The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Changing lives

  • Changing lives

    Founder of Joan Agba Foundation, Mrs Joan Agba, is an accomplished social entrepreneur. Her pursuits have earned her accolades. Her work has created entrepreneurs out of women and youths. She shared her dream with DANIEL ESSIET.

    Joan Agba Foundation founder, Mrs Joan Agba, is a successful entrepreneur with a social conscience. She is a management consultant, who retired from Shell Petroleum and Development Company (SPDC) in 2011, and set up her consulting firm as a high end consultancy firm.

    A multi-tasker from her youth, she is a social entrepreneur, peace negotiator and businesswoman, who has been touching lives through her Foundation. The foundation awards scholarships to brilliant indigent students, gives interest-free loans to women and assists youths to secure start-up grants for small enterprises.

    According to her, Joan Agha Foundation (JAF) addresses the needs of indigent persons by providing scholarships, empowering women and youth through financial support and capacity building, giving medical aid, counseling, and advocacy.

    Mrs. Agha explained that the Foundation works with individuals, communities and corporate organisations to alleviate poverty among indigent people.

    She started at the grassroot level, building women capacities  in the rural Delta State.

    The Foundation has empowered more than 200 indigent persons in the community through vocational skill acquisition and seed fund to start small business.

    “Through the women empowerment scheme, we are empowering  indigent women with basic equipment, financial support and vocational skill acquisition.

    “In addition, the foundation provides enterprise management mentorship to women in business by holding an annual lecture,” she said.

    Exploring social entrepreneurship was her key ambition, hence she focused on social service sector and enrolled at Enterprise Development Centre, Lagos Business School to further enrich her knowledge.

    In 2014, the foundation began training youths in entrepreneurship. Consequent upon the success recorded, the foundation made it a yearly event.

    The foundation holds lecture aims at equipping youths, who seek careers in the corporate world. It also creates productive employment for potential entrepreneurs.  Participants have access to internship opportunities. Last year, 10 young entrepreneurs were empowered with N100,000 each to fund their businesses and enterprises, courtesy of the Joan Agha foundation.

    The presentation was held at the Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos at the fourth annual lecture of the foundation. It brought together captains of industries.

    The Foundation has specially packaged welfare scheme for the elderly, disabled and socially disadvantaged persons. The scheme include visitation and supply of food, drugs and essential commodities to the elderly people’s homes, motherless babies’ homes, orphanages, prisons and children remand centres.

    Her dream is to establish a hub for innovation and technological development.

    She is determined to empower rural population to improve their productivity and real income.

     

  • Changing lives

    The Women Empowerment Programme Scheme Synergy (WEPSS), an initiative of INTELS Nigeria Limited, is changing lives in Onne, Rivers State.

    The third of seven children, 19-year-old Glory Aberepikima has just been enrolled into the Women Empowerment Programme Scheme Synergy (WEPSS) at Onne, Rivers State.  An indigene of Okirika, Glory was unable to further her education since the completion of her West African Senior School Certificate Examination. With her father dead, the family could barely sustain itself with the meagre earnings from her mother’s petty trading. However, things began to change for the better for the family when WEPSS was introduced to them. This is because Glory’s two older sisters are also beneficiaries of the scheme. An initiative of INTELS Nigeria, WEPSS began in 2013, with the vision to empower 5,000 community women over a 20-year period through training in tailoring.

    Aberepikima said: “My eldest sister first enrolled for the programme in 2016. She is the only university graduate in the family, but she was unable to get a job after graduation. Luckily for her, she did so well after the completion of the training that she was given a sewing machine. With that, she has rented a shop and is taking care of herself.

    “The following year, my second eldest sister also enrolled for the programme and was shortlisted. She, too, completed it successfully, but did not win a sewing machine. With the skill she acquired, she is working for another tailor and hopes to further her education with her earnings. I am the third person in my family to undergo this training and it means a lot to me that I scaled through the selection process.”

    Aberepikima is one of the 125 young women of 700 applicants chosen for the training. Many like Aberepikima come from similar backgrounds – financially handicapped, yet with big dreams of changing their fortunes.

    One can imagine Aberepikima’s happiness when she got the call that she had been shortlisted for the written test. She said: “When I saw the number of persons who came to write the test, I was worried. My confidence grew though when I was called back for the interview. My mother and sisters really encouraged me to put in my best. My mother in particular was really excited for me. I not only want to acquire the tailoring skill I also want to win a sewing machine. It is very important to me that I do; if I can be self-employed, then perhaps I can make enough money with the skill I have learned and return to school.”

