North Cyprus and a beautiful Nigerian
By Chris Elliott
Margaret and I recently visited the studio of Kanal T in Lefkosa to meet with John Theodore-Edevu who we had been having discussions with and he kindly conducted us on a tour of the studios and introduced us to Mrs Sibel Tatar the Director of Kanal T.
Since we first met with John, we were amazed and envious at how he had been able to learn the Turkish language so quickly which of course enables him to mix so easily with the Turkish Cypriot community. It was also so amazing just walking around the centre of Lefkosa with him to see so many people greeting and welcoming him and the question why is perhaps answered in our interpretation, helped by John, of a translation of a Kibris Star article written by Fahriye Özay, a famous Musician and Author.
A beautiful Nigerian.
By Fahriye Özay
Kibris Star
Today I would like to tell the world about a nice-hearted, beautiful Nigerian person and his country, his name is John Theodore-Edevu who is very far away from his home in Delta State, Nigeria where he was born. He was educated at elementary school and junior school before studying and gra
duating in communications at one of the Nigerian Institutes.
After hearing about the success of universities in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus he came to the TRNC to study international relations. He is a very active person and is the first and only Nigerian, African and Foreign television producer and presenter in the TRNC. He explained that he felt that he has lived in Cyprus for a long time, and with a beaming smile he said he loves humanity and if he could he would end all wars. Through his work he hopes to plant the seeds of bringing people of all nationalities and religions together in friendship.
My questions are in rapid succession and John told me, Africa is rich with lush plants, harmony, and is a little piece of heaven. There is a livelihood in oil, technology, trade, farming, gold, silver, diamonds, and entertainment. Nigeria ranks 1st in the entertainment industry in the African Continent of 55 Countries and ranks 3rd in the whole world. American’s Hollywood is the first, India’s Bollywood is the second and Nigeria’s Nollywood is the 3rd place.
John Theodore-Edevu with a great pride in his President, who is from his region, remarked it is a privilege to be from the oil-rich southern Nigeria which also produced the current President. What do you like most about Cyprus? He replied – The People… he quoted a Turkish Proverb “Kendiilebarisikolaninsan, herkesilebarisikolur” which means if you feel peace within yourself, it is possible to feel peace with everyone. How accurate is that. He continued… I love the Turkish Language so much, the sea, yachts, geography, environment and candour… Of course, Good-hearted people are always loved wherever they go.
The first inhabitants of the territory of today’s Nigeria are estimated to have arrived in 700 BC. This is a definite 
conclusion reached about Nigeria’s history; Arabic was still being written in the early part of the 20th century in the northern regions. From the twelfth century kingdoms of different tribes began to be established. Portuguese and English merchant sailors started to arrive and this is when the slave trade started in Nigeria, History shows that it was the centre of the slave trade, which is a disgrace. For 350 years the Atlantic slave trade continued. It is estimated that twenty million Nigerians were taken as prisoners. In the face of this suffering, in distant lands, their descendants became citizens of many other countries with different cultures.
Nigeria lies on the coast of West Africa with Benin to the west, on its northern border is Niger and to the east is Chad and Cameroon, to the South is the Gulf of Guinea with an area of approximately 923.773 km2 which then becomes the Atlantic. Nigeria is mainly divided into four geographic regions. The Mangrove (a kind of tree that grows in the swamps in Africa) is a tropical forest region in the marshy area. The Savannah area, the mountain area and the northern area which is mainly the desert region. About 100 miles into the interior region there is a broad Delta and mangrove full of quagmires of almost 36,000 m2. There are hundreds of rivers and their tributaries in the area. Nigeria also has a hilly and mountainous landscape.Lagos is covered mainly by the Equatorial forest. The forested Savannah region is the second region of Nigeria. An area of about 320 km of the Niger River in the West region is mountainous land. It is about 8 km long, between high mountains and the mountains of Adamawa. The highest point of the country is Mount Dim Lang which is 2042 meters. The Cameroon Mountains cover the western slopes.
These mountains, have an average height of 1500 m and in some places reach 2,000 meters. Northern Nigeria is half desert, like the Sahara desert, while relatively to the South there is a complete change. Nigeria is a country with high temperatures and in parts has a tropical climate. The average annual rainfall is different from region to region. From the shore, extending to the interior areas from forest
ed regions the average rainfall is around 1000 to 1500 mm. Lagos is a few miles wide around the forested land in the East 160 km long. This is South of the Niger River Delta region, and sweet and salty waters feed hundreds of hard and soft wood trees, the area is packed with a variety of precious wood. About 75% of the amount of moisture in the coastal region is around the maximum precipitation in May and June.
The average temperature is about 29-30 ° c. In the Savannah region the maximum per year on average, including 1000 mm rainfall, is in August. On Jos plateau, this figure is 1500 mm rainfall and the average temperature is 28-33 ° c and 37 ° c in the months of March-April which may increase. In the northern regions of the desert region during the winter, there can be severe winds, with dust and sand in the south. Nigeria is a little piece of heaven which has been kept a secret. The country has the 9th largest population in the world with 160,000,000 and is the most populous country in Africa. The population is increasing rapidly. A large portion of the indigenous tribes-people live in Nigeria as well as European whites.
As I mentioned, Nigeria is a little piece of heaven and from here a good man, John Theodore Edevu has come to Cyprus bringing with him the wonderful vision of peace and harmony in the world which he is trying to promote.
John Theodore-Edevu can be contacted on http://www.facebook.com/Jotheodestar.
Speaking to John about this interview this is what he had to say:
Following the article I wrote on cyprusscene.com, my several appearances on TV and also attending numerous 
events organized by Cypriots, I was interviewed by Fahriye Özay for the Kibris Star and they published an article about me which you can see by clicking here.
I have received many phone calls, messages and e-mails of congratulations following the publication of the Kibris Star article in Turkish and they confirmed that I am the first and only Nigerian and African in the history of Cyprus that is presenting in the news media and giving positive impressions of Nigerians.
This is so important as the normal news published paints a picture that Nigerians commit robbery, rape or snatch people’s bags or are involved with drugs and I am working hard to change that negative view about Nigerians and Africans and I have tried to give you a translation of what has been written in Turkish in the Kibris Star.
