The Nation Newspaper

Tag: future

  • Female entrepreneurs charting a new future

    Female entrepreneurs charting a new future

    A group of female entrepreneurs under the umbrella of the Association of Women in Business network have been looking at ways to make access to credit easy for women all over the country.

    At a recent forum which took place at NECA house, Lagos the Coordinator of the project Titilola Adisa talked about the activities of the organization and how it had reached out to stakeholders in the past few months in order to chart a new future for female entrepreneurs.

    Also speaking at the forum was Toki Mabogunje who took time to give graphic details of the hurdles women face trying to get loans and other credit facilities. She also talked about how the women can convert these challenges to opportunities and make life easy for female entrepreneurs.

    Others speakers include Mrs. Omowunmi Omotosho,Country director of CIPE,  Mrs. Fayo Williams of NNEW and Chief Mrs. Bisi Ogunleye of the Country Women Association  of Nigeria (COWAN).

    Apart from the speakers participants also took time to identify some of the challenges they face while trying to access credit from banks and other financial institutions across the country.

    The women therefore called on the Federal government to, “put in place gender friendly policies and low interest rates for SME’s that are owned by women. This should be enacted in the constitution as well as a special policy to encourage female farmers”, Adisa says.

    She adds that: “Government policies should be reviewed periodically and regular update of SME policies should be communicated to stakeholders. This can be done with proper information dissemination. We also believe that there is a need to introduce long term loans because most of the projects are long term. It would also be good for our government to look at multiple taxation”.

    The participants at the events took a look at what financial institutions could do to make a difference. “There must be gender friendly criteria for women to access the loans. In addition the banks need to make all the terms and conditions known from the onset. It is also important for them to make use of the existing association as guarantors”.

  • Election ‘ll decide Nigeria’s future, says former Edo Dep Gov

    Election ‘ll decide Nigeria’s future, says former Edo Dep Gov

    The former Deputy Governor of Edo state , Rev. Peter Obadan, said the conduct of the governorship election in Osun State may decide the future of Nigeria.

    Obadan, who is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress of Nigeria (APC) stated this in an interview with newsmen yesterday in Benin.

    He expressed fear that should the wish of the people be subverted, it may spell doom in the state and the 2015 general election.

    He urged the Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega to ensure a level playing field for the political parties and their candidates in the poll.

    He noted that the activities of the opposition party,  the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the state have already heightened tension ahead of the August 9 election.

    He noted that the APC as a party was not unmindful of what the PDP is capable of doing in order to emerge victorious in the poll.

    He urged the political parties, participating in the governorship election, to play by the rule for peace to reign in the state.

  • Akpala to decide future soon

    Akpala to decide future soon

    Nigeria and Werder Bremen striker Joseph Akpala has said his future will be decided in the coming days, after returning from his loan spell in Turkey.

    The 27-year-old has been training with the Green and Whites during pre-season ahead of the start of the 2014/2015 German Bundesliga season and has been registered with jersey number 35, but it remains unclear whether his future lies with the club.

    However, the player has told Brila FM that his future will be sorted in a matter of days. “That (future) will be sorted in the next few days, and I’ll know where I will be whether it is Bremen or not.”

    Akpala spent the last season out on loan at Turkish side Karabükspor, playing 11 times and scoring four goals in the process but admits he would love to remain at Bremen.

    “If I had my way, I’d love to stay at Bremen and help the club but if they feel it’s best that I moved on, then we will know.”

    Meanwhile, Akpala and his teammates have left their training base in Zillertal and returned to Bremen, where they will conclude their pre-season training ahead of the new Bundesliga season.

    The last tune-up game they played in Zillertal was against Spanish side Athletic Bilbao which ended in a 2-2 draw.

    And after the pre-season camp, manager Robin Dutt admitted that “we know where we still have work to do.” Dutt has also announced Clemens Fritz as captain for the new season, and will be assisted by Sebastian Prodl.

