“Don’t doubt me. I go bring home Grammy” are the words of 9ice in ‘Street Credibility ft. 2face’ when he promised to win the prestigious award. A promise he is yet to keep. Another promise un-kept is when Skales said “I’m heading for a Grammy”.

The history of Nigerian music and the Grammys is an almost non-existent one as only one Nigerian has ever won a Grammy and it is Kevin Olusola of the ‘Pentatonix’ acapella group for the ‘Arrangement, Instrumental or acappella’ category for their medley ‘Daft Punk’, a remake of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky. And he is not based in Nigeria or the Nigerian music Industry.

Acapella group, Pentatonix (Kevin Olusola at the far left)

The only other person that has come close enough is Femi Kuti who has been nominated four times for the grammy award in the world music category in 2003, 2010, 2012 and 2013 but has never won it. But he has been given a Grammy ‘medal’ for his 4^th nomination.

Femi Kuti has been given a Grammy ‘medal’ for his 4th nomination.

Another Nigerian nomination is Chimamanda Adichie’s for her work on Beyonce’s ‘Flawless’.

Now I will jump into the list of people I think have the potential to finally win one for us.

1. Femi Kuti: With the most nominations, Femi is the obvious contender. Hopefully, he will finally get a win.
2. 2face Idibia: 2face has won tons of awards; both local and international and he stands a good chance of getting what many people consider the most important music award.
3. Dare Art Alade: Popularly known as Darey is a Nigeria multi-platinum selling and award winning musician, singer-songwriter, and idol series judge. With one of the best vocal abilities and a very great sound, Dare has created potential for himself. With his new album ‘Naked’ which features Grammy – Winning group ‘Soweto Gospel Choir’ on the song ‘Pray For Me’ off the album.
4. Asa: Asa is a Nigerian-French singer, and a Recording Artist. She has won a lot of awards including “French Music Awards” for the female artist of the year in 2011. She has a lot of potential as she does really good music and is respected internationally.
5. Brymo: Brymo is another artiste I believe is a contender for the Grammy award. First because he does Word music in which category Femi Kuti has been nominated. He does really great and artistic music and with his recent signing to American label, TMG and release of an International Album ‘Trance’, I believe he has a shot.

Some performances just take your breath away. This is one of them. Your eyes will remain riveted to the screen and nothing can steal your attention from this. Beautiful Somi, athletic Bill T and Josh created a beautiful performance earlier this year for TED.COM in just two days! Believe it or not, there is nothing boring about this video and it is totally worth every second of its six (6) short minutes.

Watch the eternally graceful choreographer Bill T. Jones dance to the powerful and lustrous vocals of Somi and the sweet sounds of Joshua Roman‘s cello.

Botlhale Boikanyo is an 11-year-old spoken word artist who won the SA’s Got Talent 2012.

This ode to Africa’s most celebrated hero, Dr. Nelson Mandela was performed for the competition.

Enjoy.

To take pictures with a camera, a lot of people might think, is so easy. “Anyone can do that”, they might say. But it’s funny how something that can be done any day anytime can be so profoundly deep. The works of Namsa Leuba are deeply indigenous but refreshingly modern at the same time. They are focused on the Western view of preconceived ideas about Africa and how it relates to beauty.

Born in 1982 to a Swiss father and a Guinean mother and a graduate with Masters in Art Direction from the University of Art and Design in Lausanne. Her work has been published in numerous magazines such as  British Journal of Photography, European Photography, Libération, New York Magazine among others.  She has some beautiful series; Ya Kala Ben – meaning “crossed look” (here) and Cocktail (here).

Namsa Leuba is also a recipient of several acclaimed international awards including the PhotoGlobal Prize at the 2012 Fashion and Photography Festival in Hyères, Emerging Photographers in United States at the Magenta Foundation Flash Forward festival among others.

