TEDxYaba 2018?—?Reboot

Last year, TEDxYaba sought to stimulate conversations around our collective past in order to chart a course for the future.

I’ve had a lot of time to think about what next and I have to admit that there’s so much work to be done that it’s almost exhausting just thinking about it. If you’re passionate about positive change in Nigeria, it’s very easy to get tired and frustrated when you realise how seemingly insignificant your impact is in the grand scheme of things needed to fix the country permanently. By ‘fix’, I mean moving the needle in a positive direction and setting us on a consistent path of undeniable progress, judging by globally accepted indices and metrics.

This has been my mood for the past couple of months but it’s time for a Reboot.

reboot

verb /?ri??bu?t/

a) (of a computer) to switch off and then start again immediately, or to make a computer do this

b) to start something again or do something again, in a way that is new and interesting

In the midst of the frustration and seeming chaos, there are brave and innovative Nigerians doing incredibly amazing work that solve everyday challenges in new and interesting ways. There are also others who are rethinking how we approach problem solving with fascinating ideas that deserve to be heard. They represent a glimmer of hope and more than ever before, their stories need to be amplified. Our first TEDxYaba event this year, themed “Reboot”, will be dedicated to curating and celebrating these ideas.

For our second event later this year, we’re very excited to host our first ever TEDxYabaWomen event with the theme “Showing up”. This will coincide with TEDWomen 2018 and will feature a mix of recorded talks from the conference and live local speakers, who, whatever their focus and talent — politics, science, technology, art — are pioneers who are unapologetically breaking out and pushing boundaries. They’re rising up to listen, to be heard, to see and be seen, to celebrate and empower. These women and their allies are joining forces in an explosion of discovery and ingenuity to drive real, meaningful change.

TEDWomen brings together a global community of people interested in exploring how change begins: with innovative thinkers who catalyse ideas toward action. Over the past few years, TEDWomen and TEDxWomen have launched some powerful ideas into the world and we’re excited to be a part of that movement.

Our list of speakers, dates and venues will be announced in the coming weeks but please reach out to me if any of this sounds interesting to you and if you (or your organisation) would like to volunteer, partner or suggest a speaker we should consider for either of these events. Feel free to write me at [email protected].

Looking forward to hosting you at this year’s TEDxYaba events.