What are you doing to change the narrative? Have you taken any step towards building your society and inspiring young minds and talents? Naufal Ahmad has done it again. The first TED Talk in Katsina State was hosted by Naufal and his team on the 15th day of February 2020.
A year later, on the 4th day of December 2021, another one was hosted.
What is a TED Talk
A TEDx talk is a showcase for speakers presenting great well-formed ideas in under 18 minutes. Experts in different fields go onstage to talk about their areas of expertise, videos are then recorded of these talks and uploaded to the TED platform where millions of people can access them for free and learn.
TEDx Kangiwa Speakers
The theme of this year’s TED talk in Katsina was RESILIENCE; A BRAVE NEW WORLD. Since this talk was hosted a year after the lockdown, it was imperative that such was acknowledged. The year of the lockdown was a tedious one and several people struggled to get through it, so the theme focused on that.
While some people used the lockdown to connect with family and start new businesses, some felt trapped by it all.
Muhammad Sani Dattijo
Dattijo, currently Commissioner for Budget and Planning in Kaduna State talked about the state of Nigeria and how it is riddled with banditry, insecurity and other vile crimes.
When we were on our way here, everybody would ask ‘How are you getting to Katsina?’ so I didn’t want to come here and talk to you about myself, but to come and talk to you about all of us here today.
Muhammad Sani Dattijo, an International Development Expert and Nigerian Public Servant
He also talked about the intelligent minds and talented people that are in Nigeria and graduates who have no jobs “I sat at the back and met fashion designers, businessmen, students, all doing fantastic things” and goes on to lament about how lucky the people who attended the talk were because a couple of kilometres away were people being killed, kidnapped, children being out of school, and graduates who were out of jobs.
Badamasi Aliyu
Another speaker – Badamasi Aliyu (Co-founder Eco Fertilizer|Founder ELLEN Network) submitted;
Some of the problems that have bedridden our country – poverty, insecurity, unemployment is all because of lack of initiative.
He stressed how people refuse to seize opportunities to make a difference or create something. He said people refuse to start small, they only want to miraculously become big at something without taking the necessary steps.
He reiterated that nothing comes out of thin air, you have to work for it.
Hadiza Yar’adua Tuggar
Hadiza Yaradua Tuggar, Founder Woodentods International Schools, Educator and Philanthropist shared her experience as a businesswoman and what she did to keep her business alive when the covid-19 pandemic struck.
When I embarked on this endless entrepreneurial journey, I never knew I had certain skills and tools embedded in me that would help me weather the toughest storms. The interesting thing is that as each new challenge presented itself with the rising of the sun, it seemed I had a quiver full of arrows to pull down every single challenge.
Through lowering her expectations, taking full responsibility, asking for help, and using her values to build resilience, she was able to keep her business alive.
Ahmed Buhari
It is no lie that some people in Nigeria no longer believe in working hard to achieve anything because no matter how hard they worked, Nigeria keeps putting them down. Ahmed Buhari who is African Union Ambassador & AU Agenda 2063 Envoy and Former Presidential Candidate’s story however is about hard work and his struggles through life to become what he is today despite having lost his father at a young age.
He navigated through life, giving everything his best until it worked out in his favour. His story is a tough one but he was able to come out flourishing.
Abdulsalam Kassim
If you aren’t called mad for the dream you believe in, you are not doing anything new
This was the response of Abdulsalam Kassim, a shoemaker to his dad calling him mad after he told the father that he wanted to go into the shoe business. Despite his father’s disapproval of his idea, he went ahead to follow his dream.
He has since grown to become a recognized person in Africa who makes quality leather shoes of all kinds.
This did not stop him from facing challenges when the pandemic broke in. He confessed to losing a lot of money from people’s investments but he was able to work around it to recover the money lost.
Olusola Ayoola
Dr Olusola Ayoola the Founder of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Nigeria, RAIN brought us the importance of technology and using it to bring solutions to problems. He believes people can use technology and artificial intelligence to build a better economy in Nigeria.
Leveraging artificial intelligence and robotics to improve infrastructure, human capacity development and health development could take the country to a whole new level.
Performances
One of the most interesting things about the event was a performance by Adebayo Ebenezer Seun (Diligent Artist), a speed painter who did a painting of Muhammad Sani Dattijo.
This performance took less than 10 minutes to complete.
To top it all off, there was an exhibition by the same artist along with one other artist (Saidu Abdulmumin Degri – AbdulBigArt) and two documentary photographers – Abdullahi Ahmad and Umar Maigwaram.
Book Fest
Any event like this couldn’t possibly have closed without a book fest. TEDx Kangiwa was no exception. Several books were on display by several authors from Northern Nigeria like Audee T Giwa, Yusuf M Adamu as well as foreign books.
Conclusion
This sensational Tedx Kangiwa event wouldn’t have been possible without the team effort of the volunteers who worked together to bring it to life. It shows that we still have youth who are willing to build their nation and their societies and they are right there in Katsina State.
Keep up the good work 👍, it’s great to see Nigerian youths coming together.
It was indeed a fantastic events with great minds.