Her works were recently exhibited at Daegu Photo Biennale, South Korea in (2014), the Lagos Photo Festival, Nigeria (2014), Fotofestival’s main exhibition Haute Africa (2014), That Art Fair Cape Town (2015) etc. She also has upcoming exhibitions: Art 21, Lagos, (2015), Saatchi Gallery, London (2015), Photo Quai – Quai Branly Museum, Paris (2015), Making Africa, A Continent of Contemporary Design – Vitra, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain (2015).

Her pictures are ridiculously beautiful and I can only post a few.

See some of her amazing pictures below:

The movie ‘Diamond Ring’ is one movie that at the mention of its name, Nigerian movie lovers just start reminiscing about how amazing and action-packed it was.

The compelling movie was written and produced by Tade Ogidan and the cast was made up of Richard Mofe-Damijo, Liz Benson, Zainab Buki-Ajayi, Shola Shobowale, Bimbo Akintola, Teju Babyface among others. The movie shows the effects of parents having little or no time for their children and how it translates into the children becoming wayward and spoilt. It sounds a note of warning to parents to be more attentive to their children as they are always prone to undue influence. The movie is captivating as each scene unfolds.

About the Movie: Chidi is a bright young student, with very rich, busy and career-focused parents, who was admitted into the university earlier than most boys his age. He befriends the wrong people and ends up in a notorious gang on campus. To fulfil initiation rites, Chidi then gets involved in the theft of a mortuary; stealing the diamond ring and clothes of a corpse. Consequently, he is severally attacked by the corpse that was robbed, reiterating to Chidi to return the ring. This is hard to do as the ring is already sold and in London at the time. Chidi is not alone as other cult members each begin to die and Chidi becomes very sick with the cause of the sickness unknown as he didn’t tell his parents. The truth is later revealed through spiritual revelation by Chidi’s grandmother and the spirit of the dead woman appears to demand for her ring or leave Chidi to die. This then begins the ordeals of the family as they go in search of the ring.

This movie brings into light the evolution of Nollywood and the success the industry has attained in comparison with movies of today. Despite the oldness, this one is definitely a movie to see.

The movie ‘Diamond Ring 1&2’can be seen or downloaded here and here.

Have a blast.

Seeing the trailer of this movie will leave anyone with a heart in untold suspense. If just the trailer of a movie can do this, imagine what seeing the movie will actually do. ‘A Soldier’s Story’ relays the story of the dedication and commitment of a soldier to his call of duty.

About the Movie: A military man is promoted in the army but is still in active service. His wife is not exactly supportive of this as she felt the promotion would keep him from active service. She tries to keep him from going but his driven commitment to the service of his country disallows that. Eventually, while on the field, her husband dies during the action and she is called to retrieve his body. Other twists and turns are also entwined in the movie to make a great viewing experience. The movie applauds the efforts of Nigerian soldiers and the pains of their families at the uncertainty of the fate of their loved ones on the field while in service to their nation.

The movie stars award winning actors Linda Ejiofor, Tope Tedela, Adesua Etomi with Daniel K Daniel, Zainab Balogun, Olumide Oworu , Sambasa Nzeribe, and Chico Aligwekwe among others also in this beautifully told story.

‘A Soldier’s Story’ was written and directed by Frankie Ogar who successfully painted the pictures of the experiences in the field with the help of special effects by Hakeem Onilogbo.

The movie premiered on  October 23, 2015.

Usually, when we hear of sculpture, we think of men, more often than not. But this enormously talented Sokari Douglas Camp is a female sculptor whose major material is steel. Her large sculptures are grounded in Nigerian roots and also international subjects.

Born in 1958 in Buguma, Nigeria, the principal settlement of the Kalabari in the eastern Niger Delta region, Sokari moved to England at an early age and studied at the Central School of Art and Design (BA, 1983) and the Royal College of Art (MA, 1986) in London, where she is currently based. She is one of the winners of the public memorial sculptures, most notably the “Living Memorial” for Ken Saro-Wiwa.

