OUR HISTORY
The Wikimedia User Group Nigeria was recognized by the Affiliations Committee of the Wikimedia Foundation on the 28th September 2015. Our first activity as a recognized affiliate was the Wiki Loves Africa 2015 tagged Africa’s Culture in fashion and Adornment. This was followed by the Workshop for Students of Fountain University, a two-day workshop organized for students of Fountain University, as part of Wikipedia 15. Having operated as a Wikimedia User Group Nigeria for more than 6 years, the user group registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission, Nigeria as a charitable organization and nonprofit organization in Nigeria on the 31st of October 2018. We are proposing to be recognized as a Wikimedia Chapter in Nigeria. Our proposed name is Wikimedia Nigeria. The Wikimedia User Group Nigeria shall act as the official chapter of the Wikimedia Foundation in Nigeria. Our primary objective is to promote free access to knowledge through Wikipedia and other sisters projects run by the Wikimedia Foundation. We are committed to the development, growth and free distribution of educational contents in Nigeria. We empower people to contribute to Wikipedia and other sister projects to ensure that knowledge is freely accessible . We share the ideal of a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge, and here in Nigeria we shall play a key role in actualization of that vision
Leadership
All corporate powers shall be exercised by or under the authority of, and the business and affairs of the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria shall be managed under the direction of the Board of Trustees either directly or through a written delegation of authority. The authorized number of Trustees of Wikimedia Nigeria shall be at least seven (7). Trustees shall be selected according to the process specified in Article IV, Section 3 of the organization’s Bylaws. Each Trustee shall hold office until the expiration of his or her term as specified in Article IV, Section 3 of the Bylaws, or until his or her earlier resignation, removal from office, or death.
The board of trustees of the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria is currently composed of three (3) Community-selected Trustees and seven (7) board-appointed Trustees
| Planning Wikimedia Nigeria Community-elected trustees | |||||
| SN | Board Member(s) | Designation | Board appointment | Date of appointment | Expiration of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Olaniyan Olushola | Chair | Community-Appointed | 31st September 2021 | 30th September 2024 |
| 2. | Olatunde Isaac | Secretary | Community-Appointed | 31st September 2021 | 30th September 2024 |
| 3. | Kayode Yussuf | Communication | Community-Appointed | 31st September 2021 | 30th September 2024 |
| Planning Wikimedia Nigeria Board-appointed trustees | |||||
| 1. | Bolaji Alabi | Vice-chair | Board-Appointed | 31st May 2019 | 30th May 2022 |
| 2. | Dr. Elekofehinti Olushola | Board Treasurer | Board-Appointed | 31st May 2019 | 30th May 2022 |
| 3. | Barrister Fatai Erewunmi | Board legal adviser | Board-Appointed | 31st May 2019 | 30th May 2022 |
| 4. | Engr. Jide Adenekan (Ph.D) | Board member | Board-Appointed | 31st May 2019 | 30th May 2022 |
| 5. | Tosin Ogunwa | Board member | Board-Appointed | 31st May 2019 | 30th May 2022 |
| 6. | Runcie C.M Chidebe | Board member | Board-Appointed | 31st May 2019 | 30th May 2022 |
| 7. | Livingstone Imonitie | Board member | Board-Appointed | 31st May 2021 | 30th May 2022 |
Key Programs and Activities
The Wikimedia User Group Nigeria has been involved in several advocacy programs to promote Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects in Nigeria and to bridge the gender gap on the internet. These advocacy programs have not only improved the use of Wikipedia in Nigeria but has led to an increase in the number of contributors to Wikipedia and other sister’s project.
New Readers Awareness Campaign In 2017, Wikimedia User Group Nigeria collaborated with the Wikimedia Foundation to launch a major Wikipedia awareness campaign in Nigeria. To support the awareness work in Nigeria, we collaborated with an organization called Anakle. Anakle specializes in video production, digital design, and marketing, with an office in Lagos. They provided creative development for this project, offered experienced perspectives on how to appeal to our target audience and how to produce appealing video content. They collaborated with us on channel approaches, developing a strategic overview of digital media platforms where we can share videos to reach people who are unfamiliar with Wikipedia. Anakle led all video production in the project. We selected scripts based on “Onkonkwo” character from Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, and “Emmanuella” – a prominent Nigerian web comedian. Two videos were released in October 2017, receiving over 10 million combined views.
