YOUTHVILLE ISSUE #193
Friday, July 27, 2018
08078068532
Youth Council elects new leadership
...young at heart
To achieve your heart desires, think BIG, start SMALL — Dambo
By Olayemi John-Mensah About 10 years after its last convention in Abuja, the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has held another convention, where a new leadership emerged. The unity convention which lasted for six days in Gombe State, ended on Tuesday with the election of Comrade Bello Bala Shagari from Sokoto state as the National President. The congress had, during a business session prior to the election passed a resolution for the expulsion of the immediate past President, Comrade Murtala Muhammad and also barred him from being recognised as former President of the Council. Muhammad was alleged to have written to the Ministry of Sports and Youths Development, extending his tenure as caretaker committee chairman by four years, the position, the Minister, Barr. Solomon Dalung, the Board of Trustees were said to have frowned at. The congress also adopted the Board of Trustees (BoT) of NYCN under the leadership of Dr Dickson Akoh and its Advisory Council led by Hon. Ben Duntoye.
youthville@dailytrust.com
No matter what people tell you. Words and ideas can change the world. - Robins Williams
Richard Dambo from Kaduna state, is a graduate of the University of Abuja. He writes for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Teach programme and founded the Kaduna Inclusive Education Initiative seven months ago. In this interview, he spoke about the think-tank initiative that engages communities, enlightening them on why they should avail their wards for western education. By Simon Echewofun Sunday @SimonEchewofun
W
hat’s the story behind this initiative? Sometimes last year, the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum and Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, at the signing of a pact between the Forum and Fundacion Profuturo, (a Spanish organisation for the enhancement of education in the north) acknowledged that the growing number of out-of-school children in the north was alarming and an irony. Governor Shettima succinctly noted that while the north has about 41,913 public primary schools compared to 19,978 in the southern part of the country, the north can only boast of 34 per cent literacy rate compared to 67 per cent literacy rate in the southern part. This goes to show that, improving literacy level is much more than building classrooms. My movement is poised to alter negative narratives that inhibit education, especially for the peasant children in rural communities. As a young activist, what challenges do you encounter in driving this initiative? The problem with activism as a young person is that people think you’re too young to influence social change. You begin to hear things like “this small boy”. Some people will always try to deflate your ego, but in the end, my tenacity of purpose proved them wrong. What projects are you currently working on? I am working in partnership with Kaduna State Ministry of Education towards organizing the first edition of Kaduna Youth and Students Symposium by November 2018. What other activities are you engaged in? I watch football and always try writing about socio-political issues that are dear to my heart. Writing at my spare time culminated into a book I titled: ‘Politics of Free Basic Education’ tomorrow, July 28, 2018 at the Kaduna State to be launched laun University Auditorium. Alhaji Ja’afaru Ibrahim Sani, the Commissioner, Kaduna State Ministry of Education, Science Commissi
and Technology wrote the foreword to it. At your Initiative, what is the strength of the members? We now have over 500 followers and still counting What are the expansion plans for this initiative? I am very passionate about anything pertaining to youth development. Having been a delegate at the Pan-African Youth Conference, and an official at Fixing Nigeria Youth Conference. I intend to replicate such in Kaduna; in three years from now, I want to be organizing the biggest youth gathering in Northern Nigeria. igeria. Is there a chance for youth to achieve their eir empowerment goals in the forum? Of course, rse, knowledge is power! My movement brings knowledge owledge and skills from m a global perspective.. With resource persons from rom local and international al bodies, we try to spur youth uth and students into political ical participation, SMEs and gender equity. What is your advice to youth, many of who o are still unemployed? The route e to achieving your heart desires is to o think BIG and start SMALL. The problem with most of us graduates ates is that we allow the exaggerated aggerated thought of having a degree get et into our ur heads.
