Youthville by Daily Trust Tambari

YOUTHVILLE TRUST

ISSUE #72

....young ..young at heart

Friday, April 1, 2016

How I won the prestigious Norman’s Agric Award – Female Scientist, Ijeoma ‘All my photos tell unique stories’ Text by Latifat Opoola (@LatifatOpoola)

tory telling is the heart of good photography said CEO of CuteNinety’s Ltd, Mujeeb Ogungbola. He said photographers should be able to tell stories with their cameras, and to do that they must care about their subject and learn all there is to know about it before picking up the camera. Ogungbola who is a Mathematics and Statistics graduate of Kaduna Polytechnic started his photography career about 10 years ago with a starting capital of N20,000 which he used to purchase a used and faulty Sony Digital Camera DSC H1. The member of World Photography Organization (WPO) said the learning process

Nnenna & Friends magazine debuts

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for him has always been gradual and self-taught, and his first inspiration came from watching the game of basketball. “My inspiration came from the game of basketball. How watching an intriguing collection of pictures of my role model, Michael Jordan, always dazzled my mind and how these beautiful pictures were being taken became my subject of thought,” he said. Ogungbola said the business is lucrative if one is focused and hardworking, adding that he started without any financial support in 2007. The employer of 10 who loves to teach said imparting knowledge on his skill is what makes him improve on his knowledge. He also said he loves working in a

team because it improves the quality and productivity of the output. As with other businesses, CuteNinetys have suffered a number of technical, managerial and financial challenges according to the young CEO. “The greatest challenge I have ever had was a technical one. A hard drive, containing pictures and videos from my coverage of a wedding crashed and backup was not forthcoming. I became sick but thankfully after much tussles, I was able to restore the hard drive,” he explained. He called on youth to always believe in themselves and their dreams, no matter how slow the pace might be stating that they will surely catch up provided they are focused.

FG simplifies HIV/Aids anti-discrimination 32 >> law

REFLECTIONS

YOUTHVILLE

Friday, April 1, 2016 Page 31

How I won the prestigious Norman’s Agric Award – Female Scientist, Ijeoma A young Nigerian female scientist, Ijeoma C. Akaogu was recently announced as the winner of the prestigious Norman Borlaug Leadership Enhancement in Agriculture Programme (LEAP) Award. Text by Simon E. Sunday @SimonEchewofun

n a chat with YOUTHVILLE, Ijeoma in her late twenties revealed how consistency and hard work earned her the award and several in the recent past. As a Senior Scientific Officer of the Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) in Abuja, Ijeoma said she has continued to be focused on what she does. This step took her to become a graduate research fellow with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Ibadan. With the award, the Anambra state scientist will become a Fellow of the Norman E. Borlaug LEAP of

the United States Government’s ‘Feed the Future Borlaug 21st Century Leadership Initiative’, funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID). In various efforts to improve herself, she enrolled as a graduate student with the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), Ghana where she has completed her course work. The centre is reputed for training young, vibrant and outstanding plant breeders for West and Central Africa (WCA). Specialising in cereal plants and as part of her PhD thesis research project at the IITA and the Cornell University, USA, Ijeoma is working to identify the regions in the early maturing tropical maize chromosomes carrying her gene of interest “Striga

Backpack

African youth open to entrepreneurial skills, businesses — Survey Text by Ibrahim Kabiru Sule @ikabirsule

he 2016 Anzisha Youth Entrepreneurship Survey has indicated that a majority of African youth are ready to embrace entrepreneurial opportunities with the overall goal of making a difference in the world. The poll, which provided a snapshot of the realities facing young entrepreneurs in Africa, was conducted through an emailed questionnaire and was answered by a selection of young entrepreneurs within the 15 to 25 age group across the African continent. The survey focused on five areas of operating a business, namely: growth, sales and marketing, human resources, funding and support, said a statement released by the African Press Organisation. The youth largely have a focus on communities and use face-to-face client visits as the primary sales channel (56%) and word of mouth

as the primary marketing tool (83%), it said. Survey respondents overwhelmingly stated that access to finance is their main barrier to growth, “with 48% highlighting it as the biggest obstacle to expanding their companies. Only 27% of young entrepreneurs received any form of outside investment, with family members (59%) and grants (52%) being the major sources of funding accessible. Despite challenges faced, 84 of entrepreneurs reported employing others, underscoring the employment creation potential of youth businesses. However, a large proportion of respondents (41%), described the level of support available to enable and scale young entrepreneurs in their countries as “poor” and “very poor”.

