YOUTHVILLE ISSUE #162
Friday, December 22, 2017
08078068532
FG to protect intellectual property of young entrepreneurs From Risikat Ramoni, Lagos
The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu has reiterated Federal Government’s commitment to safeguard the intellectual property of young entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Onu who spoke at the GenesysIGNITE 2017 startups conference in Enugu said his Ministry through the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), is addressing issues related to patent and intellectual property to safeguard investments and ideas of the young people. While presenting $10,000 cheque to each of the three start-ups that won at the pitch sessions of the event, he said that it was high time various research and development results from universities were commercialised. “Genesys is doing what the government has in mind with regards to youth development - capacity building, incubation, providing venture capitals. I can tell you that the Ministry will support this platform to ensure that the young people are given a space to express themselves and add value to the economy,” he added. Speaking at the event with over 2000 start-ups drawn from Enugu state and its environs, former senate president, founder of Genesys Tech Hub, Mr Kingsley Eze said the event discussed technology trends that impact the region and proffer strategies for unearthing benefits in the various sectors of the Nigerian economy at large. The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta who spoke through the Director of Public Affairs, Mr Tony Ojobo said, “Digital Access Programme (DAP) is being implemented by the regulator to equip secondary schools with internet connectivity and over 223 schools have benefited. Internet clouds are being provided in universities and polytechnics to improve digital literacy and application.”
FCTA to build Borstal Home for youth training, rehabilitation By Simon E. Sunday @Simon Echewofun
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he Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) is planning to build a Borstal Training Home where youth and juveniles would be rehabilitated and trained to develop good attitudes. The General Counsel for the FCT Legal Counsel Secretariat, Mr Mohammed Umar who said this on the side-line of the staff year-end celebration in Abuja said the Minister of the FCT, Malam Bello Muhammad recently gave the assurance on establishing the rehabilitation home. He said: “The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) reassured that he is going to set up a Borstal Home which will be a reformation centre for the youth. “It is where the youth will be trained and guided to develop good attitudes. It is not also right to put juveniles in conventional prison; our Legal Counsel Secretariat is being fortified so that we can deliver on that. I believe that with the good governance we are seeing all over, there will be less of juvenile cases,” Umar said. While urging staff of the secretariat to be much more committed to doing their jobs in the coming year, the General Counsel said the Secretariat is the biggest law firm next to the Federal Ministry of Justice as it has over 100 lawyers who are competent and diligent. He advised youth to also take up law career as it is an enviable profession. “I will advise and encourage young people to strive towards taking law and aspire to get good grades and become lawyers. They should also try to become successful in it because there is so much pride in the profession.” The law expert said his successful career was achieved from year of hard work. “You have to be prepared always and be familiar with the law. It is also about being diligent and above all honesty and integrity,” he advised potential lawyers.
youthville@dailytrust.com
...young at heart
It takes a long time to become young. – Pablo Picasso
‘Next generation of African leaders to focus on youth, local masses’ Matida Komma is the coordinator and co-founder of The Girls’ Agenda, a women right organization aimed at empowering young girls in The Gambia. She is also an alumnus of the 2016 Mandela Washington Fellowship. Matida who is in Nigeria for an internship programme at the African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) in an interview with Daily Trust said fighting for girls’ rights is imperative to her. By Latifat Opoola @LatifatOpoola
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he said: “We live in the communities where we have many school dropouts due to teenage pregnancies, early marriages or some other issues that might prompt them to drop out of school, so we started this movement targeted at both in school and out of school girls with these issues.” Her advocacy started in 2011, when she joined forces with other young women who have all experienced some form of gender based violence in their lives and now are passionate about impacting and empowering young girls in the community. The admin officer at the University of The Gambia said the need for the advocacy arose when issues of sexual abuse and exploitation kept on rising in communities around her. “We have seen young girls who have either been victims of child marriage or harmful traditional practices such as FGM, how they have gone through some complications and how they are now developing and growing up” she said. “Because we want to have a society where girls have a healthy and positive life away from these societal issues, we decided to come together to fight for the cause,” she added. With resistance from the communities, and religious leaders at the start of the campaign, Matida said now there is acceptance to the cause as a result of frequent awareness. “In the past, our advocacy has been centred in the conventional schools because it is an easy way route and you can easily explain and make them understand the scientific health problems with these issues, so there was a bit of reluctance when it comes to religious scholars’, traditional rulers but we are involving them. We have to bring all on board” she added. With major donors like UNICEF, United Nations population fund, UNFPA in Gambia, the girl generation, the amplified change projects, amongst others, the girls’ rights activist said her organization through partnership with these agencies has so far trained over 1000 students on the scientific health problems associated with these issues through its Madrasa engagement. On her experience at the Mandela Washington
Enterprise: 100 youth in Abuja IDPs camp trained on soap, bead making By Francis Arinze Iloani The True Foundation based in Abuja has trained 100 youth at the new Kuchingoro Internally Displaced
Fellowship, Matida said hip was the fellowship an avenue where rom Africans from an sub-Saharan n Africa meet in the United S t a t e s to learn about the different African cultures a n d traditions we bring with us. “We learnt ur from our ers African sisters others and brothers ls work what models well in their advocacy and maybe borrowing from each other and trying them out in our own communities back home, so we exchanged ideas and learnt from each other. “Especially when it comes to advocacy, how is advocacy done at the international level and narrowing it down in your own country context and seeing what works well,” Matida explained. Matida is hopeful that the next generation of African leaders would be ones that will work not for their interest but the interest of the youth and the local masses. “So I have hope with the new leaders coming up because the next generation of African leaders are coming up for the interest of youth, their communities and local masses that put them in power. I am sure with dedication, determination and encouragement we will get there,” the optimistic Matida said. She further affirmed that the future for Africa is bright with the emerging young leaders coming up. “I believe we will be able to tackle most of the problems we are faced with, because our problem is not about our people but the leadership that we have,” she said.
