You have heard that the Internet, mobile phones and other ICT tools are changing the world. Please add ‘truly’ between ‘are’ and ‘changing’.

Dateline: Lagos, Sallah Day. It is usual for various neighbourhoods to find which ‘malam’ would help slaughter their rams. Those who have had to do the business themselves know how frustrating it can be when no ‘malam’ shows up by 12 noon on Sallah day. This last one was a different one. One neighbourhood’s resident mentioned the need for a ‘malam’ to a ‘maiguard’ and the chap turned in a piece of paper, photocopy of a slip on which there was a crude drawing of a ram, a knife, some Arabic inscription, a phone number and a name. Apparently, one Suleiman had turned in the piece of paper to all the ‘maiguards’ in the vicinity in anticipation of Sallah day – indicating anyone could use the mobile phone number to their advantage. This number dialled, Suleiman showed up in a jiffy. He slaughtered the ram, left the details for his subordinates and moved on to other places where his services were needed. Suleiman took advantage of ‘access’ to boost his business. He didn’t need to be told to do so. He needed no campaign by anybody as to what he could do with his phone. All he needed was the phone and access on it and the remaining could be left for him. For his services, he charged N2,000 instead of the traditional N1,000 and his clients were glad to have got a good and fast solution. Give broadband access to Suleiman and wait to be amazed what he is capable of doing with it.

And the coming of Barrack Hussein Obama! Visit www.change.gov and see how a young man is changing the world using access to the web. The rest needs not be told. How about his almost impossible story of grassroot campaign, fundraising and eventual victory all fuelled by the power of the web and mobile applications. Like no one else before now, he used social networking websites (isn’t almost everyone now on FaceBook?) and other web tools such as YouTube to build an army of young people whose excitement – and driven action – played not just a small part in giving him a much-deserved victory seeing he livened up the floor of even American presidential politics with his promise (and delivery) of a 21st century campaign. His choice of a running mate was made using SMS broadcast, (mark the word ‘broadcast’), he was always on his phone cracking away at eMail, and he kept the world following his every step with up-to-the-minute updates through his campaign website. In 2008, politics and governance were redefined through new technologies!

Lesson: It is leadership, not followership – especially as the Nigerian case has shown in 2008 – that needs a campaign on what is achievable with broadband access.

The good: Access improved considerably during the year, with efforts of providers like Starcomms who introduced products such as IZAP to bring fast internet access to individual phone level. In Ijebu-Ode, where the first leg of this review was fine-tuned, Izap did all the trick. But in Igbara-Oke where the second leg was to be firmed up, Starcomms is yet to show up. Maybe in 2009! Other vendors – mobile and fixed wireless service providers – have stepped up the game by providing access options that have kept many Nigerians online more than before.

The performance review table of operators who ever played in the industry shows that as at close of business on December 31 2008, 9 operators are running full stream, 8 are ailing, 1 was bought substantially into while 6 were bought over 100%. 4 have since closed shop, 7 are begging for buy-over and two are fit for merger while the performance of 1 is indeterminate as its subscribers are largely unknown. Toady, 19 are trudging on in the market.

Etisalat finally executed the Mubadala mono-selection license of 2006 and rolled out services in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, Port-Harcourt, Ibadan and Ogbomosho, several months after the promised date. It does not matter when, point is that it came at last. It is still in search of the joker that could repeat what Globacom did when it arrived in 2003 with the per-second rate of charging, a feat which one operator had said was impossible mdash; as if anything is impossible in engineering. 2008 was indeed full of action, slowed down by executive slow motion right from the top.

NCC, Nigeria’s regulator must have had a busy year. For long, it conceived the ideas of the Wire-Nigeria Initiative (WIN), State-Accelerated Broadband Initiative (SABI), etc, certainly for the purpose of connecting Nigerians to such possibilities as 2008 demonstrated. Now, Nigerians can’t wait to see it happen. The telecom regulator came up with a code and practice regime on standard three-digit code number which shall serve the purpose of emergency services in Nigeria. Ditto for pre-registration of phone subscribers and number portability except that the matter spent the entire year being on the drawing board.

