YOUTHVILLE ISSUE #107
Friday, December 2, 2016
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The key to our success is with us, says public speaker Tiamiyu
100 Australian alumni mentor applicants in Abuja By Simon E. Sunday @SimonEchewofun
Over one hundred Nigerian alumni of Australian universities have mentored applicants aiming for this year’s Australian Awards scholarship in Abuja. The Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Paul Lehmann at the maiden Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Australia Alumni Association of Nigeria (AAAN) during the weekend said by 2050, Nigeria will be the third largest country in the world with Lagos being the largest city globally, hence his country is leveraging on that to granting more scholarships to Nigerian applicants. The past interim President of the association, Ms. Jennifer Ozegbe said AAAN started in July 2014 as an initiative of Nigerian beneficiaries of the Australia Awards, and with the support of the Australian government. “The association is also open to any person who has studied in any higher institution in Australia,” she added. The new President, a development expert, Dr. Bridget Nwagbara said the on-going Awards (scholarship) courses ranging from six to over 12 months include those in agriculture, public policy, and the extractive industry where Nigeria can tap much from the Australian experience. An alumnus, Mr. Sani Bako Mohammed who obtained a Master of Governance and Public Policy from the University of Queensland, Australia in 2013 through the scholarship said it presents an avenue for high quality capacity building for Nigeria. “Awardees are exposed to world class theoretical and practical teachings, and an opportunity to develop lifelong relationships,” he said.
Mubarak Damilare Tiamiyu is an author, software engineer, a public speaker and a 2016 Mandela Washington Fellow. In this interview he spoke about how he is contributing to improve the Nigerian public service. By Latifat Opoola (@LatifatOpoola)
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ow have you fared since you graduated from the university? I work as a software engineer with National Youth Service Corps (NYSC); I am also a public speaker who talks to youths to help them expand their level of inspiration to do great things. I also am an author of a book, “Act like a Corper, think like gold”. I wrote the book to inspire youth from my experience as an undergraduate, a corps member, and as an employee. I built the first official NYSC mobile application which is used by over 5,000 corps members. It is basically a service app which is available for reaching out to corps members and for them to reach back especially when they are in distress. 80 per cent of the app works offline which is especially helpful for those posted too rural areas. What is your experience in the public service? I have seen the civil service from the mess it is and with time I have been able to blend with it. I would go to work
BOI, Laurel School to train 1600 youth on gemstone production From Mohammed Shosanya,Lagos The Bank of Industry (BOI) and Laurel School of Mines(LSM) have signed a pact to train 1,600 youth on gemstone production across the six geopolitical zones. Speaking at the event in Lagos, the Acting Managing Director, BOI, Mr. Waheed Olagunju said the partnership is coming at time of high youth unemployment and the country is in need of activities to engage them to add value for economic development. “We will be training 1,600 in all location and 200 per location across the country spanning the six geopolitical zones including Lagos and Abuja. Those who are trained and show signs of becoming a potential will be supported by the BOI. “We will give them concessional facilities to
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enable them trade and export gem stones to earn foreign exchange which would go a long way to help Nigeria in diversifying the Nigerian economy while also earning foreign exchange for the country,” he explained. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the school, Mr. Tope Adebanjo said the nation’s gem stone industry is worth several billion dollars and expressed optimism that the partnership would productively engage the youth in a venture earlier dominated by foreigners. “The training we are embarking on is about $277 per person for three days which is less than $100 a day. Selection will be done diligently together with the BOI. Basically, the whole idea is to engage the youth to take over what belongs to them,” Adebanjo said.
very early and discover nobody shows up on time, even the person holding the key to the office so I have to sit outside and wait for them. Then when they finally arrive we start another one hour of fellowship. But with time I began to adjust even though I knew I had to change some things. If you were to improve on one thing in the civil service, what will it be? I will like to solve ICT illiteracy in the civil service. We live in a digital world but a larger percentage of people who work for our government and take decisions on our behalf are not IT literate and this is undermining productivity. In my way of solving this challenge, I came up with “Project METRICS” which stands for modern Electronic and Technological revolution in Civil Service hoping that it improves the IT reasoning in the civil service, it contains simple feature, selfexplanatory to help bridge the gap. What was your YALI experience like? I went to Washington as a result of my work as a public manager, and
I got to learn how America’s public space works and how we can learn from the positive side of it. As a young African leader I learnt what works for the US and I try to implement it to the Nigerian public space. The fellowship afforded the opportunity to learn so much, as it exposes us with so much knowledge, network, people and it literally provides us with tools to work with. Most times it is not money we need to impact in our communities but just and but an idea or an opportunity. What are your words for fellow Nigerian youth? I have a few questions for them. Who is responsible for the situation you are in right now,? Is it God, the government, the economy or you? There is no right or wrong answer but whatever is your answer, that is an explanation to why you are where you are. The answer will determine where you will be in the next 10 years. There is a quote that says, “The key to our success and happiness is in our own hands. To believe it belongs somewhere else is suicidal”.
