The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Foundation

  • Foundation to sensitise youths on electoral participation

    Peacemakers Community Development Foundation has concluded plans to carry out sensitisation on how youths can be engaged during the 2019 general election.

    A founding member of the foundation, which is a non-profit organisation with affiliation to a United States of America- based non-profit organisation called Peacemakers Community Development Centre (PCDC), Shola Adedeji, who spoke with reporters, said it intended to empower youths in Lagos State to kick off the nationwide campaign.

    “The foundation will train youths in value of self-sufficiency by developing their capacity and capability as individuals towards being job creators, rather than being used as instruments of thuggery.

    “We have designed plans that will ensure that youths are meaningfully engaged during the 2019 general election in order to avoid being used as instruments of thuggery. We intend to empower youths for self-sufficiency by developing their capacity and capability as individuals towards being job creators,” she said.

    Adedeji said the organisation, which was founded in 2002 as Peacemakers Community Development Centre (PCDC) in Irvington, New Jersey, United States, was incorporated in 2007, adding that Peacemakers Community Development Foundation, the sister organisation in Nigeria, came into existence in 2012 with youth empowerment training programmes. “It was formally registered as a non-profit organisation in December 2016.”

    She said the foundation’s plan was to expose and engage youths in skills acquisition that would be beneficial to them now and in future.

    Adedeji added: “In the past five years, the organisation has assisted over 50 youths in overcoming their challenges such as re-uniting the homeless with their parents or foster parents through counselling.

    “As part of our roles as a non-governmental and non-profit organisation, we aim to offer the youth employment through community support services. We plan to put in place natural skills that support youth empowerment programme so as to place them right for a better future.

    “Besides, we plan to engage youths that are dropouts by sending them back to school to acquire knowledge for their future betterment through provision of technical and vocational education, provision of special scholarship programmes, among others.”

  • Foundation pledges support for 1000 Nigerian students

    To reduce the number of school dropouts, a non-governmental organisation, Infinity Foundation, has vowed to shoulder a financial support system to assist students achieve educational dreams.

    Speaking at the investors dinner, book launch and award presentation organised by G Text Homes, recently in Lagos, one of Infinity Foundation Directors, Mrs. Bisi Akintayo, expressed commitment of the foundation to ensure children goes to school as a way of building a brighter future not only for the children but for the nation at large.

    On the government part, she noted the government is constituted by every citizen of Nigeria, thus, she charged Nigerians to cultivate a charitable heart in assisting one another.

    “For me I don’t talk about the government because every individuals makes up the government. That sit is not a permanent sit for them and if they seize to have a charitable heart, we can come together to assist ourselves. We started in 2018 and when we looking at those we have helped so far, they are over five thousand. We have gone to different states, met with different kids and we have been able to assist them in one form or the other”

    When asked why the foundation focus on education, she explained it was a nurtured dream from childhood to assist families who lacks the financial strength to see their children to school.

    “There was a time my first child couldn’t go to school and there was  a bursary in my church I wanted to collect but my husband told me God will provide that there are millions of children out there who needs this bursary than us. And truly God did it. Till date, each time I’m taking my kids to school and I see children not in school, tears run in my heart. I feel uncomfortable seeing kids hawking. I’m glad we are trying our best”.

    Chief Executive Officer, G Text Media and Investment Nig. Ltd., Mr. Stephen Akintayo who also bagged the 2018 Nelson Mandela Leadership Award as Africa Most Outstanding Person on Humanitarian Services and Societal Development Per Excellence, presented by African Youth Parliament (AYP),  said his book ‘Maximising your real estate investment’ is to educate the public on the importance of investing in real estate business and guides on how best to invest.

    “My book was written to enlighten the public how profitable and valuable real estate business is. From all the books I have written, I love this book because it’s about real estate. You can’t measure your wealth by Car. But when you own a land or build a house then it will appreciate. The biggest assurance is landed property not Cars. The starting point for landed property is to have information. You need to know how to invest and that why the title is maximization.”

    “When you invest in real estate you will be level headed. real estate has a way of humbling you because when you start you will know what you are into. With landed property, fifty years after you will be proud you have done something”.