hermonthica resistance genes” for cloning and rapid transfer into the farmer’s preferred varieties using biotechnology approach. The dissemination of these improved high yielding maize hybrids she said would enhance food security; contribute to poverty alleviation and improve livelihoods of poor farmers in the region. Ijeoma said with the keen interest of President Muhammadu Buhari in diversifying the economy through agriculture, the LEAP fellowship will provide an excellent opportunity to learn high through-put technologies in plant breeding to complement and facilitate the traditional crop improvement strategies. The fellowship would also create an enabling environment for

partnership, collaboration and knowledge sharing among scientists in NABDA, IITA and other foreign Agro-based institutes towards attaining food sufficiency and poverty eradication in Africa, she explained. In 2013, she won the third prize in the 3rd Africa-wide Women in Science competition with her pioneering research on extra-early maize hybrids with combined resistance to Striga and drought tolerance during the flowering and grain-development periods. Speaking on her vision, Ijeoma hopes to be a game changer and history maker in the future as the Nobel Laureate Dr. Norman E. Borlaug if given the enabling support by the government and development partners.

Nnenna & Friends magazine debuts Text from Nurudeen Oyewole, Lagos

rganisers of the popular Television Show, Nnenna & Friends said a magazine publication has been launched to promote the fun, excitement and adventures of the programme. While unveiling the Nnenna &Friends Cartoon Magazine in Lagos this week, Mr Wale Adenuga, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Wale Adenuga Productions (WAP), said it is the first-ofits-kind in Africa. He noted that the magazine which will be a family delight as an “all-work-andall-play” creative mix which has colourful and interesting

The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity - Peter Drucker

packages with wide range of contents. “Its content ranges from the ‘Super Nnenna adventures’; where Nnenna’s eyes are wide open to the plight of children and she comes to their aid within the twinkle of an eye. The ever hilarious chronicles of

Nigeria’s No. 1 comedy group; Papa Ajasco & Company add fun and laughter to the creative mix,” he said. WAP is said to be the producers of some award winning magazines including Ikebe Super, Superstory and Binta, for over three decades.

SHOWTIME

YOUTHVILLE

Friday, April 1, 2016 Page 32

FASHIONNEWS >>

Voyage International creates club, career day

Remain stylish in the rainy season

 Students of Voyage Internationa l Photo: School appearing in attires to Chidimma depict their chosen career. C. Okeke

Text by Chidimma C. Okeke

Text by Eseohe Ebhota @sleek_diva88

ainy season is here again and while we welcome the cool evenings, the wetness and the mud are an entirely different matter. It’s the time you need to be extremely vigilant and specific about things you choose to wear. Here are some tricks that can help you to look fashionable and gorgeous throughout the rainy season. Get the basic necessities: Umbrellas, shower caps, flip-flops/ flat trendy slippers are an

absolute must have this season. Now this is for the ladies: NEVER step out without a handy umbrella in your bag! Dress smart: If you work in an office, long sleeved shirts and sweaters or blazers can be paired with either trousers or skirts. Finish your fashionista look with ankle boots, or simple closed-toe shoes to keep your feet warm. Go for ankle-length trousers and forget “sweeping-the-ground’’

kind of trouser. They will not get wet and make a mess. Choose your accessories wisely: When stepping out for the day. Wear leather shoes and accessorize with leather bags, because they easily absorb moisture. Water also comes off easily as it is simple to wipe off. Your hair do: Braids are ideal since they are easier to maintain; When they get wet, they can be dried up using hair driers and towels as well.

