YOUTHVILLE ISSUE #83 3
Don’t wait for the perfect moment, take the moment and make it perfect. - Zoey Sayward
...young at heart
Friday, June 17, 2016
I’m working to help the disabled access internet – AUN’s Best graduate, Tanyi Twenty two year old Gregory Tanyi, was the best graduate of the American University of Nigeria (AUN) recently. The Cameroonian who graduated with a first class honours in Telecommunication and Wireless Technology spoke about his feats and his passion to create impacts. Text by Chidimma C Okeke
H
ow does it feel to be the best graduate? Some parts of me feel very proud of my achievement and some part is actually honoured because this particular set is like the most competitive set. It’s an honour because I know that I am the first in my class and it is a huge responsibility to represent this class, so it is motivation as I have a lot to do. T o make an ‘A’ i n
Gregory Tanyi
AU is very tricky because generally AUN it’s from 95 per cent to 100 per cent so you have to be the best friend to perfection to avoid making silly mis mistake and be focused all through. I is also not as difficult as it might It sou because you have all the tools sound you need in AUN, you have the library, the resources are available but you nee huge amount of commitment, need foc focus and avoid huge amount of mis mistake that is the most important. W What is your cutting edge over oth others? A a tender age, I picked up because At s I started learning in French before my transition to English. I picked up languages, marks and other thin things. Throughout my life, I notice d I don’t need to study much to retain any anything, so it is an advantage to me and I have an A level background bef before going to the university too. W Would you say your parental aca academic raising helped you too? T They definitely did, the thing about my family is that I don’t even look at m Dad as a professor but my dad’s my u uncle who nurtured him was the first in Cameroun to bag a PhD in Mathematics and he has six degrees.
My parents have helped me since; being in the academia, they know one or two tips on how to study but I think the more important part is the ethos as a family we have this responsibility to uphold the family standard. Are you considering staying back if you get an offer? Most definitely, the world is a global village. My parents are very traditional in the sense that they believe in helping the community but I don’t need to be back home to have an influence there and I am not just aiming to have an influence back home but globally. One thing about AUN is they open a window to the world to show you that you don’t have to have an influence in your own country alone, I could be in Nigeria and have an influence globally I am not just thinking of restricting myself to Cameroun I am really thinking big. What is next on your pack after much study? For four years after a lot of sunburn I want to travel a little bit in the next couple of months to do tourism, I love tourism and chilling, after that I will go for some work experience probably, go for an internship. I really have plans to go back to school because my long term goal is to help the blind people and people with disability to connect to the internet. There is this new big thing called the ‘Internet of Things’. Just imagine a world where everything is being connected to the internet, the fridge, micro wave, doors, etc. It is going to be easy to forget those who have disabilities, so I really want to connect with them.
Pursue your entrepreneurial Eforan, the Nigerian-Egyptian singer dreams, graduates told making music Text from Nurudeen Oyewole, Lagos In the face of dwindling oil revenues and growing unemployment, President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) Mr Aigboje Aig Imoukhuede has advised young graduates to start living up to their entrepreneurial dreams. Imoukhuede gave the advised while speaking at the 14th Babcock University Convocation ceremony held in Ilishan Remo. The NSE President who spoke on the topic: “capi dien” (seizing the day), also admonished the graduates that nothing brings joy in life like working for oneself. “If it is in your heart to go into entrepreneurship, you will not be happy working for someone, you must seize the day and go after your entrepreneurial dream,” Imoukhuede said. The former Managing Director of Access Bank also applauded Babcock graduates of Babcock University, saying they have a record of performance in different industry and urged the new graduates to follow the footsteps of previous alumni. “Your career in your chosen profession begins today. But unlike in academic sphere, there is no CGPA in real life. There are challenges on the road but you must learn how to surpass them and raise the bar in wealth creation,” he told the graduates.
Text by Olayemi John-Mensah Good music has always been soul lifting when the rhythm gets to the ears. No wonder people are not satisfied with various genre of music being released by Nigeria musicians. Randa Isan aka Eforan a model cum singer whose genre of music started with R and B graduated to Afro beat due to her passion and she is set to release her singles soon. The 27 year old NigerianEgyptian who started modelling since 2008 said her love for Africa motivated her visit to Ghana and Angola but said she likes Nigeria most because she feels more at home here. Her love for African music inspired her imagination to merge the Afro beat with Egyptian style of music especially the belly dancing. “I am setting up myself here, I usually travel a lot so I will be travelling and coming back:
Nigeria is my home just as Egypt is my home as well.” Eforan said Nigerian music is danceable and dramatic and that g inspired her dream of planning gerian collaboration with some Nigerian y, Tiwa music stars like Seyi Shay, e their Savage and Tuface. “I like o good styles and I feel I would do hem.” collaboration with any of them.” Her uniqueness comess with aid is her style which she said different; Arabian/Afro beat o. “You which no one has delve into. fferent must do something different se the to be recognized because h and competition is too much everyone is doing amazing work. do, Ice I listen to Wizkid, Davido, ey are prince, Yemi Alade and they all amazing and I know I really have to work hard.” e Her first release will be the single, Rola Costa, while an album follows later. Eforan’s unique selling point is her voice as she said she
is completely different when it comes to vocal strength. “It is going to be different from all you have been hearing,” she noted.
