YOUTHVILLE ISSUE #112
Friday, January 6, 2017
08078068532
youthville@dailytrust.com ailytrust.com
...young ...youn ng at heart
Engineer turned advocate, Jari, gives hope to orphans
inspired by the work of Nigerian Muslim Forum (NMF-UK), which provides support for orphans across Nigeria. hat’s the story behind your Upon my return home, I established the foundation, Ibtisamatul Yateem entrepreneurial successes? My dream is not just Foundation (IYF) in May 2014 with the to become a successful engineer. I support of my family and friends. Do you face challenges in getting to believed that life is not about having the best of everything, but all about making do your venture? Basically, we face challenges in an impact in the lives of others. After my Master’s degree, I looked virtually every aspect of life, but how back at the years and discovered that we overcome such challenges define my wonderful parents had given me our strength. Organising people to me the best of everything. I don’t have work within a stipulated time frame is words to describe how amazing they quite difficult. But my main challenge were throughout my life. So, I pondered is funding the foundation. I had only two sponsors voluntarily and told myself that it is time for me to donating N84,000 annually to sponsor give back something to my society. During my stay in the UK, I was an orphan at inception. But I had to work extremely hard to get new sponsors into the foundation. All praise is to Almighty Allah who gave me wonderful family and friends that supported. Our current sponsors are youth averaging 30 years and willing to shape the future of these young orphans. What projects are you currently Some of the orphans enrolled at IYF when Jari working on? led his Foundation on a courtesy visit to the Emir The Foundation’s Zazzau, HRH Alh. Dr. Shehu Idris on Wednesday.
W
Plateau youth revitalize cultural day From Bashir Liman, Jos The Doemak Youth Development Association (DYDA) in Plateau state with over 10,000 youth have revitalised the forgotten cultural day of the people of Qua’an Pam Local Government within the last three years. The National President, Mr. Titus Datoes who spoke about the Bit Jepsual - cultural day, also known as Youth Day said the event was not celebrated for 18 years until 2014 when his association took it up. He said the significance of the Day has been on ensuring that there is reawakening of the consciousness of the youths and broaden their horizon on culture. He called on youth to heighten the propagation of cultural norms and traditions, to bring back their identity as many have sacrificed their lives on the altar of modernisation.
Engineer Sani Lawal Jari is a 28 year old First Class graduate of Civil Engineering from University of East London. Jari from Katsina State has an MSc in Structural Engineering from Newcastle University, UK. The youth is the founder of Ibtisamatul Yateem Foundation (IYF) helping to cater to the needs of orphans in Zaria, Kaduna state. In this interview, Jari spoke about his orphanage, start-up J.P. Nigeria Ltd construction firm, and more about his ambitions. By Simon E. Sunday @SimonEchewofun
We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future. - Franklin Roosevelt
aim is to serve as a platform for people willing to financially support orphans through all levels of education. We currently sponsor an orphan at the rate of N84,000 annually which is N7,000 a month. We now have three active projects, which are; the full and partial sponsorship schemes, as well as the family sponsorship. The partial scheme involves sponsoring an orphan at the rate of N50,000 per annum, and the Family pegs sponsorship at N220,000 annually. We currently have 15-orphans (five boys and 10 girls) between ages six and15 years in Kano, Katsina and Kaduna State. What is your current member strength? At the moment, there are about 30 members’ of the foundation with 12 as officials, and 8 as sponsors. What are your plans for expansion? The initial plan was to add at least four orphans every year, Alhamdulillah it has been achieved since. We also hope to have stable and consistent sponsors as it is vital in attaining a realistic target. We are currently planning to get more sponsors as well as donations to increase our capacity. In the next five years, I would say 35-40 orphans. A comprehensive breakdown of all financial activities from inception to date can also be found on our site (www.iyateem.com).
