Youthville by Daily Trust Tambari

YOUTHVILLE ISSUE #120

Friday, March 3, 2017

08078068532

youthville@dailytrust.com

...young at heart

To stay youthful, stay USEFUL! – John Keats

Battle with Sickle Cell inspired my foundation – Samira Sanusi Samira Haruna Sanusi is not just a name known in the literary circle for her memoir, ‘S iss forr e off Survivor’, she is also the President, Samira Sanusi Sickle Cell Foundation. The graduate ntiall Business Administration from Katsina State was recently named among 100 Arewa influential ainstt people. Samira who has been in the forefront in the awareness campaign and fight against sickle cell disease spoke to YOUTHVILLE about her journey, her book and victories.

By Bamas Victoria @BamasVictoria

hat is the story behind your foundation? I was born with Sickle Cell Anaemia, and at the age of 15, I developed health complications due to Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) which sent me on a 7 year journey to fight for my health, life and the disease that was slowly destroying my body and life. In the middle of this darkness, is where I found hope - in t h e form of a

Bone Marrow Transplant which is known as a cure for the disease. My sister and I had a successful BMT and are now AA and healthier than we have been all our lives. About the foundation: My battle with Sickle Cell is what inspired me to start the Samira Sanusi Sickle Cell Foundation to help people living with the disease. The foundation raises funds for g organisations and clinics that provide Sickle Cell patients with care, aid and treatment. The foundation also organises awareness programmes in the country to educate and sensitise people on the disease. SSSC Foundation is committed to supporting the Nigerian government in accelerating

provision for management and treatment of Sickle Cell complications, as well as enlightening citizens about the disease, and most importantly, making informed decisions to avoid more Sickle Cell births. How does a youth like you, cope with being a foundation’s president? My experiences in life, living with Sickle Cell Anemia, the 28 surgeries I had to undergo and other health complications I overcame are circumstances that have aged me, forced me to grow and moulded me into the passionate, hardworking w woman I am today. This has earned me the respect, and right to talk to people about the disease and bring up discussions that encourage and motivate individuals or organisations to support and be part of the change. How do you manage funding issues of running the foundation? My memoir, ‘S is for Survivor’ is the primary source of funding, where proceeds made from the book are donated to the foundation to provide w warriors with medication.

Corps member programmes system to reduce pollution

corps member, Madu Franklin serving in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Federal Polytechnic, Bida in Niger State has programmed an Adaptive Intelligence System called ‘Neural Network Technology’ to reduce the level of environmental pollution. Franklin said the System stimulates and forecasts the measure of pollution in water bodies. “When the system erred, it tries to detect the source of the error and correct it with the next iteration and with that, it is able to make improved guesses and forecast just like how human being works -based on past experience,” he explained. Franklin in an interview said the machine has 97 per cent accuracy level as against the three per cent human accuracy which makes it more effective than human beings. “It is a form of hybrid between human intelligence and mechanical accuracy so it uses this form of learning by absorbing trends of how pollution has gone overtime and uses it to predict the future occurrence of such pollution,” he said. Story: Okoroafor Priscillia U., Mass Communication student, Federal Polytechnic, Bida

To cope with financial challenges, we have to be creative and resourceful in raising and generating funds. We also partner with other organisations and medical centres who offer services to warriors at a subsidised rate. What are some experiences that have left you bewildered on the job? The most shocking ones have been speaking to parents of warriors who see caring for their children as a responsibility and burden. Many people do not realise that for a child to have a genetic disorder like SCD, the parents must carry the genetic mutation that results in being born with the disease. Warriors face stigma and deal with lack of support, depression and other issues because the people who are supposed to support them the most are the ones blaming them for a life they did not bargain for.

How has writing ‘S is for Survivor’ affected your life? It has been healing, there’s something reliving about telling a once painful and untold story. It’s a book that has given people fighting all kinds of battles strength and inspiration, and in turn reminds me that there’s a purpose for my pain and past. What should we be expecting from you in the literary and charity work shortly? My second book titled, ‘I wrote this for you’, will be released later this year. It’s a collection of proses, short essays, poems and philosophical quotes about journeys through pain, hope, strength, self-discovery, healing and overcoming.

