[Imc-africa] communication with Kola (part 1)

[Jay]

Imc-africa,

Below is some recent communication with Kola about the Nigeria IMC, 
in relative chronological order.  I'll sebd part 2 in a minute.

Jay

***

Kola,

At 5/3/2007, you wrote:
>Hello Jay,
>
>How ?its quite a time since you last got across to me.i saw all the 
>correspondences sent to me in connection with the formerly proposed 
>imc nigeria.
>
>My fear is that we may end up not doing anything to help the growth 
>of the nigeria imc eventually.
>
>I encourage that we move a bit away from protocol to really doing 
>something to move forward or else those who are ready to commit 
>time,knowledge and expertise  might get discouraged .
>
>Please jay,let us do something to move forward.
>
>Thanks
>kola

I agree!  Having a functioning IMC in Nigeria is CRUCIAL right now, 
especially after the recent elections and with the ongoing unrest in 
the Delta.

I think the Indymedia network would absolutely rally to help the 
Nigeria IMC, in almost any way you think could work.  My thought 
though is that neccessary step for that to happen would be for the 
Nigeria IMC to really come together as an active and sustainable 
collective, with enough people committed to making the project work 
in the long term.  Once there is a functional Nigeria IMC, one that 
goes through "the new-imc process," meaning that it works on its own 
organization solidly enough that it develops trust throughout the 
indymedia network, I bet network would leap toward raising money and 
sending organizational support.   (What is the state of the current 
Nigeria IMC, by the way?  How many people are involved?  Are they all 
from one city?  Are there public meetings? Are there Yoruba, Igbo and 
Hausa members working together?  These are the kinds of questions 
people in the network may ask.)

I know this may sound like a "chicken and the egg" dilemma!  I hear 
what you seem tosaying, that getting an information center together 
would be a necessary step toward getting an IMC together.  My concern 
is that people in the network will be reluctant to send money to a 
group that's not already an official part of the network, having gone 
through all the organizational development IMCs go through on their 
way to becoming an IMC.

So, my thought though is that if the Nigeria IMC works hard to 
organize itself really well, with good meetings, great communication, 
a diverse membership and a broad yet practical plan for success, I 
think the network would really get behind it with all kinds of 
support.  My take on this may be different that others', so it makes 
sense to discuss this on the imc-africa list too -- other people also 
have much better ideas than I do!

Jay

***

Hello Kola!

Sorry again for the long delay in responding.

At 5/8/2007, you wrote:
>Hi jay,
>
>Thanks for attending to the issues raised in my last line to you.I 
>actually wanted to talk to you extensively but  i had very limited 
>time to do so  owing to some other assignmernts which had to be attended to.
>
>Be that as it may,Jay,There was an impressions created by the former 
>guy that was involved in the forming of the imc nigeria,i think you 
>said his name is joseph,am i right?

Joseph was one of the guys, though I personally had more contact with 
Winters.

>okay,he gave the impression that majority of the people forming the 
>group do not have a job and may largely depend on the network for livelyhood.

I'm not sure that was the impression he gave, and it's not the 
impression I had personally, but that may have been what some people 
somewhere thought.

>
>its a wrong impression.I have a job so the other members of my 
>group.We are all practicing broadcasters and  journalists working as 
>either full time employee of the various media in nigeria or some 
>working as independent media practitioners.
>

Great.

>You would recollect at my signing in for the network,i indicated 
>that i am a member of the professional broadcasters guild of 
>nigeria.It is a professional group with a national outlook.
>
>This is to just present the situation that the group forming the 
>imc  nigeria is a group that cut across the entire regions because 
>it was the association that was used to mobilse for members into the 
>imc forming group.

Aha, I think I understand.  So the people who are talking about 
forming an IMC are part of a professional group composed of 
independent broadcasters that has members all over the country?  That 
sounds great.

>
>The group was meeting regularly particularly when the convergence in 
>kenya was been looked up to for participation.
>

Great.

>We are presently about 26 ready to commit our time and efforts to 
>the imc.And we cut across the federation as  i present television 
>programmes almost in the regions.
>
>I think the idea is that we do not intend to drag the imc to 
>identifying with our intention as we do not individually intend for 
>any personal gain.

  That's a very important thing make clear, and I'm sure everyone 
will appreciate hearing that, though around the Indymedia network, 
you'll likely find that people assume altruism unless there's proof 
to the contrary. :)

>
>If the imc would believe  in doing something in nigeria i think they 
>are welcome.If i have to front the group coming together does not 
>mean that i am the only one in the group,someone just need to 
>facilitate the coming together.
>

Fantastic.  Almost every IMC has a facilitator or two that takes 
initiative at first, so having just one or two contact people is quite usual.