‘Waiting for gov’t jobs, not in vogue’ By Latifat Opoola @LatifatOpoola “It is not in vogue for youth to say they are waiting for government to provide jobs for them. Create one for yourself.” These were the creative words of Halima Mustapha, the CEO of Just Kimonos and Skirts. In a recent encounter with the Daily Trust YOUTHVILLE, Halima said, “I have never in my life dreamt of being a business woman. All I have wished for is working for a big IT firm which I am still hoping for but before that comes I need to sustain myself. “Surprisingly I am doing fine with the business and
everything is moving well,” she said. The Kwara state graduate of Computer Science from Federal University of Technology, Minna said her love for the fashion industry lured her in to the business. Halima started the business with just N10,000 after her National Youth Service Corps scheme. She just wanted to get busy with something before her dream job arrives and now she hopes to create a brand that sells affordable and stylish clothes for Muslim ladies. “The business is a very lucrative one. Everybody wants to look good and once they know they can trust you to give them quality they will always stick to your brand,” she said. The young entrepreneur said social media has been very instrumental in getting her
business to her target audience. “My target customers are everyday women who love to look good while fully covered and they are on that platform,” said Halima. However like most start-ups, she’s limited by funding hurdles. She said, “Because I started with a little amount, I couldn’t make the clothes in large quantity, which has been slowing the business. I have to have them ready for customers to indicate interest to patronize.” For other youth waiting for government jobs, Halima advised them to start something and be focused, dedicated, and consistent in that. “Youth should start something no matter how small it is, just start! You will be surprised how well it will grow with dedication and hard work,” Halima noted.
Skye Bank, SMEDAN partner on youth entrepreneurship By Victoria Onehi Skye Bank has donated 10 laptops to students representing Nigeria at the SAGE competition coming up in Durban, South Africa in two weeks’ time. In his presentation to the Director General, Small and
Medium scale Enterprises Development Association of Nigeria (SMEDAN),Dr Dikko Umar Radda at the agency headquarters in Abuja yesterday, the Group Head, Abuja and North Central, Skye Bank Plc, Hassan Umar said the bank was giving the computers to the outstanding
team that will emerge at the SAGE competition. Radda who was represented by the Director Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr Wale Fasanya received the donations on behalf of the students. He said, “Currently we have students of secondary schools
who are representing Nigeria at a global competition, so this is part of Skye banks support so that when they come back, we will present it to them formally. “Skye bank has done well and we are looking forward to more partners so we can support more
schools in our National Schools Entrepreneurship programme,” he noted. The President, SAGE Nigeria, Agwu Amogu said it was a wakeup call for the private sector to support entrepreneurship education beyond having it at the government realm.
DAILY TRUST, Friday, July 27, 2018
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YOUTHVILLE
Designer pushes for 1st Nigeria board games cafe
B
oard game designer Kenechukwu Ogbuagu, is leading an online campaign to set up Nigeria’s first board game table top cafe. The campaign, which is currently trending on Twitter, contains several options for backing the cafe setup especially for games of African origin. Ogbuagu, who is the founder of Nigeria’s
foremost table top games company, NIBCARD games, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that board gaming is integral in the everyday lives of Nigerians and deserves a community. He added that the campaign was borne out of the need to get Nigerians to spend more quality time playing African themed games. According to Ogbuagu,
board gaming speaks a common language and appeals to everyone especially when it is relatable. He said, “We need to have a platform where Nigerians can come together and learn life lessons through our African themed games. “Although so many people know how to play board games, there is hardly a fun avenue for them
to showcase these skills and socialise with other people,” Ogbuagu said. mpaign “This campaign ul way is a wonderful to not only have the chance to play these games, but also to foster new designers and voices in board oard games,” Ogbuagu agu said.
NSE essay contest on financial literacy opens From Sunday Michael Ogwu, Lagos @SundayMichaelOg The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has announced the commencement of the 2018 essay competition for students in Senior Secondary Schools in Nigeria. The topic this year is, ‘Discuss how technology can promote financial literacy and encourage investment habit among youth.’ It aims to bring the subject of technology to the fore and get young people to start thinking early on how it can be applied to real life business situations. This edition which is supported
by Jim Ovia Foundation opened on Monday, July 16 and will close on Friday, October 5, 2018. To enter the contest, participants are required to email their 1,000 words typewritten entries to the firm. Top 10 winners will be rewarded among which the top three will get equity investments, university scholarship and computer laptops at the awards ceremony while being honoured with a Closing Gong ceremony at The Exchange. Schools of the top three winners will also be recognised and presented with prizes like trophies, desktop computers and printers. The other top seven essay
writers will receive consolation prizes, certificate of achievement and recognition at the ceremony. The Head, Corporate Communications at NSE, Mr Olumide Orojimi, “Youth are an important stakeholder group as it relates to planning for a sustainable future as a nation and we must imbibe in them, good financial skills that will assure a secured and great future for them.” Since it’s commencement in 2000, the contest has inspired over 30,000 young people in over 3,500 secondary schools in Nigeria to showcase what they have learnt about the financial and capital markets.
