Izuchukwu OkosiMany Africans in diaspora have made huge and significant impacts in their societies.
These are either people of African descent born abroad or immigrants that sojourned abroad in search of better lives.
In time past, there are occupations that are rarely considered to have great prospects and could hardly produce anything good.
Sports and Pop culture (Entertainment) have changed the narrative and we have Africans that can evenly match their international counterparts.
Nigeria have a couple of such hitters and Super Eagles and SS Napoli striker Victor Osimhen is one of such gems.
Osimhen was topscorer in the Serie A last season which helped SS Napoli win the Scudetto for the first time in 33 years when Diego Maradona inspired them to the title.
Deservedly he was named in the 30-man shortlist for the CAF African Footballer of The Year awards and the Ballon D’Or. He was ranked 8th in the Men’s Ballon D’Or category.
It must be said that Afrobeats singer, Rema, made Nigeria proud also as he performed at the Awards ceremony in Paris on Monday night.
Need we mention ‘superzee’ Asisat Oshoala who comes in 20th place for the Women’s Ballon D’Or Prize.
Something struck this writer while one of Osimhen’s goal was showed on the big screen during the Ballon D’Or Award ceremony.
Could he be winning this prize in the next five years? Would he achieve this in Italy?
Undoubtedly he had a spellbinding season in Italy last term and stands in the pantheon of greats in the Italian top flight.
But recently, the social media went agog with the tacky video posted by the media guys at Napoli seemingly mocking the Nigerian for missing a penalty in a league game.
Many Nigerians are advocating that he moves to England where he will be better appreciated and (less or no) racism suffered.
Talking about England, the Black History month was celebrated in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland in the month of October that just went by.
The Premier League honoured the black community ‘with the knees’ at the start and end of the month before the games albeit it was a also peirod of mourning when several footballing icons like Sir Bobby Charlton and Ken Wright were paid the last respect.
Could Osimhen become a celebrated African legend in the ilk of Liberian President, George Opong Weah? Weah achieved his feat while at AC Milan but it seems like he won’t be able to do that while at Napoli.
In the year 2023, the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and a handful of other countries celebrated Black History Month with a variety of colorful events, ranging from film screenings and poetry readings to lectures at universities and special television programs.
This year, the theme is Black Resistance, meant to capture the ongoing need for Black communities to resist oppression, subjugation, second-class citizenship and racial violence.
On the African continent, however, it is a different story.
Only a handful of events are held in commemoration of Black History Month, mainly at U.S. Embassies or study centers at higher learning institutions in countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya, all of which are predominantly English-speaking.
Nigeria is widely considered as the centre piece of the African continent. It’s the biggest economy although South Africa, Morocco and Egypt are emerging as big competitors in that regard.
It is not a good commentary that Africans at home and in diaspora (not particularly African Americans) are not honoured in similar fashion.
In Osimhen, Nigeria and Africa have a worthy ambassador of what the theme of this year’s celebration is all about.
We recap a few of the events that took place in the month of October 2023 to celebrate the historic moth in England which also continues in some parts into November.
Friday 6 October:
A walking tour of Brighton for Black students run by the Brighton University Students’ Union was held.
The tour took Black students to a range of spots including charities, hairdressers, eateries and Black-owned businesses.
The tour culminated with a visit to the Afrori Bookshop where the Black@Sussex Lead joined.
Tuesday 17 October – Sunday 19 November:
A free exhibition of photography by Charlie Phillips and Eddie Otchere, commissioned by the University for Black@Sussex has been holding at the Attenborough Centre for Creative Arts.
Charlie has been documenting Black British life since the late 1950s while Eddie emerged as a photographer during the 1990s with images of the jungle music scene in London and the hip-hop scene in New York.
Wednesday 18 October: A film screening of the independent film Rafiki (2018), was open to staff, students and visitors.
The Kenyan-made film explores the lives of two young women exploring their sexuality and identity amidst familial, cultural and political pressures in Kenya.
Tuesday 24 October: Exploring Anti-Colonial Figures in Health – a free event run by Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) was made open to all staff and students.
Wednesday 25 October: The History Society was celebrated by raising awareness of Black History Month with a film night.
The screening was open to members and visitors, who were able to view Hidden Figures (2016), a film based on the real-life events of three African-American female mathematicians who provided a huge contribution to NASA during the Space Race.
The origins of Black History Month emerged from Woodson’s introduction of “Negro History Week” in February 1926. The month of February was selected in the United States by Woodson because it encompassed the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln, born February 12, 1809, and Frederick Douglass, born in February 1818.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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