Establishing Academic Links Nigeria and Brazil In Times of Covid-19: Incorporating the ISTR Mentoring Program in the Classroom

Project “University Internationalization and Interculturality” The learning process in a graduate program during the pandemic of Covid-19 has challenged professors and students. The very intensive tasks included online classes, Zoom or Google Meet platforms, e-mails, and webinars to keep students motivated and connected to the world. In this context, this is my second year in a mentoring relationship with Kabir Kareem, who is at the School of Social Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa, as part of the ISTR Mentoring Program. Most relationships last for one program year but we requested to continue our relationship, as Kabir is doing a research on “Gender, Equality and Resistance: A Narrative of Nigeria Women Struggle for Liberation, 1914-1960”, that match with my specialty. He was invited to join our morning class on Tuesday, to interact with Brazilian graduate students of Political Science and International Relations at Universidade Federal da Paraiba, Jo?o Pessoa, Northeast of Brazil. The objective was to introduce Kabir, to listen to his experiences as a Nigerian citizen, describing his memories, and focusing on political, social and economic issues. As a mentor, I wanted the Brazilian students to be acquainted with the colonization process in Africa, especially in Nigeria, under the British Empire, from the mid-nineteenth century until 1960, when the country achieved its independence. As important commitments, the prohibition of slave trade to British subjects in 1807, the annexation of Lagos in 1861, and the establishment of the Oil River Protectorate in 1884, increasing British influence in the Niger area over the 19th century. This power was acknowledged by other European States in the 1885 Berlin Conference. 

https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.istr.org/resource/resmgr/inside_istr_10_20/istr.newsletter.10.16.20.pdf