  • Akinsola: My future is uncertain

    Akinsola: My future is uncertain

    Former Granada of  Spain striker, Kabiru  Akinsola, says he is currently facing an uncertain future after refusing to extend his contract at Spanish Segunda B2 club, L’ Hospitalet.

    The Catalonia-based club failed to gain promotion last season, losing out to Llaganes in the final play-off round and Akinsola has remained clubless since failing to remain with L’ Hospitalet.

    The 23-year old says he’s tired of life in the lower division and wants a crack at a top flight club. Hear him: “I’m fed up with lower division clubs, that’s why I didn’t extend my contract with L’ Hospitalet,” he told SL10.

    Akinsola is presently in Nigeria on holidays, but admitted that he’s not sure of where he’ll be playing next season.

    “To be honest, I don’t know where I will be playing next season as my agent is yet to give me anything concrete. I’ve spoken to him a couple of times but nothing has come of it,” he said.

    It will be recalled that Akinsola had earlier told SL10 of offers from some European clubs, and maintains there are offers on the table, but nothing yet to hold on to.

    “The offers from Romania and Ukraine are still there, but nothing solid yet. My agent tells me he’s still discussing with them, so I’m waiting. But for now I really don’t know anything about where I’ll be playing next,” Akinsola said.

  • Youths, the future beckons

    I have come to realise that there is always the last chance to learn the truth. The truth would definitely set one free. The truth about our country’s political activity must be told. I don’t know the actual truth but somebody knows the truth. Whether it is All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Musiliu Obanikoro or Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, I don’t know either but I know that someone knows what majority of Nigerians do not know.

    The nub of this piece is not the rightness or wrongness of claims and counter claims of our leaders but how it affects our destiny as a people. I am bothered by the fact, that when our peers in other developing countries will be handed a progressive nation with well-defined national goals, we would be handed a failed state with aimless goals.

    Handing over of leadership is not a choice; it is an established natural law that nothing can change. Those nations with enlightened leaders are conscious of the inevitability of death; that is why they mentor the youth to take over. Our leaders seem ignorant of this fact of life, that is why they chose to be part of the problems of Nigeria rather than being part of the solutions.

    Why should we be engrossed in myopic politicking when our health system is amongst the worst in Africa, our education is deteriorating every day, corruption is escalating on exponential scale and employment is killing our national potentials, insecurity and terrorism creeping into our national life?

    The Boko Haram issue is a complete mockery of our national dignity and it is actually a manifestation of degenerations in every stratum of our national architecture. I believe strongly that some people are working day and night to disintegrate this nation. Unfortunately for us, they are more purposeful and better co-ordinated than our leaders across board. They are more dedicated to their mission than our leaders and even more disciplined.

    Asiwaju Tinubu made a mistake in 2011 by opening the Southwest to the PDP rather than Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), with which the progressive could work with in finding alternative governance for the country. He allowed himself to be misled by the old Afenifere/NADECO caucus whose agenda since after June 12 remains diabolic. The same folks are his greatest enemies today when he chose to merge with Muhammadu Buhari’s CPC. Maybe Buhari’s tear in 2011 is what is haunting us today.

    Achievements of Tinubu in our national life are too significant to be made feeble by anybody, not to talk of Obanikoro. Asiwaju did not only provide the Southwest with a performance-based leadership template, he also courageously engaged the ruling PDP in battle of idea, making the ruling party to promote some modicum of idea.

    If it took the PDP to mobilise substantial components of the national security apparatus to ‘intimidate’ Ekiti people to win the election, it only implies that Asiwaju and his party have not failed. It connotes too that the ruling party truly needs to engender purpose-based leadership and respond to yearning of the citizens.

    But then, Obanikoro and his principal should know that it weakens the moral character of the military to be employed in domestic issues. What should matter to an average soldier must not be local politics, but securing the nation from external aggression. Once we involve soldiers in local matters, we would have destroyed the last apparatus of our national unity.

