach the young undergraduates how to avoid getting noticed. Bend the knees, bow the head, and try to look as unchallenging and inconspicuous as possible. Never dare a man with a gun and with the authority to use it. Remember, your family care for you and need you alive.

5. Avoid wearing blatant colours that single you out - black, red, or green. Choose to wear the cooler colours that blend with a calm environment – pastels, light blues, off-whites and pale browns. Red, black and bright orange are dangerous colours. Avoid wearing clothes that draw attention to your person – military-like outfits, clothes with bold letterings and aggressive messages; combat gear, boots, hats and masks. They only provoke law enforcement agents to more aggressive behaviour.

6. Finally, obey legitimate orders. Apply discretion and be polite, not abusive. Aim to survive the action. You have just one life and prison should not be a planned destination in life.

Unless it is absolutely impossible, do not be part of a crowd. Crowd situations are unpredictable. Be open to negotiation at all times.

YOU MAKE THE DECISION - IS THE CAUSE WORTH THE PRICE?
What are the stakes involved? What do you stand to gain … or to lose? That decision rests with you. Is it power, honour, respect, a compliance with what you hold dear or just a few naira notes and a cup of rice and some groundnuts? Who are those involved in this? What relationship do you have with them? Is there strict understanding as to who gets what, where, when and how? Are these promises reliable and trustworthy? There is an African proverb that says, ‘Use your tongue to count your teeth.‘ Nothing satisfies like success …but also, nothing is more discouraging than failure. And he who fights knowing the ropes, will live to fight his war and win.

Being excerpt from an unpublished work on Conflict and Collective Behaviour. (Elder Chief Gladys Williams Russel FNIPR arpa LL.B Dip Mass Comm) 2022.

21/09/2024

ONE COMPULSIVE CREATOR (1)

So ... I admit it, I must confess it... I am compulsive when it comes to creativity. I read any and everything I can lay my hands on. I write. If I can't write, I sew, make hats, try dishes and self-preservation patterns, study the environment, travel around, watch people and try to read their natures or characters from their features.

So ... I have a pile of unpublished works on all kinds of topics and issues. The pile truly amazes me, and I am just lost about how to share this heap of knowledge particularly since I cannot append mighty academic qualifications to my name. I have always been attracted to discussing ideas.

The Business of Public Communications
Like this 270-paged compilation that's lying in a corner on my shelf. Its titled PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS AND CAMPAIGNS - The Business of Social Engineering and Change. It is derived from my entire life experience as a government information manager (37 years in the civil service) and my post-retirement years running Civil Society or Non-governmental organizations.

The Goal
Global communication trends are transforming and changing interactive relationships for the purpose of influencing opinion and behaviour patterns at a tremendous rate. Social media options are impacting upon and diversifying mass communication patterns such that the power to influence populations is increasingly dependent on factors that may be beyond the control of the professional media operative. The option to review nascent developments and utilize them to benefit mankind is a duty that depends on the media professional’s appreciation of the challenges that are consistently evolving.

The basic communication process principally consists of the following main factors – the communicator, his medium, the message, the target or the receiver, noise (where this exists) and feedback. There are however, a multitude of factors that affect and finally determine how the communication process is executed - the contents and contexts, as well as the way and manner in which it is received and reacted to. The entire process of information sharing involves people at all levels. Systems are created, serviced and aimed at targets that receive and react to them. As asserted in the Declaration of Principles of the World Summit on the Information Society, ‘Communication is a fundamental social process, a basic human need and the foundation of all social organization.’

Everyone everywhere should have the opportunity to participate and no one should be excluded from the benefits that the Information Society offers. Indeed, the right of the individual, to access information and to participate in its sharing is intrinsic to the principles of fundamental human rights. On the other hand, the obligation of the state to provide the environment necessary for the promotion of the exercise of these and other rights, is a major facet of state responsibility.

Public communication is that aspect of information sharing that involves government in its relationship with its various publics, in the endeavour to persuade or to influence beliefs and behaviour through the use of communicated materials. A major objective of the public communication effort is usually to inform, persuade or motivate behaviour change patterns that are in line with government policies and programmes.

