Youthville by Daily Trust Tambari

YOUTHVILLE ISSUE #115

Friday, January 27, 2017

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...young at heart

When it rains, look for rainbows, when its dark, look for stars. - FionaChilds

How Yola town meets young gowns at AUN matric

 Some academics with the new students in a photo session.

By Simon E. Sunday @SimonEchewofun

oung gowns and aspiring students flooded Yola town as they converged for their matriculation last Monday at the American University of Nigeria (AUN), in Adamawa state. Many of them who spoke to YOUTHVILLE were visibly elated over the admission process. Not less than 155 students took the pledge, the American style of oath-taking during the matriculation for the Spring 2017 academic session. Presenting the students for the exercise, the Assistant Vice President, Recruitment and Marketing, Mr. Linus Ikyurav of the university said 4,000 candidates applied for the 2017 academic session but 500 were short-listed, from which the 155 students were finally picked. Among these students, 110 are undergraduates; the others are for postgraduate courses. A distinct mark for the event was the fact that 10 of the undergraduates were transferred from universities in

Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. When asked about this, some of the students said they had found that they could always get the same quality of education they desire at AUN just as they would wish for overseas. The AUN established in 2004 by former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar also has scholarships in place to reward academic excellence, as 13 other undergraduates came through it. Mr. Ikyurav said all the students admitted had high performance of over 200 average scores in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). Giving her charge to the freshers, the President of AUN, Dr. Margee Ensign urged them to set goals for themselves. She said: “Your coming to AUN is one of the best decisions that you have made and we will make sure you are exposed to all the resources that you need. “By becoming part of AUN team, you’re committing to discovering new talents to

changing Nigeria, Africa and the world,” Dr. Ensign said. The President noted that the number of students transferring to AUN kept increasing because she keyed into the Nigerians in the Diaspora (NIDO) initiative that made her meet with more Nigerian parents abroad to convince them of sending their children home for quality education. She said with the postinsurgency era in the state, this year’s admission number was one of the highest and is expected to increase, with planned expansion of the university’s facilities, clinic, and the addition of new courses, and an online study platform. A graduating student and President of the Student Government Association of AUN, Mr. Abdulrahman Bapullo admonished the freshers on how they should behave in the university. He said coming to AUN is the best thing that has happened to him adding that, “at AUN, anything is possible for every one of you.” The young student told YOUTHVILLE that he is aspiring

for a seat in the Adamawa State House of Assembly by 2019. He urged the new students to leverage on the rich facilities and conducive academic environment including over 30 clubs, e-libraries and modern conference hall, to contribute to the growth of Africa. Maryam is best new student Among the students who spoke YOUTHVILLE was the overall best candidate at the AUN November scholarship examination. Miss Maryam Habila Usman, 17, said she had her tuition, accommodation and other expenses paid for by the school for the first semester. Maryam from  Miss Maryam Habila Usman Borno State said she had over 200 UTME score to begin her classes at once besides being the overall best at and has braced up for the the scholarship examination. challenge. Two other students, She added that she was proud Nnenna and Aishatu said they of her performance as she was had made enquiries before inspired by her mother. The arriving at the university and Natural and Environmental would be ready to settle down Science student said she can for studies immediately. apply for the same scholarship Another student also in the next semester if her gave his opinion about the performance is above 3.5 university but wants his name Cumulative Grade Point off-print. He said: “Unlike Average (CGPA), a challenge the public universities, like she has already taken up. University of Abuja, where The Vice President, Campus I first applied to, this place Life and Dean of Students, Mr. does not have issues of Byron Bullock got the students strike actions that could jolted with his slogan, delay students’ graduation. ‘Tuesday is Coming’ meaning Moreover, I am told, if one classes resumed a day after worked hard, one could earn the pledge. an exchange programme Asked if the students that takes one to another understood what it means, university abroad to learn new Maryam said she was ready ways. That’s my excitement!”

