Sesame Square is a Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

n version of Sesame Street

Sesame Street

Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...

. It is West Africa

West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...

's first Sesame Street adaptation. Nigerians produce and voice the series in Standard English

Standard English

Standard English refers to whatever form of the English language is accepted as a national norm in an Anglophone country...

. The show is scheduled to have three seasons, with the first containing 26 letters, one for each letter of the English alphabet

English alphabet

The modern English alphabet is a Latin alphabet consisting of 26 letters and 2 ligatures – the same letters that are found in the Basic modern Latin alphabet:...

. It is due to be screened on Nigerian Television Authority

Nigerian Television Authority

The Nigerian Television Authority - also known as NTA - was inaugurated in 1977 and is the government-owned body in charge of television broadcasting in the country. The NTA claims to run the biggest television network in Africa with stations in several parts of Nigeria...

 network. The set of Sesame Square resembles a traditional Nigerian village with a central mango tree. The series stars Kami

Kami (Takalani Sesame character)

Kami is a character on Takalani Sesame and Sesame Square, the South African and Kenyan versions respectively of the children's television program Sesame Street....

, an HIV

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

-positive Muppet (who was originally part of the South African version of Sesame Street), and Zobi, a blue, furry Muppet who is a 'Yam Monster' (the Nigerian version of the Cookie Monster

Cookie Monster

Cookie Monster is a Muppet on the children's television show Sesame Street. He is best known for his voracious appetite and his famous eating phrases: "Me want cookie!", "Me eat cookie!", and "Om nom nom nom" . He often eats anything and everything, including danishes, donuts, lettuce, apples,...

 in the American original). It will also feature segments from the American original including famous characters such as Big Bird

Big Bird

Big Bird is a protagonist of the children's television show Sesame Street. Big Bird, like many of the other Sesame Street characters, is a Muppet character. He is sometimes referred to simply as "Bird" by his friends....

 and Bert and Ernie

Ernie

Ernie is a fictional character, a Muppet on the Public Broadcasting Service's long-running children's television show, Sesame Street. He and his roommate Bert form a comic duo that is one of the program's centerpieces, with Ernie acting the role of the naïve troublemaker and Bert the world-weary foil...

. The characters will be revoiced, however, to give them Nigerian accents. The opening theme tune is "Welcome to Sesame Square" and includes the use of talking drums. In addition to teaching letters and numbers, the show aims to educate children about malaria

Malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...

 prevention, promote Nigerian unity through the representation of the diverse groups that make-up the country and to help remove the stigma of being HIV-positive. It is the second foreign co-production of Sesame Street to be shown entirely in English, the first being Northern Ireland's Sesame Tree

Sesame Tree

Sesame Tree, a version of Sesame Street made entirely in Northern Ireland, is produced by Belfast based production company Sixteen South Television and Sesame Workshop. The first episode aired on BBC Two in Northern Ireland on 5 April 2008 with the first series subsequently airing nationwide on...

.