WELCOME TO AFRO-SCOPE, THE AFRO-CENTRIC INTER-CULTURAL PROJECT
Beaming The African Ways of Life To The World
Greetings, and Welcome!
We introduce “Afro-Scope,” the Afro-Centric Inter-Cultural Exchange Project! Our name is self-explanatory—a Scope that beams on the African Continent, with a great Enlightenment Inter-Cultural Exchange purpose. The idea is to contribute towards the bridging of the understanding-gap between the African people and the other peoples of the world. We aim to help other peoples of the world to understand the African Ways of Life. It is about ‘The African Culture,’ and about the sub-cultures of the various peoples of the African continent. Naturally, one way to do this is by sharing the African Culture with the rest of the world. And we also share other cultures of the world with the Africans, with progressive comparisons between all cultures of the world. This Inter-Cultural Exchange is done in our unique InfoTainment style. As you may know, InfoTainment is a fusion of two words—informing through entertainment.
CONTENTS:
This Afro-Scope.com site houses our potpourri of “Afro-Centric Programming Materials,” which appreciate, protect/defend, and promote the African Culture and people. Importantly also, we objectively critique the African Culture for progressive reformation or improvement where we believe it to be necessary. We offer several categories of materials in the forms of written narratives of African customs, traditions and social life. And we offer pictorials, and motion pictures. Our contents are in the following categories: (1) “AfroCultural Dramas” category where we dramatize the traditions and other elements of the African Culture, informing you as you have fun with us—InfoTainment, that is! (2) Our “Afro-Cultural Titbits” category is our narrative version (written and videos), with more detailed facts about traditions and other elements of the African Culture. Pursuant to our Inter-Cultural Exchange objective, we consistently compare Africa with the rest of the world.
(3) Our “Afro-Cultural Entertainment” category may sound like repetition, but it really isn’t. It deals strictly with various forms of Performing Arts from the African continent, including cultural dances, African masquerades. This includes “AfroCultural Festivals,” with motion-picture clips of festivals from around Africa. Of course, we give you background information about every festival. (4) We also have “AfroCultural Documentaries,” which is self-explanatory. (6) Our “Socio-Political Affairs & Sports” category brings you analysis of historical and current topical issues in Africa. It also covers sports that are peculiar to the African continent and peoples, such as the African traditional kind of wrestling. (5) “No Bullshitting Vlog” is a radical Socio-Political Critic, a journalistic alter-ego of Harry Agina, who lambastes culprits of social and political ills in Africa, especially the evil political rulers. (6) Last, but not the least, is our “Religions In Africa” category with our discourses and showcases on African traditional religions. We constantly compare them with Christianity, Islam and other foreign religions in Africa.
KEY AFRO-SCOPE TEAM MEMBERS:
May we introduce relevant professional information about some key members of the Afro-Scope team. This is important as a confidence-builder of sorts, as we woo you to trust that we can deliver what we boast to deliver. Let’s start with the director or driver of the project, Harry Agina. Harry’s educational and professional communications background assures you that he can lead the team well. Harry is a Versatile Communications Professional. His scope in communications encompasses Mass Communication, Journalism, Motion-Picture Production (film and video), and Broadcasting. He has a bachelor’s degree in Theater Cinema, and a bachelor’s degree in Telecommunication and Filmmaking. He also has a master’s degree in mass communication. All his degrees were acquired in the USA from 1979 to 1989. During this period and afterwards, he has practiced as a professional in Theater Arts, Television Production, Journalism, and Broadcasting, in the USA and beyond.
Stating Harry’s experience and track record that are relevant to the Afro-Scope Inter-Cultural Exchange Project is to assure you that Harry does understand both sides of the divide between Africa and the rest of the world. Hence, the products of his passion for all cultures of the world and his professional Communications background, will thrill you. Harry is a Nigerian American. He is an African by birth, and American by naturalization. He has lived most of post-teenage life in the USA, having left Nigeria after Secondary/High School education. Furthermore, he has abundant travel and professional experiences in several other western countries. He has been to all the habitable six out of the seven continents of the world. And he has been to at least two cities on each of those six continents. His thrust in all those travels around the world as a Communications expert has been Inter-Cultural Exchange between Africa and the rest of the world.