Her works are exhibited nationally and internationally. She has collaborated with Ground Force to create an African Garden for the British Museum, which participated in Africa 05. The Smithsonian and the British Museum hold her work in their permanent collections and she has also worked with them. Europe, Britain and Japan are a few of the countries whose museums hold her work, not forgetting other private collections throughout the world. She has exhibited internationally in galleries, including in Austria, Britain, Cuba, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, Sicily, South Africa, Spain, the USA. Among her notable solo shows are Spirits in Steel — The Art of the Kalabari Masquerade at the American Museum of Natural History, New York (1998–99); and Imagined Steel at The Lowry Arts Centre, Manchester, which toured to the Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno; Brewery Art Centre, Cirencester; and Derby Museum and Art Gallery (2002–03).

Her sculptures are a sight to behold and they usually trigger various interpretations, just like any work of art. They, some of which are kinetic, manifest parts of Kalabari culture, especially funerary ceremonies and the festival as a major cultural activity. Sokari’s works are made out of manufactured fabricated steel rather than handmade, which makes them ‘modernized’. Her works infuse creativity in age-long traditions through contemporary eyes.  Sokari has been featured in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and Europe.

Her work features in the 2015 exhibition No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960–1990 at the Guildhall Art Gallery.

Sokari Douglas Camp is married to the architect Alan Camp and has lived in London for many years.

Her Instagram is @sokaridouglascamp and she is on Twitter at @S_DouglasCamp.

Check out some of her works here: 1) www.stuxgallery.com/artists/sokari-douglas-camp  2) www.artsy.net/artist/sokari-douglas-camp

Below are a few of her works:

Barely six months after its unveiling, this monument became and has since remained one of the most popular points for visitation in Nairobi, Kenya. The Tom Mboya Monument, is a statue that stands not below ten metres from the ground. Located along the Moi Avenue, this monument was constructed in 2011 in honour of Kenyan minister, Tom Mboya, who was assassinated in 1969 and it stands within the distance of twenty metres from the point where the assassination occurred.

Mboya was among the most forestanding people in Kenya’s battle for independence, and he took control of patriotic opposition to the British regime when a large number of its leaders, including Jomo Kenyatta, were locked up. He turned into the minister for justice in the post independence Kenyatta government and was the minister for economics around the time of his assassination. The flamingos at the base of the figure represents his setting up the Airlift Africa venture, which was a way-through that helped East African people study in the United States. President Barack Obama’s father had been one of the influential Airlift supporters.

For his remarkable trend-setting activities, this statue stands as a daily reminder of an activist and a truly admirable political reformist and person.

Ghana is one country known for a culture so healthy that it spreads its tentacles all through the aspects of their lives. Without a doubt, food is one aspect of the Ghanaian culture that is non-negotiable.

Some of you may have heard of this food, considering its popularity in Ghana and beyond while others may have heard nothing of it. I introduce to you Ghanaian rice and beans, indigenously called Waakye (pronounced waachay).

Initially popular mostly in northern Ghana, Waakye is now eaten throughout Ghana and also in some African countries like Nigeria, Togo, and Benin but prepared in slightly different ways. In Ghana, this meal, which can also be made at home, is majorly a street food. Waakye is usually served for breakfast or lunch with a typical Ghanaian spicy pepper sauce. It can be a meal in itself or it can be eaten with boiled eggs and/or with a stew of fish, chicken, beef, or vegetables.

The dish requires about 15 minutes of preparation and an hour and a half of cooking time.

By now, I’m sure you want to see how it’s done so you can also get to work. Not to worry, here’s how to make Waakye:

Also, in case you can’t view the video, here are the ingredients and process below:

Ingredients:
-1 cup rice
-1 cup black eyed beans
-Dried millet stems about
-1 Tablespoon Bicarbonate of sada
-Salt to taste

Process:

-Wash and boil the beans for about 10mins

-wash and add the millet stems, and salt to taste.

-Allow to come to a boil

-Add TB spoon of bicarbonate of soda to extract the colour and flavour of the millet leave

-Stir and remove the leaves from the pot.

