Culture enthusiast and the Chief Executive Officer of Tell Africa, Gbemisola Bisi-Taiwo, speaks with TOFARATI IGE about her love for culture and other issues

You are passionate about showing the African perspective of things. What is that African story you really want to tell?

There are so many stories in Africa but there is a problem in the information that people have about Africa outside the continent. People in the Diaspora generally think that the people in Africa are all poverty stricken, and that some people live on trees. As a matter of fact, some even think that anybody that is black is from Africa. They don’t know that Africa is not a country but a continent.

The stories we are telling have to do with the beauty of our culture and tradition. We want people around the world to understand who we are and know that good and beautiful things do come out of Africa.

Why are you not telling these stories via the structured form of formal education?

I believe it is easier for people to learn when they are not in a structured environment. For instance, in the case of children born by Nigerian parents but living outside the country, their parents could want them to study Nigeria but not live there. If one shows them movies (about Nigeria), feed them Nigerian food, and show them the beauty of our fabrics. If they see it as a way of life, it would become a part of them. A lot of people love African culture but they don’t have in-depth knowledge of it. There are so many beautiful parts of our culture, even in the way we greet our elders.

That was why we thought it was important, especially now that many Yoruba children cannot speak the language. We have to find a way to bring back all the values we have lost to civilisation. That is what we have taken upon…