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Tag: generation

  • Niger Delta youths seek agric devt, power shift to new generation

    Niger Delta youths seek agric devt, power shift to new generation

    For two days last week, thousands of youths from across the nine Niger Delta states converged on the PTI Conference Centre, Effurun, Delta State for the ‘IYC World Summit’, organised by the Ijaw Youth Council, led by Comrade Udengs Eradiri.

    The spokesperson of the IYC Worldwide, Mr Eric Omare, said the summit that has “Partnering for Prosperity and Sustainable Development” as theme, was convened to tackle some of the challenges facing, not just the Ijaw, but all ethnic nationalities.

    He said the initiative of the IYC was informed by the group’s desire to play a leading role in bringing together other ethnic bodies to fight a common cause for the development of the region.

    He said: “In the post-amnesty era, one of the biggest challenges now facing the Niger-Delta Region just like other parts of the Country is lack of engagement for both skilled and unskilled youths despite the acquisition of various skills through the Presidential Amnesty programme and other medium of training.

    “This summit seeks to set a new agenda by redirecting the focus of the youths of the Niger Delta on agriculture, job creation, promoting small and medium scale enterprises (SME), empowering, educating and enlightening the young minds to take advantage of the opportunities available in the agro and allied sector to create better livelihood for themselves and the society,” he added.

    In spite of a no-show by President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience, who were expected to declare the summit open, as well as the absence of Chief Edwin Clark, Ijaw national leader and leader of the South/south, and some governors of the region, the summit gradually gathered steam and lived up to its billing. Only the host, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan and his Bayelsa state counterparts sent representatives.

    Uduaghan, who was represented by Mr Frank Omare, Commissioner for Environment, tasked attendees to adopt peaceful means in conflict resolution, revealing that the government had through its 3-Point agenda, bettered the lives of its people.

    Speaking with newsmen at the summit, IYC President, Udengs Eradiri emphasized the need for Niger Delta youths to unite and shun the antics of those who seek to divide them for political gain. He particularly lamented the ten

    He said: “Today we have an EPZ (Export Processing Zone) that is coming to Delta State. There has been so much argument between the Ijaw and Itsekiri that are neighbours. They have a project that will add so much value to this region and the land that has been lying fallow for donkey years without producing any kobo on the table is the cause of strife.”

    He advised the bickering Ijaw and Itsekiri groups to bury their hatchets, remarking that if the projects kicks off there would be jobs for everybody in the region. “Yet, politicians have started deceiving our young people by fighting themselves.”

    He said the summit would set machinery in motion to unite the various interests so that they project could kick off. He advised that a sharing formula should be agreed by both sides to build trust and unity, stressing that the project could hold the key to the region and Nigeria’s industrialization.

    “There is an auto policy and if this project kicks off most of the auto companies like Toyota, Mercedes and MBW will come and set up plants here in Delta state because it is close to the ocean. If they are producing with a cheaper price they can export from Nigeria to other parts of the world. This will create jobs and by that process open our environment. Businesses will spring up, there would be hotels etc. People must see the idea of bringing an EPZ to this environment and forget all our difference,” he added.

    Eradiri also canvassed for a generational change, stressing that young people must rethink their relationship with ‘elders’ whose times have passed.

    He said: “They must step aside and allow us decide our future. All the conflicts are about sustaining political interest of other people.”

    To this end, he urged the president revealed his plans for the youths of the region as it affects their future.  “Much as he has done some things in the Niger Delta, we are not satisfied; we have no jobs, our roads are not completed and things are not happening as they should in the Niger Delta.

    “In as much as we are happy about what the amnesty is doing, there are just about 30,000 captured. We have over 10 million young people in the Niger Delta. Look at the ratio of 10m Niger Delta youths and 30,000 amnesty beneficiaries. The amnesty is just one area, what are they going to do for education, economy, and job creation? Those are the things we expected the president to come here today and highlight,” he said.