– Add the rice into the mix.

-Cook for about 5 minutes and stir with fork to prevent food from going mushy.

-Reduce heat and allow to slow cook till both rice and beans are well cooked.

Scoop out into serving plate, and can be served with fried fish & stew, shito, gari, spaghetti, salad or coslow etc.

Some people have turned preparing and delivering this food into a business and they are famous for this. Their styles of cooking may differ but you cannot argue with their packaging. On Instagram, examples are @waakyepronto, @pepperandstew etc. They deliver with garri, spaghetti, fish etc and they definitely are making a success out of Waakye.

You can try this Ghanaian delicacy out and I know you’ll love it.

A kiss from a rose

sealed the deal

Heartbeats in the moment froze

This is how love feels

Cold stems in the winter

Petals hot like summer

My August rain

To wash away the pain

Remain pale through April

So we can climax in June

We may be apart

But July comes soon

I’ll claim your heart

And you’ll be in full bloom

We burned red in August

But I’ll be gone in November

The grass is greener where you plant seeds

But indeed,

What a rose really needs

Is summer sunrays in gold

A kiss from a rose sealed the deal

My heart froze in December

My darling, its already winter.

@fivestarr_kay on Twitter

Check out these amazing FREE African Comic Books from C.R

ComicRepublic is a Lagos-based media firm boasting an array of talented illustrators, their various comic series consists of original characters loosley based on DC’s Justice League superheroes (Batman, Superman, WonderWoman). 

Their work simply oozes quality and the use of traditional West African folk tales in some of the storylines makes for a very entertaining experience. You can download some of their comics for FREE in PDF and doc formats. In a few years, we just may have our very own Avengers-style movie starring some of our favourite African Actors.

Comics & Characters

-Eru

Eric kukoyi is not a normal man. He doesn’t age or sleep. He lectures at the University of Lagos, also doubling as a par time psychiatrist and parapsychologist. When night dawns, where creatures haunt corners and crime rears its head, he becomes the one thing any of them will ever fear, he becomes fear itself, bound by oath to haunt the night as a force of retribution. The people of this city have called him many names, but one echoes the loudest… ERU fear itself, walks among us.

-Aje: The witch

Aje is a grand journey where a young heroine will hunt for the strength to save the past, present and future

-Hero Generation: Max Speed

Marcus chigozie, a teenage rich boy with anger management issues, had no idea he had powers until an event that changed his life, now he has the ability to move at supersonic speed, this new discovery has led him into becoming the super fast hero and member of the extremes known as maxspeed.

-Ireti

Many decades ago in the Yoruba kingdom, a desperate kings deal with a deity results in the birth of a child, Ireti. The child grows into a mighty warrior with powers that surpass normal men greatly; leading armies to battle, conquering kingdoms and protecting her people. Her tale is one not told without the heart to stomach it, her legend is one not carried by cowards and her might is one no evil dares question.

-Guardian Prime

Tunde Jaiye is the fifth element, one of the five essential elements on earth (earth, air, water, fire and man). He is the perfect man created how God intended man to be ( in his image).

He can do everything a normal man can do only magnified to almost God like levels. He is the guardian born to the human race as customary every 2000 years. He is Nigerian. He is Guardian Prime

Visit the Comic Republic official site HERE to see more great comics, in the meantime we will keep you updated on all things original, awesome and creative.

D-Truce (Dusten Truce) whose real name is Chukwuebuka Dusten Anyasie, studied electrical engineering at the Yaba College of Technology Lagos, he started rapping at about the age of 14. He wrote his first song in 2009 and recorded his first song a year after.

He released a mixtape series in the summer of 2011 which was titled “Mixtape killer” under Turnout Records an American/Nigerian Record label. The mixtape didn’t do too well, but he was relentless in his hustle.

Breaking away from his former label in early 2012 he went ahead to continue his career.