DAILY TRUST, Friday, June 17, 2016
29
YOUTHVILLE
Facebook introduces video comments feature
Music: Succeeding in this industry, experts’ words
Text by Bamas Victoria @BamasVictoria
Text by Simon E. Sunday @SimonEchewofun
T
he Nigerian music industry has evolved with new entrants breaking even in just a little time. Indigenous mucsic producers, Audu Maikori and Paul Okeugo told the CNN recently, some tips on how to succeed in the vast industry. Top of these tips include knowing your audience and listening to your fans! Business moguls, Maikori and Okeugo are the founder and the Chief Operating Officer of Chocolatecity Music record label respectively. Okeugo @pauloflow disclosed that two great keys to success in the industry are local knowledge and researching individual markets. To Maikori @Audu, the importance of fostering a reliable team and maintaining motivation is quite essential. Twitting to #AMM @cnnafrica from Kaduna Metropolis, he said the keys to making it are Tenacity, Passion and an Innovative team. The duo said young artistes should avoid the common mistakes of not being strategic with what they are trying to achieve. “People
Okeugo
Maikori
often throw money at music businesses without a clear strategy on how to recoup the money,” Maikori said in his tweet response. He also clarified that artistes should realise that, “music business is a long term investment in talent, content and marketing
- it’s not a get rich quick business.” Okeugo advised that “ensuring the honesty and originality of the music is also an important factor here.” He said when people create music to attract brands rather than fans, is a big mistake.
Facebook has launched video comments, a feature that allows users to record and upload a video to the comments thread. Previously, in addition to text, photos and emoticons only URL’s (links) to video could be posted as a comment in response to a post or status on the timeline. The feature to post a video directly as a comment was announced by Bob Baldwin, who was one of the “core hacker” during a hackathon held by Facebook that led to the creation of the new function. “At Facebook’s 50th Hackathon early this year, we prototyped the ability to upload a video into comments and replies on posts, because we wanted to enable more engaging and immersive conversations,” he said. He added that “Videos in comments are now available worldwide! You can upload them as replies to posts by people and pages, as well as within groups and events.”
Engaging youngsters in education games is fun – Ejoke Text by Simon E. Sunday @SimonEchewofun The founder of Starryclassix Limited, an educational game promoter in Abuja, Ms Rachael Ejoke has described her experience as thrilling and exciting while engaging kids and teens in Play Sessions of her Words Barn Game Cards. She said a recent activity that brought
youngsters together for the game was the BEARHUG Summer Programme organized by the FCT Education Resource Centre at The City Library in Abuja. Rachael said her firm adds value to the edutainment industry through the Educational and Entertaining Card Game ‘Words Barn’ and it’s online support
for creating Personal Word Libraries on www.starryclassix.com. For this summer holiday, she said they are reaching out to educators and wellmeaning individuals who are keen on the business of adding literary value through such educational games. “We believe that collaboration is essential to reaching and sustaining our
goal of turning reading into fun, exciting and interactive activity through the use of cards game,” she said. One of the participants, Olayinka Bolarin, a student of Glisten International Academy in Abuja said: “I play the Words Barn Game a lot, I do that because it helps me to improve my reading culture.”
‘FG committed to eradicating child labour’ Young talents begin Project Fame auditions Text by Simon E. Sunday @SimonEchewofun Text from Abdullateef Aliyu, Lagos Award winning music talent discovery and grooming competition, MTN Project Fame West Africa is back for the ninth straight season, the organizers have announced. The new season with the tag: Fame Lives Here is billed to start with the search for raw talents at the auditions tomorrow in Accra, Ghana and Ibadan, Oyo state on June 18, 2016; Port Harcourt and Abuja auditions will hold June 25
while that of Lagos is slated for July 1 and 2, 2016. A statement by the spokesman of Ultima Limited, producers of the show, Mr. Olu Akinlabi said this year, thousands of young talents “will fight to get into the prestigious Project Fame Academy, where superstars are made, to be tutored by the best in the music and entertainment industry.” Previous superstars that have graduated from the ‘Fame Academy’, amongst others are Iyanya Mbuk, whose ‘Kukere’, with the famous Etighi dance won the best pop single on the 2012 Headies Award in Lagos; Mike Anyasodo’s ‘Fine Fine Lady’ video won the 2010 Sound City’s Best R&B Video Award; and of course the ‘Kedike’ crooner, Chidinma Ekile won the Best Female Act (West Africa) of the prestigious KORA Award in 2012.
The Federal Government is committed to the eradication of child labour in the country, a reported statement from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment has said. The Permanent Secretary, Dr Clement Illoh in the local news agency report said Nigeria was fully represented at the meeting of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Committee on Applications of Standards. Nigeria was one of the countries invited to appear before the Committee on June 1, concerning the Minimum Age Convention of 1973. Illoh explained that Nigeria also presented to the committee, comprehensive efforts on tackling issues of child labour as contained in the National Child Labour Policy and other documents. “It is pertinent to stress that the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, remained unwavering in its determination to eradicate any form of child labour in the country,” Illoh said.
Trafficking: Plan Nigeria set to build capacity, reduce incidences Text by Bamas Victoria @BamasVictoria A non governmental agency, Plan International Nigeria, said it is reducing incidences of human trafficking in countries and around the Gulf of Guinea by building capacity, creating awareness and providing shelter support for victims. Its Child, protection focal point, Gabriel Yafeyi during a capitalization workshop for ‘Supporting the fight
against human trafficking in the Gulf of Guinea countries project’ explained that “Nigeria is implementing this project to strengthen her Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the fight against human trafficking. “It is to also strengthen their shelters in terms of how they operate, how they are able to report their activities, how they utilize the legal frame work,” he said. The president, Network of Civil
Society Organization against Child Trafficking, Child Abuse and Child Labour, (NACTAL), Kolawole Olatosimi, said the project enhanced the service delivery of its members towards rendering proper services to victim of trafficking. The agency’s project coordinator of anti-human trafficking based in Lome, Togo, Melanie Gnandi said the project is designed to reduce the phenomenon of human trafficking.
Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have. - Winston Churchill