On the Origins of ECOWAS

People often wonder what the history of the Economic Community of West African States  (ECOWAS) is? Who was the first to start it? I is it a legacy of colonialism? The truth is that it’s hard to pinpoint one country in particular that “pioneered” ECOWAS.

 

The Short Answer is that leaders from Nigeria and Togo (General Yakubu Gowon and Gnassingbe Eyadema, respectively) started pushing for the idea in the early 1970s. Subsequently, ECOWAS was born out of the 1975 Treaty of Lagos…

 

General Yakubu Gowon

For the full blog, go to CoreyEngelen.org

The Floating School of Makoko

I recently came across the inspiring story of the floating school of Makoko in Lagos. Architect Kunlé Adeyemi found himself drawn to Makoko, a slum located in the coastal African city of Lagos where many of the buildings are erected on piers that reach to the bottom of the shallow littoral waters.  But unlike many of the other structures in Makoko, the school does not rest on the ocean floor. It rests on water.

“I visited Makoko and was very inspired by the environment…they created a lot almost out of nothing,” Adeyemi says.  After spending some time with community members, he then asked them what they wanted built. They said a school. “I decided to learn from the environment and also help improve the environment.” Adeyemi spent time speaking to carpenters in the community in order to figure out how to best approach a solution…

For the full article, go to CoreyEngelen.org.