    Speaker AYP, Rt. Hon. Bamikole Babs, expressed the parliament has so far been on a look for motivators  and role models to African youths and Akintayo was spotted for his exemplary lifestyle.

    “What actually informed us about Mr. Stephen Akintayo is his exemplary lifestyle, he has been doing something wonderful that a lot of youths are not taking cognizance of. And like some of his objectives in investing in real estate, I think it’s something that every youths who are reasonable to know  they need invest,” Babs said.

    Akintayo said he is humbled by the nelson Mandela leadership award by the AYP. “its a proof that people are watching. We are getting to a point where awards are based on merits and that people do their research and see who is doing well. I really appreciate the African youth parliament for the honour and we pray God gives us the grace to keep doing what we are doing better” he said.

  • Foundation advocates policies to address e-waste management

    The Vice Chairman, E-Waste Relief Foundation (ERF), a non-governmental organisation, Prof. Oladele Osibanjo, has called for measures and policies to address electronic waste management.

    He spoke yesterday on the sidelines of a one-day capacity building workshop organised for the informal sector on the handling and disposal of electronic waste (e-waste).

    Osibanjo described the influx of e-waste into the country and its adverse effect as alarming.

    He said besides climate change, e-waste had become one of the biggest environmental challenges facing the world in the 21st century because of the influence of Information Communication Technology (ICT).

    Osibanjo said the two consequences of improper e-waste disposal were hormone disruption and confusion of the human immune system.

    “The circuit board of electronics contains hazardous contents such as Lead, Mercury and Chromium, which are dangerous to humans and the environment. The plastic screen of electronics is impregnated with brominated flame retardants.

    “These substances are persistent organic pollutants and are released into the environment when these electronics are burnt.

    “The chemicals are also carcinogenic endocrine disruptors (endocrine disruptors are chemicals that can interfere with endocrine or hormone systems at certain doses, causing cancerous tumours, birth defects and other developmental disorders).

    “This is why you can see an eight-year-old girl menstruating; it is caused by endocrine disruption, which has confused her immune system.

    “This information is common knowledge in developed countries, which is why they tend to come and dump their e-waste in Africa,” he said.

    Osibanjo said the e-waste produced globally and annually had reached “a near-Tsunami level”, adding that in Nigeria, e-waste management was handled by the informal sector.

    The professor urged governments and stakeholders to take a cue from the ERF by training people in the informal sector in purposeful e-waste management.

    “We can do everything on the phone now, but the dark side of it is the unlimited production of e-waste.

    “The original equipment manufacturers have become smarter and they manufacture their products not to last long. We call it rapid obsolescence.

     

     

  • Foundation, experts seek welfare for widows

    The Ajoke Ayisat Afolabi Foundation (AAAF) has solicited better welfare for widows from the public and private institutions.

    This, the foundation said, will the widows self-sufficient and better equipped to take care of their families and grow the economy,

    Their position was made known at the 10th Anniversary lecture by the foundation at the Commerce House, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    AAAF’s President Deacon Wale Afolabi decried low attention given to widows.

    One of the cardinal focal point of the foundation, he said, is to empower widows.

    He said: “Empowering widows will go a long way in making our society better. The rate at which widows are emerging due to the rate of death among men is alarming. These women are most times left alone to fend for themselves and their children and also pay bills. It is usually a cumbersome task for them to surmount. At AAAF, we accommodate these women, pay the school fees of their children and also train them with skills that will make them self-sustaining. We also give them grants for them to start up their various businesses.

    “These gestures will help in improving the economy. This is because a woman multiplies whatever is given to her and widows have been known to be very prudent in managing the resources given to them”.

    Former Lagos State Deputy Governor Mrs Sarah Sosan, hailed AAAF for supporting the widows and less privileged.

    “You have continued to touch lives despite the fact that you are a lone financier of the foundation. I urge you to continue this good work”, she said.

    Wife of Ogun State Mrs Olufunsho Amosun, who was represented by Mrs Oyeleye Okeowo, explained that the partnership between her foundation Uplift Development Initiative and AAAF which started few years ago, has yielded great benefits.

    “We have together touched various lives in Abeokuta and other states. I am happy that the foundation is waxing strong. The saying that God is the husband of the widow is true,” she said.