    Ambassador Obanikoro would earn the respect of the youth if he could channel the energy of our soldiers to checkmate security challenges facing us rather being used to chase politicians. He is a politician, so we cannot say he shouldn’t play politics. But there should be limits to political desperation.

    If the junior minister could express an opinion that Boko Haram mess was created by Tinubu’s friends who promised to make Nigeria ungovernable for this government, then it speaks more of political desperation.

    Perhaps, Obanikoro knows something we don’t. In a saner country, he would have been questioned. It means he is abetting crime against innocent Nigerians.

    I will conclude by appealing to all political gladiators to employ decorum in their utterances and know that politics can only take place when there is peace. We should borrow from aphorism of Magareth Fuller, which says: “Men, for the sake of getting a living, forget to live”. If you have to destroy the nation to govern it, it only indicates one thing: foolishness.

    To the youth, I want us to see beyond loyalty to personalities in politics, so we can begin to evolve progressive principles. If we demand good governance, they will be compelled to give it. Our population is made up of over 62 per cent  youths, which means Boko Haram kills six youths out of every 10 victims. When 10 people died in road crash, six youths may be involved. When 10 people vote, six youths would be among. Let us appreciate our strength and give our fatherland a secure future. I leave you with a mind full of hope. If it is to be, it is up to you.

     

    Habeeb is a student of Nigerian Law School, Abuja

  • Stationery Stores confront Future Stars in friendly

    Stationery Stores confront Future Stars in friendly

    Stationery Stores Football Club of Lagos will on Tuesday morning play their last friendly match before the beginning of the second round of the Nigeria National League.They will  take on Future Stars Football Academy.

    The match will hold at the Ikeja Cantonment playing ground where the Future Stars Academy usually  train. The kick off is fixed for 8:00am.

    According to Fatai Amoo, Head Coach of Stationery Stores, the match is organised  to put the team in competitive mood ahead of their South West Derby against Shooting Stars Football Club of Ibadan.

    “Since the mid-break of the league we have been training and playing friendly matches so that the technical crew can correct the lapses noticed before the break is corrected for the beginning of the second round. I am very glad the boys have been responding well to the corrections. So, playing Future Stars a youthful side with so many talented and skillful boys is another way looking closely at the players before our next game.” Amoo popularly known as Arsenal stated.

    On his part, Jamiu Hamzat, coach of Future Stars, said playing a big team like Stationery Stores FC is an opportunity for his young boys to grow further and learn more on the game from their more experienced and exposed colleagues.

    He said what is important to him as a coach is not the outcome of the friendly match but what his boys can gain from playing against such a big club , adding that it can only aid their growth in the game.

  • CU valedictorian eyes future with confidence

    CU valedictorian eyes future with confidence

    From childhood, Alma Jamechi Oputa had earned the sobriquet “Alma the great” from her parents because of her friendliness and ability to learn fast. The name stuck and she has continued to top her class.

    Her parents wanted her to study Medicine, like her father, Reginald Oputa, who retired as a colonel in the Army, Alma preferred Computer Science.

    Though he would have loved to have a doctor daughter, Oputa has no regrets. Alma was the best graduating student at the Covenant University convocation tagged: ‘Release of eagles 2014’ held at the university premises in Ota Ogun State, Friday last week. She finished with a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 4.98.

    “She had always shown signs of brilliance from the time she was a child,” said Alma’s father. “We also realised that from childhood, she had a knack for mathematics. She also liked drawing was fond of playing with colours.

    “Although we had wanted her to become a medical doctor like me but she chose to study Computer Science instead. We didn’t have a choice than let her study whatever was her desire. Her victory today is a pointer to the fact that parents must not force a career on their wards,” he said.

    Alma’s achievement earned her the Covenant University’s Alumni Association’s Prize for Best Graduating Student in the School of Natural and Applied Sciences, with a N50.000 cash reward; and the Yomi Adedeji prize for Best Graduating Student in Computer Science, a Samsung Galaxy tab, among others.