    Imenifa Pepple is another young women, who found herself at home unable to proceed further than her secondary school education. With a retiree-father and petty trader-mother, Pepple fend for herself. In the one year she spent at home, she tried teaching and poultry farming. Unfortunately, most of the savings she invested in poultry farming were lost after the chickens were hit by a disease. So, when she heard about WEPSS’ training, Pepple jumped at it.

    She said: “I completed my secondary school education over a year ago. I could not go further because the funds were simply not there. Instead of sitting at home, I worked at some jobs and tried several businesses. When I discovered teaching wasn’t for me, I went into poultry farming. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out well. Last month, a friend suggested I go for WEPSS training and I jumped at the opportunity.

    “I got a call from a WEPSS staff member and later received a text invitation for the test.    After the test, we were told we would get feedback for the next stage. The following day, I was informed that I had passed. I felt lucky because some women were unsuccessful. Later, we were told we would be called upon for a one-on-one interview. We met two directors of the centre. Each interviewed a girl. After a few weeks of waiting, I was finally called to come for the training. I felt honoured.

    “Right now, I just want to go through the training before I make up my mind about my career path. Although I would still like to further my education, I might switch over to tailoring and fashion design if the training goes well. What is uppermost in my mind is acquiring a skill that would be useful to me in the long run.”

    It was Pepple’s and Aberepikima’s first day at the WEPSS Centre and like the other successful applicants, they were excited.

    Held once every six months, the selection begins with a test, after which an oral interview follows. Applicants, who pass are penciled for the training. It is competitive because many applicants vie for a few slots. The possibility of winning an electric industrial sewing machine also makes the training more attractive and sought-after.

    WEPSS Head of Human Resources and Administration, Dorcas Ekong, said: “Two buses leave every day from the WEPSS Centre to pick the girls. One is stationed at Onne junction for those who live in Port Harcourt while another is stationed at Ogubolo. The Port Harcourt bus usually takes off at 6.30am, while the Ogubolo bus takes off at 6.45am for the WEPSS Centre.

    “By the time the girls get here, it is usually between 7.30am and 7.50am. Classes start at 8.30am, so they use the extra time to settle down and get their aprons on.”

    “The classes continue uninterrupted till 12pm when they go on break for one hour and then resume at 1pm. In between lectures, the trainees are allowed a five-minute stretching exercise and this usually at 10am and 3pm. Classes close for the day at 4pm after which the trainees are allowed a feedback with the project manager.

    “The areas of concern are not limited to their lectures alone. The trainees are encouraged to talk about problems they may have even with their classmates, their trainers and the administration staff. The length of the feedback session is dependent on the trainees; there is no fixed time for the feedback session but it has to be concluded by 5pm.”

     

    This is because the bus would leave the centre at time to take the girls back to the agreed destinations from which they were picked,” Ekong added.

    However, Head of the Centre, Abhina Ajamni, cautioned the girls not to direct their focus on the sewing machine prize. She stressed that acquiring the skill was much more important. “It is so competitive that you have women who are skilled tailors actually applying for this training because they want to win a sewing machine. That is why there is a declaration form where you must state, if you have had tailoring experience because an experienced tailor could certainly not be assessed with the same standard used for a learner. Anyone who declares false information in the form is in danger of losing her spot.

    “We always make it clear to them at the start of the training that not everyone can win a sewing machine. It is only for the top 10 or 15 best girls and they must score over 80 per cent to qualify. To make learning more conducive, bank accounts are opened for trainees and stipends paid into them monthly. The cash takes care of their feeding during the training. The filling of the bank details is the most problematic session of the first day because most have WASCCE as their highest qualification,” Ajamni said.

    Other information required to be declared by the trainees include enrollment into another academic or training programmes and if they are pregnant or not. Ajamni explains that declaring your enrolment in other academic pursuits will enable the centre determine if trainees are able to commit themselves to the classes for the four-month duration of the training. To ensure trainees were not motivated by the monthly stipend to apply for the programme, they were informed that missing five classes would disqualify them from going any further.

    Ajamni added that there had been cases where some pregnant women enrolled for the training and failed to disclose their condition. She said: “In the event that there is a complication with the pregnancy, some of these women have blamed it on the WEPSS. To avoid this, we encourage them to disclose pregnancy. Once we are aware of pregnant trainees, they are moved from the production to the support department. It is better to be safe because the sewing machine produces vibrations when in use. We cannot endanger a baby’s life.”

    Luckily for these girls, some of whom come from as far as Port Harcourt to undergo this training, the WEPSS Centre provided two 66-seater buses to assist with the daily commuting to Onne. This also ensures that they are seated and ready for classes which begin by 8.30am.