    Nevertheless, the IYC president appealed to the opposition All Progressive Congress and other political parties to follow the example of the Peoples Democratic Party and adopt President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2015 election. He said such move would help build unity, peace and avert crisis resulting from protracted electioneering campaign.

    In his goodwill message, the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Hon Kingsley Kuku, thumbed-up the amnesty programme, describing it as a huge success. “This programme has succeeded in ushering unprecedented peace in the Niger Delta as well as astronomical increase in oil production and revenue for our country.

    “With the Amnesty Programme now in its reintegration phase, the challenge that stares us in the face is how to positively and profoundly engaged the thousands of youths that have been trained.”

    Kuku expressed the expectation that the summit would provide opportunity for stakeholders to proffer practical steps towards engaging majority of the youths, especially those who have acquired vocational skills.”

    The summit attracted youth leaders from the Ikwerre, Itsekiri, Urhobo, Ogoni, Isoko and Yorubas, among others.  The highpoint was the release of a communiqye on Friday, October 10, by IYC spokesperson, Mr Eric Omare, a lawyer.

    The document expressed concern about the growing unemployment in the region. It noted that the development was more worrisome considering that substantial number of the unemployed youths had acquired various skills.

    Therefore, he disclosed that “It was resolved that there should be massive development  of the agriculture and allied industries sector in the Niger Delta to provide jobs for the teeming unemployed youths and make them self-reliant.  Henceforth, government efforts towards the economic empowerment of the youths of the Niger Delta should be geared towards making them self-reliant,” the document added.

    The communique lamented that although the President Good luck Jonathan administration has recorded remarkable strides in agricultural sector, the benefits are not felt in the Niger Delta because such monies were spent in the northern parts of the country.It urged the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the National Assembly to take conscious steps to address the perceived imbalance in the nation’s agricultural policy.

    Similarly, the youths expressed concern over the perceived nonchalant attitude of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practice Commission towards discharge of their duties.

     

  • Nurturing the next generation of agro exporters

    A strong agro exports sector has both economic and social benefits. For this reason, stakeholders met in Lagos to discuss ways to boost farmers’ income through agro exports. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Jeriedayaro Uwheraka, Chief Executive, Frijay Consult Inc, is an agro exporter.  She began her exports business in 2005, with smoked fish production. She later grew a variety of vegetable crops for export.

    Today, Mrs Uwheraka has turned vegetable export into a multi-million naira business. As a profitable venture,  some Nigerians are taking up vegetable export as business.

    In Lagos, alone, vegetables and other agro exports have transformed the standard of living of many entrepreneurs who  depend on staple crops for food and income.

    Uwheraka‘s experience is an example of how export is improving the income and productivity of small farmers. Every week, tonnes of vegetables are dispatched for export to Europe and the United States. Farmers diligence and timely harvestm help to produce premium crops of high quality. Vegetables have generated higher and more reliable profits than staple crops. The profits from the exports, according to these farmers, have helped them to solve their financial needs including payment for their children’s education and medical bills. Some said they have built houses and made a number of investments in their farms. Uwheraka explained that vegetables and horticultural production is cumbersome especially when done for the export market. Strict international standards relating to vegetables and agro exports, she said, compounds the challenges. For this reason, she said small farmers have to learn how to produce specific crops in accordance with international best practices. The concern of the Lagos State government  is that  there are very few smallholders involved in the nation’s fruit and vegetable exports. Besides,  very few smallholders are experienced in growing vegetables and horticultural crops for exports. A lot of them don’t know how to meet the requirements of exporters.

    Addressing a stakeholders workshop on agricultural produce export  organised by the Lagos State Agricultural Development Authority, its Programme Manager, Mr. Kayode Ashafa said Kenyan vegetables and horticultural exports are cited as a success story in African agriculture when Nigerian farmers can do better . With the  natural potential of the land to support cultivation of exportable fruit and vegetable, Nigerians can do better, he said.

    He said that in Kenya, vegetables and horticulture export is a big business with produce transported overnight in aircraft to reach Europe in the morning.

