MBGN,others Dance4 life

October 3, 2006 :: Fred Iwenjora and Deborah Idowu Vanguard,Lagos

Nigeria is among the countries using dance in the HIVAIDS awareness campaign.Storm Media in partnership with SchoolNet Nigeria and Dance4Life International are set to join in the league of countries where Dance4Life, the youth brand of the World AIDS Campaign. The project is being implemented in eleven other countries amongst which are South Africa, the Netherlands, Kenya, Tanzania, Germany and the United Kingdom. Dance4Life is a HIV/AIDS focused Service Learning project that allows young people to become Agents of Change by being motivated to conceptualize, plan and implement HIV/AIDS projects either individually or in small groups by reaching out to them through a medium universally understood by youths—Dance. Titilayo Obisesan, National Coordinator for Dance 4 Life says the concept consists of two dimensions. On one hand, there is the dance event, held every two years on the Saturday before World AIDS Day. The innovative approach of Dance4Life involves all aspects of youth culture, their icons, media, and their favourite music and dance, particularly through the participation of Dance4Life Ambassadors, who are selected Nigerian youth icons namely — Dare Art Alade, Ikechukwu, DJ Jimmy Jatt, Kafi, Jeremiah Gyang, Weird MC, Wunmi MBGN2006, Sasha, Dakore, Katung, Frank and Francisca of Big Brother Nigeria and Derele of Sound City. The unified goal of Dance4Life is to have at least 50 cities in 24 countries on all continents and one million young agents of change involved in Dance4Life by 2012 and on World AIDS Day, Saturday December 1, they will all together dance for life. With this powerful “statement of hope”, the youth are making it clear to the media and to governments that this is their greatest global challenge yet; fighting back HIV and AIDS. The one million agents of change will this way pressure their governments to keep their promise of realising the Millennium Development Goals and to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS by the year 2015. The pilot phase of the project will involve both in and out-of school youths in Lagos, Cross River, Benue, Kano and Abuia. A state event featuring student presentations on their implemented proiects on HIV/AIDS will be held in the five states after which representatives from individual states are selected to attend a national mega dance event to be held on the Saturday before World AIDS Day, November 25, 2006