This advocacy work earned the team the 2018 African Excellence Awards, and the award ceremony took place in Dublin, Ireland
Wikimedia User Group Nigeria/Wikimedia Radio and TV Program On the 11th of January 2017, the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria launched an awareness program to promote Wikipedia and other sister projects and to create awareness for Wikimedia activities in Nigeria. We began with a weekly radio program at the Tech Radio. The radio program was birthed by a Wiki Loves Women event in Nigeria. It features live interviews of content partners from Wiki Loves Women and also Wikimedians across the globe. It was live on air between 19:45 to 20:45 h (West Africa Time) every Wednesday.
Wiki Women Radio Program To strengthen our advocacy work, the Wikimedia Nigeria User Group Nigeria partnered with WFM 91.7 FM on 23rd August 2017. The objectives of the partnership included but not limited to creating awareness about Wikimedia projects, increasing content, increasing reach, encouraging donations of women-related content, and increasing the number of women contributors to Wikimedia projects. WFM 91.7 MHz is a Nigerian specialized radio station licensed by Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to broadcast programs that focus primarily on women and their families. It is the first female-oriented radio station in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is headquartered at the Arepo community, Ogun State, South West, Nigeria. This program features notable women in all spheres of life. Notable women who have featured on the program include Chinedum Peace Babalola, a Nigerian Professor of Pharmacy and the Vice-Chancellor of Chrisland University and Lola Akinmade Åkerström, an award-winning Nigerian photographer and travel writer based in Stockholm, Sweden. She is the editor-in-chief for Slow Travel Stockholm.
Wiki Loves Women One of our core advocacy programs that focuses on bridging the gender gap on the internet is the Wiki Loves Women project. It is a project that aims to release and make widely available cultural and educational content on, or related to women, to the general public. The project works with organizations and public institutions to draw their existing information onto Wikipedia, and via this platform be made available to millions of people every day. The Wiki Loves Women project is organized in collaboration with Wiki In Africa and supported by Wikimedia Foundation. In 2016–2017 the project was run in collaboration with the Goethe Institute and was active on the ground in four West African countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon, and Nigeria. See the project documentation here.
Visibility project The Visibility Project for East Africa is a gender-focus initiative in partnership with the African Women in Media, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to train female journalists in East Africa on the basics of Wikipedia editing and copyrights. It’s one of our initiatives to bridge the gender gap on the internet and to recruit female contributors to Wikipedia. More than 200 Journalists from East-Africa were trained on how to contribute to Wikipedia. The project started on the 5th of June 2020 and ended on 6th July 2020. Series of online training was organized and facilitated by the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria, Wikimedia Community User Group Tanzania and the Wikimedia Community User Group Uganda. The logistics support was provided by the African Women in Media, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Media coverages Our advocacy works have earned us significant coverages in multiple national dailies and Television. Below are a few of the coverages of the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria in the media:
- Wikipedia needs more editors from Nigeria — Olatunde Isaac published by People’s Daily Newspaper on March 26, 2016.
- Wikipedia partners Nigerian NGOs to promote women published by The Guardian Newspaper on July 23, 2016.
- Wikipedia partners Nigerian NGOs to promote women published by The Nigerian Voice Newspaper on July 23, 2016.
- Wikipedians organize Wiki Loves Women in Nigeria published by News Express Nigeria on July 23, 2016
- Wiki Loves women encourages Nigerian women presence on WIkipedia published by Punch Newspaper on the 14th of October 2016
- Loves Women encourages Nigerian women’s presence on Wikipedia published by Daily Trust on the 14th of October 2016
- Mental illness: Wikipedia to create awareness in Nigeria published on the 23rd of January 2017
- BBC video for Wikimedia UG Nigeria in collaboration with World of Knowledge Published 13th of March, 2018.
- Olaniyan Olushola President Wikimedia User Group Nigeria on One on One with PlusTV Africa Published 19th December 2018
- NTDC needs to exploits digital space published on 19th August 2018.