  • How piggery farming is changing lives

    How piggery farming is changing lives

    A conference was organised by the Association for Promotion of Piggery in Nigeria (APPN) in Lagos to review smallholder pig value chain. It provided  an  opportunity to share testimonies of how the business has changed lives, DANIEL ESSIET, who attended the forum, reports.

    As a young man growing up in the rural setting of Oyo town, Oyo State, Wale Adekoya knew that his future is in agribusiness. He had developed interest in farming since he was a boy. He had no formal training in raising pigs, but he was fortunate to have observed his father raising the animals. As a child, he had learnt how to feed pigs with inexpensive foods. But his plan to be a big farmer lacked one basic ingredient – the technical knowledge to ensure that the business thrived.

    Never to be discouraged easily, he took up menial jobs  before he returned to piggery business. After having some positive experiences with using herbs, he started checking out medicinal herbs to see what they had to offer in treating pig’s ailments. He said the herbs  helped him effectively to deal with pig diseases.

    Today, hard work, perseverance and a little luck have seen Adekoya turning a tiny enterprise of 10 pigs into a flourishing commercial operation with 300 pigs. Considering the fact that he started  with 10 pigs is quite an achievement. He is satisfied with raising pigs, and happy that his standard of living is changing for the better.

    According to him, pig farming is helping many farmers to increase their income. He was one of the panelists at the conference and annual general meeting (AGM) ofAPPN in Lagos. His story is a testimony of how not giving up pays in the end.

    Adekoya said  pigs’ pork is in huge demand, adding that a lot of people  have  approached him for different pig parts .  Though he has made a success of it, he still feels people do not respect the piggery business.

    He said shortage of butchery skills is one of the challenges faced by the pig farming industry. Piggery farming, he said, proves to be lucrative, but it comes with several challenges.

    Successful piggery farming, he said, is underpinned by having sufficient scale and market knowledge to produce healthy piglets cost-effectively, while still managing risks.

    With this comes marketing. Currently, he  sells most of his pork directly to retailers, who buy in bulk from him on a weekly basis.

    Also, Chairman, Board of Trustees, APPN, Olootu Dipo Shofowora said with less than 10 piglets, he  now owns a big piggery operation.

    He maintained that  piggery, like poultry, should be  one of the areas that government should  prioritise as the base of meat industry, where more private operators  will be encouraged to invest money in a professional way.

    For the private sector and people  interested in the sector, Shofowora, also the Chairman, First Crystal Integrated  Agriculture Limited,  said there are still many opportunities to be explored.

    He added that the market for pork and piglets is still so big, requiring more investors to satisfy it. With hard work, he said anyone can start piggery business and be a success.

    To achieve a good litter, he said one needs good selection of healthy and stress-free breeds. He explained that a pig’s gestation period is three months, three weeks and three days. This means that if one  wean after one month, the mother should move back to production cycle soon enough and, therefore, help one  achieve two litters a year.

    Shofowora explained  that farmers, who  want to be successful commercial producers like him, need to receive intensive mentorship from established producers.

    As part of mentorship programme, he said young farmers must learn to keep a close watch on the disease status of the units  where there is no veterinary doctors.

    He said the main challenge new entrants is finding a way of converting basic, informal pig-keeping operations into profitable commercial enterprises.

    This, he explained, is hampered by high initial capital costs and subsequent high maintenance and feed expenditure. Moreover, he stressed that pig  farmers need to look for new or alternative markets to increase the country’s per capita pork consumption if they wish to sustain profitability.

    He said inadequate number of modern facilities such as  abattoirs, processing plants, feed makers and laboratories are some of the biggest challenges the sector faces.

    He noted that reluctance of financial institutions to finance agriculture has affected piggery production and expansion efforts.

    He added that cultural and religious beliefs also affect the growth of the sub-sector, pointing out that the cost of production is high because of high cost of pig feeds.

    Head, Animal Production Department, Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology, Ibadan, Oyo State, Dr Joseph Olupona, urged pig producers to work towards transforming the piggery sub-sector to a market-oriented one that creates value through  processing and value addition.

    He explained that common constraints shared by many producers are numerous, from government policies, land acquisition issues, lack of infrastructure, funding, processing and storage facilities, and market linkage among others.

    Lagos State government said  it  will do everything possible to support farmers to ensure abundant food production in the state.

    Represented by the Head of Livestock services, Ministry of Agriculture, Babatunde Shonekan, the state government  said it has continued to intensify efforts in the agricultural areas where it has comparative ecological and socio-economic advantages.