    As her name was announced by the Registrar, Dr Olumuyiwa Oludayo, the Oputas were the first to leap to their feet, hugging each other. Then Alma stepped out from among the graduands and made the long journey to the podium. Flashes from a thousand cameras bathed her in a glow until she reached her destination. For a moment, she seemed terrified by the thunderous but regained her composure fast enough to read her valedictory speech clearly.

    She thanked the Chancellor for finding time to counsel the students. She also thanked her parents – her Dad, whom she described as her mentor and second bishop; and her mum, who she called her Proverbs Chapter 31 woman – “for teaching her all she knows.”

    Speaking of her success with The Nation, Alma said she was not the bookworm type, kept lots of friends, yet managed to score nearly 100 percent in all her courses.

    “I am not the bookworm type. That does not mean I don’t read my books. I am an average reader but I must say I have lots of friends. I am the type who keeps lots of them. I believe being sociable has little or nothing to do your with ones performance in class.”

    Asked to describe her undergraduate experience in CU, Alma admitted it was full of ups and downs.

    “It is difficult for me to remember my happiest or saddest moments,” She recalled.

    “I remember there were times when I felt happy having scored so high in my exams. There were also times I would not describe as saddest but very challenging moments where I had to contend with lectures, class assignment and other academic activities.”

    With her grade, Alma is confident she can excel anywhere in the world she goes for further studies.

    “I believe I can be the best I can even if I’d attended a public university. I’m not afraid to study anywhere whether within or outside the country. I can hold my head up anywhere.

    “The grooming we received in Covenant is enough to arm us all. In this university, we have very dedicated lecturers. You don’t earn marks through the backdoor. You get what you worked for. There is no shortcut anywhere, she added.

    As a child, Alma mother Mrs Oputa described her daughter as a cry baby who grew up to do things intelligently.

    “She is also the type that loves inspiring others. When she was making 5.00 points and some of her friends were not dong same, she began to inspire them to do better,” Mrs Oputa said.

    Though an automatic employment awaits her from her alma mater; nevertheless, Alma seems to be eyeing other things.

    “Loving children and taking care of them has always been my passion,” she said. “I also wish to set up a clothing line, that’s also my hobby.”

  • Greensprings grooms future footballers

    Greensprings grooms future footballers

    While Nigerians hope that the Super Eagles perform well at the ongoing World Cup holding in Brazil, Greensprings School, Lagos, is concerned about helping to raise future teams through its football scholarship..

    Four beneficiaries of the scholarship, discovered during the last two editions of the Greensprings/Kanu Football Camp (a talent hunt initiative of the school  with the Kanu Nwankwo Heart Foundation), are adjusting to academic and football life at the school’s Awoyaya campus in Ibeju-Lekki. The quartet, Haruna Adi, Elvis Onyenze, Musa Ali, and Muritala Toyeeb, were formerly pupils of public school before their talents  led them to Greensprings, where they now enjoy topflight education in a serene environment.

    Forming part of the scholarship is  sponsoring  them to tournaments. The school’s deputy head, Ms Dolapo Fatoki, said during a facility tour of the school that two of the quartet (Elvis and Musa) participated in the 2nd African Youth Championship in Burkina Faso and displayed their talent that made other countries to be envious. Musa scored a goal in the tournament won by Nigeria.

    At  Greensprings, Ms Fatoki said, the youngsters would be exposed to quality tuition based on the British curriculum, enjoy world class educational and recreational facilities, and benefit from the school’s core values of child-centredness, respect, integrity, excellence and service.

    She said the football scholarship is just one of the initiatives the school has embarked upon to give back to the society.

    Others, in her words include annual scholarship to orphans, training for teachers and support to several public schools.

    She added that parents and the pupils have plugged into the school’s giving habit and are implementing several projects.  The parents sponsor 10 pupils to Greensprings annually, while the pre-school, elementary, high, and International Baccalaureate arms of the school have provided facilities for public schools and donated in support of worthy causes.