- Wikipedia out to get more contents online Published 19th January 2018
- Wikimedia Nigeria won the best NGO in 2018 Published 25th December 2018
- Swedish Ambassador Partners Firm to Empower 30 Women in Lagos, Herad
- Swedish Ambassador Partners Firm to Empower 30 Women in Lagos,Todays/ng
- Swedish embassy partners firm to train Nigerian women on Wikipedia by Sunreporter
- Sweden partners frim to train Lagos women
- Wikimedia Organises Wiki Loves Earth Contest In Nigeria, Channels TV, 15th June 2019
- 2019 Merit Awards: Wikimedia Honours CEO PlusTv Africa & DG, NTDC PlusTV Africa December 2, 2019
- One on One With Olushola Olaniyan, President, Wikimedia User Group Nigeria PlusTV Africa December 11, 2018
The Wikimedia User Group Nigeria strongly believed that Wikipedia and its sister’s projects belong in education. We realized that students constitute the highest users of Wikipedia and resources and this makes it imperative to develop a strategy that targets students’ participation in our projects, programs, and activities that promote free knowledge.
Wikimedia Fan Club in Nigeria The Wikimedia User Group Nigeria designed this program as an outreach program with the aim of taking Wikimedia projects to all the tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The program was originally conceptualized to support the result of the New Readers Outreach Survey conducted in Nigeria in the year 2016 which revealed that only 23% of internet users in Nigeria are aware of Wikipedia. Out of the 23% population that have shown awareness of Wikipedia are the Nigerian students with 43%.
Each club is a registered association in all the designated institutions and they are coordinated by an experienced member of the club appointed by the proposed Wikimedia User Group Nigeria leadership.
Today, we have a Wikimedia Fan Club in at least seven tertiary institutions in Nigeria namely: The Univerity of Ibadan Fan Club, Wikimedia Fan Club, University of Ilorin, Wikimedia Hub, Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ), Wikimedia Fan Club, Ekiti State University, Wiki Club, Lagos State University (LASU), Wikimedia Fan Club, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta,Wikimedia Hub Enugu domiciled at the University of Nigeria and Wikimedia Fan Club Kwara State University.
The User Group has organized a series of training for students of tertiary institutions in Nigeria, which began in 2016 when the students of Fountain University were trained. Several pieces of training and edit-a-thon have been organized across multiple tertiary institutions including, at the University of Lagos, The University of Ibadan, Ekiti State University, the University of Ilorin, University of Nigeria, Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ), Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, University of Nigeria, University of Benin, Kwara State University, Lagos State Polytechnic, to mention a few.
The Wikimedia User Group Nigeria has a strong relationship with the management of some of the major tertiary institutions in Nigeria. On the 22nd of October 2018, the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria presented an award to Professor Olanrewaju Fagbohun, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos for his contribution to open knowledge and education in Nigeria
Oral traditions and documentation remains an integral part of the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria’s missions and we will continue to implement pragmatic projects and initiatives such as the Nigerian Language Oral History Documentation Project, a project that focus on recording audiovisual of oral history of languages spoken in Nigeria. The documented materials are hosted on Wikimedia Commons, Wikitongues, the United States Library of Congress, and the Internet Archive hosted the materials in perpetuity. We have partnered with government organizations such as National Commission for Museums and Monuments and the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation to support and promote the proper documentation of our heritage sites.
Members of the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria have participated in several conferences organized by the Wikimedia Foundation and the community. In 2017, the Chair, Wikimedia User Group Nigeria participated in the Wikimedia Conference and the GLAM Conference in Tel Alvi in 2018. Sam Oye represented the group at the Wikimedia Conference in 2018. Our members have participated in several other conferences including, Wikimanina, Wiki Indaba, and the Wiki Education Conferences.
- WikiMaster Conference, Lagos In January 2018, Wikimedia User Group Nigeria in collaboration with World of Knowledge (WOK) organized a 3-day conference that focused on creating a strong Community of WOK in Nigeria using Wikipedia as a tool. It also served as a platform to create awareness about Wikimedia projects and Wikimaster and Wikimedia User Group Nigeria. The event was held at Goethe Institute in Lagos and was covered by multiple media including BBC pidgin, TV Continental, STV, etc. It was one of the biggest events organized since the establishment of Wikimedia UG Nigeria and World of Knowledge.
