Open Semester Training for Staff and Students of Samuel Adegboyega University, Ogwa, Edo State
Background
This project is aimed at training of interested members of staff and students of Samuel Adegboyega University, Ogwa, Edo State on how to edit in Wikipedia and its sisters projects like Wiki Commons and Wikidata. It is the first in a series of proposed Wikimedia projects in Samuel Adegboyega University aimed at improving contents relating to Edo people, their history and culture on the different Wikimedia platforms. Consequently, this project will identify and train a group of interested staff and students of the university on how to fill the Knowledge gap around contents relating to Edo people, their history and culture on Wikipedia and its sisters projects.
Project Origin and Objective
Edo State is one of the 36 states in Nigeria and has rich cultural heritage which predated the colonial era, especially in the area of Arts and Craft, Music and oral tradition. The state is home to the Binis (or Edos), Ishan (Esan), Afemai, Estakor and other ethnic groups and has the 4th largest city in the country (Benin City). In fact, the Binis (as they were fondly called) were known for Bronze making, Pottery, basket making, cane furniture, cloth-weaving, mat-making and gold-smiting. Such was the quality of these arts and crafts that many were taken to different museums in Europe. The British Museum for instance, currently has a section dedicated to arts and craft from the ancient Benin Kingdom. However, it is disturbing to note that many of Edo culture, including the languages are fast going on extinction due to westernization and European influences on the African culture. Consequently, this project aim to document and fill the content gap about Edo people, their history and culture in Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects like Wiki data and Wiki commons.
Proposed Activities
- Recruit new Wikipedia editors
- Train and mentor new editors
- organize edit-a-thons
Communication channels
For effective communication and mentoring of new editors, we have created a whatsapp group. Kindly click Here to join.