    His account describes the serial feats of coordination, discipline, productivity and manual labour, which make Kenyan horticulture competitive in global markets.

    Many of the lessons of Kenyan  agro exports success  can be applied here, he said.

    For him, Nigeria has an advantage because fruits and vegetables can be grown on a wide range of different types of conditions, from small farms with less than two hectares using family labour to large-scalecommercial farms with over 100 hectares and advanced technology.

    He observed that the number of smallholders producing for export is relatively small, adding  that Lagos State is ready to support more farmers to explore the European markets.

    According to him, agro exports is  an industry that if well developed  can transform the livelihoods of rural populations in Lagos.

    His conviction is based on the fact  that  flowers, fruit and vegetables from Africa occupy a big place in Europe and the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of small farmers could be transformed by their hard-won stake in a such emerging global trade.

    He believes that thousands of farming families can been lifted out of poverty if Lagos emerged as a major player in the booming world trade in high-qualitycut flowers, vegetables and agro exports.

    According to him,  Lagos  State  has   a strong long-term interest in ensuring that agro exporters meet international standards by playing a pivotal role in supporting the growth of the  export industry, and enabling  local companies and producing households to sell the ever increasing volumes of agro exports abroad. To achieve that objective, he said the state would want farmers to increase production of high value produce but added that such activity should be done in full respect of the environment.

    He highlighted the challenges of the local export sector, which include: insufficient understanding of the domestic and international markets; logistical issues; and technical challenges such as application of new varieties.

    According to him, exports to highly demanding markets – where insistence on high-quality is paramount, have  increased  worldwide. He reiterated  the readiness of the government to work with   stakeholders to develop an export strategy that will benefit stakeholders across the sector, assist local farmers develop top-quality produce; improve support services – such as customs, quarantines, quality inspection, cooling systems, air and rail transportation and establishing a core group of model farmers and firms.

    Ashafa said the state wants to work with stakeholders to map out the next phase of the industry’s development. This involves finding ways to overcome several  new challenges.

    He said the state government is ready to train smallholders who   can produce a reliable supply of fresh vegetables to meet the stringent quality standards and short inventory period of supermarkets in Europe.

    Ashafa stressed the need for  small farmers to increase their bargaining position by organising themselves through groups. Farming groups enable smallholders to negotiate with a single voice, improving their bargaining position, he added. If one exporter does not offer a fair price, they can try another. Exporters negotiate directly with farming groups to agree on the exact quantities farmers will produce and the price per kilo.

    According to The Technical Adviser, Operations (Value Chain) Office of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mrs Toyin Adetunji, the market opportunities offered growers by the European and  United States buyers are some of the most financially attractive but most exacting. However, to access the opportunity requires compliance with a strict regulatory framework of measures designed to ensure human and plant health. The measures, she noted, goes beyond the international requirements set under the sanitary phytosanitary and technical barriers to trade agreements.

    Mrs Adetunji  said many farmers are ill-equipped to take advantage of the opportunities provided by export trade. These include weak infrastructure, lack of capacity and the inability to meet technical product specifications and stringent requirements in terms of quality, safety, health and the environment. These impede their integration into global markets.

    She said farmers and agro exporters need to enhance compliance with technical standards to heighten consumer confidence and gain access to regional and global value chains.

    With the globalisation of production, supply and retailer chains,  Adetunji  noted that ensuring the safety and quality of agro produce is vital. Recent health concerns arising from bovine diseases, bird flu and various toxins entering the food chain, have led to stringent standards and conformity procedures, particularly in the area of agro-food exports.

    According  to her, exporting countries must acquire the capability to conform to requirements in terms of quality, safety, health and the environment if they are to participate fully in global markets.

    Adetunji said developing business in agro commodities represents great potential for growth and employment. The challenge, she noted, however, lies in effective and efficient exporting to the right markets. Capacity building, she stressed, is required along the value chain, from production to export.

    She said challenges are principally operational and practical. The importers want produce delivered in the agreed quality, quantity and price, on time, and to the agreed destination. These requirements have become more complex for producers and exporters over time and they now face additional criteria.

