Youthville by Daily Trust Tambari

YOUTHVILLE ISSUE #82 2

...young at heart

Friday, June 10, 2016

he advancement in telecommunication technology has spurred a techy-savvy culture among many youth groups in the world, experts have said. Our reporters have observed that more Nigerian youth are getting obsessed with smartphones daily especially as the designs are being improved upon and made affordable. The Startimes Group Vice President on Media, Michael Dearham said Nigeria has 145million mobile phones users with 86million internet users among them. It also ranks as third on Facebook subscribers population in Africa after attaining 5.35million. Dearham who spoke at the 5th edition of the African Digital television Seminar in Beijing, China last year said Egypt occupies the first place with 13m facebook users and South Africa the second, with 5.5million. According to the eMarket, a digital market analytical platform, Nigeria ranks as 17th in smartphone usage. It had 23.1million smartphone owners in 2015 and that figure

may grow to 34million by 2018. Various statistics have shown that majority of the smartphone users are youth who are either students, unemployed or among the employed class. A cross section of youth comprising users, sellers and technicians who spoke with YOUTHVILLE in Abuja on why they go for such cell phones provided an insight into the essence and necessity of owning a smartphone. Abdulrazaq Salihu who owns a Samsung brand said some youth go for it because of class feeling! “They want to brag about it giving themselves a sense of belonging. Others need the phones to facilitate their various business demands,” he said. Most of them agreed that high-tech phones work faster, effectively, have more capacity, have better access to the internet compared with lowtech phones. Giving another purpose for the smartphone craze, Muhammed Yakubu said: “Youth like using such phones so they can have access to the social media even if it will cost them their last penny.”

A cell phone technician at Banex Plaza, Abuja, Ifeyinwa Okonkwo said the brands of phones most common among her youth client are the average Tecno and Infinix products that have all the features available on the expensive brands like Samsung and Apple. “I have seen youth come to us requesting to buy phones of over N80,000. Some are unemployed teenagers who merely may not afford or maintain them. But most of them said, their parents pay for them,” she said. Musa Ahmed who repairs phones in Kubwa-FCT said most of his customers come with Blackberry and Samsung brands. For some other youth, they combine the use of smartphones with the regular mobile phones to compliment professional calling and communication needs. “I have a Blackberry Smart phone, the Android-like type, which I use for my work and social media stuff. “The other small phone, which has no internet connectivity or any social media application, I receive

Illustration UKEOMA MODESTUS

Craze for smartphones, rising among youth

Text by Simon E. Sunday @SimonEchewofun, Eseohe Ebhota @sleek_ diva88, Latifat Opoola @LatifatOpoola, Ibrahim Kabiru Sule @Ikabir & Victoria Bamas @Sinach360

Don’t wait for the perfect moment, take the moment and make it perfect. – Zoey Sayward

calls with it. And its battery lasts longer,” an employed youth told our reporter in Abuja. Some employed youth said they do not have issues budgeting for phone’s

subscription. But for the others, the cheap data trend with major GSM service providers is helping them to stay classy in the mobile technology trend.

IGSR trains 490 youth on skills, peace building Text by Bashir Liman, Jos The Institute of Governance and Social Research (IGSR) has trained about 490 youths on skills acquisition that involves how to make air freshener, soap, cake, flowers and tips on trading. The Chairman of IGSR disclosed

this while speaking at the closing ceremony of a seven day Youth Peace Camp 8 organised by IGSR in collaboration with Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme (NSRP), UK-DFID at Citizenship & Leadership Training Centre in Jos. He explained that the participants at the camp were

drawn from six local governments areas of Plateau State North Senatorial Zone which includes Jos North, Jos South, Jos East, Barikin Ladi, Riyom and Bassa. He said apart from the skills acquisition training the youths have acquired, they trained them how they will be ambassadors of peace.

Hamid Ibrahim, one of the participants from Bassa Local Government Area said he learned how to make air freshener, and how to love one another. Simon Dung another youth from Riyom said he is now an expert on cake bakery and learned how to be disciplined and to forgive easily.

