The first Peace Corps Nigeria group started work in 1961. From 1961 to 1970, and from 1991 to 1995, nearly 2,000 Peace Corps Volunteers and staff served in Nigeria in such areas as community development, agricultural development, and sports, and as teachers at the high school and university level.
Our membership is constantly on the move, but our database offers up-to-date information that allows you to keep in touch with other members of Friends of Nigeria. In addition, FON publishes an occasional Membership Directory that is distributed to dues-paying members. The quarterly newsletter is available on the website, and our annual meeting, which draws attendees from throughout the country, provides an opportunity to hear about Nigeria from artists, writers, diplomats, and other experts, and provides a welcome opportunity to meet and greet and socialize with other FON members. Head to the Newsletter and More tab to read the newsletter and to read more about our annual meetings.
If you would like to communicate with others in your training group, or others who lived in your town in Nigeria, or any other reason, two good resources for you are the Membership Directory, last published in 2020, and the membership database maintained by Friends of Nigeria. The database is accessible only to members of Friends of Nigeria. Head to the Members Only tab at the top of the page to access the member database. The Membership Directory is distributed only to dues-paying members.
In addition, several training groups have begun virtual get-togethers via Zoom, and more are in the planning stage. Click on the Training Group News link to the left to read about these gatherings. FON now has a Zoom account that is available for virtual training group gatherings. If you would like to explore this means to communicate with others in your training group, please contact Dave Axtell (david.axtell@gmail.com) for help in organizing a virtual meeting.
FON Annual Meeting
The annual meeting of Friends of Nigeria is normally held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the National Peace Corps Association. Unfortunately, the meeting that would have been held in Seattle in July, 2020 had to be canceled because of the Coronavirus. The Coronavirus continued to be a concern and the 2021 NPCA meeting, which was to be held in Washington DC in July, was cast as a virtual meeting. Friends of Nigeria followed suit and held its first virtual annual meeting in 2021. All annual meetings since have been virtual. Each meeting begins with a business session followed by presentations of invited speakers -- diplomats, politicians, business people, artists, academicians, former volunteers -- and ending with a so-called 'Cocktail Hour', a meet and greet opportunity for attendees to renew friendships, talk about their lives, tell stories, and reminisce about their lives in Nigeria. Our virtual annual meetings are well attended and have been very popular.
Other ways to stay connected
We invite the visitor to the Friends of Nigeria website to read RPCV and staff recollections of life in Peace Corps Nigeria. Perhaps you have a story to add to our collection of experiences in Nigeria.
You will also find recent articles of news in Nigeria here and under the About Nigeria tab seen above.
Join Friends of Nigeria
If you are not already a member of Friends of Nigeria please consider joining us. Click on the Become a Member link to get started.
Friends of Nigeria Voluntary Contribution
Voluntary contributions help fund our grants program for partner organizations in Nigeria. Partners include maternal health educators and providers, organizations providing emergency relief to people who are internally displaced, local NGOs providing community assistance and micro-lending, and organizations that provide computer literacy training. Special contributions from the membership during the pandemic helped our partners in Nigeria procure and distribute food for people affected by Covid. Peace Corps may have been gone from Nigeria for many years but our members maintain strong ties to the country. Use the Make a Donation link to the left to contribute to our grants program.
FON is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit organization.