    Domestic challenges for producers include insufficient infrastructure from roads to collection centres, to packing houses and insufficient access to finance. The main difficulties lie with the quality and scarcity of inputs, post-harvest techniques, and pest control, with fruit fly control requiring effective regional cooperation.

    She said while farmers have  shown increasing interest in exploring opportunities in the export markets, it is important, they be encouraged to deepen their understanding of issues that characterise specific market demands.

    She said exporters have very specific quality requirements for crops   variety and so farmers need to work hard to meet international expectations.

    She stressed the need to have agronomists to provide on-farm training to help smallholders to meet international norms.

    The technical standards apply to processors and the rest of the food supply chain to farmers.

    Adetunji said that there are significant costs to be borne for such market access and these are usually paid by the supply chain participants.

    On the whole, it makes sense for more Nigerians to grow crops for export, she said but noted that farmers have to be trained in good agricultural practices, adapting their farming methods to European standards.

    The Head, Component Rural Institution Development, Lagos  State Agricultural Development Authority, Mrs Eunice Adewale said  the  authority was established to improve agricultural productivity, increase the  standard of living of farmers and promote sustainable food production in  a healthy environment through efficient extension service delivery.

    According  to her, the technical  service component of the authority links with research institute and universities for improved technologies on crop protection, livestock, fisheries, farm mechanisation, agro processing and women in agriculture for value addition.

    She said  the Lagos State Government is  ready to work with farmers  to boost exports but want them to register with the cooperative department of the Ministry of Agriculture.

     

  • We’re raising Africa’s next generation’

    The Country Director of the Entrepreneurship Action in Us (ENACTUS), Mrs Ifedi Adesuwa, has described the group as a platform for raising Africa’s next generation of leaders.

    Adesuwa, who visited the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State with her team, disclosed this to the students.

    In his address, the school’s Rector, Prof Igbekele Ajibefun, assured the visiting team of management’s support for their programmes.

    “ENACTUS members are demonstrating the fact that individuals with knowledge of business can be powerful force for change in any society,” Mrs Adesuwa said.

    A Faculty Adviser to the organisation, Mr Akintan Akinyemi, thanked the  group for extending its programmes to the polytechnic, saying it has recorded success barely a year after inception.

     

  • Major test for generation next

    Major test for generation next

    What should be students’ role in creating a sustainable society? This was the puzzle speakers tried to unravel at the 13th CAMPUSLIFE Correspondents’ Workshop for student-writers held in Lagos last weekend. It was organised by The Nation in collaboration with Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited and the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Limited. KEMI BUSARI, CALEB ADEBAYO (Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife), ESE OKODUWA (Delta State University) and Sani Makama (Nasarawa State University, Keffi) report.

    As leaders of tomorrow, students have a role to play in the affairs of the country. But, they need a conducive environment to operate; an environment that is unencumbered by diseases, such as cancer, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), hepatitis and Ebola Virus. These public health issues and their environmental consequences must be addressed in the interest of national development.

    In addressing these challenges, what should be the role of students? This was the focus at 13th CAMPUSLIFE Correspondents’ Workshop held last weekend in Lagos.

    Co-sponsored by Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited (CCNL) and the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Limited, the workshop themed: Towards a sustainable environment, was a platform for some students and Corps members to use their writing skills to faster a sustainable society.

    Speaking on Rethinking healthy lifestyle through the sustainability lens, Mrs Iwalola Akin-Jimoh, the Executive Secretary of Youth Empowerment Foundation (YEF), said her experience in youth development has shown that young men possessed limitless capacities to change their society.

    She urged student-writers to explore opportunities around them and use their skills to expose health conditions on their campuses.

    Tertiary institutions, she said, were not unsusceptible to the growing national public health conditions, noting that students must be in the vanguard of engendering a healthy and environment-friendly society.

    Advising the students to use the platform for personal development, Mrs Akin-Jimoh said she loved working with youngsters.