- Wiki Indaba Conference 2019 In 2019, the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria organized WikiIndaba conference 2019. The conference took place in Abuja, Nigeria from 8 to 10 November 2019, funded by the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) and supported by Google LLC. The conference despite having a reduced number of participants when compares to Wiki Indaba 2018 has the most diverse mix of participants. We had participants from at least 23 countries and female participants constituted more than 40% of the total participants. We also have the participation of WMF staff and other mission-aligned organizations. This diversity made the conference more interesting. We improved the diversity of the conference when compared to the 2016 and 2018 editions
Although WMF ED was not present, we had the participation of the WMF’s Chief of Operation (COO) and at least 10 WMF Staff members and the feedback from staff members and project leaders in Africa were impressive.
- She Can with ICT: In April 2016, Jack Rabah met Modupe Darabidan, head of business development, at the Mobile West Africa conference in Lagos. They discussed ways to collaborate with them on their project called She Can with ICT. We were introduced to the organization and further discussion on the best model of collaboration was established. We collaborated with them to train women on how to contribute to Wikipedia. The SHE CAN WITH ICT (Sustaining Her Enterprise, Career, and Network with ICT) project was a series of Entrepreneurship and ICT workshops for women currently in or preparing for business and professional careers. The program included the following 4 modules: -Digital Literacy & Advocacy -Entrepreneurship & Job-readiness -Mentorship -Internship and we collaborated with them on the Digital literacy with the overall goal of exposing more women to opportunities which are available to them in the technology sphere and how they how best to harness these available resources. It was a valuable initiative because it not only creates an opportunity for underprivileged women in Nigeria to contribute to Wikipedia but it also addresses the existing gender gap and the underrepresentation of African female editors in our sites.
- African Wikimedia Developers Project: In January 2018, the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria partnered with the Open Foundation West Africa Africa Wikimedia Developers Project team to train students on software development. Felix Nartey from OFWA and Alangi Derrick, a software developer, flew to Nigeria to coordinate the project. The aim of the project was to recruit new volunteer developers from the continent, create a community of developers on the African continent, promote African participation in solving technical problems from the larger community, and increase the awareness of volunteer developer opportunities in Africa.
- Training by the WMF: In May 2018, Asaf Bartov, Senior Program Officer, Emerging Wikimedia Communities, Wikimedia Foundation visited Nigeria to train members of Wikimedia User Group Nigeria. Series of training was organized in Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Participants were trained on copyright, basics of Wikipedia editing, and how to write an encyclopedic article from a neutral point of view. They were trained on how to use and contribute to Wikidata. Over 50 users including students from our fan clubs participated in the training
Relationship with other Groups
he Wikimedia User Group Nigeria has a good relationship with all the affiliates whose scope overlaps with our group, especially the other three user groups in Nigeria. We have collaborated on several occasions as a more established organization provided training support to all the other user groups in Nigeria. The Yoruba Wikimedians User Group in February 2020 invited us to help support the Follow-up training for Yoruba language students of Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education. The Chair and the Secretary of the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria participated in the event and it was successfully executed. In 2018, the Hausa Wikimedians User Group invited the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria to help with facilitating their Outreach in Northern Nigeria. The workshop in Kano was supported and facilitated by the Chair, Wikimedia User Group Nigeria.
The WikiGap 2018, 2019, and 2020 were organized in collaboration with the Igbo Wikimedians User Group. In April 2020, the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria participated in Visibility Project, in collaboration with the African Women in Media and sponsored by the UNESCO. The Igbo Wikimedian User Group was represented by Uzoma Ozurumba, the Co-founder of the Igbo Wikimedians User group. She was a facilitator and actively participated in the mentorship program.
On the same project, we also collaborated with the Wikimedia Community User Group Tanzania and the Wikimedia Community User Group Uganda.
The Wikimedia User Group Nigeria, Yoruba Wikimedians User Group, Igbo Wikimedians User Group, and the Hausa Wikimedians User Group worked collaboratively on a project called Decolonizing the internet organized by the Goethe-Institut.
Wikimedia User Group Nigeria has also collaborated with Afrocrowd, Oregon State University, US and Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta organized an edithathon as part of the Black History Month to celebrate Black People. Over 30 editors participated in the 2day editathon. 5 new articles were also created with over 6.02K words added to Wikipedia see more details here
Diversity of Activities
In the last four years, the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria has organized or directly involved in organizing a variety of different pragmatic programs and events. These activities have helped to promote the Wikimedia movements in Nigeria and has led to the establishment of other language-focused user groups. It has improved the number of readership and the number of unique active contributors to Wikipedia.