That same year, he was on the Nokia “Don’t Break the Beat” rap battle competition, in which he took third place. A few months later, he was featured on Modenine’s ‘Occupy The throne’ mixtape, Aq’s E.P, also on Cyrus The Virus’ infiltration mixtape.

He also performed alongside Illbliss in the February 2013 edition of the “one mic” live band session.

He dropped his “Truce Shall Set You Free” mixtape (#TSSYF) in June that same year, featuring his major songs “see” and “hold on” which enjoyed airplay on radio stations nationwide, and got him major online buzz and co-signs from industry heavy weights.

The young rapper who is also a copywriter joined the X3M Music family in November 2014 and is currently a featured character “Jared” in the Nigerian TV series – Tinsel.

He released his debut single titled “better days” in May 2015. The single features label mate Praiz and has enjoyed airplay and positive reception from the general public. Truce is currently working on a new sound which he says is an infusion of rap music to every other genre, creating what he tags as “feel good music”.

You can connect with D-Truce on social media via the following handles.
Twitter: Dusten_Truce
Instagram: Dustentruce
Soundcloud: dtruce
reverbnation: Dtruce

Kudzanai Chiurai, born in 1981 in Harare, is a visual artist Zimbabwean who now lives in South Africa. His paintings are mostly political in nature as they mirror his proud views and perspectives on matters related to politics around him. He proudly used his art to express exile politics and Robert Mugabe’s opposition in Zimbabawean politics for which he was pursued out of the country amidst threats. At 31, Chiurai has risen above his peers in regards to contemporary Art. Mixed media is also one of the signatures of his work as there is an inherent juxtaposition of videos and photos with paintings and drawings and these aptly express his xenophobic and democratic views.

The University of Pretoria was where Chiurai studied Fine Art and graduated as the first black student. This was the foundation of his early work painting portraits and landscapes before advancing into his expression of political ills in his country Zimbabwe. His emotionally inspiring works are usually theatrical, sometimes cynical and mostly humorous and they have earned him his well deserved international and national recognition. Known mostly for his artworks, he also works as a producer, editor, and designer and showcases it through works in photography, publishing, music, public art, and fashion. He has edited two publications with contributions by leading creatives. His 2008 solo exhibition Yellow Lines, contained the first part of the first publication. he has also collaborated with writers, artists, graphic designers, stylists and fashion photographers, for the reinterpretation of the exhibited works.

Chiurai has held numerous solo exhibitions and participated in various local and international exhibitions, including Figures & Fictions: Contemporary South African Photography at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and Impressions from South Africa, 1965 to Now at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Museum für Moderne Kunst (MMK), Frankfurt/Main among others.  His Conflict Resolution series was included in dOCUMENTA in Kassel in 2012.

Kudzanai Chiurai is considered to be more than an artist but also a poet, an activist and a cultural philosopher who uses his distinct art to tackle the political and social issues that he believes in. You can browse through more of his work here: https://www.artsy.net/artist/kudzanai-chiurai 2) http://www.goodman-gallery.com/artists/kudzanaichiurai and her works are tagged #kudzanaichiura on Instagram.

Enjoy.

Introduction to Music Production #1

I have met many people who are interested in music production and always ask me to teach them but if I was to conduct a one-on-one tutorial for each of them, I wouldn’t produce any music myself.

Therefore, i have decided to create this series and teach Music Production Basics.

Note: I use FL Studio, Nuendo and Reason Daws for music production but fir this series I will be using FL Studio to teach as it is the most popular and easiest to get.

What is Music Production anyway?
A song or composition is made up of different parts i.e. the instruments (guitar, drums, bass, keyboards and so on) and the vocals. These are called ‘tracks’ and the job of the music producer is simply to get the sounds together for each track, arrange them, mix them together and make them sound ‘professional’.

The device that enables all of this – and which has become the heart of the 21st century studio – is the humble computer: a Mac, PC or increasingly, portable devices like tablets and iPads.

Now, let’s talk about the things you need to become a music Producer.

