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About the Project
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“respect for the diversity of
cultures, tolerance, dialogue and cooperation, in a climate of
mutual trust and understanding are among the best guarantees of
international peace and security.
General Conference of UNESCO November
2001
Introduction
The trends of globalization and its
attendant effects on diversity and the cultures of the people of the
world, as well as its implications for the socio-economic and
political development of a vast majority of the world’s peoples and
cultures, necessitates a deliberate and elaborate response need to
meet the challenges posed by the devouring emergent culture,
congruent with globalization.
While a number of the world’s cultures
and Africa in particular are in danger of being excluded from the
benefits associated with globalization. They are at the same time,
also in danger of being completely overwhelmed and swallowed up by
the gangling and unrestrained attributes of an emerging mordant
global culture.
Acknowledging these challenges and
prefacing its submissions to the proposals of a draft
Declaration of
Principles and Plan of Action, (later adopted) to the first phase of
the World Summit on the Information Society, in Geneve 2002, UNESCO
averred that
“the proposals respond to the main
challenges posed by the building of knowledge societies: first to
narrow the digital divide that accentuates disparities in
development, excluding entire groups and countries from the benefits
of information and knowledge; second, to guarantee the free flow of,
and equitable access to, data, information, best practices and
knowledge in the information society; and third, to build
international consensus on newly required norms and principles.”
The Tiv internet project is an attempt
to respond to these challenges.
As it were, these challenges confront
not only the Tiv cultures and its people, found in the regional belt
extending from the Benue valley to the Cameroon Mountains in West
Africa, but the generality of African ethnic and cultural groups who
have been severely threatened with exclusion from the entire global
process.
 Goal
Primarily, the goal of Tiv
Internet Project (TIP) is to facilitate
an adequate representation of the status of development in Tivland
with a view to improving the socio-economic lot of the Tiv people
and to begin the process of organizing and preserving the rich
aspects of Tiv cultural heritage.
Objectives
Generally, TIP’s objectives are to put
up a repository of information (socio-cultural and socio-economic)
in a digital format, about the Tivs of Nigeria, Tivland and the Tiv
culture.
Specifically the objectives are to;
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Design programmes and methods of
collection, collation and preservation of the remains of Tiv
culture
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Facilitate information exchange
amongst professionals, students, international agencies as well
members of the civil societies interested in promoting Tiv
cultural values and norms
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Provide information on inherent
physical, natural and economic opportunities present amongst the
Tiv people and in Tivland at global, regional and local forums
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Engage, where feasible, aspects of
global attributes that would enhance entrepreneurial benefits for
Tiv land and Tiv people (proliferation of information flows and
exchanges through internet platforms, websites, newsletters and
web blogs and web forums)
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Bring to light, especially to the
international community, the searing challenges and impact of
poverty in Tivland and
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Increase the tempo and magnitude of
health campaigns that address major health challenges in Tiv land
i.e. HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, maternal and infant mortality rates
etc
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Consider the possibility of designing
capacity development programmes to enhance Tiv culture, promote
Tiv industry and market products from Tiv land
TIP’s Activities
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Research, documentation and conversion
of digital heritage
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Design of a web portal
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Facilitation of information flows
(international and local avenues)
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Organization of discussions for small
groups stakeholders and partners
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Production of newsletters
TIP became necessary as part of an
effort to ensure adequate representation of knowledge about the
Tivs. In a cursory survey of materials about the Tivs and Tivland
online, as at December 2004, it became obvious that the level of
material documentation in terms, web sites, web portals, web pages,
and indeed library materials available in major libraries around the
world, and the general impression about the Tivs and Tivland, is
poor in comparison to, for instance other ethnic groups in Nigeria
specifically and Africa in general. A Google web search on the words
"Tiv+Nigeria” or “Tiv+land” returned a search result of about
1,000.000 and 1.2 million respectively. Out of which only 10%
percent actually carried information that were original and not
repetitive about the subjects requested. This is in contrast to the
over 10 million found on the Yorubas, or Hausas for instance. Or
even the Nupawas or Igalas.
A search for the picture or image of the
Tor Tiv, H.R.H. Dr. Alfred Akawe Torkula, the Traditional
leader and the spiritual custodian of the Tivs and Tiv land, in some
of the most popular engines of the world,
www.google.com,
www.yahoo.com and
www.aol.com all returned no results at all, while same search
for the images of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oni of Ife, Attah of Igala,
Oba of Lagos, all returned pictures of the respective Traditional
Heads of the ethnic representations.
Furthermore, the wrongful
impression of the Tiv people as an aggressive people also pervades
the Internet. The bulk of the materials online are clearly
representative of active media houses, whose reports appear online.
And
the works of the early anthropologists and missionaries who worked
in Tivland, and were more (arguably) interested in projecting
only those values and information that supported their works on
continuity and discontinuity as argued by
Drs. J. Moti and S. Wegh.
Furthermore, as at July 2005, the
only WebPages dedicated to providing some information about the Tivs and
Tivland was one or two at best. One of such sites,
www.ayatutu.org is a website that was put up as a
form of propaganda website to counter the bad press and or project
the Tiv side of the crisis that rocked Zakibiam, Tivland in 2002.
