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VISITING THE UNIVERSITY OF PORT HARCOURT (UNIPORT)
On our schedule the next morning (Saturday) was a visit to Ogoniland, a village 2 hours from Port Harcourt. Our local guide was at the Uniport campus. We hopped into our bus and were off to the University of Port Harcourt.
Our local guide had been sighted by several people but was nowhere to be found. So we decided to attend the launching of Center for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR) while a search party was sent out for him.
The launching took place at a major students hostel (PICTURE 2) at the campus, which was well planned but clearly neglected and rundown. Although the hostel was one of the best in the university, trash littered the entrance and there were too many students for the number of rooms. The picture (PICTURE 3) here shows the trash and the pools of water around the hostel resulting from the rain and poor drainage system.
In contrast to their environment, the students that attended the launching were really inspiring. Many worked to raise the level of awareness of human rights and civic responsibility on the campus.
Our team couldn’t help but remark on the absence of young women in the organization’s leadership. This got a conversation started on the various reasons why women choose not to get involved in student activism. Time flew and we would have sat there learning from the students, except that we were expected 2 hours away in Ogoniland. It was already 2p.m. by the time the search crew returned with our local guide and we had been expected at Ogoniland since 10a.m!
Before leaving, we all took a picture with the members of the newly formed Uniport CDHR (PICTURE 4).
WORKSHOP IN PORT HARCOURT
Port Harcourt’s workshop went smoothly. Participants included MOSOP members, UNIPORT student activists, lawyers and journalists. (PICTURE 5)
WESTERN LEG OF THE WINDS OF CHANGE TOUR
Early the next morning we flew back into Lagos for a few hours before departing for Ibadan. After 3 weeks, it was wonderful to be back home, however briefly, before we were off to Ibadan for the final leg of our tour.
Makin, one of KIND’s team members, secured a huge bus from the Lagos State government for our tour of the West. After weeks in a cramped minibus, using a luxury bus (PICTURE 6) felt like heaven! Everyone could spread out and when we needed to caucus we could gather in the center of the bus.
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proceed to OGONILAND |
contact Kind: info@kind.org