    Wife of Minister of Works, Power and Housing Mrs Abimbola Fashola, represented Aderonke Oguntoyinbo, urged Nigerians to support widows around them to alleviate their sufferings.

  • Foundation shares Montessori principles with Agege Mums

    For three days last week the Foundation for Montessori Education in Nigeria (FMEN) exposed mothers of young children in Agege to Montessori principles through its Aid to Life outreach project.

    The training held between Monday and Wednesday at the Agege Local Government Education Authority, Agege, featured pictorial presentations and practical demonstrations by Mrs Yinka Awobo-Pearse, coordinator of the Aid to Life project to participants who were mothers of children aged zero to six from the low-income band.

    Mrs Awobo-Pearse shared Montessori principles that support the natural development of children regarding movement, communication, self-discipline and independence during the three day programme.

    In her speech at the opening of the programme, Mrs Ronke Soyombo, Director General, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Lagos State Ministry of Education, counseled the parents to reduce spending on frivolities such as ‘aso ebi’ (party clothes) to spend more on books and educational materials for their young ones.

    “If the foundation is solid, the house will not sink.  See, we want these children to be independent; let them do things for themselves.  From three years of age, they should learn phonics.  Reduce spending on aso ebi. The amount spent on aso ebi can buy books. The government does not want dropouts again.  When your child comes from school, ask what they learnt.  Right from when they are babies, read to them,” she said.

    Education Secretary, Agege LGEA, Mr Olalekan Majiyagbe, thanked FMEN for the programme, which he said he embraced because of its potential to show parents how to adequately prepare their wards for the school system.

    “The programme is fantastic. I have never seen such thing in my life. There is need for us to sensitize, to imbibe knowledge to parents so that we can know the problems faced by pupils and teachers in classroom situation. At home, once they expose those children to basic skills of life, by the time they come to school, they would not be urinating or defecating in the classrooms. Then they would have acquired language as they are very closer to their parents at home. What we call informal education is gradually going into extinction. So we want to reinforce informal education  into the  parents so that those children can acquire basic skills in life.

    Speaking on the essence of the programme, Mrs  Awobo-Pearse said FMEN hopes to improve learning outcomes through the outreach, which would be held in other parts of the state.

    “This is a programme we started to teach parents on how to raise their children at home.  What we want is the natural development because if our children develop naturally when they get to age three, four, you will see how they would be in school. We are doing this because we are trying to raise the education learning outcomes.  We believe that if we start from the foundation, once a baby is born, there are a lot of thing the parents can do with the baby that can enhance the baby. By the time that baby gets to nursery school at age three, that baby will do very well in school,” she said.

    Participants were given gifts daily and also got certificates on completion of the programme.

     

  • Foundation offers residents medical services

    The Ganiyu Abiodun Foundation (GAF), in partnership with Eko Club International (ECI) Medical Mission, last Saturday offered medical services to Lagosians.

    The event was held at Okota Baptist Church playing ground, Ali Dada Street, Okota, Isolo, Lagos from 10am.

    Medical personnel rendered services to the constituents of Oshodi/Isolo Federal Constituency II and the public.

    The turnout was impressive, as the young and elderly took advantage of the foundation’s initiative to receive medical treatment.

    Free drugs and eye glasses were given to people.

    The recipients hailed the foundation and former Lagos State Commissioner for Works, Ganiyu Abiodun Johnson, whom they described as a man who cared for the well-being of people.

    They urged him not to relent.

    Johnson, an engineer, said he was impressed by the turnout.

    He reiterated his commitment to people’s welfare and promised to sustain the programme.

  • Foundation partners Union Bank for playwright competition

    BEETA Universal Arts Foundation (BUAF), in partnership with Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, has announced the second edition of Beeta Playwright Competition (BPC), aimed at discovering new talents in play writing.

    The competition is also aimed at preserving the Nigerian culture, history and heritage through raising new playwrights adept at conceptualising new drama that capture all areas of the country’s life from the grand to the absurd.

    Entry for the competition, which is open to indigenous playwrights between 18-40, will end on August 31. This will be followed by the announcement of the top 10 finalists, who will participate in a writing workshop after which the winner will be announced at a grand finale.

