Youthville by Daily Trust Tambari

YOUTHVILLE TRUST

ISSUE #80

...young at heart

Friday, May 27, 2016 6

Your work ethics and character should command respect — Obanor, Co-founder PrepClass

Meet Musa Umar, Abuja’s undergradguate tea vendor Text by David Abiola

n recent times there are few young people who believe in thinking outside the box in order to achieve their goal especially when it comes to engaging in what most people referred to as “odd job” of which they think are only limited to some particular sets of people. Musa Umar, a 300 level political science student of the University of Maiduguri and a diploma holder in Civil law from the school of legal studies Maiduguri, told YOUTHVILLE that he is in the tea business in order to generate funds that would be used to pay his academic bills as well as sponsor his younger brother in school. Umar’s shop is located at junction of an estate in Abuja where as early as 6:45am he attends to customers. he serves different types of noodles, fried eggs, tea and bread for customers who want to eat before settingout for the day’s business. Umar debunked the notion that it is only blue collar workers and labourers that patronise tea vendors. He said “My shop is located in an environment where highly educated people reside. Some of them are civil servants and some work for private organizations.” He said that as early as 6am, some of his customers call to ask him to prepare their breakfast in advance which they stop to pick enroute work.. “Since we have no parent to sponsor us to

TY Danjuma Foundation, ACCIF to train 55 IDPs on skills acquisition 32 >>

school, and education is one of the most valuable things in the society, I have to look for every means to sponsor myself to school.” Umar explained why he started his business. “I started the business two years ago and it has helped me in diverse ways , starting from paying my school fees, feeding, and also helping my brother in his education.” He said he makes between N8,000 to N10,000 daily. “I open twice a day 6:am to 1pm and 5pm to 11pm”.

Coalition in fresh push for child rights law Texts by Judd-Leonard Okafor @judd_leonard

ational Council of Child’s Rights Advocates of Nigeria (NACCRAN) in the FCT has called for the Child Rights Law to be passed in all 12 states that have not passed it—and that it be effectively implemented across the country. The council, comprising civil society groups and nongovernment organisations, told a briefing ahead of Children’s Day in Abuja that Nigeria must develop a “robust plan” to combat growing violence against children. Ambrose-Kennedy Yibin, Zamfara operations manager for Save the Children, which partners NACCRAN, said a survey by the National Population Commission last year

showed six out of every 10 Nigerians experienced some form of physical, emotional and sexual violence before they turned 18. According to the survey, one in two children experience physical violence, one in four girls and one in ten boys experience sexual violence, and one in six girls and one in five boys experience emotional violence. The coalition is to join the #iMarch4Children rally, a gathering of thousands of advocates across 12 states to protest violence against children and the need to protect them under legislation to ensure children get education. Abdullahi Sale, of the Civil Society Coalition for Education For All (CSCEFA) said education of parents and society to protect children was crucial.

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YOUTHVILLE

Friday, May 27, 2016 Page 32

Your work ethics and character should command respect — Obanor, co-founder PrepClass Obanor Chukwuwezam Riomachi and Olumide Ogunlana are cofounders of Prepclass an online market place that connects tutors and clients who need their skill or expertise. The duo who work with about 200 tutors were recently listed in Forbes as part of young entrepreneurs to watch out for. Obanor an electrical electronics engineering graduate spoke with YOUTHVILLE on their motivation, challenges and what it takes to be a young entrepreneur. Text by Victoria Bamas @BamasVictoria

hat is Prepclass? Prepclass is an online market place that connects tutors and clients who need their skill or expertise there by allowing people who want to learn any course, subject or skill, whether formal or informal, to connect with someone else in proximity who is knowledgeable and proficient in that subject or skill. What was the motivation behind starting it? We started Prepclass because we wanted to make an impact in the education sector in Nigeria, when the Jamb announced plans to move exams to computer based tests we saw an opportunity to create a testprep platform that would help students across Nigeria prepare for local exams

and have the educational resources at their fingertips. However as time went on we realized it would be much more impactful on students learning for us to connect them with physical tutors. As a Young entrepreneur, what is your definition of success? My personal definition of success in business, is creating a profitable or at least self-sustaining venture that provides significant value to the society especially in terms of client satisfaction, job creation and staff remuneration What are some of the experiences that left you bewildered on the job? Prepclass is a very “human” based venture in the sense that we recruit tutors who offer a service to clients. Dealing with people is a difficult skill especially when your relationship with each tutor and each client is one-on-

