“TEDXUI WOMEN IS NOT JUST RESTRICTED TO WOMEN” – OFFORDUM PASCAL

The second semester never fails to live up to expectation as there are several events to paints its name. Talk of Jaw war, Convocation ceremonies and all others. They all bore down to planning and dedication. This week, UCJUI payed one of the brain behind TedxUI club who also doubles as the Sigma Chief, Offordum Paschal and here is what he had to say:

UCJUI: TedxUI was recently inaugurated and which we have acknowledged on our news stories. But it seems so many people still do not know about it. We would like you to tell us more about Tedx.

Well, TedxUI, as it is, is just an independently organized Ted event in UI. TedxUI, as it is now, is a club that provides us a formal ground to hold events as a group in UI. Ted is a platform where ideas are shared, ideas that could trigger changes; ideas that could change the world; ideas that could spur up discussions that would help in fast tracking the change we need in Nigeria and all over the world. So, we are just under the umbrella of Ted, the international organization.

UCJUI: We knew about TedxUI 2017 which was held some months ago…(yes) And during the press conference, you stated that you and your team mates actually sponsored it yourself until later when some sponsors later answered to your call. So, with the present situation of the economy, how are you able to manage organizing that event and just few months later, you are organizing another event.

Yes, at the last event, right before we had the event, we had to juggle a lot of things to get the event done, so we didn’t get our partners on time, but we later got the partners. We holding a second event after the first event: the second event we are holding is just directly under the Ted Women event. Ted Women event is an annual event that is being recognized by Ted, which is usually a three-days event. So, we as the independent organizers, we get the license to live stream what will be happening in Ted Women event, while we are still allowed to get in few speakers. So, that is what the TdxUI Women event is about.

UCJUI: When you hear TedxUI Women, speaking to a lot of people, we found out that people are of the opinion or the feeling that since the name connotes ‘women’, it is only about women. Can you please shed more light on that?

Well, the TedxUI Women is not just restricted to women. Though to some extent, it is devoted to women. But for this year, the theme is bridges. And as the theme reads, it’s just about building bridges for change makers and creators, building bridges from the past to the present and to the future. So, as it is, we will be bringing in bridge builders or those who have built bridges in the past and people who are building bridges that has triggered change or will trigger change. So, for this year, it’s an event that is open to everyone. And if you also look from the list of the speakers we have on the Ted Women, that is, the main event that will be holding in California, it has some male speakers too which tells you that it’s not just about women; that it is open to everybody.

UCJUI: You talked about you organizing TedxUI 2017 and having some itches her and there. Probably, there might have been something you wanted to do then, but because of your tight schedule you aren’t able to do it. What are the things you did then which you wish to rectify and what should we be expecting from TedxUI Women?

Well, from the first event, our key challenge was the fund as it is known that fund is key to every event. We learnt our lessons from the first event which we hope to rectify them during the next event in two-week time.
UCJUI: That’s all for now, thank you very much for your time.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *