Youthville by Daily Trust Tambari

YOUTHVILLE TRUST

ISSUE #73

...young at heart

Friday, April 8, 2016

Why we’re donating 50,000 books for rural education — Volunteer, Apochi ‘Over 195,800 suffer from strokes yearly’ Text by Simon Echewofun Sunday & Abah Helen Ada

n advocate for the prevention of strokes in Nigeria, Mr. McDonald Oguike has said record shows that 195,846 Nigerians suffer from stroke every year with 60 per cent of the victims dying within three months. Oguike who spoke in an interview with YOUTHVILLE said 80 per cent of stroke cases in Africa are preventable as the root cause is traced to bad lifestyle habits including lack of physical activities. The cofounder of Acha Foundation in Abuja said the team is working to reach two million people every year with a blend of virtual and physical activities on

the prevention of strokes through its ‘Masterstroke’ platform at www.masterstrokeproject.com. Masterstroke which is registered with the Nigerian Stroke Society has a wider focus of educating 10 million Africans about stroke and improve healthcare in local communities. Abuja-based entrepreneur and Director of Finance for the Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF), Bashar Umar Kwabo said the Masterstroke has partners including the NYPF where young medical experts mostly from the North are helping to create stroke centres across major university teaching hospitals in the country to give advanced treatments to patients. “At a recent event we had in Kano, we advocated adopting the

Foundation to sensitise youth on career paths 31 >> in Abuja

use of local languages to create awareness especially in rural areas of the North where cases of strokes are prevalent,” Kwabo said. Oguike, a human resources professional based in Canada said, “We are also creating a support system to help people with stroke and their families. It will focus on platforms to access the right treatment facility while providing rehabilitation support.” On its prevention, he said people should do some key things including changing lifestyle to have lower blood pressure, losing weight with much exercise, treating and managing diabetes. Other strategies, Oguike said, are quitting smoking, moderate drinking only, and taking prescribed medicines.

 McDonald Oguike (right) of Masterstroke initiative and the Director of Finance, Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF), Bashar Umar Kwabo during a visit to Daily Trust this week.

Photo: Simon Echewofun Sunday

YOUTHVILLE Friday, April 8, 2016 Page 32

REFLECTIONS

Why we’re donating 50,000 books for rural education — Volunteer, Apochi It was fascinating going for an event and the gate pass required was the donation of any book. Curious YOUTHVILLE interviewed the event organiser and founder of Education for Change, Owoicho Apochi Nelson. Text by Victoria Bamas @sinach360

elson is a Physics graduate from the University of Agriculture, Makurdi. He has been a teacher, a child rights advocate and a social entrepreneur. He is also a LEAP Africa social Innovation fellow, ONE Champion Nigeria, among others. What are your motives for the initiative, Education for Change? Education for Change is a non-profit outfit committed to creating access to quality education for young disadvantaged and marginalized people with a special focus on rural areas. Our vision is to see a Nigeria where every child has access to quality education irrespective of their socioeconomic background. I grew up in a rural area limited by the mental disposition that a good life was beyond me. Educational intervention by my parents radically transformed my life. Many of my peers, much brighter and

smarter never made it out of the village. It was then founded to bridge the gap between quality and access in education; to create opportunities for them to become all that they are meant to be. What is your take on Nigerians and the will to volunteer? Volunteering in Nigeria is an evolving practice that people are gradually embracing. Our projects have been successful because volunteers supported us through their time and talents. The initiative is now my full time job. I resigned my job in 2014 to fully dedicate my time to the work that I do. What are some of the projects you have done so far? A Book for Change Campaign: This is our annual literacy project through which we raise books and start libraries in community areas. In 2015 we raised over a thousand books which we used to start a community library in Adoka, Benue state. The library provides access to relevant information and educational resources for over 1,500

students, teachers and members of the community. This year we intend to raise 50,000 books and start 10 other community libraries in Benue state to boost rural education. Since 2015, we have trained 26 people through Youth-LEAD Fellowship, an annual youth leadership empowerment programme. We also toured four schools in rural Benue through the Young Writers Programme where we encouraged young people to write and tell our African story. We have plans for the 2016 ‘A Book for Change Campaign’, Girl Empowerment, Teachers’ Equip Programme and the TechyKids. What is the place of your project in the nation’s development? Education is the bedrock of any society, the overall development of any community can be traced to the level and quality of education its citizens receive. At Education for Change, we are developing quality manpower that will challenge the status quo and develop

the country; we are using education as building block for a sustainable future. Capital is often a challenge to many volunteers. How do you tackle this? Our projects have been funded by different organizations, kind-hearted individuals, friends and family. We are looking out for ways to make the organization self-sufficient hence the selfsustaining school. What does it take to start a missiondriven advocacy? To start an NGO, one needs to have the passion, dedication and a clearly articulated vision and mission. These will keep you focused when challenges arise and also in transition. What would you say to youth who would want to take that route? Discover yourself, find where you can make a difference and work persistently at it. Passion is very important but passion, relevant skills and hard work will work wonders. They should study and improve themselves and never give up despite the challenge.

Backpack

Foundation to sensitise youth on career paths in Abuja Text by Abah Helen Ada

non-profit oriented firm, When in Need Foundation, said it will be sensitising youth in Abuja on life opportunities and making wise career choices in life. The Director of Media for for the foundation, Mr. George Onuorah said, “It has become pertinent to hold an awareness programme in Nigeria to chart a course for future milestones to be achieved in the world of charity and giving back.” Delivering the keynote speech will be the former Special Adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Political Matters, Senator Ben Ndi Obi at the event which will hold on April, 26 2016. Registered both in the United States

and Nigeria, the foundation provides educational grants to students and young professionals. It also supports schools, orphanages, the disabled as well as elderly in need. Through its Mission of Mercy (MOM) platform, Onuorah said the foundation has assisted many in need in various areas since 2012 with the impacts being felt among women and children across Nigeria, and The Bahamas, among others. It rehabilitated dilapidated structures and supplied shoes to 500 pupils at Sam Njemanze Primary School in Owerri Imo State, supported orphanage homes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Jigawa State. It also distributed Ebola check kits to schools while recently helping the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Abuja, it said.

New calculator shows monetary earning per tweet Text by Ibrahim Kabiru Sule @ikabirsule

new online calculator tool has been introduced to calculate within 10 seconds what each tweet is worth and depicts the monetary value one could potentially earn per tweet. The new innovation comes days after Twitter celebrated its ten years since the first tweet appeared on the platform (https://twitter.com/jack/ status/20). The new free online calculator tool, to be accessed through (https://

Webfluential.com/ influence-estimator), allows one to see how much money he/she could earn for every tweet posted A statement by the African Press Organisation said individuals wishing to earn a living from being social media influencers could get paid for posting branded contents to the targeted audience, through the calculator’s valuation of each tweet. Created by Webfluential (https:// Webfluential.com), the global Influencer Marketing Platform,

Results will show up when you do – Jill Koenig

the calculator uses geo tracking and algorithms to assess the exact monetary value of each tweet, based primarily on the number of followers. It said the tool is freely available to all twitter users and for those who have 500 or less followers, the tool will send tips on how to raise their influencer status. Head of Global Operations at Webfluential, Kirsty Sharman said, “When Jack Dorsey posted the first tweet in 2006, I doubt if he knew how much of an impact it would have on the world.”