A ban was announced on products’ promotion of GSM Mobile telephone service providers in Nigeria as the regulatory authorities hinted that measurement of phone quality revealed unsatisfactory performance of all GSM operating networks. The regulator discouraged operators even from placing advertisements that are capable of adding more subscribers or result in additional airtime usage on their networks in the face of un-abating congestion.

Two mobile operators, which instituted a court case against a directive of NCC to compensate consumers for poor service, had the case thrown out by the Court and they have gone on appeal, although they paid the fines under various degrees of insubordination to the directive. Chances are that the National Assembly has taken notice of this and gone working, not to rest after the unnecessary battle some of those in the lower House went into with the regulator the previous year.

Nigeria’s Globacom made its way into Benin Republic, towards the fulfilment of the promise of building a truly African network. Transnational Corporation, Transcorp, which bought into Nigeria’s ailing National Carrier (NITEL) in 2006 was threatened with withdrawal of license if no remarkable improvement was recorded in NITEL’s and Mtel’s, services. There was no improvement but the license was not withdrawn either. There was also the rebranding of two major players.

Amidst all the good news, there was a threat of a probe of the Rural Telephony Project, RTP which was never to be. The threat gave way to a solution which is neither here nor there as government handed over RTP’s remnants to five telephone service provider upstarts which the government said are ‘operators’. The RTP is a $200 million telecommunications loan packaged by a consortium of Chinese investors in 2002 for provision of telephone service in 96 rural communities in Nigeria. It finally stalled after several months of inaction.

There was encouraging activity with Nigeria’s Top Level Domain, .ng, as the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA) finally announced institutional structures and major framework under which the Association would operate. Namely four institutional elements: The Secretariat, Policies amp; Procedures, Technical Infrastructure and Service Provider Partners. Several draft documents, which sought to map the way forward were reviewed and pioneer registrars came alive.

Then the bad. The big disappointment for Nigeria’s ICT space in 2008 is the fact that the Federal Ministry for ICT did not emerge. Very senior IT practitioners expressed serious concern about the direction, or lack of it, that government trudged in the year under review. It was widely believed that just as many were clamouring that IT be raised to the level of a Ministry in a converged regime for regulation and project implementation, the IT sections of Federal Ministries were about being merged with the Departments of Planning and Statistics!

Government in 2006 commenced a desire to restructure the information and communications industries when it set up a Committee to examine the wherewithal of a converged industry. It however impulsively went ahead to create the Ministry of Information and Communications ahead of the work of the Committee only to realise that restructuring in a true sense was more than mere name-changing and merging of Ministerial portfolios. It is understood that the Committee completed its work and advised government on the amount of work required to effect a true change that will take advantage of the march of science and technology in the years ahead.

Work has since stalled on the project and the Yarrsquo; Adua government, since take-over in 2007, has operated as if the issue never mattered.

Proponents of a restructured industry argue that because of the radical changes that the internet and indeed Internet Protocol (IP) has offered, it shall be contentious if not totally difficult to determine what is telecommunications or broadcasting or IT service, and especially to distinguish between where one stops and the other commences. A clear view and sharp industry management shall resolve this and enhance smooth management, reduce cost of doing business and ultimately cost and options of service provision. On the other hand, a continuous application of legacy systems and management of new systems using the old methods will create confusion, increase cost of doing business and ultimately impose severe cost on consumers.

Those who are opposed to change argue issues which surround ‘who gains what’ and ‘who loses what’. They talk about persons when the argument is about issues. These are usually enough to confuse a government that has no view of its own.

But while government was seen as taking the proverbial two steps backwards, the private sector remained active even in the face of clear signs of a global financial meltdown and stock market slowdown.

Starcomms, for example, made its way to the Capital Market. NITEL still remained sick. Infact, terminally, maybe. Meanwhile, Kevin Caruso, a new hand who Transcorp hired to put NITEL to shape, said a turnaround of the company would be in the horizon. Few weeks into his assuming office, Caruso told an audience in Lagos: lsquo;We have studied the network extensively. We know what needs to be fixed. And it is not just a matter of fixing it but sustaining the tempo. We have identified the black spots on the network, in the switches, in the transmission and in the billing. Within three to four months, we will get the network running.rsquo; The 4-month promise expired in November 2008 just about when Caruso’s workers went on strike telling the world their company’s ship was sailing in no direction. The verdict is therefore clear.