The website also aimed to solicit assistance for the refugees that were
generated as a result of the crisis. The other website
www.muta.org, is an organizational website created to present the
mission, objectives, activities as well as the officers and members
of the M’zough U Tiv Ken Tar Amerika (Mutual Union of the Tivs in
America). The Benue State web portal (www.benuestate.com) mainly retains information on government activities, achievements as
well as other information relevant to those seeking information
about governance in Benue. The Official site of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria (www.nigeria.gov.ng)
bears no information about any of the ethnic groups in Nigeria
neither does it recommend a site that has the information.
A number of sites, however, contain a
retinue of information about the Tivs and Tivland, but all or most
of such information are project information relating mostly to the
crisis between the Tivs and some of their neighbours, for instance
www.aapeaceworks.org and the websites of some of the religious
bodies that are in the forefront of conflict resolution in the areas
concerned.
As reasoned earlier, available
information about the Tivs and Tiv land online, are generally sparse
and even the available materials seemed to suggest that Tiv land is
in need of pacification.
In today’s world, it is more pragmatic
and more relevant to have information that is useful to the global
economy and would attract investors and other development players to
the area. In other developing countries, the internet has been
harnessed thoroughly for the purpose of letting out information on
trade opportunities that exist in their areas. Indeed, online trade
is estimated to gross in the excess of 5 trillion dollars and
majority of these go to developed countries. However, current
information about economic and other opportunities in Nigeria is highly
limited and in the case of Benue state, apart from the site of the
government is virtually non existent. Little information also exist
in terms of contacts that can provide the information. As such the
heavy agricultural products that the Tivland is renowned for, have
limited space of having relevant information that could attract potential partners.
The Tiv Language
Not also to be taken for granted
is the issue of language preservation. The Tiv language is listed as
one of those in danger of extinction. The English language remains
dominant and spurs the attack on the other languages and cultures of
the world. Since the 1990s, there has been a growing concern about
the need for multi-lingualism on the World Wide Web or the Internet,
as it were. UNESCO’s Babel Initiative and recommendations on multi-lingualism and access
to cyberspace and the Charter of Digital
Heritage avers clearly that “Language
is the foundation of communication between people and is also part
of their cultural heritage. For many, language has far-reaching
emotive and cultural associations and values rooted in their
literary, historical, philosophical and educational heritage”
Indeed, language is the most “audible”
evidence of cultures and without which for many, it is a direct loss
of “cultural life and community”. Fortunately, projects like the
Roseta Project (www.rosetaproject.org/8080/live
by the Long Now Foundation in collaboration with the Stanford
University Librares are giving impetus to the academic research,
collection and collation of the world’s 1000 or so languages that
are in danger of extinction. The onus however, remains that people the world
over must make the attempts and take the steps required to protect, preserve and project their culture and Language.
Development and Culture
According to Exchange Findings, by
engaging cultural processes at all levels, development practitioners
can encourage local initiative and better understand social change.
For the World Bank, development cannot be conceived without cultural
continuity, it must as a matter of fact form the basis for the
future. Serious attention to culture is basic to improving
development effectiveness – education, health, the production of
goods and services and the management of cities. It is at the very
heart of poverty reduction as well as the quality of life.
While the advantages of the cultures of groups in
developing countries are generally the opportunity cost forgone for
development, the need becomes evident everyday as adopted or
borrowed “cultures” usually obscure the inherent weaknesses and omit
the “real cost of development”.
Tivland and Tiv culture has also been
at the receiving end of these challenges. It is therefore
instructive for the Tivs to learn and adapt from the best practices
of other cultures as well as develop its own strategies of dealing with these challenges. This will serve
to advance the culture of the Tivs and their heritage.
While globalization presents it
challenges, it also offers a veritable number of tools as well as
opportunities to, indeed, re-project the cultures of the world in
new ways not thought of before. The preface of the UNESCO’s
presentation to the World Summit on information Society, signed by
the Assistant Director General of UNESCO, avers that “these
technologies are not merely tools; they inform and shape our modes
of communication and our thinking and creativity processes. How
should we act that the benefits of this ICT s revolution accrues to
all mankind and does not become just the privilege of a small number
of economically highly developed countries? How can we ensure access
for all to these information and intellectual resources, overcome
the social, cultural and linguistic barriers to participation in
knowledge societies? How should we promote the online publication of
content that is increasingly more diversified and potentially a
source of enrichment for the whole community? What teaching and
learning opportunities are offered by these new means of
communication?”
TIPs needs
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Ideas, comments, reactions and
objective contributions
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Office support (Office space,
computers, softwares, printers and internet connectivity)
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Information about other projects
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Consultancy services
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Hitherto unknown materials and the
resources to acquire rights and intellectual property
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Mobility support, Travel costs
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support for publications (Editing,
printing and distribution to strategic centres)
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support for small brainstorming
sessions
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volunteers (and if possible stipends
for volunteers)
Vitalis Ortese
Project Initiator and Coordinator
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Please note that all Team members,
Board of Advisors are in these capacities as volunteers. All
contributors will be acknowledged and credits will be given to
copyright owners. Occasionally, little fees may be charged and
receipted, to cover cost of logistics for requests.
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