Ojogbon Globalization

Seasons Greetings! I am thankful that  SSRC's African Peacebuilding Network gave Best of 2017 recognition to my paper: " Fleeing Boko Haram: The Trauma of Captivity and Challenge of Freedom ". For me, the #BringBackOurGirls struggle continues till all our #ChibokGirls & all Boko Haram abductees are rescued & reunited with their families.    

TITLE : STRUGGLING FOR SURVIVAL. (36 by 36 inches) by Gbolade Omidiran. This painting's medium is oil paints on black velvet rendered with various sizes of palette knives and not a single brush stroke. It was made in 2015. An impasto of striking colors that involves a lot of painstaking work. DESCRIPTION: All over the world, people strive and struggle to survive. Whether in the most remote forest of Ijero Ekiti or the busiest streets of Lagos or New York, we all have one thing in common 'Struggling for Survival'. This painting though abstract in expression denotes the struggles in the rural African market to make a living. A variety of African indigenous foods and goods are displayed with the traders' frantic efforts to make sales, aimed at achieving survival. I ssue 9 of Ìrìnkèrindò: a Journal of African Migration  is now published.   Contents Editorial Mixed, Perilous and Other Migrations: Do African Lives Matter?   Mojúbàolú Olufúnké Okome ...

Gbolade Omidiran's Movement of the People My article, " Breaching Fortress Europe: By Any Means Necessary: TheComplications of African Migration to Europe " was first written for the conference: "African Refugees and Migrants at Europe's Door, on March 7 and 8, 2016, at Duke University. I was at the time living in in Gottingen, Germany, where I was a Senior Research Fellow at Max Planck Institute. Being in Europe opened my eyes to the plight of refugees in a new and different way, especially since some Germans thought I was a refugee, and I received the kind of treatment believed to be deserving by them. It was odd to also be a Senior Research Fellow at Max Planck--the only reason I was in Germany--and to be treated with the respect that was believed appropriate once I stepped into the Institute.  The experiences of my time in Germany, and of crossing borders, from Germany to the UK, the US, and back were also interesting, since my color meant that people...

Gbolade Omidiran's "No One in Sight" My overworked and underpaid self is happy to announce that Issue 9 of Ìrìnkèrindò: a Journal of African Migration is in progress, a testament to tenacity and very much a labor of love, since I'm doing most of the work, while also teaching etc, etc. You can access three articles now and will be able to access the editorial and one more article by December 15. These articles below are already online: African Migrants in Post-Soviet Moscow: Adaptation and Integration in a Time of Radical Socio-Political Transformations  by Dmitri M. Bondarenko of The Institute for African Studies,  Russian Academy of Sciences Here's the abstract: The changes since the breakup of the USSR have impacted African migrants’ social composition, as well as their strategies and forms of adaptation and integration in the capital city of Moscow. In this study, we discuss the factors influencing the choices of African migrants, related to t...

Another Chibok Schoolgirl Rescued The news about the rescue of one more of our #ChibokGirls gives cause for optimism on the release/rescue of the 112 #ChibokGirls still in captivity.  The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) is to be commended for its promise to #BringBackOurGirls. We urge that it redoubles the efforts to rescue them and all other abducted Nigerians from captivity. As the rescue or release happens, we urge the FGN to develop a comprehensive framework for cutting edge psychosocial care and long term support that create conditions for recovery as well as enhanced capacity to resume a modicum of normalcy in their lives.

Today, I am joyful and am celebrating with our #ChibokGirls82 who are now in Abuja, and their parents and families.  While I am grateful that the Federal Government of Nigeria has negotiated for these young women's release, I am also praying that they and all those rescued and released before will get the culturally appropriate, long term psychosocial care that they need to cope with the trauma they've been through.   It's imperative that they are given this support so they can resume some modicum of normalcy in their lives. It's also heartbreaking that 113 young women and so many other Nigerians and West Africans are still held captive by these homicidal psychopaths. Praying too that they are rescued or released sooner rather than later, and that the people of the affected areas experience peace after this long-drawn out ordeal.  Let's keep praying and agitating that the Federal Government of Nigeria #BringBackOurGirls!  ...