“Study, return and salvage Nigeria” Nigeria can export ready-to-wear clothes From Nurudeen Oyewole, Lagos Prospective Nigerian students to University of Sussex have been charged to return after their studies and salvage the country with the knowledge acquired from the higher institution of learning. The Lagos-based motivational speaker and counsellor, Muyiwa Afolabi gave the advice while addressing prospective students of University of Sussex at a seminar in Lagos. According to Afolabi, Nigeria and indeed Africa hold better prospects for the youths because there is less competition unlike

in the developed world where their knowledge, skills and ingenuity might be less appreciated. “This is a fertile country, a fertile continent. So, when you get out of this continent and you make your money and fame, come back to Africa and impact on the people. If you choose to stay back, you will realize that the competition is already stiffed out there,” Afolabi said. The University’s International Student Adviser, Joanne Chee remarked that many Nigerians who have attended the institution at one time or the other have great records both in character and learning.

Text by Bamas Victoria @BamasVictoria Jonathan David the owner of Talnode clothing’s believes that Nigeria’s fashion industry can grow to the level it can compete at the world stage and also export to other countries. Jonathan whose mother and father are from Gombe and Kogi is a fashion designer who trained in Kano, before moving to Gwarinpa, Abuja. He currently has three employees and three student trainees. He said he opted for designing and sewing apparels because of the passion and the fact that he has a creative mind. If you are looking to follow a career in fashion designing, Jonathan said first look for a professional outfit where you can

register and you need to have an intelligent creative mind and know that “There is a difference between I can do this and I have a passion for it.” The major challenges according to Jonathan are “irregular power supply and customers satisfaction; there are customers that you can never satisfy no matter what you do.” “I encourage people to start it because it is lucrative, you can learn it while even as a student and it will help secure their future,” Jonathan advised. He urged government to invest in the fashion

industry because it is a lucrative business for individuals and the country. “We have a booming fashion scene and there is nothing wrong if we export our fashion to other countries; that is ready-to-wear sizes and export them the way we import cloths from other countries,” he noted.

DAILY TRUST, Friday June 10, 2016

Kannywood actress, Rahama produces first movie

YOUTHVILLE

 Children from the Abuja Orphanage homes celebrating as indomie foods recently paid them a visit.

Viewing centres turn focus to European cup

Photo: Mulikat Mukaila

Text by IBRAHIM KABIRU SULE @ikabirsule

Text from Bashir Liman, Jos Kannywood scintillating actress, Rahama Abdullahi Sadau is onset of her first movie as a producer in Kano state. Soon after launching her company, Sadau Pictures last month, the actress began shooting her first film titled, ‘Rariya’. Priyanka as she is known and called by many, told YOUTHVILLE that she is happy about reaching a milestone of producing a film under her company. “The film Rariya is based on the story of some Northern Nigerian school girls, it talks about life style, education and parenting. It portrays how the rich and poor come to play the same game,” she said. Sadau said the film being shot in Kano and Kaduna locations stares herself, Sadiq Sani Sadiq, Rabi’u Rikadawa, Fati Washa and others, with Yaseen Auwal directing it.

Abuse of 8-year-old autistic girl stirs outrage By Judd-Leonard Okafor @judd_leonard

tutor alleged to have sexually abused an eight-year-old autistic girl at an elementary school in Abuja’s Asokoro district has drawn the condemnation of women’s and rights groups calling for his prosecution. The student is not named but her mother, also with names withheld, said she discovered injuries to the girl’s genitals while bathing her after school in the evening of May 18. A medical examination has confirmed the eight-year-old was “sexually assaulted on several occasion”, according to documents seen. Samples taken from adult males around the girl have ruled out her family driver and pointed to her school teacher, named Paul Okpala, both of whom were previously detained. Police has held brief with prosecution saying it is collecting more evidence— it prompted a petition by the group Reclaim Godly Values Foundation, pushing for prosecution. The petition urges the federal education ministry to close down and revoke the licence of the school, Treasure House Montessori for “complicity and negligence of duty that led to this unfortunate incident.”