    “The empathy level of our children is very high.  They are aware that they are privileged.  Our children make contributions to charities in the school.  The school also encourages parents to contribute.  The school gives because it is the nature of the visioner of the school, Mrs Lai Koiki.  She stands for giving back.  It is something she teaches to every child that passes through this school,” she said.

    But the school is not done with giving yet.  During the long vacation, while some of its teachers travel to the United Kingdom for various training, Ms Fatoki said Greensprings will open its doors to teachers from public schools and other private schools to train at a highly subsidized rate.

    Supporting Ms Fatoki’s claims, a parent, Mr Solomon Oyebode,  said the school provides an environment for all-round development of its 1,300 pupils, aged between 18 months and 18 years.

    He said he appreciates this value in his children and urged corporate organisations and individuals to support its many projects which can add value to the lives of the underprivileged.

    “When children have been exposed to an environment like this, it helps them to develop much more.  There are a lot of areas we require sponsorship that we would be happy to partner,” he said.

  • Working for the future

    President John F.  Kennedy did not live to witness the final fulfillment of the most ambitious of his goals: the landing of man on the moon by the United States as he predicted. The Soviet Union had had a head start many times over, starting with the Sputnik in 1957, and the United States saw it as a competition between “tyranny” (Moscow) and “freedom” (Washington).

    Since the Soviets had not landed man on the moon, Kennedy saw such a feat as being the achievement to settle the matter once and for all. So, on May 25, 1961, the American leader went to the Congress and threw the challenge that had since changed the face of space exploration.

    He told the lawmakers: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before the decade (the 60s) is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind or more important for the long range exploration of space and none could be so difficult or expensive to accomplish… I believe we should go to the moon.”

    That historic goal was fulfilled on July 20, 1969, before the decade was out. But alas, Kennedy, who broached the vision had been assassinated on November 22, 1963. He was gone: but he had worked for history. He had seen beyond his day and prepared for the future and history he had peeped into.

    That is how most observers view the pace of developments in the state of Osun under Governor Rauf Aregbesola. His policies suggest that he has one foot in today and the other in tomorrow. The criticism leveled against him has to do not only with a gross misunderstanding and ignorance of his long sightedness and mission; but more importantly also with the critics’ refusal to look past the present. We are too burdened with anxieties of the day; we do not want to brace for an encounter with history and the future. That is not the way of Aregbesola.

    We seem to be thinking that the future generation would take care of their own headache when the time comes. Really? No! Not so! The leader is only a good leader if while addressing today’s challenges, he is able also to do today what the future would benefit from, without compromising today and the future. That is the stuff of great men. Ghana is a stable polity today on account of the institutional philosophy of governance and probity its founding leader, Osagyefo. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah worked out in the 50s and 60s while he was at the helm. The Southwest is still a leader in a number of spheres in Nigeria today because of the developments pioneered by its first premier Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Ditto for the role played by the United States’ founding presidents, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, among others together with the civil war hero President Abraham Lincoln.

    None of these rooted themselves in the present. They all spent precious time looking into history. They asked what they could do to make a difference in leadership, in governance and in the lives of the people. History and society have always honoured them.

    In my candid opinion, that is exactly what Governor Rauf Aregbesola is doing in Osun State. His deep thrust of intervention in education will have irreversible impact on the citizen who will emerge as the leader of tomorrow by virtue of the fact that he is getting exposed to the technology and skills that would make him fit into the future.

    His uncanny policy of employing 20,000 youths at a go in his first 100 days in office in 2010, has succored a depressed economy to push the young ones for a say in the affairs of history. The figure has gone up to 40,000 now. How about agriculture? Aregbesola has introduced a strategy to capture part of the thriving multi-billion naira market in Lagos for the farmers of Osun. Not only that, the Osun farmers have already been empowered. Many were given loans for poultry and fish farming. And they are doing very well. He has established a meeting point at Dagbolu on the outskirts of Osogbo, where the farmers can get their crops transported by rail to the old federal capital for sale, for prosperous business.