Still on NITEL: Pentascope showed up in the news again when the Senate said it would reopen the Pentascope file and review it. The Pentascope deal was a management contract which took NITEL from the stretcher to the mortuary all in 18 months a few years ago. If the Senate committee did the review, it never published the report. While that was going on, a Lagos-based analyst said although the value of NITEL’s assets might have plummeted, its true value was actually the worth of its First National Operator’s License which would have in no way devalued. Engr. Titi Omo-Ettu, a telecommunications engineer and consultant, told the media in Lagos that those who spent 8 years to gradually devalue NITEL didn’t achieve their objective after all because they were wrong to be rating NITEL as just any other company down the road. He gave a $2.2billion figure as the worth of the First National Operator License and counselled that it be retrieved from NITEL and placed on auction.

As the year was coasting home, DAAR Communications’ Digital Multi-channel Direct-to-Home Pay TV kicked off at Abuja. 40 channels covering a wide range of broadcast interests are provided for by the afro-centric media conglomerate.

What, however, was probably the most regrettable story of the year is the Nigerian Communications Satellite, NIGCOMSAT-1 which was declared troubled in orbit. It was not immediately clear what the remote cause was but bits of information which reached government and got refurbished for onward transmission to the public showed that the handlers apparently lost control of its tracking due to insufficient maintenance skills.

Thank goodness General Olu Obasanjo does not read newspapers. What appeared under the caption of ‘Nigcomsat apologises to customers’ in several literature would have made him break his seeming silence. The article was nothing too far away from share insult on the intelligence of Nigerians. The 42 kilobits of text could only have been crafted by those who purport to make image for the distraught government owned Nigcomsat Ltd and not likely by its own officials. Apart from the first two and the last paragraphs which feign true apology, the remaining 14 went cataloguing other satellite failures in a futile attempt to justify the waste which the past government threw upon the country as a result of autocracy, graft and egotism. The ‘apology’ kept talking about Nigeria being in space when in actual fact it is China, and not Nigeria, that is actually re-asserting itself in space using Nigeria’s petrodollars. It may be easier, however, for the authors to appreciate that Nigcomsat-1 is a project in commerce, not in science.

2008 was a year of dramatic events: highs and lows, private sector advancement, and missed opportunity. Government missed the unique opportunity of building on the 2007 momentum within the industry by being slow in everything including its response to the expectation that a ministry of ICT will be created. While the Ministry in itself would not have realigned Nigeria’s active participation in the information society, it denies the opportunity to harmonize government departments (and agencies) that continue to suffer from task replication in this new age of convergence. That could at least have prepared this society for the Information Society.

As the year drew to an end, a new Minister for the Information and Communication ministry was announced. A renowned drug-warrior and heroine of Nigeria’s professional class, Prof. Dora Akunyili is well known for her dynamic work in the Food and Drug agency; and all eyes are now on her to see if she would bring this same dynamism to the ministry which sits atop key segments of the nation’s ICT industry. For starters, she may want to sound out her boss and explain to the industry what the position of government is on industry restructuring, and why.

Technology promises to lead the march into future since, after all, IPV6 is already showing that IP will make further radical changes to our lives. The NCC has shown indications of retooling its structures and the private sector in spite of the global recession may look more inwards to make the best of a bad situation. The greatest challenge will be the speed that is originating from Aso Rock since the speed of the ship may not be faster than that of the Captain.

2011 may just be the next year of hope.

Lagos

January 4, 2009

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Led by another Microsoft partner, Alt-i (led by one of my long-time mentors, Dr. Tunde Adegbola), the work that was presented by the Minister of Education at the Shehu Musa Yaradua Centre Board Room in Abuja included the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba translations of glossaries that have now laid the foundation for the integration of these local languages into the Vista and Microsoft Office environment. Imagine working on your machine and speaking Igbo to your machine when asking it to shut down. Or, click in Yoruba. How about caps lock in Hausa?