    He said despite its high industrialised status, population density and pressure on land for non-agricultural purposes, these areas, according to him, include fisheries, livestock as well as agro-processing with emphasis on value addition.

    He stated that furtherance to the ministry’s effort to boost food production in the state, it has acquired 1000 hectares of land in Ogun State.

  • Changing lives through scholarships

    Changing lives through scholarships

    Nelson Mandela, one of Africa’s most respected leaders once described ‘education as the most powerful weapon which can be used to change the world’. All over the world, leaders in the mould of Mandela know that education is not just a just a tool employed for the development of human mind but also a veritable means of the developing the society.

    With a consciousness that a well educated citizenry will ultimately give birth to a civilised society; such leaders devote time, money and other resources to the education of their people. They build schools, furnish classrooms and libraries, employ the best hands as teachers and most importantly give scholarship to deserving students.

    In Nigeria, giving scholarships to students is a trend that is gradually waning. Some years back, government at all levels; corporate organisations and individuals who had the wherewithal considered it part of their civic responsibilities to reward outstanding students with scholarships. Some of the Nigeria’s brightest academicians and public officers today were at some point in their lives beneficiaries of various scholarship schemes.

    Unfortunately, that is not the case for Nigerian students today. Despite the rot in the educational sector, outstanding students who sacrifice a lot to succeed are often not rewarded due to the lack of scholarship opportunities. They graduate with the best grades only to join the burgeoning army of hapless unemployed youths.

    It is in the light of the above stated fact, that Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta state should be commended for his investments in education through scholarships. While it is undisputable that there is a deficiency of scholarship opportunities for students in the country, it is not so in Delta State. Since he took over the reins in the state, the governor has initiated and sustained several scholarship scheme that have contributed in no small way to the human capital development of the state.

    The most evident and perhaps the most appreciated of Dr. Uduaghan’s scholarship initiatives is the overseas scholarship for First Class graduates from Delta State. Under this noble scheme, Delta State students with a First Class degree in their respective disciplines are given full scholarship to further their studies for Masters and PH.D any institution in the United States United Kingdom or any other country in the world.

    Geared towards the attainment of the ‘Delta Beyond Oil’ initiative of Uduaghan’s administration, the overseas scholarship scheme has recorded more than 135 graduates from various parts of the state as beneficiaries since its inception in 2010. There are still more beneficiaries waiting to be mobilised for the next round.

    One cannot help but commend Dr. Uduaghan for his vision and firm belief in education as a potent tool for development of Delta State and Nigeria. In country that relies solely on crude oil as its mainstay, it is important for us to diversify and see the possibility of living without oil.

    As the governor noted during the presentation ceremony for the last set of beneficiaries in Asaba recently, investments in human capital development is the only way to build capacity that will ultimately lead to the overall development of the state and the country at large.

    China became a major force in world economy today because its leaders diversified and invested massively in education. In the 1970’s the country assembled its best brains and sponsored them to Europe and America for further studies. That singular investment generated a pool of skilled personnel that has made China one of the best economies in the world today.

    Another commendable thing about this scholarship scheme is that the beneficiaries are not under any bond to work for the Delta State government when they return. They are free to work in any organisation within and outside the state. Some of them may even go as far as setting up their own organisations and employ people to work for them. It is also open to students from both private and government owned institutions. In all ramifications, the scholarship is geared towards the development of Delta State and Nigeria.

    Beyond the overseas scholarships, Dr. Uduaghan’s massive investments in education through bursaries and other grants cannot be overemphasized. Delta is perhaps the only state in the country where funds are earmarked for scholarships at every level of education.

    At the twilight of his first term in office, the governor increased the annual bursary of Delta State students in every higher institution in Nigeria from a meagre N8, 000 to N20, 000. Since the increase was effected, more than 10,000 students benefit from it every year.

    Aside from this, Law graduates from Delta State who have to go through the Nigerian Law School before applying for the overseas scholarship are paid N100, 000 each as incentives. At the last presentation ceremony, there were 354 of such graduates present. At the same event, the governor revealed plans to float an aviation scholarship for students who may be interested in aviation.

    With this avalanche of investments in education, the current administration under Dr. Uduaghan has shown a commendable dedication to excellence, which should be sustained by subsequent administrations and emulated by other state governments. Although the rewards may not be seen at the moment, it will be seen someday. By time the beneficiaries return and contribute their quota to the development of the country, we will all see reasons to commend Dr. Uduaghan for transforming lives with his scholarship schemes.

     

    • Ohwofasa writes from Lagos