Bauchi Governors’ wife starts creates Clubs in schools From Balarabe Alkassim, Bauchi Wife of Bauchi State Governor, Hajiya Hadiza Mohammed Abubakar has established Peace Clubs in Secondary Schools to foster peaceful coexistence among students and the entire state. The establishment of the Peace Clubs in Bauchi State’s secondary schools is an initiative of her Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Bauchi State Sustainable Women Economic Empowerment Program (B-SWEEP). She said at the launch that the Peace Clubs establishment will soon be extended to tertiary institutions across the state to ensure peaceful coexistence in institutions of higher learning and communities. Hajiya Hadiza added that

the initiative is also aimed at promoting the potentials of peaceful relationships and stopping likelihood of conflicts that affects young people and pollute their minds. “It is a known fact that Bauchi state has experienced some conflicts in the past which has negatively affected our socioeconomic advancement, consequently there is the need to constantly remind ourselves that it is imperative for a peaceful coexistence,” she said. She further explained that, B-SWEEP intends to conduct trainings for education and peace formations for students of higher institutions of learning, aimed at imbibing the culture of peaceful coexistence among youth. In his address, chairman of the occasion, Bauchi

 Dauda Babangida, left, and Abubakar Idris are Peace Club participants at Muhammadu Abdullahi Wase Islamic Secondary School, Wase Plateau State. Credit: MCC Ottawa Office Notebook - WordPress.com

State Commissioner of Justice, Barr. Ibrahim Yakubu urged various Peace Ambassadors in the state to contribute with projects and initiatives to sustain the peace clubs established in secondary schools across the state by wife of the Governor. The commissioner reiterated that when the clubs are kept busy with

activities, they would be sustained to help in inculcating culture of peace in the minds of the students. He advised the students who are peace ambassadors in their schools to conduct themselves peacefully where ever they may find themselves and love one another for the future of the younger ones.

DAILY TRUST, Friday, March 3, 2017

YOUTHVILLE

Farming: ‘I make N1.2m every 6months growing vegetables’

24 year-old undergraduate of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Mikel Nebuchukwu, has said he makes N1.2million every half year by growing vegetables supported by irrigation in Kontagora, Niger State. Nebuchukwu, a 300 level Agriculture student said he went into farming when his parents could not afford his tuition at the start of the recession. He said: “I shared the ugly story with my pastor, Mr. Israel who advised that I should try farming vegetables. I did that without delay by buying pumpkin seed, pumping machine and hired people to make beds for the crops,” he said. Mikel explained that he specializes in farming pumpkin,

Youth in Brief

NEPAD to partner states on youth empowerment

green vegetable, Scent leafs, and water leaf. He uses fertilizer to boost their growth and applies water with the pumping machine every two days for quick growth. “This is stress-free for me,” he said, “as I am presently using five hectares of land for the farming and I am making about 1.2million naira in every six months.” Mikel called on his fellow students to look inward as there are many means of surviving in agricultural sectors. “I am

By Abdullateef Salau

planning for 15 hectares next season and I know I will make it,” he spoke of his expansion plans. Story from Chidiebere Ebenyi, Mass Communication student, Federal Polytechnic, Bida

FHIN graduates 1,500 employees on food hygiene By Latifat Opoola (@LatifatOpoola)

he Food Hygiene Initiative Nigerian (FHIN), a nongovernmental organization helping to fight all forms of food and water borne diseases in Nigeria has graduated over 1500 staff officer in Abuja. The passing out parade held at the Nigerian Civil Defence

Academy included awards presentation to outstanding students during the training. Director General of the Initiative Dr. J.N. Karimu said the NGO is a source of youth empowerment in order to reduce the scourge of unemployment in Nigeria. He said, FHIN has 36 offices across the states, collaborating

with Ministry of Health and other agencies, is tackling incidences of food poisoning and unhygienic issues typical among food handlers and vendors. He appealed to lawmakers to give the Bill before the National Assembly a quick hearing and passage to institutionalize the initiative.