Foundation mobilises teenagers against corruption From Nurudeen Oyewole, Lagos The Akin Fadeyi Foundation has mobilised students across 10 secondary schools in Lagos State to participate in its ongoing nationwide anticorruption campaign. At the one-day workshop organised for secondary school prefects at Agege area of Lagos State, the Founder, Not in My Country (NIMC), Akin Fadeyi and Photo: founder and initiator of some of the students at the anti - corruption capacity Bamigbala the campaign, Mr Akin building workshop for secondary school students at Adekola Fadeyi said the menace Agege, Lagos recently. of corruption has believed in the need to arrest the malaise of corruption become endemic among Nigerians and from the root. as such it must be holistically tackled with “This campaign started way back in 2007 and it was the teenagers across Secondary Schools tagged: ‘corruption not in my country’. It was a citizen being involved. led initiative to galvanise people against petty retail Fadeyi said the campaign tagged: “Not and grass root corruption.” In My Country” (NIMC) is funded by Some of the students present said their understanding European Union, United Nations Office of corruption has been polished. They also promised on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and to share their knowledge with friends, colleagues and United Nations Development Programme family members. (UNDP) because all of the agencies
26 Doing drugs is ‘passive suicide’ — Expert By Judd-Leonard Okafor @judd_leonard
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mental health expert, Dr Ifedilichukwu Uchendu has said being on any psychoactive drug is akin to “actually committing passive suicide”, noting that Indian hemp is more dangerous than ever thought possible. “The worst thing about drugs is what they do to you,” said Uchendu, head of mental health department at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, and founder of Centre for Information and Prevention of Mental Disorders (CIPMED). Speaking to young people at an event to mark Mental Watch 2016, he said Indian hemp is perhaps more dangerous than any other
drug within reach of many in Nigeria. Hemp is considered “as common as sweets” in the south of Nigeria, but in the north, “drug is everything”, he noted.
Smokers have claimed to have chewed, smoked and cooked with hemp, but never knowing how much dangerous the highs they get actually are. “It gets into the frontal lobe and destroys motivational instinct,” says Uchendu of how the drug works on the mind. “All they do is smoke, drink, sleep and feel good. It alters the chemistry of the brain and in time starts giving you false perceptions. Everybody becomes the witches and wizards troubling you.” A separate study found high rates of substance abuse among young people in the north, majority of them girls. Many abuse painkillers like tramadol, get high on cough syrup containing codeine, and inhaled fumes from PVC plumbing gum.
Bollywood: Actress Shipla mistakes Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ for animal care book By Bamas Victoria @BamasVictoria This week Twitterati had a blast, when Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty thought that the classical novel by George Orwell ‘Animal Farm’ was a book on how to take care of animals. Shilpa trended on social media after her literary review which suggested that Animal Farm could be used to teach children how to care for animals. Reacting to a question on government’s decision to include popular culture books in the English Literature syllabus for junior and middle school in India, Shilpa said it is a great move because it cultivates imagination and creativity at a young age. “They should include books like ‘Little women’ as it encourages respect towards women at a young age. Even a book like ‘Animal farm’ can teach the little ones to love and care for animals,” she said.
This generated the hashtag #ShilpaShettyReviews where people tweet book titles with an obviously wrong interpretation. Nirmalya Dutta @nemo_dutta23 tweeted “The Lord of the Rings will teach children the importance of returning jewellery. #shilpashettyreviews” K. Venugopal Menon @VenuSpeak also tweeted “Read Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens if you wantt to learn yreviews,” dancing. #ShilpaShettyreviews,” pasreech and Ashwani @pasreech wrote: “Life of Pi iss about finding the 999th digitt of Pi. #ShilpaShettyReviews.” The George Orwell classic is actually a satirical book entury on twentieth-century n the dictatorship, based on lution 1917 Russian Revolution and the rise of Stalin’s Soviet nimals Union where he used animals ad of as characters instead humans. Shilpa Shetty rose to en limelight in 2007 when es she won the fifth series of reality TV seriess Celebrity Big Brother in the UK.