Groups exploit digital economy for youths, women From Andrew Agbese, Kaduna A 3-day E-lance workshop was put together by the Kaduna state government with the support of the World Bank and Rockefeller Foundation tagged, “Click on Kaduna in Partnership with Digital Naija” offering opportunities for the youth in the Northern Nigeria to join the virtual economic. 60 supportive volunteers were on the ground to register the participants and usher them in. The Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Kaduna State, Mohammed Abdullahi, in his speech congratulated the participants on taking the huge step to be part of the workshop as the next step to self-reliance. The Elance platforms had representatives on the ground to take the beneficiaries through different sessions about the virtual space. Professional Freelancers took the participants on Elance strategies and platforms, pricing, negotiation and payment methods. Breakout sessions saw every participant to a computer, to enable them create freelancing profiles on the international and local Elance platforms. The biggest highlight was the visit of the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, during the participant’s breakout session. Lauding the efforts of Click-On Kaduna initiative, the Governor El-Rufai said that the workshop will make the participants globally competitive with other ICT
A group under the auspices of Lafia Youth Progressive Awareness Group in Nasarawa state has sensitised youth on the role and responsibilities of elected legislators to reduce the misconception about the duties and functions of legislators. In the seminar tagged, ‘The Role of Nigerian Legislators
By Abubakar Haruna Parents have been called upon to inculcate the values of integrity, honesty, love and fear of God to their children. This call was made by the Director of Val-DeMauris Academy, Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed at the school fourth graduation ceremony, in Abuja recently. Tanko said the gesture would go a long way in addressing menace of corruption and insecurity in the country. “Our appeal to parent is to make sure that they inculcate the values of integrity, honesty, love and fear of God to their children. It is very important to note that we can only succeed in doing that by imbibing the said values ourselves.
“The most serious challenges facing Nigeria today are corruption and insecurity. We can only fight corruption and win if we inculcate the values of integrity, honesty and fear of God in our minds and minds of our children,” he said. According to him, the current high level of insecurity and general bloodletting in Nigeria were direct results of hate rage that agents of disunity were promoting as well as injustices prevalent in the society. The Director of the school described Nigeria as a blessed country with every potential to be a great nation. He however, lamented that lack of good leadership and negative value system were drawing the country backwards.
Out-of-school youth trained on curbing violence From Dickson S. Adama, Jos One of the 940 participants at the 3-day Click-On Kaduna Digital Skills Workshop sponsored by the World Bank & The Rockefeller Foundation In Kaduna recently.
experts in the world. The Special Adviser to the Governor on Job Creation, Hafiz Bayero was also around to encourage the participants. Kaduna State Commissioner of Women Affairs, Hajiya Hafsat Baba Mohammed encouraged beneficiaries to connect with themselves, share opportunities and experiences.
Group sensitizes youth on role of legislators From Hassan Ibrahim, Lafia
Parents urged to teach children moral values
in Nigerian Politics’ the group educated members and other participants on the role of legislators that include law making, representation and oversight functions for the peace, order and good governance of a state or the federation. The leader, Comrade Hassan Waziri, said what people expect from their legislators is their ability to
make positive contributions and making good laws that will facilitate development in their constituencies. Waziri also disclosed the Group’s bid for the Member, House of Representative, Lafia/Obi constituency, Sarki Dahiru to seek re-election. He said the legislator has delivered key projects that impacted on youth and other classes of the constituents.
Linking the Youth of Nigeria through Exchange (LYNX), a not for profit organisation has trained some out-of-school youth in Jos, the Plateau State capital on curbing of violent extremism. At the closing ceremony of the event funded by the United States (US) Embassy, Abuja the National Programme Officer, Mr Ganiyu Ibikunle said it would also enable the participants to become peace builders, acquire various entrepreneurial skills and improve their English Language. He said during the training, the youth were engaged in community service projects. Those from Gengere wards renovated two fallen transformer fences that exposed the community to danger; others from Jenta community cleaned the Primary Healthcare Centre and procured medical equipment. Ibikunle called on the parents to monitor every movement of their children because they have major peace role to play in the society. He urged the trainees to replicate what they have been taught during the training in their various localities for a better society. In his remarks, Director North East Foundation for Peace Professionals,, Plateau State, Aliyu Adam said the programme will help in making youth live with people from different ethnic groups, think wisely in daily lives on how to be useful in the society and to discover their potentials.
There is no friend as loyal as a book - Ernest Hemingway