A primary aim of this volume therefore, is to address mass communication issues from the angle of the media functionary operating from within the confines of government and its machinery for reaching the people and influencing their behaviour. Such communication is usually directed at promoting the understanding and cooperation necessary for the continued existence and sustenance of that society. Our motive is concerned with the rethinking of government communication campaigns and their relationship with the mass media as tools for socio-economic change, given the changing global matrices of information management...

This work promotes the ideology that government campaigns and behaviour change activities should be viewed as business-oriented enterprises that should yield measurable returns as in investment-related profits in private sector organizations. As such, public sector campaign machinery should aim more stridently to impact on the people and thus perform as instruments of social engineering and change. For they are usually better empowered in terms of funding, opportunity, reach and options than their private sector colleagues.
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Excerpt from unpublished compilation, PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS AND CAMPAIGNS - The Business of Social Engineering and Change. (Elder Chief Gladys Williams Rusel FNIPR, LL.B, Dip Mass Comm)

25/08/2024

Publishers wanted.

Check out gladysrussel’s video.

23/08/2024

Check out gladysrussel’s video.

21/08/2024

THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN NIGERIA

We have come a long way in the world of fashion both indigenously and globally. Nigeria stands out as a country that's rich in innovative creators in all of the various fashion genres, from body care, hair designing, make-up techniques, dress-making, tailoring and fashion designing.

Traditional weaving is an art that's taken a primary position on the African continent, as a cultural creative form, an economic and lucrative business sector and a prime historical developmental factor for centuries now.

Aso-oke, Kente, popo are woven cotton cloths that are made with the small weaving stands. There are in fact two main forms of local weaving frames : the frames that produce small width cloths (between 6 and 8 inches wide) and the ones that produce clothes measuring between 18 and 24 inches in width. Akwete cloth originally produced in Akwete, is in this class.

Photos displayed below come from my personal collection of clothing inherited from my ancestors. They consist of both locally handwoven cloths, and 'Indian Georges' imported from the Indian weaving factories, as well as expensive materials (the velvets) consisting of double width materials converted into wrappers. Most of these are about 60 years old.

The woven popo and Kente cloths were made in my father's workshop/factory in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He was the well known and London trained Master Tailor and proprietor of Williams Tailoring Service (Sartorial Chambers) (1910 - 1966).

All of these cloths were displayed at the recently concluded African Weaving Festival AWeF exhibition that was held at the Exhibition Pavilion in Abuja in May 2024.

Watch out for Part 2.
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Elder Chief Gladys T. Russel FNIPR, LL B, Dip Mass Comm. 2024.

09/08/2024

GENDER EQUALITY AND WOMEN'S INCLUSIVITY : CURENT REALITIES

Gender equality refers to human social development that is based on the fact that the ‘rights, responsibilities and opportunities of individuals will not be determined by the fact of being born male or female.’ It means equal opportunities, rights and responsibilities for women and men so that they can participate fully and freely in the social, economic and political life of their environment without discrimination. Equality refers to parity in relations among all individuals and groups in society.

This is based on the conviction that all people are of equal value, regardless of their s*x, religion, ethnic origin, or social class. Areas of intervention by stakeholders may differ depending on societal needs. They may be concerned with ge***al mutilation, early marriages, human trafficking and slavery, education of the girl child and the provision of health and other facilities.

Gender equality means equal opportunities, rights and responsibilities for women and men so that they can participate in the social, economic and political life of their society without discrimination of any sort Equality refers to parity in relations among all individuals and groups in society in the belief that all peoples are of equal value regardless of their s*x, race, religion, ethnic origin or social class. Gender equality is a major cornerstone and has both quantitative and qualitative aspects. While the former implies an equal distribution of women and men in all spheres of society (inclusive of education, work, recreation and positions of power), the latter implies that the knowledge, experience and values of both women and men are given equal weight and used to enrich and direct all areas of society.

19/06/2024

The book, POWER LEADERSHIP AND THE PEOPLE - A Developing World Perspective of the Search for Relevance and Rights, addresses the multiple and over-reaching challenges that confront third world nations as the gap between the political and upper classes and the masses continues to widen.

It is deliberately structured to provide the layman or common man with answers to socioeconomic issues so that he is enabled to rethink his strategies for re-aligning and asserting his rights and expectations.
Every man on the street should own a copy.