Planning and Evaluation
- Oral History Documentation Grant Proposal
- Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos Evaluation Report 2020
- WikiGap Nigeria Online Challenge 2021 Evaluation report
- Decolonise the Internet Evaluation Report
- Wikimedia Movement Strategy Recommendation & Prioritization Report
- WikiIndaba Conference 2019 Evaluation and Report
External Partnerships
The Wikimedia User Group Nigeria has engaged in programmatic partnerships with external groups and organizations (for example, cultural, academic, or government institutions, and so on) to promote the Wikimedia movement in Nigeria. These partnerships have not only resulted in promoting Wikimedia projects in Nigeria but has led to the growth of the Wikimedia community in Nigeria with significant impact on Wikimedia projects. In 2016, we partnered with the following organization to advance the Wikimedia movement in Nigeria and promote the growth and development of Wikimedia projects
| Wikimedia UG Nigeria external partnerships | |||||
| SN | Partners | Project | Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Centre for Children’s Health Education, Orientation and Protection | Wiki Loves Women | 2016 | ||
| 2. | Arise Nigerian Women Foundation | Wiki Loves Women | 2016 | ||
| 3. | Women of Rubies | Wiki Loves Women | 2016 | ||
| 4. | Project Pink Blue | Wiki Loves Women | 2016 | ||
| 5. | Bestspring Foundation | Wiki Loves Women | 2016 | ||
| 6. | Goethe-Institut Nigeria | Wiki Loves Women | 2016 | ||
| 7. | Women in TECH ( WTECH) | Wiki Loves Women | 2016 | ||
| 8. | British Broadcasting Corporation | Wiki Loves Women | 2016 | ||
| 9. | She Writes Women- | Wiki Loves Women | 2017 | ||
| 10. | Black Face Radio | Wiki Loves Women Radio Program | 2017 | ||
| 11. | Small Scale Women Farmers Organization in Nigeria | Wiki Loves Women | 2017 | ||
| 12. | Media Concern Initiative | Wiki Loves Women | 2017 | ||
| 13. | Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation ( NTDC) | GLAM | 2018 | ||
| 14 | Swedish Embassy | WikiGap | 2018 | ||
| 15. | PlusTV Africa | Official broadcasting partner for, Wiki Loves Earth 2019 and Wiki indaba | 2019 | ||
| 16. | Women FM 91.7 | Official broadcasting partner for, Wiki Loves Women and Wiki indaba | 2018 | ||
| 17. | The University of Ilorin | Institutional partner for Wiki-Fan Club | 2019 | ||
| 18. | The University of Ibadan | Institutional partner for Wiki-Fan Club | 2019 | ||
| 19. | Lagos State University | Institutional partner for Wiki-fan club | 2019 | ||
| 20. | Ekiti State University | Institutional partner for Wiki-Fan Club | 2019 | ||
| 21. | The Federal University of Agriculture | Institutional partner for Wiki-Fan Club | 2019 | ||
| 22. | Oyo State Chapter of Librarian | Institutional partner for Wiki-Fan Club | 2019 | ||
| 23. | Wiki in Africa | Institutional partner for Wiki-Fan Club | 2019 | ||
| 24. | Women in Red | Technical Partner for Women Visibility | 2019 | ||
| 25. | Eloy Awards and Exquisite Magazine | Technical/Outreach Partner for International Women’s Day 2019 | 2020 | ||
| 26. | Swedish Embassy | Funder and Technical/Outreach Partner for International Women’s Day and WikiGap | 2020 | ||
| 27. | Cee-Hope, Lagos | Local Technical Partner for the hosting of Wiki Loves Women in Nigeria | 2020 | ||
| 28. | Goethe Institute | Local Technical/financial partner for the hosting of the Decolonize the Internet in Nigeria | 2020 | ||
| 29. | African Women on Board | International Women’s Day | 2021 | ||
| 30. | African Women in Media | International Women’s Day | 2021 | ||
| 31. | Swedish Embassy | International Women’s Day | 2021 | ||
| 32. | Wiki in Africa | Wiki Photo Talk | 2021 | ||
| 32. | Wiki Tongue | Nigerian Language Documentation Project | 2021 | ||
| 33. | National Broadcasts Academy | Addressing Systemic bias against Nigeria Radio stations on Wikipedia-Event | 2021 | ||
Selected event photos