Community wants electricity transformer fixed Tuface turns activist, to stage protest Residents of Shere community Gauraka, Tafa Local government, Niger State has called on the state government to complete an electricity transformer project in the area. The 500KV transformer donated by Dr. Shem Zagbayi, a former Senator representing Niger East Federal Constituency was meant to provide 24 hour electricity in the area but has been unfinished. Dissatisfied with this, the youth leader of Shere, Joseph Yerima urged the state government to intervene. He said: “The Transformer was installed for more than two years now and the project handler has not been forthcoming, he kept saying

he has not been authorized to hand over the project to the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC). He said, recently the youth resolved to raise fund to fix the transformer but was rebuffed by the community elders saying the state government should have finished the project. Another resident, Mr Babangida Yakubu said the former senator has done his part. He however called on the serving senator, Barr. David Umaru to complete the project. Report from John Enock Gwamnati, a Mass Communication student at the Federal Polytechnic, Bida - Niger State.

By Bamas Victoria @BamasVictoria Internationally renowned music act Innocent Idibia who goes with the stage name Tuface or 2baba has joined the league of artistes turned activist or so it seems. Over time, celebrities lend p their voices to causes theyy are passionate about and based on a recent rec post, Tuface is not left out as he has chosen to lend his voice voic to the fight for good governance. governan According to the post he made across several of his accou social media accounts tag which he tagged mass “First massive nationw nationwide protes protests”, h e wr wrote “ A

call for good governance. A call for urgent explanation into the reckless economic downturn nationwide. A call for nationwide protests as we say No to the Executive, No to legislatures, No to judiciary... You have all failed us.” The posts had questions like: Where are the recovered looted funds? Why did we have petrol price rise to 145 for the sake of global oil price crash and removal of subsidy but such price is still being maintained despite significant re-awakening of the oil price from $30/barrel to$56/barrel?” Tuface concluded the lengthy post with “There’s need for Nigerians to rise against what is happening in this country having waited patiently for the legislatures that were elected to represent the people all to no avail.” It is not clear if the protest that is set to take place in the first week of February 2017, as he said, will be solely organized by the ‘African Queen’ singer.

DAILY TRUST, Friday, January 27, 2017

26 NEW YEAR

YOUTHVILLE

Youth jostle for StarTimes comedy show prizes

RESOLUTIONS from 3 budding ENTREPRENEURS By Latifat Opoola

ntrepreneurs are the masters of to-do lists, calendars and organization. They set goals in their sleep; evaluate their successes as well as failures on a daily basis. So it comes as no surprise that they will embark on the New Year, reflecting on the past year and developing actionable resolutions in an effort to take 2017 by storm. For some inspiration, we have reached out to a few entrepreneurs to find out what they’ve set out to establish in the year ahead. Misan Rewane – the cofounder and CEO of West African Vocational Education (WAVE) For Rewane, she said the academy has grown by leaps and bounds since she began work three years ago. “We remain committed to our core belief: that young people have the potential to make a positive impact in the world and we must set them up towards that path. This past year has been difficult as the Nigerian economy slipped into recession and although it seemed a daunting challenge, they stood with us, and met adversity head-on,” Rewane explained. In a year of deep recession throughout the country, She disclosed that over 1000 underand unemployed Nigerians took part in training programmes using WAVE’s innovative curriculum (including partnerships with Lagos State Government). “After graduation, their wages rose by an average of 300%. Our employer partners benefitted as well, working with WAVE to specify the competencies of successful employees and identify WAVE graduates embodying those competencies,” she said. In 2017 WAVE co-founder

o said they will continue to o measure and innovate to g increase their impact on young people’s lives. “We will grow our 4 WAVE Academies closer to full capacity where they are able to graduate 35-50 work-ready youth per training cycle and run 8-10 cycles per year,” she said. None of this year’s accomplishments will be ork, possible without the hard work, ness determination and willingness hich to learn of #TeamWAVE, which s, is now 30-strong employees, our dedicated external trainers and volunteers, our committed board members, our 1100+ paradigm-changing alumni, our 177 employers who have entrusted WAVE to help grow their business and our funding partners and n donors who share our vision and invest in our impact. Usman Abdulhameed CEO Velcroz (a company that specializes in designs and couture) He said he will like to break into new markets and expand production. “We just increased the capacity of our factory and Insha Allah, we are planning to increase our staff strength to 100, establish an apprentice platform to train more people and also help project the image of the north as part of our social responsibility. “Last year I saw myself constantly multi-tasking, there were just so many tasks to take care of and everything seemed to happen at the same time, whether it’s a meeting, attending a networking event or grabbing dinner, my wheels were constantly spinning about the endless tasks at hand,” he noted. Amal Auma Usman CEO “A M A L A R I” As a relatively recent Menswear brand, AMALARI