The ministerrsquo;s keynote, which she clearly stated was coming from her as a research person and not as minister (I like that!), was quite insightful. She touched on Nigeriarsquo;s lack of a Language Policy and the fact that our National Policy on Education actually states that every child must be taught using their local language as language of instruction for the first 3 years of primary school. Such a brilliant way of keeping languages alive but our schools think itrsquo;s ldquo;localrdquo;. I look forward to the day that policy will be implemented, itrsquo;ll help many of us stay connected to the root. It is NOT cool to be unable to speak your local language!

Nigeriarsquo;s young people are everywhere across the world. I have met Nigerians in countries where I assumed there would be none! One major error, though, is the way we often consider our local language something meant for the back burner. Truth is that civilizations that were able to internalize technology in their local languages have been able to make more sense of it. Just imagine how much details are lost when you translate a proverb into Englishhellip; While we master the language that would help us communicate on a global level, we must build content in our local language and extend the perimeters of innovation through that.

The glossary translations are available for download on PINrsquo;s website through these links: Hausa | Igbo | Yoruba. Please feel free to provide feedback through nigeriallp[at]live.co.uk!

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I return to Lagos (tomorrow), happy about how my discussions have gone at the various preparatory meetings mdash; and also with some renewed passion to catch up with the many demonstrations I have seen at the 2 different conferences I have attended here in Austria (in Graz and now Vienna) thanks to the Salzburg-based International Centre for New Media. My return to Lagos is made more exciting by the fact that in six (6) days, the Ajegunle.org project will be celebrating the first set of graduates who have now gone through the various phases of the project mdash; orientation, capacity building, internship, peer training and consistent reports to PIN; another reminder of those efforts that dare to confront the status quo in order to take Nigeria (and her youth, especially) to the New Economy. The project is driven by a young man whose passion I am yet to fathom; he knows how to deliver even in the face of near-zero resources: Ugochukwu Nwosu.

Ugo started volunteering for Paradigm Initiative Nigeria even before we became a legal entity. At the time when PIN was just an online group that tried its best to connect youth to any possible ICT opportunities, Ugo joined others to contribute man-hours to make this possible. I was quite surprised that he chose to return to that same role of a volunteer when he completed his undergraduate studies, and he has since moved on from volunteer to intern and then full time staff. While I keep myself busy with the task of institutional development and also attend to the commitments that come with my service in a number of roles, Ugo is the one who keeps the engine of progress in PIN going. When PIN becomes the institution Irsquo;m working hard to build, it should not be a surprise to see Ugo play a role that many of his peers will consider lucky. It would have been duly earned. I am not afraid to celebrate you, Ugo, because you represent the generation of youth who are now leading the campaign I spent my last decade working on. Thank you!

Each time I look to the corner of my office where a good number of award plaques sit, I think about the people who have now taken the message and have turned it into a lifestyle. To Ugo and the many young people who still understand the principle of delayed gratification (and forge ahead to deliver change even under the least comfortable circumstances), I salute you. You are my heroes, I celebrate you!

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The meetings were timed to coincide with the Europrix Festival in Graz and itrsquo;s been 2 full days of inspiration! Meeting young Europeans who are showcasing their innovative projects has added new flavour to the content of my meeting discussions mdash; and I canrsquo;t wait to see young Africans come together to celebrate innovation and create new pathways for their respective industries. Listen to the organizers: The EUROPRIX winning projects are the best of young multimedia contents and design in Europe. The projects and products are the top selection from all entries to the Top Talent Award. They show that the new developments are not isolated, but that from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, from small towns to the European metro centres, young media designers have taken charge of the technologies to create new applications and contents that work in the real world.

Following yesterdayrsquo;s beautiful session that featured a keynote presentation and discussions led by past winners of Europrix awards in different categories, todayrsquo;s session focuses on demonstrations by category finalists. You can see a complete list of nominees here but the Robovox demonstration was really cool! The Robovox, a large interactive public sound installation using SMS for general public interaction, allows anyone to say anything out loud (and anonymously) by sending text messages to the robot via a short code. Even though the demonstration was made with a much smaller (about 2m) robot, the Robovox installation is usually 8m tall and has traveled to a number of public squares across the world. During the presentation, various text messages made their way to the short code and Martin Bricelj had to allow Robovox to say the many things that anonymous text authors just had to let out.

