Taimako Niger

A Nigerien historian takes a stand for reparations for the African continent in the same way that the “Marshall Plan” helped countries wounded by World War II.

Africa has a right to claim reparations, says Niger historian

APA-Niamey (Niger) Africans could claim a \”Marshall Plan\” that would allow them to set the foundations for an economic take-off by investing heavily in health, education, roads, agriculture and water, Niger historian Djibo Hamani said on Thursday in Niamey.

\”I think that Africans have the right to claim reparations from European countries for the 60 million African slaves taken to America from the 16th to 19th century, and for the colonization and forced labour,\” he said during a public debate on the Italian compensation to Libya for the colonisation inflicted to the country.

The European Union and the USA should pay for the Marshall Plan and Brazil should participate in it, he said.

It was enough for those countries \”to pay to Africa a little less than what they spend on their dogs and domestic cats”, he said.

Hamani said that is “enough to radically change the face of this continent that was robbed, wounded, enslaved and exploited for hundreds of years”.

He said a united front is needed and this must be supported by a profound and permanent awareness of Africans through education in schools, media and cultural events.

Reparation is not about revenge and “we must attach great importance to the participation of humanitarian and progressive organizations in Europe and America in this fight,\” he said.

Hamani is a historian, teacher and researcher at the University of Niamey.

This is the philosophy of a Nigerien NGO recently establish in Niger and in the US. The organization’s name is Alliance for African Women’s Education and Leadership. Its focus is on promoting peace and helping poor girls and women from Niger have access to quality education and training for sustainable development and social and financial support.

They work on various projects and provide training programs for women in the domains of teaching, education as well as mentoring.
One of the projects they are currently working through is a Land-for- women Project, which consists of leasing land to rural women´s association in Balayara (small locality in Niger) Micro-credit for poor urban and rural women’s associations.

This is a great exemple of things we can do help our own communities and contribute in the growth of our countries.
Read and learn more on their site: http://www.aawel.org

As it turns out, Niger is home to one of the most active hip hop scenes in Africa. Rap groups abound and they have found a fiercely local cult following.

Rap Nigerien is a mélange of different languages spoken in Niger. The beats and sampled music are a mix of traditional Nigerien music with influences of French, American, and other West African hip hop styles (especially Ivoirian Hip-hop). Niger’s hip hop scene grew from humble beginnings to dominate much of he country’s the musical market. As is the case everywhere hip hop has taken roots, young, dissatisfied Nigeriens are using it as a means to talk about things which anger them - economic woes, corruption, poverty, child labor and other problems. Local recordings are mostly sold on cassette tapes and compact discs, as with most forms of contemporary West African popular music.

The site Nigerime (in French) showcases artists videos, interviews and MP3s. There are also a lot of news articles and updates on individual groups or artists.

Here is are a video of what is probably the most popular Nigerien hip hop group: “Kaidan Gaskia”

Ory Okolloh tells the story of her life and her family — and how she came to do her heroic work reporting on the doings of Kenya’s parliament. Very compelling video.

Hausa Online recently reported that a notice was put in the WikiMedia Meta-Wiki to shut down the Wikipedia Hausa site because

In my opinion the Hausa Wikipedia should be close. It has only stubs , and the Main Page. very few activity. send to incubator.

This should be motivation enough for anyone literate in the Hausa language (which is the first language of over 24 millions sub-saharian Africans) to try and contribute in any way they can by participating in the content development of the site.

The process is fairly simple. Help resources are posted on Hausa Online as well as tips for getting started.

This year’s food crisis in Niger has inspired a lot of expatriate Nigeriens to take initiative and raise funds to help their country men through these terrible times. Taimako.org woudl like to take a minute to aknowledge these compatriotes for their untiring efforts.

From the begining of the summer of 2005, a group of Nigeriens working at the U.N. formed a relief commitee to collect aid funds within the UN staff in a time frame of 2 months. They succeeded in raising over $22,000 with the help of a few volunteers! They then worked with an NGO in Niger to channel the collection and help children in need primarily. The money went to Plan Niger, an organization that has been working to eradicate poverty around the world since 1937, and has been in Niger since 1998. Please visit their site for more information as well pointers on further ways you can help.
The U.N. Relief Commitee has published a final report of their activities that can read and downloaded here.
We are immensely grateful to the UN Niger Relief Commitee for their hardwork and dedication, which we’re sure has helped hundreds if not thousands of people in our country!

