Blessing Umunnah
22 June 2008
Lagos — THISDAY is set to revolutionise the way awareness is raised for African issues through the annual Thisday Festival. This year's festival with the theme 'Africa Rising' will focus on finding "sustainable solutions" rather than the "problems" facing Africa.
Following the overwhelming success of the festival, now in its third year, Nigerian media mogul Nduka Obaigbena is taking his brain-child cross-continent with scheduled events in Abuja, July 11, Lagos, July 13, Washington DC, August 1, and London, October 14. The world-class festival is set to project positive images of Africa by showcasing the renaissance of Africa's music, fashion and the arts.
The continent's culture will be on full display as patrons will live the true African experience at every event. The previous Thisday events in 2006 and 2007 featured the biggest names in music - Lionel Richie, King Sunny Ade, Diana Ross, Beyoncéé, Asa, Alicia Keys, P Diddy, Shakira, D'Banj, Snoop Dogg, 2Face, John Legend, Missy Elliot, Ne-yo, Busta Rhymes, Ciara and Kelly Rowland. This year, the festival gets even bigger as it encompasses music, fashion and culture. International and African stars Jay-Z, Usher, Mary J Blige, Chris Brown, Rihanna, Fat Joe, Naomi Campbell, Oluchi, Tyson Beckford, Youssou N'Dour, Liya Kebede, Alek Wek, Ozwald Boateng, Chris Aire, 9ICE and Shank are on the bill for the events.
Supporting the festival, which celebrates Africa's achievements, Naomi Campbell said: "It is fantastic that Mr Obaigbena is helping improve the positive awareness of Africa as too many people have stereotypical and negative views of the continent. He obviously had a remarkable vision, a real passion and a special message, as opposed to just being a promoter.
The more I found out about his mission to promote positivity and understanding, the more I wanted to be involved going forward with the 'Africa Rising' festival." 'Africa Rising' was first launched in 2006 under the direction of Thisday's editor-in-chief, Nduka Obaigbena. Its mission is not only to reflect the culture and positive attributes of Africa's social, political and economical progress, but also to reach out to the continent's diverse population as well as the diaspora and International communities.
Obaigbena explained: "Right now the international community seems to be dealing with the symptoms not the problems of Africa. The symptoms are poverty and disease, but the problem is lack of social and physical infrastructure.
This initiative is to highlight the need to focus sustainable solutions on the problems through massive investment in infrastructure and microfinance in order to rebuild Africa from the ground up. Europe is what it is today because after World War II the 'Marshall Plan' took hold. It did not deal with poverty, it focused on rebuilding Europe". Bespoke Couturier, Ozwald Boateng said of the event: "I'm very proud to be a part of this exciting moment.
We have all come together in a celebration of culture and art, helping to bring Africa's attention to the international community. We no longer have to see the same message of poverty and war, but we can show case the best of Africa's talent to help drive the message home that Africa is on its way up and encourage other continents to build bridges and ensure Africa achieves its rightful place in the world's economies by rebuilding infrastructure and creating businesses that transform the lives of Africans."
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