- Title: NIGERIA: Africans mark 50th anniversary of the African Union
- Date: 24th May 2013
- Summary: LAGOS, NIGERIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF OLAMIPEJU LAWAL GETTING HER SON READY FOR SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHS OF OLAMIPEJU LAWAL AND HER FAMILY ON THE WALL (SOUNDBITE) (English) OLAMIPEJU LAWAL, RADIO PRESENTER SAYING: "African women are strong people. I'm a strong person, okay and maybe sometimes the part of my son having to close by 2:00 pm and you are telling me I'm done for the day -- I'm not yet done, but if you think of, where do you have to put him? He needs attention, his homework is there, he has to eat, you know he wants to communicate, daddy is not around, but he should have you around, so I kind of have to sacrifice that time, you know, wherever I want to go from that time I am going to go with him." LAWAL AND SON READY TO LEAVE THEIR HOUSE LAWAL PUTTING OFF THE POWER GENERATOR "Let's pray NEPA (Nigerian Electrical Power Authority, but now known as Power Holding Company of Nigeria) brings the light before we come back." LAWAL AND SON WALKING LAWAL AND SON STANDING BY ROADSIDE (SOUNDBITE) (English) OLAMIPEJU LAWAL, RADIO PRESENTER SAYING: "Right now we are waiting for the driver to come and pick us, we are going to school, it's like this every day, we come out wait for them." OLAMIPEJU LAWAL AND SON ENTERING A CAR VARIOUS OF OLAMIPEJU LAWAL IN THE CAR PUTTING ON MAKE UP STREET SCENE LAWAL AND SON CROSSING ROAD SIGN READING "103.1 UNILAG FM" VARIOUS OF LAWAL IN STUDIO PRESENTING SHOW GUESTS IN STUDIO (SOUNDBITE) (English) OLAMIPEJU LAWAL, RADIO PRESENTER SAYING: "For now, it's just seeing "The Girls Show" growing big, bigger than what it is right now, having to see, connect with more girls to foster unity, connect with more girls you know, there are a lot of girls out there into one thing or the other, some are even far away, you know, our job is to help them reconnect back, you know, rehabilitate, just connect with them really." FISH ON DISPLAY LAWAL BUYING FISH TRADER VARIOUS OF TRADER BLENDING ONIONS AND TOMATOES LAWAL PUSHING TOMATOES INTO BLENDER LAWAL LEAVING THE MARKET
- Embargoed: 8th June 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nigeria
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: History,Domestic Politics,People
- Reuters ID: LVA2WXKTYGC73RTFOQKFDC7HJ6A8
- Story Text: Olamipeju Lawal's day usually starts at five in the morning, as she gets ready for work and helps her son prepare for school.
The family lives in Bariga, a densely populated neighbourhood in Lagos, Nigeria where crime is high and social services are hard to come by. Lawal is a radio presenter at a station run by the University of Lagos.
Like millions on the continent, Lawal is happy to see Africa making economic progress fifty years since the organization of African Unity, now renamed African Union was formed.
The Pan-African movement was instrumental in bringing nationalists together in the fight against colonialism.
But as the continent marks another Africa day on May 25, Lawal says she would like to see the gains made translate into meaningful benefits for the common man.
Africa is said to be among the fastest growing places in the world, second only to developing Asia. Its economic growth is expected to accelerate to more than 5 percent over the next three years, but the majority of its people still remain poor.
Even then, Lawal reckons that Africans are resilient and have learnt to live with the resources available while at the same time develop themselves further.
She says women in particular play a key development role in handling multiple responsibilities.
"African women are strong people. I'm a strong person, okay and maybe sometimes the part of my son having to close by 2:00 pm and you are telling me I'm done for the day -- I'm not yet done, but if you think of, where do you have to put him? He needs attention, his homework is there, he has to eat, you know he wants to communicate, daddy is not around, but he should have you around, so I kind of have to sacrifice that time, you know, wherever I want to go from that time I am going to go with him," said Olamipeju Lawal.
Some of the challenges residents like Lawal face in the city is high cost of rent, where landlords often demand years of rent in advance, defying the state government's law that prohibits home owners from demanding several years of rent in advance from prospective tenants.
Another problem is the chronic electricity shortages being experienced in most parts of the country. Lawal's neighbourhood hardly has regular power supply so like many others she uses a diesel powered generator for lighting.
"Let's pray NEPA (Nigerian Electrical Power Authority, but now known as Power Holding Company of Nigeria) brings the light before we come back," said Lawal.
The 26-year-old says that governments should look into ways to improve on sectors like infrastructure and education.
It takes her over an hour to get to work every day because of infamous heavy traffic jams experienced in the city daily.
"Right now we are waiting for the driver to come and pick us, we are going to school, it's like this every day, we come out wait for them," she added.
Lawal is finally at work presenting her mid-morning show, called "The Girl Show" which talks about issues affecting women in the country like sexual abuse, domestic violence and low self esteem.
"For now, it's just seeing "The Girls Show" growing big, bigger than what it is right now, having to see, connect with more girls to foster unity, connect with more girls you know, there are a lot of girls out there into one thing or the other, some are even far away, you know, our job is to help them reconnect back, you know, rehabilitate, just connect with them really," said Lawal.
A decade of strong growth had reduced poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa, with provisional data showing that between 1996 and 2010, the share of Africans living on less than $1.25 a day fell from 58 percent to 48.5 percent, according to the World Bank.
Analysts say that African poverty is coming down but more action is needed to accelerate growth and also manage food price spikes.
In April, the International Monetary Fund had forecast sub-Saharan Africa's growth at 5.6 percent for this year and 6.1 percent for 2014 in its World Economic Outlook.
The World Bank says better administering of mineral wealth, development of agriculture and a careful managing of rapid urbanisation would help African governments seize the opportunity to lift more of their people out of poverty. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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