Sequencers/DAW‘s:
This is the software that the computer runs that turns it in to a music production powerhouse. This software enables the recording, mixing and mastering of music tracks and is called a ‘sequencer’ or the rather grander-sounding ‘Digital Audio Workstation’ (DAW).

Sequencers vary in price from free to thousand of Naira and, combined with today’s powerful computers, can often allow unlimited tracks of music to be arranged together. You want an orchestra of thousands? You’ve got it…

Sounds:
Anytime you open a sequencer, you will usually be greeted with silence and any music you will produce will be formed by you. And to do this you have to mix sounds.

So, where do the sounds come from and how do you get them together within your computer?

There are two places to get sounds and they are ‘internal’ and ‘external’ within the context of your desktop environment. You can record ‘external sounds’ – guitars, vocals, acoustic instruments such as pianos and violins, or electronic keyboards like synthesizers – and arrange them together in your sequencer.

These are ‘digital audio’ tracks – no need to worry too much about the name just now, but it does become important later. They contain the actual audio information, the recorded waveform of the external instrument.

Now to the internal sounds, sounds generated within your DAW. Most sequencers have what are called ‘virtual instruments’ that recreate, for example, drum kits, keyboards or guitars for you to play or strum with your mouse or a connected keyboard.

These are known as MIDI tracks. Again you don’t need to worry too much about semantics here but the data within a MIDI track is more about the note information (which notes are played, how hard and for how long). These notes can be moved around and edited after being recorded simply by using the sequencer’s editor, clicking on them and dragging them around on screen.

The second type of internal sound is called a sample. Again these are audio, so digital recordings of real sound but they are especially-created riffs, melodies, drum patterns (loops), or vocal parts produced by third party manufacturers. You can buy collections of these and simply drop them on different tracks to build up a tune.

To be continued….

Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove is a sacred forest along the banks of the Osun river just outside the city of Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria.

The Osun-Osogbo Grove is among the last of the sacred forests which usually adjoined the edges of most Yoruba cities before extensive urbanization. In recognition of its global significance and its cultural value, the Sacred Grove was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.

The 1950s saw the desecration of the Osun-Osogbo Grove: shrines were neglected, priests abandoned the grove as customary responsibilities and sanctions weakened. Prohibited actions like fishing, hunting and felling of trees in the grove took place until Austrian, Susanne Wenger, came and stopped the abuse going on in the grove.

Susanne Wenger at the Osun – Osogbo Sacred Grove

With the encouragement of the Ataoja and the support of the local people, “Wenger formed the New Sacred Art movement to challenge land speculators, repel poachers, protect shrines and begin the long process of bringing the sacred place back to life by establishing it, again, at the sacred heart of Osogbo.

Osun-Osogbo Festival

Every year, the Osun-Osgogbo festival is celebrated in the month of August at the grove. Yearly, the festival attracts thousands of Osun worshippers, spectators and tourists from all walks of life.

For the people of Osogbo Land, August is a month of celebration, traditional cleansing of the city and cultural reunion of the people with their ancestors and founders of the Osogbo Kingdom.

The Osun-Osogbo Festival is a two-week-long programme. It starts with the traditional cleansing of the town called ‘Iwopopo’, which is followed in three days by the lighting of the 500-year-old sixteen-point lamp called ‘Ina Olojumerindinlogun’.

Ina Olojumerindinlogun, the sacred lamp lit at the beginning of the annual Osun-Osogbo festival

Then comes the ‘Ibroriade’, an assemblage of the crowns of the past ruler, Ataojas of Osogbo, for blessings. This event is led by the sitting Ataoja of Osogbo and the Arugba, Yeye Osun and a committee of priestesses.

The biggest youth awards event in Africa, The Future Awards sponsored by Red Media Group and UBA lived up to its image yesterday at the Intercontinental Hotels, Victoria Island, Lagos. Hosted by the elegant Bonang Matheba and the artful Dare Art Alade, the show was attended by important dignitaries and celebrities in and out of Nigeria. Eleven (11) of the most promising, progressive and active young Africans in various fields ranging from science, entertainment,. politics, fashion and business, were presented with awards acknowledging their efforts in reshaping the continent.