    Award winning actress and producer, Bikiya Graham-Douglas, conceptualised Beeta Playwright Competition (BPC) to make a difference in unveiling and showcasing Nigeria’s emerging playwrights for the next generation.

    Paul Ugbede’s play, Our Son the Minister emerged winner of the competition’s first edition. Graham-Douglas’ foundation published the play and staged it to give it flesh and life at Terra Kulture Arena, Lagos. It also toured the country.

    According Union Bank’s Head of Corporate Communication and Marketing, Ogochukwu Ekezie-Ekaidem, the bank recognises how invaluable arts are to Nigeria’s culture and history, hence the commitment to developing talents in the creative industry through partnership with BUAF.

    The competition, which is also supported by The Guardian, WAPIC Insurance Plc, Terra Kulture, Olajide and OyewoleLLP, and YNaija.com awards N1 million worth of prize to the winner plus a publishing deal with Paper Worth Books Limited.

    It culminates in the stage production of the winning entry by BUAF at Terra Kulture Arena. The second edition will has Shaibu Husseni, Ego Boyo, Ayo Jaiyesimi, Kenneth Uphopho, and Ibiso Graham-Douglas, as the panel of judges for the competition, with Prof. Ahmed Yerima as chairman.

  • Abacha loot: Foundation sends FoI request to Finance minister

    Cable Newspaper Journalism Foundation (CNJF), a not-for-profit media organisation, has sent a Freedom of Information (FoI) request to Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun on the payment to lawyers in the recovery of $321 million Abacha loot from Luxembourg.

    Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami had engaged two Nigerian lawyers, Oladipo Okpeseyi and Temitope Isaac Adebayo, for the recovery after the money was returned to Nigeria with $1.5 million interest by the Swiss government.

    However, TheCable online newspaper, a partner organisation to Cable Foundation, reported that Enrico Monfrini, a Swiss lawyer, had done the legal work and completed recoveries for which he was paid in full by the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2014.

    Monfrini denied allegations that he was asking for extra payment to complete the job, maintaining that the recovery had been finalised and all that was left was for Malami to write a letter to the Swiss government. However, Malami still engaged the services of two lawyers for a fee of $16.9 million (about N7 billion).

    CNJF had sent a FoI to Malami to make available copies of the agreements signed with Monfrini, but the attorney-general did not respond to the request. Cable Foundation’s lawyers, Kusamotu & Kusamotu, are now in court seeking an order of mandamus to compel the AGF to make the documents available in line with public interest.

    In the FoI request to Adeosun, the Cable Foundation is seeking a breakdown of the amount approved and released for the Nigerian lawyers between the time they were appointed and today as well as records showing payment timeline for the services of the Swiss lawyer.

    This request is in line with sections 2(3) & (4) of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011, which require all “information relating to the receipt or expenditure of public or other funds of the institution” to be “widely disseminated and more readily available.”

    “We are trying to help President Muhammadu Buhari in his war against corruption,” Mrs. Abiose Adelaja Adams, the programme officer of CNJF, said in a statement yesterday.

    The House of Representatives has set up an ad-hoc committee to probe the payments to lawyers.

    TheCable also reported earlier in the year that the American government has told Buhari it would not entertain the involvement of private lawyers in the return of another $500 million Abacha loot, which was domiciled with the US Department of Justice in 2014 after the recoveries by the Jonathan administration.

    The US government would only deal with Nigeria on a government-to-government basis, TheCable reported.

     

     

     

     

  • Onyema launches foundation for indigent students

    •Becomes CIS fellow

    Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange Mr Oscar Onyema has launched Oscar N Onyema (ONO) Foundation to provide funding and other programmes for the education of indigent students and less privileged persons.

    The first tranche of beneficiaries of the Foundation’s scholarship is expected to be announced before the end of this year.

    Onyema said ONO Foundation would help to provide access to formal education for less privileged youths.

    According to him, ONO Foundation will focus primarily on providing safety nets for the less privileged children and youths, by ameliorating the issues of lack of guidance and providing educational materials and funding towards achieving greater social impact in the education sector in Nigeria.

    “Today’s launch is the culmination of a passionate idea long held by me to contribute my time and funds towards enhancing access to qualitative education for orphans and vulnerable children in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions across the country. I encourage every patriotic Nigerian to continue to give their support towards uplifting indigent youths especially those who seek knowledge,” Onyema said.