one and you have hundreds of those. We’ve had some very interesting experiences on both sides, not negative, but just very unexpected. For instance we once had a prospective client who gave an address that didn’t exist, of course before sending any of our tutors anywhere we always try to confirm the address of the client and we found that there was no such address in that area. It was just amusing really, why give a wrong address. What are the gains and challenges of being a young entrepreneur? Gains: you get to do a lot of daring things people of your age don’t often get to do. Take risks, employ staff, learn to make money (not just earn it), learn how to lead and delegate, meet interesting people. On the downside, it’s hard to lead yourself, and this is something that many people who

dabble into entrepreneurship blindeyed usually are not prepared for. Entrepreneurship is a roller coaster full of highs and lows and it stretches you emotionally and psychologically plus most of your friends may not understand what you are dealing with so if you aren’t lucky you might find yourself alone. ...and the people working with and for you? Asides my co-founder and myself we have 13 full time staff, while we employ about 200 tutors who work with us as independent contractors. Most people on the team are also young, the average age is about 27 or 28. The important thing about managing people is making sure that your goals are clear to you and to the people who work with you and that your work ethics and character is such that allows you command respect.

Backpack TY Danjuma Foundation, ACCIF to train 55 IDPs on skills acquisition Text by Victoria Bamas repeat the program at the Kuchigoro camp. @Bamasvictoria

ifty-five internally displaced women and youth will be trained in the second phase of a six-month skills acquisition programme organised by an NGO and T.Y. Danjuma Foundation. The T.Y. Danjuma Foundation, in conjunction with All Children Charity International Foundation (ACCIF) will train 25 IDPs from Kuchigoro, Abuja camp in shoe-making, 20 in tailoring and 10 in welding technology. Speaking at the one-day orientation held in Abuja for Pegi and Kuchigoro IDPs camp, the Director of ACCIF, Barr. Ranti B. Daudu said the “success story” recorded in 2015 when 36 persons were trained from Pegi IDPs camp was a motivation to

She explained that each vocation would have two trainers and all the trainees would be provided with materials and lunch during the course of the training and start-up materials as well as entrepreneurial class at the end . T.Y. Danjuma foundation grants and partnership officer, Mr. Gima Forge said that they hope the IDPs empowered can eventually empower others. Aisha Wara, a 24-year old mother of two, who enrolled in the tailoring class said she expects that after the program she would be able to start a seamstress shop which would enable her pay her bills and contribute in taking care of her family.

ART Church rejects merger of CRK, IRS into single school subject Entrepreneur rules the Text by Judd-Leonard Okafor world — Youngprenuer @judd_leonard

he Presbyterian Church of Nigeria (PCN) has criticized moves to merge Islamic Religious Studies and Christian Religious Knowledge into a single subject in the nine-year basic education, saying it violates children’s rights to keep their faith, religion and beliefs. Moderator of PCN’s 21st Synod of the North, Rev Ini Ukpuho, told a press briefing in Abuja that children are “being compelled to access religious views that their parents have not intended to expose them to. It is not in the best interest of our young people.” The Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council developed a curriculum to include CRK, IRS, civics, social studies and security education under a single subject known as religion and national values. But the church called the curriculum “compromised” and expressed worry about having “innocent young minds” exposed to faulty teachings of either faith. “The content and the quality of the materials being given to our children are diluted. A Christian student or Muslim student will not have the best out of what they study,” Ukpuho told YOUTHVILLE.

Text by Taiwo Adeniyi @adeniyitaiwo11

yeleye Oluwaseun Kayode holds a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun State. The youngest of a family of six who is also the CEO of Semex Photography said he dropped his certificate to pursue a life outside conventional career path. “I never dreamt of venturing into photography or any vocational business though my mum was a photographer. My attention was drawn to photography after we were taught the principle of pin-hole camera during a Physics class in my secondary schools days” he explained. He said in retrospect he would have choosen photography ahead Electrical

“Sometimes, you have to look back in order to understand the things that lie ahead.” - Yvonne Woon, Dead Beautiful

Electronics Engineering “if I had known earlier that an entrepreneur rules the world.” He said he is always looking for opportunities to advance in his business “I attended the 2016 Nigeria Photography and Expo Conference (NIPHEC) organized by elophotos where I met seasoned photography entrepreneurs like TY Bello and George Okoro. I also learned from the official photographer of President Muhammadu Buhari, Bayo Omoboriowo during the program.” Young Oyeleye said photography has taken him to different parts of the country. He currently has five people on his employee payroll including a graphics designer, a photo and a video editor.