Meet the winners:

The Future Awards Africa Prize in Advocacy & Activism
Queen Baboloki (Botswana) 25 years old

She is the brain behind the Dream Hub Project, an NGO in Botswana set up to  help young girls cope with violence experienced in the home. She has done remarkable in her hometown to end gender based violence at home and in the community. She focuses on  vulnerable women and girls, teaching them skills and reinforcing their value as people. She was invited to become a  Moremi Initiative for Leadership, Empowerment and Development in Africa (MILEAD) Fellow in 2013. She was also selected as a 2014 Mandela Washington Fellow- President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative; 2015 VV Lead Fellow and 2015 Global Laureate Fellow.

The Future Awards Africa Prize in Education
Lily Kudzro (Ghana) 29 years old

Lily Kudzro is the CEO of Devio Arts Center. The Devio Arts Centre, a social enterprise initiative, uses creative and digital art as a catalyst, to stimulate constructive learning and creative thinking in Ghanaian children. To make up for the lack of an avenue to explore their artistic potentials in Ghanaian students, she is introducing schools and students to creative and imaginative ways to practice visual arts application. Devio Arts through its programs has provided transformational impact by providing infrastructure, resources and inclusive access to children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The Future Awards Africa Prize in Enterprise Support
Olufunbi Falayi (Nigeria) 29 years old

He is co founder of Passion Incubator. Passion Incubator provides immense support to focused individuals by helping young technology entrepreneurs build their businesses from scratch. So far he has recoreded successes with business like Warra Cakes and Talking Books. With Warra Cakes, he helped developed a middle-ware platform for consumers to order sweets and bakeries from different suppliers of bakers. With Talking Books, he is turning all Nigerian literature and books into audio books.

The Future Awards Africa Prize in Community Action
Kelvin Mutize (Zimbabwe) 27 years old

The Future Awards Africa Prize in Technology
Rasheeda Mandeeya Yehuza (Ghana) 25 years old

Kelvin Mutize volunteers in the world’s largest psycho-social programme for children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, Champions for Life started in 2005 in Harare, Zimbabwe by Tom and Bonnie Deuschle and spear headed by physician Dr Andrew Reid. The programme has had more than 15,000 children in sub-Saharan Africa receive the emotional, moral and physical support required. Mutize has travelled and set up Champions for Life programmes in South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Lesotho, Swaziland and Uganda. All of these he has done has an unpaid volunteer!

She is the founder of Nasar ltd. She develops and manages softwares such as Nasara Mobile and Nasara Voting System and computer games such as Buju Hunt and Sphere Attack. She is an active member and organizer of the GhanaThink Foundation programs; Barcamp Kumasi and ‘Kumasi Konnect’ both of which are aimed at educating young Ghanaians about the issues in the environment. Most importantly, Rasheeda co-founded Tech Needs Girls Ghana, an interactive workshop for girls in Ghana. The workshop involves a hands-on session where girls learn to develop mobile and web applications, interact with software and provides mentoring for female technologists.

The Future Awards Africa Prize in Entertainment
Olamide “Badoo” Ayodeji (Nigeria) 26 years old

Olamide is known for his playful and punchy lyrics. since the release of his first single in 2010, he has released 4 albums and his a proud owner of a record label. Rapping with a blend of Yoruba nd English, he has created a niche for himself that is appreciated in every circle. Not such a surprise to find him on this list, isn’t it?

The Future Awards Africa Prize in Agriculture
David Asiamah (Ghana) 27 years old

David Asiamah is a farmer. Not just any kind of farmer, a learned, passionate farmer. He is the founder of Agro Mindset which he created in his 3rd Year on campus. Agro Mindset has imparted positively in the lives of over 7000 young students both in Ghana and beyond through its innovative and creative programmes like agribusiness outreach programmes, field trainings, farm business development, entrepreneurial workshops and symposia. In recognition of his outstanding contribution to youth involvement in Agriculture, Agro Mindset won the 2013 edition of the Ghana UK Based Award (GUBA) on Invest in Africa Sustainable Business Award.

