Category: Sunday magazine

NIGERIA may yet fulfill its promise of greatness, after all. The narratives of the country’s youths in various spheres in the outgoing year provide reassurance that it may hopefully reverse its steps from the verge of predicted failure. It is particularly heartwarming that these impressive strides of youth are happening as the country prepares to celebrate its centenary in 2014. Symbolically, therefore, this moving expression of youthful oomph could well be prophetic of the country’s next 100 years.

To start with, what better way to highlight the country’s attraction of international respect than reference to its feat in sports, specifically soccer, which is rated as the world’s leading and most popular sporting activity? It was a November to remember as the Nigerian Golden Eaglets soared to win the 2013 FIFA Under-17 World Cup Tournament in the United Arab Emirates. In a historic triumph, the teenagers won the title for an unprecedented fourth time, and so dramatically too; and emphatically crushed defending champions Mexico 3-0 in the final after a dream run in which they outclassed otherwise eminent football-playing nations, including Sweden and Uruguay.

Significantly, in addition to the fact that the team glittered in the competition and also won the FIFA Fair Play Award, individuals in the side shone brilliantly. Notably, Kelechi Ihenacho was the most decorated, winning the tournament’s Adidas Golden Ball Award for the overall best player, alongside the Silver Boot Award for being the second highest goal scorer. Remarkably too, the team’s goalkeeper who was adjudged the best won the Adidas Golden Gloves Award. Nigeria is now rated as the most successful team in FIFA Under-17 World Cup history.

Still on the global stage, it was a year in which an 11-year-old US-based girl of Nigerian origin, Zuriel Oduwole, hugged the headlines even more spectacularly. Zuriel, undoubtedly the world’s most successful child celebrity interviewer, was listed among the Top 100 Most Influential People in Africa by the respected New African Magazine. Zuriel who once described herself as “An African child A Nigerian girl-child” was named among the elite group for her campaign for girl-child education in Africa. To appreciate the scale of her stature, it is noteworthy that her record of firsts includes being the youngest person to be interviewed by the well-known international business magazine Forbes in the August 2013 edition of Forbes Africa. “I am hoping that the parents of girls in Africa will see me as an example, and see that their girls have a lot of potential in life, and can achieve great things in life,” she told The Nation in an interview.

An interview with Ghanaian ex-president Jerry Rawlings as part of a school project when she was nine opened her eyes to the educational disadvantages of the African girl-child, and inspired her to launch her Dream Up, Speak Up, Stand Up programme, aimed at lifting the African girl-child. It is a testimony to her phenomenal profile that at her age she has interviewed nine incumbent heads of state, including Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan, all of whom are still in office today. She has also interviewed African billionaire, Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote, and American tennis queens Venus and Serena Williams among other prominent figures. Indeed, she has been likened to giant media interviewers Oprah Winfrey and Larry King for her striking ability in interviewing distinguished personalities. Interestingly, she enjoys an ambassadorial status in Tanzania, courtesy of the country’s first lady, Mrs. Salma Kikwete, who this year made her the first African child to be appointed honorary ambassador by a foreign government. And she has been named as Global Ambassador for the Ethiopian Airlines, which will be her official carrier across three continents to help her with the campaign for girl-child education.

Youth impact on Nigeria’s ongoing war against terror is another arresting point underlining why they deserve an ovation. A particularly shocking incident mid-year, among others, spotlighted the invaluable role of the group of volunteer youths known as Civilian JTF (Joint Task Force) in the battle against Boko Haram Islamist fundamentalists in the country’s northern region. In an unexpected twist, members of the group apprehended two women in purdah with assault weapons concealed under their dresses at the Bulabulin entrance to the Monday Market in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. This feminine involvement introduced a disturbing dimension to the anti-terror campaign in Borno, one of the three states under emergency rule, the other two being Adamawa and Yobe states.

Their dramatic capture, as narrated by a member of the vigilante group, Malam Usman Ibrahim, speaks volumes about the alertness of the vigilantes. He said, “We were on a routine check at the gate when these women came with heavy veil. At first, we did not bother to look at them, but we realized that one of them was shivering, we said something must be wrong.” Then, after a search, according to him, “We found that each of them concealed an AK 47 rifle, a pistol and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) in their veil. We were surprised at the discovery, so we took them to officials of the Joint Task Force (JTF) on Operation Restore Order (ORO) for investigations.” While this was just one notable instance of selfless informal contribution to the government’s anti-terrorism efforts, it nevertheless demonstrates the undeniable value of effective intelligence, which the committed youths continue to provide in the counter-terrorism campaign.

Away from the theatre of destruction, emerging Nigerian home-based youth artistes are selling their creativity to audiences across the world. This circle of musical entertainers has imaginatively redesigned the popular Rap and Hip-hop genres with local flavour, especially slang and proverbs, creating exportable melodies. Among the high-flyers are Davido, Iyanya, Ice Prince, Omawumi, Chidinma and Wande Coal. A good number of them are magnetic ambassadors for big local and international brands, and are dazzlingly rewarded in foreign currencies. Their popularity abroad, particularly via international TV music channels, continues to open doors for them to perform at overseas concerts and win prestigious awards.

A final thrust, this time concerning a field fundamental to the country’s development. Nigeria’s education system may not be as bleak as circumstances suggest, with the report in October of the distinction of a nine-year-old computer whizz-kid, Jomiloju Tunde-Oladipo, who set a record as the country’s youngest Microsoft certified professional. He is now a Microsoft office specialist in Office Word 2010. With an examination score of 769 out of 1,000, Jomiloju outclassed 20 others, performing excellently in Sharing and Maintaining Documents, Formatting Content, Applying Page Layout and Reusable Content, among other subjects. It is noteworthy that Microsoft Certified Professional, a certification programme of the reputable Microsoft Corporation, is aimed at building skills on Microsoft business solutions, focusing on client-end operating systems such as Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7, among others. Also worth mentioning is the international status of the certification.

Young Jomiloju’s accomplishment is particularly significant in the Computer Age, with the uplifting implication that the country may not be such a terrible laggard, after all. Of relevance are the ambitious computer schemes of some state governments, notably, Ekiti and Osun states. In the former, Governor Kayode Fayemi is focused on the distribution of 33,000 laptops to students and teachers in public secondary schools under the administration’s e-School Project. In the latter, the groundbreaking computer-based educational project for public secondary schools, known as Opon Imo, introduced by Governor Rauf Aregbesola, promises a revolution in learning methods. These examples bring hope; and when considered in the context of Jomiloju’s feat, which he achieved within the private school system, optimism about the country’s future is understandable.

In the last analysis, these are justification for the celebration of the promise of futurity, encouraged by the sterling performance by the country’s youth in the face of overwhelming odds.