oyage International School, Abuja has joined 249 schools in Nigeria to flag off the Commonwealth Club as directed by the Federal Ministry of Education to empower children on self-reliance. The flag off which took off with the school’s Career Day Celebration also saw the pupils and students of the school appearing in different attires to represent their choice of careers. Deputy Director Education Support Services, Federal Ministry of Education, Mrs. Mary Ameh said the Commonwealth is interested in young ones and have designed many programmes to carry them along in the club. She said the ministry has established 250 commonwealth

FOODNEWS >>

Nigerian meals: What you should know! Text by Eseohe Ebhota @sleek_diva88

ood plays an important role in the culture of every country or nation. Nigeria is not left out. Because of our diverse cultures, we have been blessed with lots of foods. Our FOOD TRAIN learnt new things about some varieties of meals in Nigeria. We also discovered some facts about Nigerian meals. - Nigerian meals are tasty and

colourful. This can be seen in the meals eaten in the south-eastern part of the country. Examples of such meals include: Oha soup, Bitter leaf soup and Ofe Akwu. - They contain vegetables in them. These vegetables have health benefits such as, building up the blood level, boosting the immune system, and helping an ill person recover quickly. Such meals include: Efo riro, and Edika ikong… the list is endless. They are easy and quick to prepare.

FG, AHF simplify HIV/AIDS law Text by Victoria Bamas @sinach360

clubs and organizes workshops for the school coordinators to promote the club. The school Director, Dhakiroh Oriyomi said the school encourages every Voyager to start a career path now adding that, “the earlier they start the better and if they already know where they are going, they start working towards it which makes them to achieve much more in the future.” Amina Aliyu, a pupil of the school said her choice of career has been influenced as she has changed her aspirations of being a broadcaster to becoming a Doctor because she wants to save lives by treating people. Amina said she does not want to be broadcaster who will be reporting people killed especially by insurgents, but to save lives.

he National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) have unveiled a simplified version of the HIV/AIDS AntiDiscrimination Act 2014 to help a better understanding and maximum utilization of the provisions. NACA’s DG, Prof. John Idoko while unveiling the new version in Abuja said the law needed to be broken down to everyday language

devoid of legal terminologies so people can understand it. He said, “Nigeria is one of the few countries in the world with an anti-discrimination law related to HIV/AIDS. Making a popular version of this law available will result in increased demand for testing services and improved quality of life for people living with HIV in Nigeria.” AHF Country Programme Manager, Dr. Adetayo Towolawi said stigmatization and discrimination is an impediment to the treatment which leads to the spread of

the virus. He said the popular version which is largely graphics and pictorial was done for the illiterates and people with limited literacy level. The National Secretary of Network of People Living With HIV/Aids in Nigeria (NEPWHAN), Mr. Abdulkadir Ibrahim said it will ensure that their rights are protected and urged the authorities to make the simplified versions available all over Nigeria. The Act was assented to by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014.

Most of them are not so complicated when it comes to preparation. What might seem complicated is the arrangement of the ingredients used in the preparation of the meals/soups. Once the ingredients are ready, the rest comes easy. They are high source of proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates and minerals. Meals such as moi-moi, yam porridge, beans soup (Gbegiri), Efo-riro, Nkwobi, Isi-ewu, bean cake (akara).

SPORTSVILLE Obama fails to arrange daughters’ meeting with Messi Text by Ibrahim Kabiru Sule @ikabirsule

he United States (US) President, Barrack Obama has said he could not arrange for his two daughters, Sasha and Malia to meet their favourite football superstar, Lionel Messi of Argentina during a recent visit to the country. Obama, while giving a speech at the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative Town Hall meeting in Buenos Aires, the Argentina’s capital on Monday, said he had only wished to bring them with him on the journey so that they could “see the beauty and vibrancy” of the city.

“I also wanted to bring my daughters here, so they could see the beauty and the vibrancy of this city. They have already met one famous Argentinean – His Holiness Pope Francis. Now they want to meet (Lionel) Messi, but I could not arrange that,” he said. Lionel Messi, on his part, expressed his delight at an opportunity to interface with the US president and his daughters, but acknowledged the complexity of such a meeting. “For me it would be a source of great pride to be able to meet him and his daughters, but obviously I know it would be complicated,” Messi said.

Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten - B. F. Skinner