Ambassador (Dr.) Robin Renee Sanders book "The Legendary Uli Women of Nigeria," was launched December 6, 2014 in the country that inspired its writing -- Nigeria, with support by Nigerian captains of industry and the media, non-governmental leaders, and recognized Nigerian academics leading the way in noting the ground breaking message of the book - African sign and symbol systems such as Uli, although artistic, are important, social, and political information systems about the culture they represent.
Using Uli as a case study in her Robert Morris University (RMU) doctoral dissertation, which won an award from the University's Department of Communication and Information System for its uniqueness, the book hails from her field research about the issue of these very fragile information systems which Sanders calls "communication expressions," which are disappearing or endangered around the world. There are a number of them in Nigeria, with Uli being near the top of the list of disappearing completely, particularly the meanings of the motifs.
Dr. Sanders spent time also learning how to draw each of the motifs herself and her drawings and other graphics are included in the book along with some 116 color photographs which the Ambassador took of the Uli women she met and her travels to the region. In line with the tradition in Nigeria of a leading academic reviewing the book, Dr Chuu Krydz Ikwuemesi, who worked with the Ambassador over the years in supporting income-generating projects for Uli practitioners, and who is a leading Nigerian scholar, provided his professional comments about the role the book is playing and will play as regards to endangered sign and symbol systems such as Uli.
Leading Nigerian media outlets such as Channels TV Chairman John Momoh moderated a "conversation," segment with Dr. Sanders during the launch on the book, current U.S.-Nigeria relations, and next steps following the US-Africa Summit. Nigeria's leading newspaper, The Guardian, also covered the event, and Sanders appeared the next morning on the main news magazine show, Sunrise.
Other notable and honored guest speakers at the event included, Estisalat Chairman Hakeem Belo-Oasgie, former Group Managing Director of Diamond Bank, Dr. Alex Otti, and one of Nigeria's leading women on SME, Entrepreneurship, and Development issues, Ms. Evelyn Oputu. A portion of the book sales will go to the Nigerian organization the Art Republic, which assists with income-generating project training for Uli practitioners.