World AIDS Day: 113m persons affected globally after discovery — UN By Simon E. Sunday @SimonEchewofun The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has said 78million people have become infected with HIV and that another 35million persons have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the first cases of HIV were reported. To commemorate the World AIDS Day 2016, Executive Director of UNAIDS, Under-Secretary-General of the UN, Michel Sidibé reiterated the world’s commitment to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. “We are seeing that countries are getting on the Fast-Track—more
than 18 million people are on lifesaving HIV treatment and country after country is on track to virtually eliminate HIV transmission from mother to child. We are winning against the AIDS epidemic, but we are not seeing progress everywhere. The number of new HIV infections is not declining among adults, with young w o m e n particularly at risk of becoming infected with HIV,” Sidibe said. He said many girls in subSaharan Africa are facing a triple threat of high risk of HIV infection, low rates of HIV
testing and poor adherence to HIV treatment. The office in a statement noted that other infections of people living with HIV like tuberculosis and hepatitis C, are at risk of putting the 2020 target of fewer than 500 000 AIDS-related deaths out of reach.
DAILY TRUST, Friday, December 2, 2016
YOUTHVILLE
Reformed drug addicts sensitize students in Kaduna From Christiana T. Alabi, Kaduna Victims of drug abuse who have been reformed by the Kaduna based Nigga Rehabilitation and Skills Acquisition Training Centre (NIROSA) have sensitised students in select schools on the dangers of drug abuse. The rehabilitants under the aegis of Old Students Association of NIROSA visited Rimi College in Kaduna metropolis, and Government Secondary School (GSS), Rigasa in Igabi LGA. The Secretary of the Alumni, Ibrahim Ladan Kontagora said he was influenced to do drugs by his peers while in secondary school. “Though I managed to finish my school and got a Diploma in Law, I could not achieve my dream of becoming a lawyer due to drug abuse. It was a rough experience for me because then I had so many opportunities but they are all gone now. Sometimes, when I remember, I regret and cry,” he said. Responding, the Principal of Rimi College, Ahmed Sani Zailani commended the idea of bringing the campaign to the school, saying the school was recently faced with a similar challenge. “There is a notorious place here called ‘Jungle’ where many students and outsiders go to take drugs but I am sure this awareness will go a long way in solving our problem,” he said. The Principal of GSS, Rigasa, Abdul Mohammed also lamented the act of drug abuse among students of his school, saying, “Sometimes, students are seen with handkerchief sniffing something,” he said. The Customs Zonal Coordinator, Zone B in Kaduna, ACG Dangaladima Aminu represented by Custom Inspector, IC Dikko Magaji assured of intensifying the seizure of hard and illicit drugs that come through the borders.
Dangote Group, 10 others for job providers’ Award in Abuja By Simon E. Sunday @SimonEchewofun and Latifat Opoola @LatifatOpoola The Graduate Foundation (GRAFO), a youth empowerment organisation has said Dangote Group and 10 other firms and individuals will be recognised in Abuja this month for their roles in creating jobs for the vast unemployed youth in Nigeria. The Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation, Mr Emmanuel Eche-Ofun John who spoke with newsmen this week said the event, ‘Jobs Providers Awards’, was birthed to appreciate individuals and institutions who are working assiduously towards alleviating the pains of unemployed Nigerian youth through their empowerment and direct jobs programmes. He listed some of the prospective recipient of the awards to include Senator Adesoji Akanbi, Senator Arthur Okowa, Hon. Mohammed Bago, Prophet Joshua Iginla, the Bank of Industry (BOI) among others. “Unemployment remains the biggest challenge facing the country, so those who recognize this fact and are fighting it need to be recognized and appreciated,” he said. At the event which will be chaired by the former Governor of Kano state, Senator Rabi’u Kwankaso will unveil four notable Nigerians as ‘Ambassadors of Youth in the Labour Market’. They will be speaking with unemployed Nigerians while promoting the job creation campaign wherever they are, he said.
I will go anywhere as long as it is FORWARD – David Livingston