Mo' Sibyl

해외 나이지리아인| The One with Mr. Felix Ofiwe – On Fostering Community & Engaging Nigerians in the Diaspora: Episode 15 (2020)

The More Sibyl Podcast Presents:

해외 나이지리아인| The One with Mr. Felix Ofiwe – On Fostering Community & Engaging Nigerians in the Diaspora: Episode 15 (2020)

As a Nigerian living in the diaspora, I am sometimes saddened about the relative economic contributions we make in our resident countries, often at the expense of the Motherland. For example, in the healthcare and engineering fields, Nigerians have made a lot of advancement to the U.S. economy but have hardly been given the due recognition we deserve. And as a group, we are yet to leverage and harness our collective strength together to improve governance and effect changes back home. It’s why I engaged in a dialogue with Mr. Felix Ofiwe, a Nigerian who has been living in the U.S. since 1991! Before his move to the U.S., he was a news and sports reporter with The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) in Benin City, and The Guardian Express and Punch Newspapers in Lagos, Nigeria.

Since arriving in the U.S., he has written for or edited several Houston, TX news publications including African World News and the now-defunct African American Focus newspaper where he served as the founding Editor.

Borne out of a desire to help Nigerians living in the U.S. know what is happening around them so they can make the right decisions, every day, he and his wife started The Nigerian Community (an online website).

In this episode, we also talked about practical tips to engage Nigerians in and outside the diaspora to build the country and so much more. You can find out more about Mr. Felix and his mission on his website - https://nigerian.community/

God Bless Nigeria!

우리의 여권| The One with Two Nigerians - Renewing your Nigerian Passport in the US: Episode 36 (2019)

우리의 여권| The One with Two Nigerians - Renewing your Nigerian Passport in the US: Episode 36 (2019)

Ha! My dearest Nigerians! It’s that time of the year again when the holidays are around the corner and a lot of you are considering flying back to Nigeria to celebrate with family (don't do it)! But then you remember that your passport is expired and you are dreading to get it renewed.

Fret not, dear friends! This episode will help guide your passport renewal process, especially whether or not you have a US passport and if you need to apply for your underage child(ren). Knowing how scary the Nigerian embassy can be like, my guest – Dr. Temitope and I will be holding your hands all through with our detailed description and plentiful tips that abound in this episode. Whether you end up doing it in DC, Atlanta, or New York, know that a lot of these passport officials are still as scary and irksome as can be – so pop a Xanax or two beforehand (and don’t forget your Hail Marys and prayer beads too) because two angries don’t make a right.

If it’s of any consolation, the Nigerian passport renewal process is lots better than Zimbabwe’s (listen to find out how so). Also listen to our suggestions to the Nigerian Immigration Service on how the renewal process can be made better, especially leveraging already existing technology in the US.

All in all, I hope that we can enter the passport office one day and be greeted with smiles, top-notch customer service, and certainly no NTA playing on an analog TV caged to the window. Or even better still, scrap the mandatory, costly trips to the doggone embassies and do the whole process online! A girl can dream.

If you liked this episode, please let me know and don’t forget to share. God bless Nigeria!

𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙊𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙨𝙞 𝙅, 𝙊𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙚 𝙎, 𝘼𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝘼, 𝘼𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙡𝙖 𝘼, 𝙇𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙖 𝙅 (𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙕𝙞𝙢𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙬𝙚), 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘼𝙙𝙖 𝙐, 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨.

내 이상한 이웃들| The One with the Ghanaians - Nigeria (3) vs. Ghana (1): Episode 43 (2018)

The More Sibyl Podcast Presents: The One with the Ghanaians

Here’s a joke for you:

Two Ghanaians and a Nigerian walk into a bar… but left because they didn’t have Nigerian jollof rice.

Ghana, a relatively unknown place until Nigeria shot them into popularity (ugh, the things we do for them!). Also, Ghana, the place filled with people of mystery, strange English diction, low production movies, and weird jollof rice concoction. In a bid to explore this enigmatic country, I invited two Ghanaians over to my house over a meal of Indo-Thai goat curry, Korean steamed rice, and mixed vegetables (all made by yours truly). We explored salient issues like jollof rice (of course! And why Ghanaians cannot get this right), pet peeves (turned out I am more finicky than I thought, ugh), acculturation problems, adjusting to the educational system, books, what traits determine success in grad school, racial identity, questions about my marriage, and so much more.

대통령 후보| The One with Rev. David Esosa Ize-Iyamu - The Nigerian Presidential Candidate: Episode 40 (2018)

The More Sibyl Podcast Presents: The One with Rev. David Esosa Ize-Iyamu

Meet Rev. David Esosa Ize-Iyamu, one of the more than 30 Nigerian presidential candidates running in the 2019 election. On a warm, humid Friday evening, just before I was scheduled to catch my flight out of Nigeria, I sat with him in his office to talk about his platform, why he is running, and what he hopes to achieve if given the opportunity to become the next president of Nigeria.

Rev. Ize-Iyamu is the senior pastor of Jesus Evangelical Assembly in Lagos. For more than 20 years, his platform – the Youth Revolution Movement (YRM) has aimed to mobilize youths to play a decisive role in the national socio-economic development and to see empowered Nigerian youths fully realize their potentials and positively contribute to the overall growth, development, and governance of Nigeria.

희망을 본다| The One with Afolabi - The Nigerian-American Returnee: Episode 37 (2018)

The More Sibyl Podcast Presents: The One with Afolabi

Now, even more than before, many Nigerians are leaving the country to seek better opportunities in developed countries. This is unsurprising if you consider the prolonged political and economic instability that have rendered the country hard and reductive for its inhabitants. For those who have moved abroad, fewer are even willing to relocate to Nigeria voluntarily. That’s why I find today’s guest intriguing. Meet Afolabi, who holds dual citizenship as a Nigerian and an American. He spent a chunk of his formative years in the US but made the decision to move back to Nigeria after college. In this episode, we explored the reason behind this decision, returnee issues, and how small businesses can thrive in a parasitic environment like Nigeria. Finally, what Nigeria, despite its extractive economic and political institutions, where a culture of monopoly, corruption, and lack of political rights are the norm, does relatively better to help businesses grow compared to Western countries.