    In tourism, the Aregbesola administration is targeting N15 billion as revenue in 2015. He met an Internally Generated Revenue of about N300m and today, the government is raking in N1.6 billion monthly without subjecting anyone to extra taxation.  In the strategic health sector, the government is undertaking radical changes in the primary, secondary and tertiary stages of health delivery.

    Like John Kennedy, it is obvious that Rauf Aregbesola is thinking beyond today. That is the key to solving society’s fundamental problems. The serious problem with leadership in Nigeria is that our helmsmen are too stuck in today. Let us have an eye on history. Let us do what the present and tomorrow will hail us for.

     

    Oyatomi is the Director of Publicity, Research & Strategy. All Progressives Congress (APC), Osun State.

  • Preparing them for the future

    Preparing them for the future

    Graduating students of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, were camped for three days at Moremi Estate, Ile-Ife for after-school orientation tagged “Sort Out”. KEMI BUSARI (400-Level Political Science) reports.

    The first phase of the programme for graduating students of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, started with an event tagged: Sort Out in the Valentine’s Day week. The event, which featured entrepreneurship seminar, relationship counselling and excursion, held at Brooks International School, Moremi Estate, Ile-Ife, where participants were camped.

    At about 3pm that Thursday, the first lecture session titled: Greatness and being established in life was delivered by Dami Olawumi, an associate pastor in Ile-Ife branch of Rhema World.

    Speaking on what it takes to achieve greatness in life, Olawumi stressed that greatness is an accumulation of divine process, which must be pursued with “spiritual tutelage”.

    Reading from the Bible, he noted that Abraham would not have achieved greatness if he had disobeyed God’s instruction.

    Olawumi said: “For us to be great in life, God will give us instruction, commands and roles to play in order to achieve greatness.”

    The pastor enjoined participants to see possibility in impossibilities, saying they should exude faith and hard work to fulfill God’s plan in their lives.

    Mrs Ojujesu Orifowomo, an entrepreneur, who spoke on Business Talk, told the students the four levels of cash flow. She advised them not to limit their entrepreneurial ability, admonishing that they should go further to actualise any idea they conceive.

    “As a young graduate, you can start with being an employee before you have the wherewithal to be self-employed. The third stage is the business ownership, which develops into investment prospect after wealth accumulation,” she said.

    Giving them tips on self-reliance after school, Orifowomo, who studied Quantity Surveying in OAU, said students must see the need to achieve long-term financial freedom and engage in networking business, which she described as “most flourishing” in the world today.

    A couple, Mr and Mrs John Lawal, conducted the relationship counselling session. They emphasised the need to seek God’s directive in every relationship, noting that marriage was not meant for boys and girls, but for men and women.

    Mr Lawal said there was no word called ‘dating’ in the Bible, but that people date to test-run relationship to see compatibility of partners.

    He said: “There is nothing like dating in the Bible; what we have is courtship. The maximum period for any courtship should be between eight months and two years .Prolonged courtship is prone to create undue emotional attachment, which may lead to sin.”

    Emphasising that beauty should not be the determinant factor in choosing a partner, Lawal urged participants to always seek purpose, divinity and partnership content, which he described as foundations of finding the right partner.

    The participants set out for an excursion on the third day. They visited Olumirin Waterfalls in Erin Ijesa in Osun State.

    Adesola Adeyemi, a 400-Level Philosophy student, described the programme as memorable. She said: “I gained many things from the seminar and it afforded me the opportunity to change my belief about relationship and people.”

    Esther Awoyemi, a final year student of the Faculty of Education, said the programme changed her orientation about business.

    The camp commandant, Oluwadamilare Oladotun, a 400-Level Soil Science student, said the seminar gave him the opportunity to improve his management skills.

    The organiser, Olamide Opaleye, a 400-Level Political Science student, said the event was conceived because many students left school without an idea of what to do after school. He said the programme would be improved on in subsequent editions.

    There was a general cleaning exercise before the event, which saw the emergence of Mr and Miss Valentine from among the participants, ended.