I wonder if the idea can be integrated into the existing public monuments so that the three elders that greet you as you enter Lagos can say Eko o ni brsquo;aje! to remind everyone who drives into town that we make Lagos whatever it becomes.

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We therefore appeal that you support this initiative by sending us the list of OAU Alumni that you know, stating their names in full (former names if married), course of study, year of graduation, phone numbers, e-mail addresses and current rank/status at work.

It would be appreciated if the information is sent to us through these addresses: advancement[at]oauife.edu.ng or alumnire[at]oauife.edu.ng.

We assure you that the information we receive will be treated confidentially.

Thank you.

Signed

lsquo;Ronke Ajibola

Executive Director

University Advancement Office

Obafemi Awolowo University

Ile-Ife.

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I had the rare priviledge of being close to the campaign Prof. Pat Utomi ran towards his April 2007 candidacy for the presidency of Nigeria and I wasnrsquo;t surprised when he told me sometime during Obamarsquo;s 21-month campaign that the ideas he saw in play were very close to what he advocated in Nigeria. I remember discussions around setting up RestoreNigeria.org, when he hinted that he wanted a grassroots campaign that allowed market women, students and every stakeholder to contribute their single-digit contributions so that government would truly be driven by these people (the true stakeholders) and not the moneybags who usually expect their own dividends of democracy after bankrolling campaigns.

He also insisted on creating a platform to allow all Nigerian citizens to contribute ideas towards the governance of Nigeria mdash; as he presently advocates through the opposition website, www.shadownigeria.org. How could I also forget his choice of Web 2.0 tools during the campaign mdash; he blogged at UtomiNotes.com, uploaded YouTube videos and hersquo;s now on FaceBook! I remember a few people asking if he was truly the one running the FaceBook page himself, noting that Nigerian public officers are known to have secretaries who have deputies mdash; who in turn have assistants (and those assistants often have Vice-Assistants). I also remember his request for some high-level animation to go along with his Public Declaration at the Musa Yarrsquo;adua centre in Abuja.

SMS was central to the Utomi campaign too. And you can probably remember that the words ldquo;change,rdquo; ldquo;valuesrdquo; and ldquo;issuesrdquo; were not far from most of his speecehs! Okay. If he ran the kind of campaign Obama ran much after his own, how come he lost. Well, the answer is obvious: amongst many others that are too political for this page, many of us didnrsquo;t seal the deal. Think about the role that American youth played during Obamarsquo;s election and yoursquo;ll see a missing opportunity from our 2007 elections in Nigeria. How many of us were excited about the opportunity to vote for change following 8 years of a president who had become quite unpopular (letrsquo;s face it, they share similar near-exit ratings and I bet you know the two people I refer to here.)

Will we do something different in 2011? Will young professionals ensure that they are registered on time? Will students mobilise their friends towards active involvement in that election (and we know just how to do that, donrsquo;t we?) Unfortunately, Nigeriarsquo;s middle class has created a pseudo-government of their own by installing generators to replace a dysfunctional power utility company, bore holes to stand in for some agency we used to call ldquo;Water Corporationrdquo; when I was growing up, private guards (of all shades, sizes, uniforms and languages) to take care of what the ldquo;Men In Blackrdquo; are paid to do, and self-created happiness (either through religion, extra hours with colleagues whorsquo;re also scared of the bridge during high-traffic hours at work or hellip; you know) to make up for that joy that comes from a governmentrsquo;s fulfilment of its promises to her citizens. Thus, it is difficult for that same middle class to be bothered about elections, itrsquo;s only one of those things theyrsquo;ve learnt to ldquo;endure.rdquo;

But not in 2011. The lessons of Obamarsquo;s choice as ldquo;leader of the free worldrdquo; will be lost if we donrsquo;t wear the robes of citizen participation now mdash; not when 2011 suddenly happens on us. We must start mobilising the majority that is right so that the minority that has held us bound can feel the pulse. This is already November 2008 and if you discount the holidays, 2009 is here. The budget debates and new year lull (and possibly some breaking news mdash; as we usually have it but hopefully not with the price of PMS this time) will then make way for mid 2009 by which time the political parties will be preparing for the string of primaries and fundraising events that will lead to the full-blown campaign for April 2011. We should have new dates for some positions owing to tribunal rulings but April 2011 (or thereabout) will be time to decide who the next president will be.