From Omobayo Azeez, Lagos Young talented Nigerians are jostling to secure positions by exhibiting their skills of humour in a comedy hunt exercise. The programme, championed by the Yoruba lifestyle and movie channel on StarTimes, ST Yoruba, is targeted at discovering and promoting young Nigerians with sharp dexterity and talents in the business of cracking ribs. Head of Public Relations, StarTimes, Israel Bolaji, explained that the campaign which involves both online and a live show on the channel kicked off in January and will end March 31, 2017. “Selected participants from the online contest will feature in a live show to display their raw skills and compete for cash prizes and performance contacts to the delight of the audience and A-list comedians who have been selected as celebrity judges will assess the budding humour merchants,” Bolaji said.

Drama as 12 housemates thrill on Big Brother Naija From Nurudeen Oyewole, Lagos

plans o n taking full advantage of the currently trending “buy Nigerian to grow Nigeria” movement by creating unique and classy apparel of top quality, while offering affordable pricing. Developing a deep understanding of the domestic market has enabled AMALARI to create its designs towards appropriately targeting discerning high-end customers. AMALARI also intends on further surveying the global markets so as to, over time, evolve into a sustainable international brand. “With a strong IT Management and Business background, I am working on infusing the available fashion technologies (such as fashion/ graphic design software) with her business goals to optimise the brand’s design, style and quality,” Amal said.

12 young Nigerian youth who are housemates in the Big Brother Naija, otherwise known as Biggie have hit their base in South Africa where they will act as housemates for 11 weeks. At the launch of the 2017 edition of the reality TV show, Bally, Bisola, CoCoIce, Efe, Gifty, Kemen, Marvis, Miyonse, Soma, TBoss, ThinTallTony and Uriel were unveiled to the viewing public. At the start, Uriel, a 29 year old singer and hair maker from Imo state and Kemen a personal fitness trainer from Akwa Ibom were the first two housemates to walk in. They were followed by CocoIce, a female rapper; Bally, a statistician who recently quit his job to be a part of the show and Marvis, a Mass Communication graduate. The other housemates to come in thereafter were ThinTallTony, a 6ft, 7inch singer, dancer and poet; Gifty, an actress and model; Soma, a singer with a strong love for science and gadgets; Bisola, a 30 year-old single mother, actress and singer from Ogun state and Miyonse, an Abuja-based chef. Others were TBoss, a 32-year old tattoo lover as well as Efe a Delta state indigene who claimed to be a typical ‘Warri boy’. During introduction, some of the housemates have revealed strategies they feel will keep them longer in the competition or even help them win the N25 million price tag at stake. The Show’s host, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu said housemates are expected to showcase their own unique brand as Nigerians. The opening was complimented with live performances by Nigeria’s leading afro pop sensation, Yemi Alade and Highlife royalty, Flavour. The Big Brother Naijatheme song g was performed by K9, an Rand B vocalist and songwriter.

Ladies: What you need in your wardrobe By Eseohe Ebhota @EbhotaEseohe When it comes to fashion, women and young girls love to step up their game especially with the latest trends in town. But then, there must be major things she’ll need in her wardrobe HANDBAGS: The importance of a hand bag in a lady’s wardrobe cannot be over emphasized. We carry a lot of things with us when leaving home - house keys, car keys, cell phone, makeup bag, wallet, handkerchiefs etc. Without her handbag, where would she put all this things? FLAT SHOES: Some days, you might

just want to step out in flats because you feel like it and there are just occasions when you need to wear flats as well as those times they are the perfect shoe to add some glam to your look. Flay shoes have become a must have accessory because they are trendy and they never seem to go out of fashion. EARRINGS: We all love to decorate ourselves to look good so it’s no wonder that earrings are one of the MUST HAVES in a woman’s wardrobe. Earrings come in various sizes, shapes, colours. So no matter what your choice is, they are part of the essential items you need in your jewellery box.

STATEMENT NECKLACES: Statement necklaces are sold almost everywhere irrespective of the colour, size or shape. However, one fashion faux pas I have seen ladies make is that of wearing hoopla (large round) earrings and the necklace together. WATCHES: they come in different sizes, shapes and colours so whether you love the big men’s style of watches or the dainty cool ones, watches are a stylish accessory that every woman should own. They’re fashionable, functional, and are a perfect way to add a personal touch to your office or casual look.

I never dreamed for success, I worked for it – Estee Lauder