At the most recent TEDxPortHarcourt event, we explored the theme “Light Bearer”, with an aim to highlight the discoveries and lessons learned during the pandemic—a dark time in history for us in Port Harcourt. However, we all are adjusting to the new normal.
We curated TEDx talks that addressed human concerns on survival, public health, the role of social media in fueling or distilling crisis and civil unrest, politics and governance, pandemic preparedness, and the roles that citizens and government ought to play, leadership in a crisis, and the relationship between hope and despair. We invite you to explore the complete playlist below.
Indeed, it was a memorable event featuring industry experts and leading professionals from diverse organizations. Part of our aim was to showcase the beacons of light driving social impact on the ground and creating great change in their spaces. Of course, the pandemic has also changed our perspective and interest in social engagement and community relations, and we remain committed to our goal of sharing ideas worth spreading.
Our virtual TEDxPortHarcourt programming began with the TEDxPortHarcourt Community Curation Series which gave more context and room to further develop and understand the theme in a broader spectrum. There were five virtual sessions in the Community Curation Series and each addressed; Hope and Despair, Agriculture, Civil Unrest and Governance, and the Impact of Human Activities on the Environment.
In between the Community Curation Sessions, we launched an idea search from our audience. TEDxPortHarcourt speaker Nnamdi Udechukwu’s idea emerged with the highest vote. His idea focused on why container homes should be embraced as an affordable and sustainable solution to the housing deficit.
All these events were part of the build-up towards “TEDxPortHarcourt: Light bearers”, which we held virtually on December 5th, 2020.
TEDxPortHarcourt featured twelve speakers from a diverse array of background and two performances by soul singer Kotrell and rapper Kblacktheblack. Deputy Governor of Rivers State opened the event with her talk on leadership in the time of a pandemic.
Following TEDxPortHarcourt, we dove deeper into issues relating to how our community is responding to the pandemic by hosting two workshops. We organized these workshops to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic impact on food and agriculture and also, vaccine rush, from a regional to a global standpoint.
The speakers at these events were a mix of local experts and Skoll awardees, such as Oluseun Onigbinde, Sher Nawaz, and Kola Masha. They shared impact of their work and organization within the region, ranging from using data to map out social mentions, technology, and transparency in leadership. These talks added more context and form to the already curated talks.
Celestina Obiekea talked about four lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic. She shed light on the health sector and informed us that the onus is on us to make public health work- in our actions and inactions. She also touched on how public health is political. We need strong and effective leadership to govern the nation’s affairs as every activity and action that we make affects public health.
Andrew Obuoforibo gave a talk on how democracy is a production, shedding light into how elections and civil activism affects politics and governance.
Itoro Emembolu, a STEM advocate, talked about acquiring relevant skills for the future and how STEM helps young people develop solutions that address a social issue. It enlightened us on why they ought to be equipped with both practical and theoretical knowledge.
Oluseun Onigbinde talked about the distrust and disconnect that exists between the government and citizenry and how the pandemic contributed to widening the gap.
Sher Nawaz helped us understand how rumors travel and why it is important that they be effectively managed especially during a pandemic. The spread of Covid-19 has been paralleled by misinformation and disinformation about the virus, which fueled panic and cast doubt on its existence, especially through social media and other informal media. Ifeanyi Nsofor talked about pandemic preparedness which originated from the Ebola epidemic, thus resulting in more investments in the public health sector.
Mina Ogbanga talked about the lacuna that exists between the private and government institutions and how the pandemic has affected education, especially students in government institutions. Her talk questions the widening technological and infrastructural gap between the private owned and public institutions in the country and the adverse effect of the government’s failure to mainstream digital learning.
Biodomoye Thom- Okoroh talked about hope and despair as polar opposites yet deeply entwined. She talks about the relationship between hope and despair and their essence in the human condition while Dr. Mrs. Ipalibo Harry addressed leadership in the time of a crisis. For her, it is a heart and head matter and in a pandemic, leaders ought to be light bearers who bring hope to the people.
All these and many more were the ideas shared during the TEDx Skoll Conversation Series. It has been a learning and insightful experience so far and for us especially, having the privilege of having global communities participate in our event.
Want more stories of transformational change on the world’s most pressing problems? Sign up for Skoll Foundation’s monthly newsletter.
No Result