>We are genuine  in our intention.We still strongly believe in 
>empowering people with acess to information and so we still believe 
>in the information centre.I will still find time tro talk with you 
>some more time Jay.

That sounds really ideal!

>Again i could not conclude  my talk with you yesterday,sorry i still 
>have to engage you today.
>
>You see,we are in nigeria and have the opportunity to events as they 
>unfold.If we are therefore requesting to be supported does not mean 
>that we are incapable to get some things done.
>
>I think organisation and association becomes formidable based on the 
>programmes and activities that endeared members to becoming 
>committed to the ideals of the organisation.
>
>On what basis are we grouping members for?What is the attraction in 
>activities to get them lured into being committed.?
>
>We have always met on my expenses and this is just to ensure they 
>are kept  readiness to serve the purpose for which we are to serve.
>
>How long are we suposed to keep them idle.?
>
>We proposd a project that we already initiated  and ready to 
>contribute, yet we are still nursing the impression that it is a one 
>man show or that we might not be genuine in our intention.
>
>Honestly it is discouraging.As i said earlier jay,we leave it all to 
>the imc to decide whatever and whenever they so desire to get 
>involved but we have started already and God being by our side i 
>think we shall remain commited and would not be stagnant.
>
>Thanks for today Jay.

I see what you are saying.  I definitely don't want you to get the 
impression that people in the network assume that the project you're 
proposing is meant for your own gain, or for personal gain of 
anyone.  I obviously can't speak for everyone, but I've been around 
the network for a while, and I must admit the reason things move 
slowly when welcoming new IMCs into the network has much less to do 
with skepticism about personal gain issues and more with the general 
slow-moving nature of all of our lives.

The other issue has to do with the way a local IMC is generally 
conceived to be a community-based organization, composed ideally of a 
mix of journalists and social change activists, who are committed to 
working together to use the media to facilitate social change.  So, 
independent professional journalists are an essential piece of the 
puzzle, but not the whole puzzle.

I don't remember if I passed this link to you, but if you follow 
here:  https://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/NewImcHowTo
you should see an explanation about how most IMCs form.  The "new-imc 
working group" is a group of Indymedia activists from around the 
world who communicate via an e-mail list and work together to support 
new IMCs as they form.  Often that involves members of the working 
group asking questions to a new IMC of the kind I'm asking you.  The 
goal is not to make you frustrated (though that often happens!) or to 
make you feel as if we're shining an interrogation light on you.  The 
goal is for us to work together to help your local IMC form from a 
position of strength.  Sometimes that involves spending several 
months doing organizing, reaching out to different groups within 
society, having many meetings and dealing with hard issues, like how 
to organize cross-culturally, or, in Nigeria, how to most effectively 
use media that includes internet communication to reach as many 
people as possible who don't have any access.

You may look at the documents through the link and think becoming an 
"official" IMC sounds like too much trouble.  Maybe the people in 
your group are interested in connecting with the Indymedia network, 
but not immediately (or ever) developing an IMC that includes many 
social justice groups and reaches across all boundaries.  That is 
understandable -- that is a lot of work!  In that case, maybe you 
don't want to form an "IMC" per se, but what we can do is work 
together on middle ground.

For example, I can't see any reason why the Indymedia network 
couldn't try to raise money and support for your association's 
information center.  It sounds like a wonderful project, and 
something worthy of support.  I'm sure people within the network 
would be excited about helping with independent media in Nigeria, 
even if it's not exactly a "Nigeria IMC."  In that case, of course, 
the more people learn about your association the better, so if you 
have a web site, or documents about the group, or if there are others 
from the group who are on e-mail and could say hello to the 
imc-africa list, that would be a nice way to build that relationship.

So, what I'm saying is that there can definitely be a way to work 
together.  If you have a discussion in your organization and you 
decide you'd like to form an "official" Nigeria IMC, then that will 
take a lot of work, but that will be well worth doing.  If you decide 
you'd like to focus first on working within your association, we can 
make that decision clear and remove a lot of pressure from you (the 
kind of questions that I've been asking and the kind of questions 
you'll find when you follow the above link).

Either way, I hope the end result will be a strong and fruitful 
connection, one that helps us all achieve our visions.

Please let me know if I've confused the issue for you!  Also, feel 
free to share my e-mails with anyone in your network.   I think we 
should also be sharing this conversation with people on the 
imc-africa list, so let me know if it's okay to do that and I'll 
forward this e-mail there as well.

Be well, Kola.  I look forward to hearing from you,
Jay
>
>Its me
>Kola