Persons (IDPs) camp in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on bead making, soap making and other skills to boost their entrepreneurship potentials. Speaking at the graduation ceremony of the, the founder and Senior Technical Adviser on Downstream and Infrastructure to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Brenda Ataga, said the participants were entitled to starter packs to enable them start their businesses immediately. Ataga, who also gave various cash rewards to best graduating participants in each of the classes,
said the training gulped about N4 million. The Foundation, funded by Ataga and her friends, have been actively involved in skills and entrepreneurship development in various IDPs camps across Abuja. She lamented the rising youth unemployment in Nigeria, adding that cognitive education no longer sufficient to address the problem. She said there is need for private and public sectors collaboration to create jobs for the teeming youth and bridge the skills gap in the country. She expressed the desire to extend the training initiative to young people in other parts of the country in different IDPs if she could get partnerships and support from concerned individuals, groups and the government.
DAILY TRUST, Friday, December 22, 2017
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YOUTHVILLE
Why I’m touching lives of young people with football — Ikechukwu Uchendu Christian Ikechukwu, is the Chairman of Nwuado Football Club. In Gboko town of Benue State, Ikechukwu mentors youth to become responsible adults and future leaders of the country. He does that by organising football league and other mentorship activities. He shares his story in this interview with the Daily Trust correspondent. From Hope Abah, Makurdi
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ow did you start this initiative? I have a business since 2009 and I began to see the need to help other less privileged in the society especially the youth to pick up their lives. That was how the Nwuado Foundation started. It was registered in 2013 and we started going to orphanage homes as it focuses on widows, youth and orphans. Through it, 10 widows got houses in Gboko and in Okija, Anambra state. We also renovated some orphanage homes including the NKST Orphanage Home, Mkar Gboko. Nwuado Foundation has gone into farming because President Muhammadu Buhari has encouraged Nigerians to go into agriculture. When did you start the football club? In August of 2013, we established a football club called Nwuado Football Club. It has sponsored 18 players outside the country. As part of the initiative, I donated N5 million split into N5,000 each for 5,000 youth. The beneficiaries include 3,000 Facebook friends, 1,000 from Twitter friends and another 1,000 from the friends around here. We should unite as one so
that we can together solve the problems of the country. On my own part, I’ve been trying to preach peace by ensuring that no one around me is discriminated against. For instance, out of my 27 staff, 14 are Muslims and the others are Christians; we have been working together seamlessly. We also have 77 players in my football team comprising 43 Muslims. 18 of them are already playing overseas and d we are working hard to send is more of them. If we sustain this feat in the next five years, wee would have touched the lives off h more youth in Nigeria so much so that every family will hearr about us. What is your advice for others to assist the less privileged? We are calling on Nigerians to support the less privileged
and our foundations so we can have a veritable Nigeria to bequeath to our children. For Nigerians, we all need to be patient as a better Nigeria will soon emerge. I am also appealing to Nigerian leaders to be prudent, transparent and not embezzle funds. For those who have done that, they should start using such monies to improve the country instead of stashing them in foreign accounts.