47 youth chart course for leadership skills By Adelanwa Bamgboye About 47 youth under the platform, Emerging Nigerian leaders (ENLs) converged last weekend in Owerri, Imo State to build skills for better leadership. The conference which is part of a their threeyear nurturing programme under the Centre for Social Awareness, Advocacy and Ethics, INC (CSAAEINC) enabled the youth to showcase over 25 innovative Community Development Projects that were inspired and supported by the Centre. Speaking at the conference on Accountability, the Technical Director of Addax Petroleum, Chike Nwosu assured them that one could get to the top decently, without cutting corners or getting involved in dubious deals. “Everything has gone bad and everybody is saying the right way of doing things will get you nowhere. I am telling you that it will, except that you are not consistent,” he said. Director General of the Electoral Institute, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Abubakar Momoh, maintained that there is hope for a better tomorrow through divine intervention and collective effort. On Solidarity, the CSAAE Founder, Rev. Godswill Agbagwa encouraged the youth to stick together and also not to give up on Nigeria. He described the programme as “very challenging” and meant strictly for aspiring ders. leaders.
How I won debate on Almajiri education — Rahama From Haruna Gimba Yaya @haroungimba Sixteen year-old student of Dutse Model International School in Jigawa state, Rahama Ahmad Gumel, has recounted how she emerged winner of the National Debate organized by the Zone A of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN). The debate covering over 20 topics was organized to boost literacy level and foster unity among students across Zone A comprising 19 states and Abuja.
Rahama, a Senior Secondary (SS) 3 student from Jigawa state, defeated other contestants from 19 other states to emerge winner in the English debate category. One of the debate topics titled, ‘Almajiri should be part of the Nigerian state or not’, which Rahama supported, earned her the points and emerged victorious ahead of other contestants from the zone. Speaking to Daily Trust ‘YOUTHVILLE’ after receiving her award in Gombe, at the Islamic Vacation Course
(IVC) organized by the MSSN, Rahama said she supported Almajiri to be part of Nigerian state, because as citizens they deserve to be accorded rights like other citizens of the country. She said: “An Almajiri boy rooming the street is a citizen of the country like each and every one of us. They deserve every right as mentioned in the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and as children and human beings they deserve to be treated with dignity.”
She said government should build a specialized school for Almajiri and establish other institutions to cater for all their needs. Rahama dreams of becoming a medical doctor, to help other girls and children who are the most vulnerable group in the society. She also aspires to open an Orphanage Home for the lessprivileged and abandoned children.
DAILY TRUST, Friday, January 6, 2017
26
YOUTHVILLE
Monarch sues for unity at Ebira Carnival
His Royal Majesty, the Ohinoyi of Ebira land, Alhaji Ado Ibrahim has called on Ebira’s to be of one mind to ensure the progress of the land. Alhaji Ibrahim said this during the 6th Edition of Ebira Carnival held in Okene, Kogi State. The occasion had different dignitaries in attendance among whom were the Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, Local Government Administrators, Commissioners, among others. Governor Bello appreciated the people for supporting his administration while explaining that it won’t be an easy task to make the state stand on its feet again after suffering from corruption and decadence in the past. The Carnival also had different cultural display from different ethnic groups within and outside the state. The National coordinator, Ebira Rivat Group (ERG), Alhaji Subaru Yunusa, congratulated all the Ebiras for hosting a successful 6th edition and also ensuring that the governor was in attendance. The Chairman of Ebira Peace Foundation (EPF), Dr. Abdulrahaman Mohammed said helps to foster unity among the people as it is a day of collective joy and thanksgiving to God Almighty. From Ahmed Sabdat, HND II Mass Communication, Federal Polytechnic, Bida.
