The medium of the future

Don't make a mistake with poverty here,war there and other human deprivations elsewhere, we still have a lot to celebrate in Africa. As a tradition, we are doing that with style in this edition As we continue in this our journey; probing deeply into what makes us a unique people, with so much to contribute to civilisation, we have been learning everyday. When we completed this edition, we ran into a problem of choice. Which should be our cover story? At the beginning, we thought we were home and dry with the extensive piece on the New face of Music as our cover but we changed our mind by the time the story of Kase Lawal was completed. We settled for the latter to correct certain impressions that TrueColour could be about showbiz. That was the impression we got from dozens of responses to our April/May edition with Richard Mofe Damijo on the cover. One of the great stories we are celebrating in this edition is the inspiring piece about Ebenezer Meshida, an engineering geologist from a quiet Itaogbolu town near Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria, who won The Nigerian Prize for Science for 2008.

His is simply an extraordinary role model. That the best seller, Things fall apart, a Chinua Achebe novel, reputed to have influenced African writings more than any other, clocked 50 is worthy of celebration. That the world acclaimed author has been living in United States for over a decade following a ghastly auto accident that confined him to a wheel chair, has not diminished the celebration of his classic work. His definition of Life as tragic, “because you are supposed to rise above tragedy,” is powerful and arresting, particularly for those that feel like giving up. Also in our Milestone is the 90th birthday of the world hero, Nelson Mandela. I am always tempted to rush anything about the Mandiba to the cover. It will always fly, because he represents the peak of maturity that is beyond explanation. It's not every year that we can stumble on these two great events. Back to entertainment, our package on the New face of music captures the paradigm shift in Nigerian music.

The new generation is daring and getting all the attention across the world as it is the case in the movies. How far can the guys go with new names and new songs popping up on a daily basis? What we conclude is that the best is yet to come. In Sports, it's Possibility 2010. What is the chance of the leading African teams as the continent for the first time in history would host the FIFA world cup in less than two years? Analysts say...hold your breath, it's not impossible. In our mission to write the true African story for the new generation not to forget where we are coming from, the African Child Series features an extract from Soji Adeleye's book,The Alfe city Project.

His definition of the African Child is shocking, captivating and rebellious. What do you think? Africans all over the world have the opportunity to contribute to this series. What do you think about Africa? Where did we get it wrong? Where are we and where are we going from here?You now h a v e t h e o p p o r t u n i t y o f r e a c h i n g u s t h r o u g h

www.truecolour.worldstagegroup.com with your contributions. While we have a lot to celebrate in this edition, our Offside reminds us about the political development in Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe,who has been the President for 28 years is not a good example for Africans to look up to considering the fact that few kilometers away, Nelson Mandela is there as the epitome of world hope for freedom. So, with other side attractions like style, beauty, cars and humour, it promises to be another bumper package simply for your delight. Enjoy it and take it home for the young ones to read and keep. They must be inspired to do great things for their generation. Then if you are yet to subscribe, you should be convinced now that this is the medium of the future.