By Judd-Leonard Okafor @judd_leonard
The Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan has called on State Houses of Assembly to urgently pass the ‘Not too Young to run Bill’ to involve more youth in governance. Lawan who made the call at a meeting of the Northern Forum of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) in Abuja also advised the Council to facilitate a bill to give it a legal backing. He explained that the youth governance bill was passed to ensure that youth were responsible and contribute meaningfully towards nation building. He also emphasised the need for sustained unity of the country, stressing that it was only in the atmosphere of peace that development could thrive. The Chairman of the Forum, Comrade Emmanuel Dashe said the aim of the meeting was to deliberate on ways young people from the North could contribute to nation building. A former President of NYCN, Comrade Ben Duntoye urged youth to reduce the dwell time on social media and leverage on the youth governance bill to grow politically. The Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Council, Dr. Dickson Akoh appealed to the National Assembly to midwife the process of giving legal backing to the National Youth Council of Nigeria.
From Nurudeen Oyewole, Lagos The Foursquare Gospel Church in Yaba, Lagos and the Policy Adviser for Competitive Rice Initiative (CARI)/ John Kufuor Foundation, Mr Sagoe Joe have organised a sensitisation programme tagged ‘Celebrating Nigeria Rice’ to promote farming. At the programme where 700 children participated, Mr Sagoe said it was to enlighten Nigerians on the quality and availability of Nigeria rice through children who will carry the news to their parents. “While at CARI, we understand the need to significantly improve the livelihood of rice farmers by finding for them patronages that can sustain them in the business, we also understand the need to involve the children whom we believe constitute a larger percentage of Nigerians who eat rice and rice-related products,” he said. The National Deputy President, Rice Farmer Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Segun Atho said unknown to many, rice being produced in Nigeria are fresh and delicious unlike some of those being exported into the country which he described as “expired products”. The Head of Ministry, Children Chapel of the church, Mrs Adesola Osibona said the campaign will help the children take the sensitisation messages to their peers. One of the children, Taiwo Ogunseye said the local rice cooked and circulated to them at the event tasted great. She said her parents for the past months have only been cooking LAKE rice, a locally produced rice by the Lagos and Kebbi State governments.
Russia 2018: ‘Super Eagles can excel with huge youth talents’ By Simon E. Sunday with agency report
State legislatures urged to pass Firm donates N4m biology lab to Kogi school ‘Not too Young to run Bill’ By Olayemj John-Mensah
Group promotes rice farming, sensitise 700 kids in Lagos
An oil exploring firm, Esso, has handed over a fully equipped biology laboratory to Government Science School, Kotonkarfe, Kogi state. The firm, an affiliate of ExxonMobil, in partnership with Adolescent Action Pact (AAP), said it spent nearly N4 million to reconstruct the laboratory, refurbish it and supply equipment to “create an enabling environment for the study of biology,” said Nigel Cookey-Gam, government and business relations manager at Esso. “Once again [Esso] has demonstrated its unwavering commitment towards the support of the study of sciences in secondary schools with this project,” said Cookey-Gam. “[Esso], in making this commendable investment, expects that the venture will both enhance the quality of teaching of biology as well as the outcome of the external examinations in Government Science School Koton-Karfe, he added. Equipment installed in the lab include klinostat, human development models, microscopes, island benches, babyin-utero models. Speaking on the initiative, John Ocholi, field coordinator of AAP expressed the hope that all stakeholders will be engaged to ensure that the biology laboratory is used and maintained in such a way as to contribute positively towards raising the standards of science study in the school. He hoped that governments and other corporate organizations will devote consistent efforts towards supporting the study of science in schools.
The Super Eagles can excel at the 2018 FIFA World Cup with the quality of players Nigeria has all over the world, said a sports enthusiast, Stanley Osagie, who is also a lawmaker in the Edo House of Assembly. Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja yesterday, he said Nigeria has the advantage of having many overseas-based players. “The Super Eagles can shock the whole world in Russia next year. I am not scared of their opponents at all. The team has all the players needed to excel, because of the kind of experience they have playing abroad,” he said. The APC lawmaker who represents Edo South-East said there was no need to be scared of any threat the likes of Argentina, Croatia and Iceland could pose to the Eagles. Osagie said: “They are countries like us. We have what they have, and even more than what they have. If we play well, we will go places in Russia. I am confident about that.” He praised Greenbox Facilities Limited for organising a novelty match to expose hidden talents. The Abuja-based company last Saturday organised the match for its staff, with Team A beating Team B 4-1 after coming from a goal down. The lawmaker who took the match’s ceremonial kickoff also said, “If other private organisations can come up with this kind of initiative, Nigeria will be better for it. It has pointed the way forward, for us to see new talents and even help the unemployed.”
Try to keep your soul young and quivering right ht up to old age - George