The Tony O. Elumelu Prize in Business
Samuel Malinga (Uganda) 26 years old

Samuel Malinga’s team developed a mechanism to address the entire faecal sludge management chain in Uganda. They developed a new modular latrine called DuraSan (made up of durable, interlocking, precast concrete blocks), a low-cost pit emptying pump called a Rammer, primary transportation devices (Grappler, handcart & Shlifter), and a Decentralized Faecal Sludge Treatment System (DFSTS). Malinga was shortlisted for the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation and in Kampala, other entrepreneurs have entered into the pit emptying business using the technology pioneered by Malinga and his team.

The Future Awards Africa Prize in Public Service
Emmanuel N. B. Flomo (Liberia) 27 years old

Emmanuel Flomo is a member of the President’s Young Professional Program, the flagship program of the Liberian President, Madame Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a youth capacity and public service program.  Flomo was assigned to the Ministry of Finance & Development Planning as a Budget Analyst working in the Economic Services Sector. His performance was so outstanding that he was appointed by the Finance Minister of Liberia as Budget Director for the Ministry of Commerce & Industry. Flomo was elected in February 2015 as the Vice President for International Affairs of the Liberia National Student Union (LINSU), the umbrella organization for all students in Liberia.

The Future Awards Africa Prize for Young Person of the Year
Philip Obaji Jnr. (Nigeria) 29 years old

This here is one outstanding guy! He was the winner of  The Future Awards Africa Prize in Education 2014. This year, he is Young Person of the year. Read his profile below:

In 2014, the 1 GAME Campaign which he founded four years earlier with an objective to fight violence and ignorance through education, met with nearly 100 community leaders in North-East states of Borno, Yobe and Gombe on raising a volunteering team to move house to house, encouraging parents to send their children to tuition-free public primary schools rather than to Almajiri Mallams. Collectively, they have reached out to nearly 1,000 families.

To make learning easy and affordable, Philip’s 1 GAME Campaign provided 100,000 exercise books and pens to about the same number of children in Borno and Gombe States with virtually every recipient attending school for the first time. 1 GAME also established a book centre in Maiduguri, the Borno State, where poor school children who are in need can get writing materials.

Through 1 GAME Campaign, Obaji Jnr has brought together, hundreds of former child soldiers in a movement to end the conscription of children by local vigilantes fighting Boko Haram. He has told the stories of hundreds of children affected by the insurgency, published on foreign journals, and helped get foreign aid to thousands of displaced children particularly in Borno State.

Through his ‘Off The Streets’ project, Philip supports these children by catering for them through the provision of food and clothing and at the same time prepares them for western education through a mentoring program.

Off The Street Project Van goes out every last weekend of the month in Maiduguri to Almajiri centers, delivering food stuffs, beverages and clothing to children in need. It reaches out to about 10 major centers with a near total of 20,000 children every month.

Now backed by various global humanitarian agencies including Compassion It and UNICEF, Philip’s 1 GAME Campaign will be reaching out to most of the 800,000 children displaced by the insurgency in northeastern Nigeria through the recently launched #BringBackOurChildhood campaign.

Ford Foundation Prize for Youth Employment Category
Ukinebo Dare

She is the Editor-in-Chief of Young Executive Diary and the initiator, PSENSE Certification Programme. Her passion for self-development has led her to design and facilitate several courses on self-development and skill-improvement. She has experience in Business Strategy Development, Facilitation, Counseling and Systems administration. Mrs. Dare is a well-rounded professional with years of experience in managing teams and is a seasoned facilitator of Creative thinking, Problem Solving, Interview Skills and other courses.

If none of these beautiful people has inspired you, let this inspire you: Notice how all of them are below 30 years? Age is not a barrier or an excuse anymore. Get started!