Games can be educational, creative for youth – Developer By Simon E. Sunday @SimonEchewofun

eveloper of educational games, internet sources and mobile applications in Abuja, Rachael Ejoke has said such sources are best means for education and creativity for young minds. Speaking with Daily Trust YOUTHVILLE, she said: “It is part of the growing trend of the 21st century for which Nigerian youth need to urgently tap into or else we would continue to be consumers and not producers.” Rachael in her early 30s said she is using her ‘Words Barn Card Game’,

an educational app available on her platform, Starryclassix.com to intimate youth about the initiative. “I strongly believe that Entrepreneurship should be the goal of most youth for financial empowerment. Therefore I implore us - youth, seeking new global business opportunities to regularly follow series and be in tune with innovative solutions in the Games and Internet business,” she urged. She said her platform has rich resources including videos she had amassed from international conference that could help grow such businesses.

‘Foreign exposure, crucial for Nigerian students’ From Nurudeen Oyewole, Lagos

n educationist and the Managing Partner, ALTS Consulting, Mrs Foluke Sawyer has reiterated the need for Nigerian students to acquire foreign exposure which she said is capable of widening their knowledge base and expand their networks. Sawyer who spoke with newsmen in Lagos at the Boarding and Summer Education Fair said the world is currently experiencing “a global movement” in knowledge quest and Nigerians cannot live in isolation of that. She said: “Schooling abroad is a

global movement. Nigerians are not in exception. There are many countries where students are moving from one part of the continent to the other. The major basis for this is: exposure.” She noted that more than one million Nigerians write the Universal Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) and only negligible percentage get admission yearly, hence the need for alternative admission platforms. Sawyer said her firm assist students connect with good schools aboard and also counsels them on career paths.

he New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), Nigeria last Tuesday said it will partner with the state governments to empower the teeming unemployed youth through skills training and fund accessibility. The National Coordinator/Chief Executive Officer of NEPAD Nigeria, Princess Gloria Akobundu disclosed this during a 2-day stakeholders workshop on “Skills Initiative for Africa” held in Abuja. “We want them trained so that we can help them access funds and be able to start a business on their own,” Akobundu said, noting that the programme is designed to discourage Nigerian youths from embarking on perilous journey to Europe through the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean. The training, she said, would focus on infrastructure, agriculture and food processing, and would help strengthen the economy, curb insecurity and restiveness. In her remarks, Estherine Fotabong, Director, NEPAD Continental, noted that only 40 per cent of the 1.1billion population of African youth are employed, urging the government to provide enabling environment for small businesses to strive.

CITAD holds seminar for 40 unemployed graduates in Bauchi From Balarabe Alkassim, Bauchi

Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Centre for Information and Technology Development (CITAD) has held a career development and entrepreneurship opportunities session for 40 unemployed graduates in Bauchi state. A Research Assistant with CITAD, Hamza Ibrahim Chinade in his presentation at the one-day workshop last weekend said the NGO set up a Job Placement Information Services Unit (JOPIS) for unemployed graduates to acquire employable skills. Chinade disclosed that about 30 graduates were targeted to benefit from the training but over 40 turned up for the exercise. He said that the graduates from ATBU Bauchi, Fedpoly Bauchi and University of Maiduguri were taught how to develop sound business ideas which will help them become self-reliant as well as ways of securing jobs. “As long as number of graduates still remains unemployed, we will continue to improve the capacity of training more unemployed graduates to become employers of labour”, he said.

World Book Day: Bank donates 16,000 books to 80 schools From Sunday Michael Ogwu, Lagos

eritage Bank Plc in celebrating the ‘World Book Day’, has donated 16,340 comic books to 84 schools through its Experience Centres, while investing in edutainment activities for school communities. A statement said the bank lent its support to the biggest celebration of its kind, designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading in its 20th year, and marked in over 100 countries all over the world for children to unite and appreciate reading. The World Book Day for 2017 was marked yesterday, March 2, it’s the event’s dedicated website, http:// www.worldbookday.com shows. The bank recently launched, “The Protector’s” a comic series book to commemorate Children’s Day. The super-heroes of the series, HK-1 and HK-2 will be touring schools this year to win allies to fight against the evil Gus D Ville. The Group Head, Corporate Communications, Fela Ibidapo, stressed the need for schools to inculcate reading culture to drive financial literacy into the mainstream curriculum.

“Keep true to the dreams of your youth.” – Friedrich Schiller