Welcome to Friends of Nigeria

This year’s Friends of Nigeria annual meeting will be held on Saturday, August 22, 2026, via Zoom. The morning session will begin at 11:00 AM EDT and the afternoon session at 1:30 PM EDT.  Instructions for logging into Zoom will be sent to all members for whom we have an email address and will also be available on our website:  friendsofnigeria.org.

Starting with the general membership meeting you will hear brief reports from the president, treasurer, membership chair and the chair of the Small Grants Committee. We will also hear from Joe Shaffner, NPCA Vice President, on the current state of the Peace Corps. 

Following the general membership meeting we will hear from two speakers, Phil Peek (Nigeria 11),  Professor Emeritus at Drew University, who will discuss the unique Lower Niger Bronzes, many of which pre-date the famous bronzes of Ife, Benin, and 9th century Igbo-Ukwu;  and Philip Effiong, Jr., Professor of Theatre Studies and Integrative Humanities at Michigan State University, whose memoir My Biafran Scar: A War & Postwar Narrative, recounts his experiences of the Biafra-Nigeria war and its aftermath, and considers sociopolitical and economic conditions that might have helped avert the conflict as well as questions of postwar recovery, memory, and reconciliation.

To conclude the annual meeting, board member Mimi Budd will again host the  “cocktail hour.”  This free-flowing event has become a popular feature at our annual meetings, when you can enjoy seeing and hearing from old friends and share stories of your time in Nigeria.

Be sure to add August 22 to your calendar and look for further information on our Annual Meeting.

Our 2025 Annual Meeting featured two speakers, Dr. Zach Klim from the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience and Dr. Ebenezer Obadare from the Council on Foreign Relations, followed by the popular 'cocktail hour' when members enjoy seeing and hearing from old friends.

Click  here to see a video of the Annual Meeting.  Once the video is loaded, use the following Passcode to continue:  &6e%zi@^

Navigate to the following times for each section of the Annual Meeting

          Business Meeting:  00:43:08  (Hours:minutes:seconds)
          Museum of the Peace Corps, Zach Klim:  01:37:40
          Council on Foreign Relations, Ebenezer Obadare:  03:01:01
          Cocktail Hour:  04:23:05

Friends of Nigeria was one of three finalists for the annual Loret Miller Ruppe Award, named after the 10th Director of the Peace Corps.  The Award is 
presented by NPCA to RPCV affiliate groups for outstanding initiatives and projects that successfully:

          ● promote the Third Goal of Peace Corps, or
          ● continue to serve host countries, or
          ● build cooperation between communities, or
          ● promote service and volunteerism

The purpose of the award is to recognize the work that RPCV groups are doing and to share ideas and practices that other groups can replicate.  Each finalist submitted a video to highlight its program.  Click here to see each of the three videos.  The video submitted by Friends of Nigeria begins 00:13:35 (Hours:minutes:seconds)