We are Chuki "The Philosopher" Obiyo and Ozii "The Influence" Obiyo of NLN from Owerri West-Imo State, Nigeria. We are truly blessed and proud to be from Nigeria...the country that hails itself as the 'giant of Africa'. More so, our sense of identity is epitomized in our Igbo cultural heritage. As you might know the Igbo people make up one of the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria and are known for their hardworking nature and business smarts. No be Igbo man wey first say business na business. Even from childhood, we were taught the importance of working hard in both home and school. For example, there were times when we would not only have to wake up very early in the morning to walk to school in the Dry Season (characterized by dust and humidity) but immediately after school we would have to go to our family farm to check on the cassava and corn that we planted in the Rainy Season (characterized by periodic rain) which checking that could last over 5 hours. Wow, those were the times...Nigerian life no dey easy-Oh!. What we appreciate most about our family life in Nigeria is that we were never raised to think of ourselves as better than anyone else. Though we lived in several advanced regions of Nigeria i.e. Nigerian Aiport Authority quarters in Port Harcourt, the Ifako estates in Lagos, and the city flats in Owerri; nevertheless, when we would visit our village of Avu-Owerri West, making the adjustment from city life to village life was simple. After completing primary school in Nigeria (US equivalent of elementary school), our father thought it best for us to finish our schooling in the United States. Coming to America was not really much of a culture shock as we had several other relatives and friends in the US. Also, we had been exposed to the American culture quite a bit on TV in Nigeria. American pop culture emblems like MTV, CNN, the NBA, McDonald's, and Hollywood Movies were things we were already kind of used to. The aspiration of education for us underlines our family's investment in the United States. The end product of that investment was that we both gained a smooth admission to one of the best universities in the US, The University of Texas at Austin. Our pursuit of success in the US underlines our investment back to the continent of Africa through our FUFA scholarship program sponsored by our organization, NLN International. How did you two start NLN International? Nu Lambda Nu (NLN) International was established on November 27, 2002 in our dorm room at the University of Texas at Austin. Shouts out to Jester East Dorm...Hook 'em Horns! The idea for NLN International came during a conversation with family and friends at a Thanksgiving Dinner celebration. We got back to our dorm room that weekend and started brainstorming a unique way in which we could gain from popularizing the Nigerian culture from an American perspective and in turn give back to the continent of Africa. In creating such an organization, the challenge was to establish the organization as a complement to the local as well as international community. Today, hardworking efforts for NLN International have established our online education and entertainment fundraising enterprise, NLN Shop; and our scholarship program titled From Us, For All (FUFA) Scholarship for university students in the continent of Africa. What was the inspiration for your FUFA Scholarship program? The idea for the FUFA scholarship came about on January 3, 2003, about a month after we established the organization. Our inspiration for FUFA came during a trip to different parts of Africa in December of 2002. In the length of our trip, we observed numerous instances in which students enrolled in four year universities were stranded at home with no means at all to support themselves through school, many had given up on continuing their education altogether. Some of these discouraged students were even friends we had grown up with. What shocked us about this observation was not the nature of the problem but just how rampant the problem was. At that point, we knew that something substantial needed to be done to provide solutions to such a continental problem. We then decided to make FUFA one of the objectives for our organization. It is truly better to give than to receive. Today, we are humbled to say that our FUFA Scholarship has become a successful traditon. Our FUFA scholarship serves to promote education and a better future for aspiring college students in the continent of Africa. How do you raise money for FUFA? * NLN Shop- a percentage of all the sales we make goes to fund our FUFA Scholarship program. Chi ne dum maka owu Chukwu nyerem * NLN Performances- a percentage of what we make on paid invitational shows, promotionals, and appearances goes to fund our FUFA Scholarship program. AfroTechno is the coolest! Photo: Nigerian Socials How do you guys define your musical project? AfroTechno...Baby! The new generation of new African music. Truth be told, we love all the aspects of our music. From songwriting to beat-making, from promotion to distribution...even doing interviews The drive for success has no speed limit or cultural boundaries. In full effect, AfroTechno is our musical drive for success. NLN ge nwe obodo e nwe...NLN, na u biko! Who or What is a major influence in your creativity as artists and entrepreneurs? As up and coming artists and entrepreneurs, we have truly enjoyed every step of the way. One of the major influences in our creativity has been the support from our family. We certainly hope to keep making them proud of us and we'll work hard to provide for them both emotionally and financially as our careers flourish. Good thing na money make 'am better. For more bio, please log on to http://www.NLNshop.com

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