Group Launches Enterprise in Africa Story Telling

*Pledges capacity building of 1,000 young Africans on story telling

In the spirit of celebration of 2023 Africa Day, a group known as Africa Thru My Eyes (ATME) has unveiled a social enterprise to tell the African story to the World.

The Founder and President of ATME, Dr. Naomi Osemedua, while presenting the documentary at the official presentation that took place Thursday in Abuja, explained that ATME aimed at uniting Africa through the power of her unique stories.

She said: “Sharing stories from different parts of Africa is sure to foster greater understanding and a stronger sense of pride of identity, empathy and appreciation for the continent’s rich cultural diversity.

“ATME is committed to the promotion of the many positive narratives of Africa and dispelling the stereotypes that often dominate mainstream media globally.”

According to Osemedua, storytelling is also aimed at talking about the food, the culture, the fashion, the music, the nightlife and everything else that Africa represents.

Describing Africa as beautiful, she insisted that the world needed to know about that reality.

“It is a dream come true that we are officially launching the social enterprise, Africa Thru My Eyes and you might wonder “why my eyes”? It because I believe we all see differently. If I have to place an object here, and I ask multiple people to share what they see, it will amaze you how we are all looking at one object, yet there is so much diversity in how we see the object. That is what we plan to do with Africa Thru My Eyes.”

Adding: “We want to see Africa not just through our eyes as an organization but also through your eyes. As diplomats here in Nigeria, we want to know what Africa looks like through your eyes.

“At the end of the day, it is the stories we all tell. Someone once said that it was not just about sitting back and doing nothing, because if you do not tell your story yourself, you put the power in the hands of the person who is telling the story on your behalf.”

She noted that with the project, the group was taking the power to say that “we are here. We are Africans and those who also love Africa. We are taking back ownership and we want to tell our stories. So, whether you are here only visiting or you are here permanently, Nigeria, the continent of Africa is my home. I live here and I am happy to be here. I am proudly African”, she stated.

Speaking further, she disclosed that the first phase of initiative of the team is to launch the ATME story telling academy with 1000 young Africans. According to her, 20 story tellers would be selected from each country in Africa.

She assured that in the next five years, there will be an army of story tellers across the continent.

The Special Assistant to the High Commissioner, Sierra Leone, Henry Liege, in his remark, commended the initiative of telling the Africa stories in a unique way. He said that there was need to let the world know and understand the value of unity and diversity of Africa.