As for his continent of origin, Africa, Harry once journeyed around eight strategic countries, all within one stretch of six months—from August 1, 1990, to January 1991. It was an “Afro-Scope” Broadcast Television Documentary Project, titled “The Other Side of Africa.” The resultant documentary series was broadcast for several months in the State of Texas, USA. The idea was to disabuse the minds of North American TV audiences, who believed that Africa was nothing but a jungle of starving ape-people. This image had been painted for them by “Tarzan,” the movie, which portrays Africa as a jungle. The African countries that Harry toured with his TV crew were Senegal, Togo, the Gambia, and Nigeria in West Africa; South Africa and the Zambia in southern Africa; Kenya and Ethiopia in East Africa. A very significant event marked the beginning of that journey. Harry’s team left Texas for the trip in the night of August 1, 1990. And the Gulf war that took the life of Saddam Hussein of Iraq commenced in the early hours of August 2, 1990. The presidential palace of Zambia was the team’s first stop in the morning of August 2. In fact, it was the then president of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda, who broke the news to Harry and his crew that the Gulf war just commenced earlier that morning, The team was in transit from Texas to Africa when the war started.
And, of course, we have a team of professionals in various fields of Humanities, who work with Harry on the Afro-Scope project. The key members include: (1) Michael Shaibu who heads our “AfroCultural Dramas” unit. Mike is a dramatist of great repute in Africa. He studied English at the University of Abuja. His writing courses at the prestigious London School of Journalism refined him into the icon that he is today as a dramatist since the 1980s. Mike has written for several of Nigeria’s popular and award-winning soaps that have made waves on Nigerian Television. They include: “Everyday People,” “Papa Ajasco,” “One Love,” “Binta And Friends,” “Young, Single, and Free,” “Love Stories,” to name just the few. Mike’s AfroCultural drama series on various African traditions are already making waves among our Afro-Scope fans. Do check them out if you haven’t. Note also that we shall soon graduate those series into Motion-Picture productions.
We have our traditionalist, Chris Sanctus Okereke, heading our “AfroCultural Titbits” category. He is an astute script writer and a master in a wide range of digital production skills for TV, radio, print and social media. He has over 15-year-experience in development communication, content development, team/capacity building, and Social-Behaviors-Change Communication. Chris worked in the development sector, especially in health, governance, legislative sector, culture, tourism, and elections. He is a member of Nigeria’s Civil Society Situation Room. He works for an international media organization on African Culture. Udoakpunye has also consulted for major development programs, including UK-Aid’s “Partnership for Transforming Health Systems (PATHS),” “State and Local Government Program (SLGP),” and USAID’s “C-Change Program.” Until December 2022, Chris was with BBC TV Igbo Service in Nigeria.
We also have Josiah Onesimus Haruna. Josiah is the Information Technology expert for Afro-Scope. He is a young man with tertiary education in Philosophy and Religion. He majored in African Traditional Religions. “My desire to sustain and preserve the rich African heritage led me into this line of education,” says Josiah. “After my first degree, I went further for a personal study in ‘Abortion, and then African belief system, from where I got my first Award.” It is obvious, therefore, why Josiah is a member of the Afro-Scope team besides his contributions in Information Technology. He is a schooled traditionalist in African Culture.
Finally, we have another traditionalist, Huxley Aniesona. Huxley is another intriguing young man, because it is unusual in these days to see a young African like him going professionally traditional. In fact, majority of African youths have no idea about their culture and traditions. Hence, alas, the African Culture is gradually going extinct! Huxley’s tertiary education was in Business Administration. But he decided to abandon all that and went into the practice of African Traditional Religion. He complements it with the practice of traditional medicine, otherwise called herbal medicine, comprising herbs, weeds, leaves, and roots. “My practice is a natural calling,” says Huxley. He applies his education in research and investigation for Afro-Scope in his “calling” as our traditionalist. So, he has an advantage over elder traditionalists who have no western education. He will go pan-African, and global, bringing us researched comparisons between African traditions and related traditions of the world. He will compare between his own practice in his native Igbo land in Nigeria, and other parts of Africa.