English language | AfriQtalk Diaspora

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Who is Waconzy? Take a listen

As you know, the history of the Nigerian Music industry would not be complete without mentioning the name Waconzy who maintains the fastest fan growing base in Nigeria, Africa and internationally. With his knowledge as a project manager, Waconzy has built a strong social media fan base with hit songs that cut across various ages, genders and geographical boundaries currently making him one of the most popular and sought after Artists in Africa and beyond. As one of Nigeria’s A-List Artist internationally managed by Geobek Entertainment (South Africa) and published by Youngane Productions (South Africa), Waconzy is ready for international entertainment business, endorsements, collaborations, live performances, tours and more award nominations.

You know him very well as Waconzy but he is also Obinna Kelvin Anyanwu, born on the 10th of August in Port Harcourt city of Nigeria. Waconzy is a blend of two English words, “Wacko” and “Zany” which describes his style of music as Afro-centric by combining Western and African rhythms in creating a marvelous blend of music for all Living Standards Measure (LSM).

In 1998, Waconzy recorded his first song while he was still in high school. Waconzy released his first commercial single in 2008 titled IKEBE SUPA, which gained huge nationwide response from fans who enjoy rich African music. This inspired Waconzy to be a commercial and original Artist of his own kind of music which built a fan base of young and old Afro-pop music lovers in Nigeria. Over the years, Waconzy has grown from an upcoming Artist to a pace setter in his industry by creating a niche of his own music. Waconzy is in a league of his own with little room for competition as he says “the sky is big enough for all birds to fly”.

With Waconzy’s creative style of delivering remarkable lyrics that cut across all ages, some fans now call him “Supa Dupa Nigg#”, while others call him “Awah”. Also, sometimes his fans refer to him as “Mr. Tumble the stage”. Waconzy has been able to carve a niche for himself in the international music scene, with his success, money and fame one would expect him to be arrogant with ‘diva tendencies’ but yet the handsome young man prefers to be seen as your best friend as he remains grounded and humble.

Waconzy is a multiple Glitz and Odudu award winner and among his accolades include, Song of The Year for “Ikebe Super” in 2009 and the same award in 2010 for “I Celebrate” at the Glitz awards. He also collected the Best collaboration award at the 2010 Odudu awards among others. With such accolades, it’s no wonder he has an ever increasing fan base.

Waconzy is popularly known for his song I CELEBRATE, a song fused with rich African rhythm, Naija Pidgin English and English language, generally accepted by all African music lovers. Since the release of the “I Celebrate” album (listen here: http://www.reverbnation.com/waconzyworld), Waconzy has gained huge recognition in Nigeria as one of Nigeria’s A-List Artists, having performed in several major concerts Nationwide and international.

For further information, booking, publishing and interview requests in the North America email: afriQtalk@yahoo.com or call +1-404-432-4008. To find out more about the Europe tour email: george@geobek.co.za.

Germany has the best national policies for supporting and encouraging international study, according to new research undertaken by the British Council with support from the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The research compared the internationalization of higher education in 11 of the largest and most active countries in this area. It examined national performance in three categories: openness; access and equity; and quality assurance and degree recognition.

The British Council used the results of the survey to draw up a “Global Gauge” of the countries’ support for international education. When the results of all three categories were combined, Germany came out on top.

Germany has long been one of the most important destination countries for international students, with nearly 250,000 students from abroad studying in Germany each year—over 10 percent of the total student population.

Support for home and foreign students
One of the reasons Germany scores particularly high is because its policies focus as much on supporting and encouraging domestic students and academics to spend time studying or working abroad as on attracting students and academics from other countries.

The German government aims to have half of all home students spending at least one semester abroad during studies. A “Go out! studieren weltweit” (“Go out! studying around the world”) campaign was launched in 2006 by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to support this goal. This was followed by “Go east!” to encourage German students to study in East and Central Europe.

DAAD also sponsors over 55,000 individuals a year with competitive scholarships for Germans studying or doing research abroad, or international students and researchers coming to Germany.

Germany rates well for carefully monitoring and accrediting the offshore programs of its universities, having attractive visa rules that allow international students and graduates to work during their studies and after graduation, and for maintaining a dedicated body representing its universities abroad, GATE Germany, housed at DAAD.

Countries such as Australia and the UK scored well in the openness and “quality assurance” and “recognition” categories, but fell down significantly in the “access and equity” category. They demonstrated limited support to encourage home students and academics to experience higher education abroad, and provided relatively few financial incentives for international students.

Changes ahead for international education
The “Global Gauge” is an attempted snapshot of a rapidly changing global higher education landscape.

The increasing popularity of joint and dual degree programs, the introduction of English-taught courses and degree programs in many non-English speaking countries, as well as the Bologna Process to standardize degree programs across more than 40 European countries, have opened up new opportunities for students to study abroad.

While the US receives by far the most international students, and has five times more overseas branch campuses than any other country, it is losing market share to the UK, Australia, and China.

In Australia, international students represent almost 20 percent of the total student population. Smaller countries not included in the “Global Gauge”, such as Switzerland, New Zealand, Austria, Ireland, and Belgium, also have a high proportion of internationals in their student populations.

Visit the German Academic Exchange Service website for more information about Germany’s support for international education.