WSICE 2015 to focus on storytelling & youth development

“These are the two fundamental concerns of the Nobel laureate in his career of promoting better humanity not only in his literary writings but also in his intervention in local and global socio-cultural and political discourses,” the organisers of the project, Nigeria-based ZMirage Multimedia Company and US-based GlobalNewHaven, said in a statement.Unlike previous the editions […]

“These are the two fundamental concerns of the Nobel laureate in his career of promoting better humanity not only in his literary writings but also in his intervention in local and global socio-cultural and political discourses,” the organisers of the project, Nigeria-based ZMirage Multimedia Company and US-based GlobalNewHaven, said in a statement.
Unlike previous the editions in which held in Lagos, Ogun and Osun states, events for this year’s edition will hold exclusively in Abeokuta, Ogun State, where the Nobel laureate resides, the statement said.
It added that there were also plans to concentrate the activities in the neighbourhood of Soyinka’s Ijegba Forest residence, and at the Ogun State Cultural Centre, Kuto.
The annual event initiated in 2010, debuted on Soyinka’s 76th birthday as the “quintessential artist and symbol of our humanity,” the promoters of the project said.
This sixth edition marking his 81st “was redesigned in terms of performance features. The 2015 project will focus on storytelling as a resourceful art form that is an integral part of the socialisation process of an average African personality,” stated Executive Producer, Teju Kareem.
“Our theme is storytelling and youth development, and this is designed to address our observations that in an era when the society continues to drastically lose its moral values, due to vagary of factors, including improper and inadequate child upbringing and chaotic educational system, we believe that a full exploration and exploitation of the power of storytelling in parental upbringing and as well as school activities could help to inculcate moral values in our young ones,” he added.
Participants for the event include Caribbean’s leading storytelling performer Theodora Ulerie aka Anty Thea (Trinidad and Tobago) and from Nigeria, Mrs. Noma Sodipo, founder and anchor of the popular children TV programme, StoryTime with Auntie Noma (Nigeria).  
They will run workshops and mentorship sessions with junior secondary school students drawn from Ogun State and 81 senior secondary school students from across the country representing the finalists in the annual essay competition.