    He noted that Nigeria’s quest to play an active role in the 4th industrial revolution must have the youth at its centre due to their population, energy and potential impact.

    The Foundation’s Board of Trustees Chairman, Mr. Tunde Folawiyo, said the Foundation was borne out of an understanding that a good society cannot materialise if the children and the youth are not properly trained, inspired and equipped to be the catalyst and springboard of change and growth.

    “This Foundation is unique because its programmes are focused not just on education but also on treating the emotional and mental challenges and ails faced by our children and youth, their families and our less privileged communities,” Folawiyo said.

    The  ONO Foundation is a not-for-profit and non-political organisation set up to transform the lives of less privileged children and youth in Nigeria. The primary goal of the Foundation is to support the continued effort to expand access to formal education in Nigeria, especially amongst indigent children and youth, raise the bar in academic achievements and encourage positivity and hope to the less privileged families and communities.

    The Foundation plans to achieve this by investing in four priority areas including mentorship programme, scholarship management programme, workforce programme and home visitation.

    In addition, the Foundation will identify and partner with any private, public or civil society organisation or institution or indeed individual with similar objectives for the promotion of philanthropic activities.

    ONO will also organise lectures, seminars, workshops for public enlightenment in such areas of interest as the Foundation’s management may from time to time determine.

    It will also pair less privileged children and youth with respectable and credible members of society and organisations, in order to groom them into becoming responsible citizens and effective nation builders.

    Besides, ONO will identify areas of critical need in the education and development of underprivileged persons with a view to providing them such assistance appropriately.

    Meanwhile, the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) has inducted Onyema as a Fellow of the institute. The investiture was subsequent to Onyema’s induction as an Associate Member of CIS in 2017, after he voluntarily enrolled and passed the institute’s examination. He is he first Chief Executive Officer of the Exchange to be inducted as an Associate Member.

    CIS is statutorily empowered to train and certify professionals in the Nigerian capital market. It is the only professional body in Nigeria authorised to carry out qualifying examinations into the stockbroking profession. The institute controls the activities of its members and matters associated with it.

     

     

  • Foundation spends over $190m on economic development

    Foundation for Partner-ship Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND), a non-profit organisation,  has spent more than $190 million in stimulating economic development and peace-building in the region since 2010.

    Its Deputy Executive Director, Mr Tunji Idowu, made this known  while answering questions from reporters at the “CAPABLE Training of regional and national media professionals’’, organised by PIND in Egbokodo-Itsekiri, Warri, Delta.

    The training, according to the foundation, aimed to evolve strategies for addressing deep-rooted socio-economic problems in the Niger Delta by growing networks of international and local partners to collaborate in developing and implementing new solutions and reducing dependence on oil in the region.

    He explained that PIND was largely funded by Chevron Corporation to build partnerships and equitable economic development in the region, expended $90 million and leveraged over $100 million from donor agencies.

    Chevron, Idowu said, spent $50 million from 2010 to 2014 in the first phase, and $40 million to be expended in the second phase from 2015 to 2019.

    According to him, more than $100 million are from organisations such as UNICEF, Rotary and others.

    Idowu explained that the donors’ funds were spent specifically on projects the people of the region wanted the Foundation to implement in an effort to achieve sustainable peace and economic development of the oil-rich region.

    He said the Foundation achieved a lot through partnerships in agriculture, agro processing, market system approach and peace building.

    He also called on government at all levels to be alive to their responsibilities, especially in  security to complement development agencies’ efforts.

    Earlier,  PIND’s Senior Market Development Advisor, Misan Edema-Sillo, explained that the key component of the market system approach was dynamism, noting that for every service, there was demand and supply, and the Foundation had built partnership in palm oil, cassava, aquaculture, cocoa and business linkages.

    Edema-Sillo said about 14, 847 cassava farmers in the Niger Delta benefitted from PIND partnership with input companies and agro dealers, which created 403 jobs in the region.

    He said five fabricators were trained on the new technology of palm oil processing and equipment and the beneficiaries had been producing the equipment, which had led to increased oil processing.

    According to him, PIND is focusing on agro production and market identification in order to meet local demand.