More recently, another expatriate group from Spain got in touch with an NGO working in Niger called APN ( ). Through various fundraising activities, they were able to raise enough funds to feed a village in Niger (litterarely. It was the village of Gorou Beri Bangna ). They were in contact with a local NGO, through which they were able to make a food distribution possible. They have kindly sent us some pictures of this event (see bellow.)

There were many more innitiatives undertaken during this famine, and we will post updates in the future as we gather more ample information.

Despite a good rainy season that allows raises hope for next year and vast media coverage of the crisis, hunger is still very much a reality for many Nigeriens. ReliefWeb indicates that “recent press reports from Niger have highlighted the ongoing crisis in the country. In Tahoua [...], there are still high levels of malnutrition despite a good rainy season and recent harvest.” Many NGOs are in place and working hard every day to help resolve the crisis, but the task remains challenging to say the least.
Niger’s infrastructure for one, makes it difficult to transit food aid where it is more critically needed and special vehicles are often needed for remote areas.
Furthermore, only about 30% of the UN’s aid appeal was received in spite of the coverage and worldwide attention.
Finally, NGOs have been butting heads with the Nigerien government, which accuses them of exaggerating their reports of the situation for propaganda and to raise more money for themselves (see Niger says no food crisis, threatens to expel NGOs on Reuters’ website). These factors and a few more intangibles have made for a very slow improvement of the situation.

We would like to please urge everyone to continue donating and spreading the word for this cause. Our donations section contains useful information as well as a list of NGOs you can donate to. You can also find a more expansive list of charities doing work in Niger at http://www.alertnet.org/thefacts/reliefresources/112254895644.htm

This weekend the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture hosted the annual Celebration of Ancestral Heritage Weekend in New York City. The event commemorated the contribution of the more than 20,000 enslaved Africans interred at the African Burial Ground. A permanent memorial is in preparation, but this year special moments were dedicated to those whose lives have been ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, suffering in Haiti, but also the famine in Niger.

Among the participants, were African and national leaders, performers, scholars, faith leaders, community leaders and youth from New York City schools. Performances, readings, presentations, and consecration/affirmation ceremonies paid homage to “all those who were lost” but “not forgotten.”

The event included tributes by such artists as Wyclef Jean, Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry, The McCollough Invaders, the United House of Prayer for All People brass band, Louis Hayes and the Cannonball Adderley Legacy (with Jeremy Pelt, trumpet; Javon Jackson, sax; Rick Germanson, piano and Reuben Rogers, bass), the African Burial Ground Tribute Choir, The Silver Clouds Native American Dancers and Singers, and Phylicia Rashad, Avery Brooks, Taye Diggs, James McDaniel, Kaissa, Ileanna Santamaria and more.

More information is available at http://www.schomburgcenter.com

Taimako.org, in collaboration with Women In Islam, held its first forum and fundraiser on Thursday August 18th and it was a great success. It was hosted by Dr. Sylviane Diouf of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The panelists, Amb. Aboubacar Boureima, Kiroh Booda, Mary Roodkowsky, Kamal Aljayeh, Holly Radice, offered very valuable insights, information, and suggestions for further action to an attentive and concerned audience.

During the fundraiser, renowned photographer Chester Higgins Jr. of the New York Times signed several of his books, as did historian Sylviane Diouf. Paintings and drawings by artists from Niger, and artifacts from Niger and several other countries were also part of the fundraiser. Music was provided by kora player Yacouba Sissoko and guitar player Abdallah Alhassane.

Our warmest thanks to all those who donated art and artifacts, to those who purchased it, and to the staff and panelists for volunteering their time.

Check out the pictures!

On Thursday August 18th 2005, Taimako.org and Women In Islam inc. will be hosting a forum discussion followed by a fundraiser for the current food crisis in Niger. The event will be held from 6-8 pm at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (in NYC) with the participation of the Niger Mission to the U.N., the Organization of Nigeriens in the United States, UNICEF, and other aid organizations.

Fundraising will include book signings from renown author and historian Sylviane A. Diouf and New York Times photographer Chester Higgins Jr. ; as well as art and artifacts from Niger.

The event is open to the public and is a wonderfull opportunity to get a better insight into the current situation.

For more information, visit our Events section