Emplug launches employment platform From Kehinde Olufowobi, Lagos Emplug, a social network platform has committed itself to engaging millions of job seekers through its technology platform. The founder and Chief Executive Officer of Emplug, Mr. Azunna Chukwu, at a briefing in Lagos said the platform eliminates middlemen who extort money from job seekers, without giving them the jobs. The platform, Chukwu said, is designed to link job seekers directly to employers who need their services. “To benefit from the platform, candidates are expected to register to become members and have access to all information shared,” Chukwu stated. He said the platform also organises technology training and mentorship for members on the platform and at the end provide seed capital to fund business ideas from among members of the platform, to make them competitive in business. He also said that Emplug would set aside 30 per cent of its revenue to fund technology start-ups that have received training and mentorship from the platform. He added that Emplug would develop a strong and reliable data bank from where information could be sourced by members. “For instance, a member of the platform who needed to fix plumbing facilities in his or her home, could send a text message asking for help and how he or she could get an artisan to handle the job, and any one from the platform who can offer the service will reply,” he said. He also hinted that there are plans for Emplug to partner with the Federal Government to reducing youth unemployment.
Abuja’s OUT festival promotes conscious music — organisers By Latifat Opoola @LatifatOpoola
T
he prevalence of songs without meaningful lyrics paved the way for the ‘OUT festival’ held a fortnight ago in Abuja. The maiden festival, the organisers said was aimed to promote conscious music accompanied with good food and drink for the participants. The organizers explained that the festival was organized to relieve Abuja youths of the economic hardship posed by recession, as well as provide them with good food and music. Alex Lawal who spoke for the organiser said the festival was organized to promote conscious music with
For the love of flared gowns
meaningful lyrics straight from the heart. He said: “Too many improper songs had infiltrated the industry; the festival is aimed at promoting conscious and soul music.” Friends from different age brackets were seen dancing, eating and discussing about fashion, food, politics and the economy. Different food and drink vendors including Jumia food and other young food entrepreneurs were seen displaying their local as well as assorted food as well as marketing their products. Mercy Essien, a food vendor told Daily Trust YOUTHVILLE that she brought her products
there because it is an avenue to connect with potential clients to advertise and promote her business. Precious Okeme, another trader prayed for more of such events, as she hopes to use the avenue to promote her business and build her brand. “The age bracket that order for my products are the ones present here so it is an avenue for me to meet potentially new clients and grow my business,” she said. Visitors were seen playing games including tennis, others were more interested in taking photos in the different photo booth while others were more interested in sampling food and drinks on display
Text by Eseohe Ebhota @EbhotaEseohe Flared gowns are trendy gowns that come in different styles such as maxi, midi, short or long. They are distinctively different and universally flattering; and can also be mix-matched with Ankara prints. Also known as A-line gowns, they can be worn to weddings, cocktail parties and any other social outings. Wearing flared gowns and adding the right accessories make you stand out from the crowd wherever you go. If you are the type that doesn’t like body-hugging gowns, then flared gowns are the perfect outfits for you.
Analyst wants more skills training, farms for youth A Political Analyst, Dr Auwal Aliyu has canvassed for the setting up of farms and skills training centres nationwide, to empower youth with life-long skills that would equip them for the future. Aliyu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna, that establishing these centres would also contribute to the growth of the nation’s economy. He urged the various levels of
government must accord priority to the training of youths in various skills, to reduce the high rate of unemployment, social unrest and enhance local economy. He said: “It is important to utilise available skills acquisition centers, provide all the necessary equipment, encourage the youths to learn skills and then assist them to set up their own businesses.
“This will make them to depend on themselves; they will not be depending on government and it will also boost the economy,” Aliyu noted. In doing this, he said government should provide more lands. “We have a lot of untapped lands for agriculture; open them up, build some infrastructure and perhaps, turn some into a senatorial village farms. Provide equipment, seedlings, chemicals and fertiliser, then organise the youth and allocate hectares to them to cultivate,” he suggested. He said if this is replicated annually, the massive engagement would create more economic activities, job creation and other opportunities which will bring in investors. “This kind of initiative will not only assist the citizens to be economically vibrant but also reduce security threats and youth restiveness in the society,” he said. (NAN) IITA youth agripreneurs in their banana plantain multiplication chamber. Photo: IITA
By means of affection, gain the heart of the youth - St. John Bosco