Reclaim through the Executive Director, Ayodele Edwards also called for wider examination to ensure other children have not been assaulted in the school and an investigation into the lapses that allowed the assault on the eight-year-old go undetected. Reclaim also demands adequate compensation for the family of the eight-yearold to “ensure her proper rehabilitation after this trauma to enable her continue with her education in a suitable school.” Hannah Lohor, secretary of National Council of Women’s Societies said molestation and rape of minors were becoming rampant with nothing done to clamp down on the trend. It called for policy by the World Health Organisation for nations to stipulate stiff penalties for perpetrators of violence against children. Emmanuel Osemeka, of Social Network Initiative, has called for full implementation of the Child Rights law to protect children and prosecute offenders. The case of the eight year old girl comes on the heels of a four and half year old girl reported to have been serially abused sexually by her school proprietor to whom her parents handed her over every morning before school.

“Youth for agric” campaign kicks off in Kwara From Romoke W. Ahmad, Ilorin As the price of crude oil continues to fall at the international market which is causing serious economic recession and with the campaign of economic diversification, a “youth for agriculture” campaign has been launched in Kwara state to assist the younger generation who are into farming. The programme would afford the youth opportunity to access soft loan with 6 per cent interest payable within five years. The state coordinator, Mr. Abdulrasak Edun while sensitising youth said the programme is an initiative

of a non-governmental organisation to ensure that Nigerian youth are engaged in economic development through participation in mechanised farming. “It will also afford the youths greater opportunity to discover their talent in challenging situations and create job opportunities for others thus curbing youth restiveness, violence, kidnapping, armed robbery and other social vices which threatens the nation’s security,” Edun said. He recalled all the challenges facing Kwara farmers which he described as worse than that of other states. “I want our youth to use the programme judiciously

when they get the loan and be prepared to return it. Interested youth will pay N16,000 to access N500,000 loan payable within five years,” the coordinator explained. He also advised Kwara youth to embrace the programme and see how they can benefit so as to change their living condition, provide jobs for others and contribute to the economic development of the nation. Also speaking, the State Chairman of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) Mr. Tajudeen O. Ajibola assured the youth of their support and promised to follow up on the programme to ensure its success.

Barely a month since major European leagues rounded up, viewing centres in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja have started feeling the impact as the weekly bubbling activities nosdived. But, according to one of the owners of football viewing centres in Karmajiji, a suburb of Abuja, Salisu Barcelona, centres have turned their focus to the upcoming European Cup, to be staged in France. The competition, held every four years, will commence from June 10 in France and end on July 10, which will saw the continued flurry of viewers in Nigeria. “During the close of European leagues, we usually record low activities. You hardly have a major football competition that will attract a large crowd at periods like this. “We normally wait until when Pre-Season competitions start. That is when you will begin to see crowd, because supporters would be eager to see their new signings,” he said. Asked of the Nigerian league, which is currently going on, Barcelona said they do not show Nigerian league because there is no much turn out for the matches. He said they charge N100 for each match and the price will continue even for the up coming matches. “Very few people complain of paying such amount.”

80% of teenagers risk online sexual abuse - UNICEF By Simon E. Sunday @SimonEchewofun Eight out of 10 young adults believe that children and adolescents are at risk of being sexually abused especially through the internet, a recent report from the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has said. Most teenagers it noted are taken advantage of online, adding that more than half of them think that their friends participate in risky online behaviour. The result was achieved after over 10,000 18-yearold participants were drawn from 25 countries. It showed that young adults’ awareness of the dangers of online abuse, especially as

children make up one-third of internet users globally. In Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, two-thirds of 18-year-olds strongly believe that children and adolescents are in danger of being sexually abused online. In the Middle East and North Africa, only 33 per cent of those polled said they strongly believed that. More than 60 per cent of adolescents in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa believed either strongly or somewhat that their friends put themselves at risk online. In the U.S. and Britain only 36 per cent of adolescents said their friends engaged in risky behaviour online.

Healthy citizens are the greatest assets any country can have. – Winston Churchill