We must not miss the opportunity to tell the world that Nigeria mdash; just like the US mdash; knows just when to surprise the world. We always do that with football, and we donrsquo;t lack the intelligence (or number) to achieve the same in the most important part of our socio-political existence. I know that wersquo;ll have many Utomi-like (and if you prefer, Obama-like) campaigns towards 2011 but the difference this time should be our response to the call and deliberate choice to follow through with the message of change. Wersquo;re not lacking in technology gurus who can help mobilise 60% of Nigeriarsquo;s population (the youth) towards virtuous political involvement, and this should meet with political genius that can take advantage of that wave of change mdash; and also deliver on its promise as, and when, due. Obamarsquo;s 21-month campaign and the 2007 candidacy of Pat Utomi are serious pointers to the possibilities that are ahead for Nigeria.

Regardless of where you are, get ready for the much-needed revolution. At home, on holiday, in diaspora, on extended stay, planning to return or officially back in Nigeria? Arise and obey the call. Arise, O compatriots. Nigeriarsquo;s call obey. To serve our Fatherland with love and strength and faith. The labour of our heroes past ldquo;shouldrdquo; never be in vain. To serve with heart and might, one nation bound in freedom. Peace. And unity! O God of creation, direct our noble cause. Guide our leaders right. Help our youth the truth to know: In love and honesty to grow, and living just and true. Great lofty heights attain, to build a nation where peace and justice shall reign! As for me, I pledge to Nigeria, my country: To be faithful, loyal and honest; to serve Nigeria with all my strength. To defend her unity, and uphold her honour and glory. So help me, God. The journey towards 2011 presents Nigeria with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to return to our place as (or fulfil the dream of becoming) the Giant of Africa.

My name is lsquo;Gbenga Sesan and I approve this messagehellip; but with no political ambition for now (maybe later).

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He should be tired by now. Itrsquo;s been a long 21 months of hard work (you can capitalize and underline that) and even though the strength you draw from speaking with a crowd of over 120,000 can be intoxicating, itrsquo;s already 11:30pm in his time zone and it will be a long day tomorrow mdash; not with the thousands of names and roles that need to be sorted out.

At exactly 5am Nigerian time (GMT + 1) today, Barack Obama was declared the winner of the US elections mdash; following one of the most interesting series of events (from the primaries through to election day) that literally caught the world on the edge of its seat. When he announced his candidacy, many laughed off the ambition of the skinny guy with a funny name, some admired his courage but wished he could wait for his own time and others simply told him what many of us have been told: donrsquo;t disgrace yourself. Now, after an almost impossible process that will be the subject of near-eternal analysis, that one is the leader of the free world.

As the fine words eased their way through his lips, my phone rang a number of times. Odd hours, yes, but there were many who stayed awake to watch the turn of events as the voice of the people was being interpreted through the votes of millions who despised the odds to support change. Itrsquo;s the first time a man of colour will be president in the United States but thatrsquo;s not the major attraction (even though no one can deny its historic significance). Yes, his success in this venture will help many truly believe that dreams do come true, including those eloquently expressed by a King who once had a dream. One of the text messages referred to the possibility of tears in the eyes of Rev. King but even if itrsquo;s tough to picture tears in the eyes of the dead, it wonrsquo;t be difficult to imagine how his voice would have expressed the words: ldquo;Yes, we can!rdquo; Actually, he would now say, ldquo;Yes, we have!rdquo;

The major attractions here are the many lessons that this beautiful story (third in the series after Dreams of My Father and The Audacity of Hope) teaches the individual, developing nations and the world at large. It should now be a taboo for anyone to laugh at another person who dares to express their hope to become something greater than themselves mdash; even if their name, background, experience or your assessment offer them no hope. It should also be a thing of shame for any African leader to offer up excuses that good leadership is far from those who are blessed with a certain skin colour. Born to a Kenyan father and discouraged by those who should be his mentors, Barry showcased an example in working deliberately towards set objectives. But as he said during his speech almost half an hour ago, the true winners are the people. Now, that is a direct challenge to the citizens of Nigeria and other nations where we have almost left elections to those who try to scare us away from the process.

