What does a mosquito in Nigeria have to do with UrbanChange?
Nigeria is the 48th country I have visited in the world, but only the second on the continent of Africa, which contains 54 countries! Lots of different cultures, diverse cities, and fascinating communities that I’m just beginning to explore. On my trip to Nigeria, I traveled with Michael Mazur, Colu’s COO. We spent four days in Lagos — Africa’s most populous city — meeting with inspiring community leaders and organizations making an impact in the fields of sustainability, health, education, and civic engagement.
What is a community? During my flight to Lagos, I pondered this question again. In terms of inhabitants, Nigeria has over 200 million and Lagos has about 20 million. Can a city of 20 million inhabitants be considered a community? According to one definition, a community is a group of people who have established social connections and relationships among themselves, who operate within certain boundaries, are linked to a place (physical or virtual), and have a common characteristic, desire, or interest. By that definition, the answer is definitely yes! In fact, Nigeria — an ethnically diverse country — is home to hundreds of ethnic groups and tribes, speaking more than 500 different dialects and languages. Imagine the potential number of communities here!
On my first morning in Lagos, I absorbed the scents, sounds, and colors, vendors selling ingredients stored in old Coca-Cola and Pepsi bottles. Here, as in many metropolitan areas, it is impossible to ignore the gap between rich and poor. There are complex reasons for the high poverty rate in Nigeria — the country’s currency, the naira, being one of them. When I landed at the airport, I wanted to convert US dollars to naira but was told that this was impossible (dollars can only be transferred out of the country). Finding myself as a visitor with a credit card and a few US$100 bills felt uncomfortable. I wanted to use local currency to buy essential items such as food and to pay for transportation around the city. It reminded me that currency has long been more than just a means of exchange. It’s a means of security.
It’s also a reflection of faith in government. Indeed, while I was there, the Nigerian administration launched a scheme mandating the exchange of old naira bills for new ones, creating a sudden shortage of usable currency. Citizens began queuing outside banks, desperate to convert their old notes for new ones. The enormous potential of cryptocurrencies could not have been more clear — with their ability to reduce a citizen’s dependence on any government which fails to maintain currency stability.
Despite this tension, I spent my four days enjoying the sense of shared culture and pride expressed by the remarkable leaders whom I met. There was a sense of calm during our discussions and I felt the willingness to pause the noise — a pause that I often miss in the frenetic pace of life in Tel Aviv. Everywhere I went I was encouraged to share thoughts on local initiatives and was invited to try more and more specialty foods, which use a vast array of spices. Even the morning omelet includes a unique mix of local spices (added to the hot pepper which is a feature of every dish), but after four days of careful consideration, Jollof Rice is still my favorite!
During my stay, I was lucky enough to meet many amazing people who talked about their passion to lead change in their communities, encourage the scientific professions, take care of their neighborhood, and protect the planet. I learned how the word japa (Yoruba slang for ‘run/flee’) has entered the Nigerian lexicon, representing a better future elsewhere. One of the community leaders I met is trying to show citizens how they can opt for civic engagement and improve life in Nigeria (by voting regularly, for example), rather than escaping abroad. I spoke to another local who told me his dream is to restore the solar panels in his village, which were damaged during a heavy storm. The damage has left villagers unable to connect to the internet, in a country where web access can cost up to a third of weekly wages. Another, school teacher Afeez, traveled 5 hours each way to meet us and find out how UrbanChange might help him promote digital education.
There were many other exceptional individuals to meet. Ezekiel Aina and Azeez Abubakar are working hard to spread an understanding of climate change and promote recycling in their communities.
At Talent City (a prototype city being built next to Lagos), we learned about its upcoming free economic zone and coworking campus, intended to showcase the future of urban Africa. At Better You Africa, education professionals have taken on the job of renovating schools and sourcing the uniforms and school supplies needed. A wonderful example of community members collaborating to improve life for local kids, sharing the challenge of motivating residents to take action in a world where education is neither free nor mandatory. (Against this backdrop, many parents find it difficult to pay for school, preferring that their children go out to work and boost the family’s income). I also met with Tope Imasekha from WIN (Women Impacting Nigeria) whose mission is to close the country’s gender gap and promote education among young women.
Throughout my trip, I was struck by the similarity of the goals cherished by committed leaders here and in the US and Israel, who want to raise awareness of sustainability and recycling, encourage people to take care of their health, promote education and diversity, and support women’s equality. For me, these observations underline the value of local currencies as an effective, proven tool. It doesn’t matter whether a community is rich or poor, small or large, in one culture or another. Communities yearning for change have many changemakers within them, and a movement for a better life starts at the grassroots. For these leaders, the UrbanChange protocol gives them the tools to get started and grow momentum.
At the airport, waiting for my flight back home, my eyes were caught by a mural showing an African proverb: “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try spending a night with a mosquito”. And everything connected. At UrbanChange we believe that change can start anywhere. It doesn’t matter if you are a municipality, a private or non-profit organization, or an individual. If you want to lead change, UrbanChange is designed for you. Nobody is too insignificant. You just need one community leader to drive change and take more and more people with them… In the end, every action counts, and collective action will ultimately create lasting change.