Young Africans followed this election with so much passion. Many disagreed on the choice of candidates in elections that would not accept our opinion, but shall we shy away from that with possible outcomes that can shape our future? Ghana goes to the polls in December and many others (South Africa, etc) are waiting for 2009. Can young professionals shed the garment of apathy and decide to get involved? There would have been no President-Elect Obama if those who voted assumed that he was going against too powerful a machinery during the primaries, or if they returned home on election day because the queues were long. Many will spend much of today looking many times over at the same document (for lack of sleep) and the Kenyan government has declared a public holiday for Thursday. Will we see this same passion translated into citizen participation and possible contribution to the development of the land whose song we sing?

Congratulations, Barack, and all the best with the huge work ahead of you! For the rest of us, we have found inspiration to aim for any heights and we have seen the power of the seeming minority that refuse to stay away from a process that could tip the scale for them mdash; and for generations ahead. Itrsquo;s the day after Barack, letrsquo;s ride the wings of change here at home too.

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If a group has Nelson Mandela, Graça Machel, Desmond Tutu, Kofi Annan, Ela Bhatt, Lakhdar Brahimi, Gro Brundtland, Fernando H Cardoso, Jimmy Carter, Mary Robinson, Muhammad Yunus and Aung San Suu Kyi as its members, then you can be sure that it deserves the name, The Elders.

As stated on the grouprsquo;s website: ldquo;Out of deep concern for the challenges currently facing all of the people of our world, Nelson Mandela, Graça Machel and Desmond Tutu have convened a group of leaders to contribute their wisdom, independent leadership and integrity to tackling some of the worldrsquo;s toughest problems.rdquo; I was glad to read these words spoken by Madiba:

This group can speak freely and boldly, working both publicly and behind the scenes on whatever actions need to be taken. Together we will work to support courage where there is fear, foster agreement where there is conflict, and inspire hope where there is despair.rdquo;

Desmond Tutu, a man whose shadow lights my path (as a Desmond Tutu Fellow) also had this to say:

ldquo;Despite all the ghastliness that is around, human beings are made for goodness. The ones who ought to be held in high regard are not the ones who are militarily powerful, nor even economically prosperous. They are the ones who have a commitment to try and make the world a better place. We - The Elders - will endeavour to support those people and do our best for humanity.rdquo;

The Eldersrsquo; group is supported by Richard Branson, Bridgeway Foundation, Michael Chambers, Ray Chambers, Peter Gabriel, Humaity United, Amy Robbins, Shashi Ruia, Jeff Skoll, Dick Tarlow and The United Nations Foundation. I spent some time earlier in the year following the work that the group has done and I decided to support with the little help I may be able to give to these men and women who have not only inspired hope mdash; but whose actions (shadows) are bright enough to light the path of those of us who believe that one (wo)man can make a difference regardless of location or complexity.

Yesterday, I got word from Joshua Robert Wiese who works on the ICT side of The Eldersrsquo; Every Human Has Rights campaign and Irsquo;m glad to invite everyone to sign the declaration in commemoration of itrsquo;s 60th anniversary. Signing the declaration this time is not for ratification by any nation-state or group, but as a sign of your decision to live out the declaration. If we all lived out the words of that declaration, wersquo;ll probably not have to lobby any governments to make true itrsquo;s words. ldquo;2008 is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 60th anniversary. Itrsquo;s time for a global conversation about human rights and the values that unite us as one human family. But it can also be a time when each of us chooses to take human rights into our daily lives, by joining a powerful people network,rdquo; was how the campaign website aptly put the message.

Read it, understand it, sign it, and pass it on.

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