    “For me, my advocacy began with my love for sport. But as a nutritionist, I felt I could do more than that to affect the lives of the people around me. This made me to start YEF 25 years ago and it was based on the experiences I had at the Nigerian Sports Camp,” she said.

    She added: “I will advise you all to explore opportunities offered by The Nation and Coca-Cola  through the CAMPUSLIFE platform to expand your network and bring about personal development. I will always use myself as a case study of how one can build an advocacy network and become a mentor to the generation coming after.”

    For an active healthy lifestyle, young writers, she said, must volunteer, mobilise and educate their peers, faith-based organisations and civil society organisations on health-related issues.

    Mrs Akin-Jimoh divided the participants into five groups of 10 students each. She asked them to identify four health challenges on campuses and two professional organisations  that could help in tackling them.

    The objective, according to her, is to demonstrate the strength in teamwork and collaboration in achieving a planned objective.

    She said: “If you work as a team, you would have built a capacity where you can support yourselves to a certain level and become change agents.”

    How can student-writers identify and report health and environmental challenges on their campuses?

    Seun Akioye, a multiple award-winning reporter with The Nation, answered the participants in his  presentation titled: Achieving sustainable environment: The role of campus journalists. He said industrial activities had endangered the planet more than any other, noting that more than 110 countries, including Nigeria, suffer from desertification. This, he said, costs the world about $42 billion yearly in loss and productivity.

    The environmental challenge, according to him, prompted millions of farmers to move to urban centres to seek alternative livelihoods; a situation that puts tremendous strain on overstretched services in the city.

    Millions of Nigerians, including students, he said, could be compelled to leave their homes in the next 10 years if measures were not taken to stop desertification.

    He urged the students to deploy their reporting skills in exposing environmental challenges peculiar to their campuses, saying they must employ the truth and investigative instinct to tell their stories.

    Akioye said: “Environmental sustainability involves making decisions and taking actions that are in the interest of protecting the natural world, with particular emphasis on preserving the capability of the environment to support human life.

    “As student-journalists, you have unlimited opportunities to change the perspectives and your environment by taking a deep look inside and a wide look around. There are issues around you and in your immediate environment, which can serve as a pillar of great environmental stories. Doing an investigation does not apply to corruption of politicians alone. There is corruption of the environment. You can bring to the front burner, issues that have been neglected from farming in Ile-Ife to fishing in the Niger Delta.”

    He urged the participants to always humanise their stories and evaluate the dangers involved in the reporting process. He urged them to read award-winning reports to learn how to write in-depth investigative reports that may help their schools’ managements to solve problems.

    To present their reports to wider audience, Akioye urged the students to use the social media.

    Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited Community Affairs Manager Emeka Mba said the company is always willing to provide platforms for intellectual debates by the youth. The firm, he said, has been sponsoring the workshop because of its commitment to encouraging youths to be part of the nation-building process.

    He said: “This is about the eighth year Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited and its bottling partner, Nigerian Bottling Company, have been investing in students across higher institutions. We believe the youths have a message to deliver and we will always be willing to provide the platform for them to express, not only their minds on burning issues, but their talents in a wide range of areas. This is in line with Coca-Cola Nigeria’s philosophy of shared happiness.”

    Mba enjoined the participants to imbibe the values and attitude of sustainability in their endeavours.

    Earlier, CAMPUSLIFE co-ordinator Wale Ajetunmobi, while welcoming the participants, said the management of The Nation valued their contributions to the section in the last seven years.

    Ajetunmobi said The Nation has demonstrated its leadership in the media by its sustenance of campus journalism through its 10-page pullout.

    He took the participants through writing rules.

    Christopher Amanze, a first-time participant from the Abia State University (ABSU), said: “Every bit of the workshop session was educative, but the most memorable was the interactive session with the speakers and other participants. This is a good programme that must be sustained. I am grateful to The Nation and Coca Cola System for giving me an opportunity to learn the skills I could not have learnt in the classroom.”

  • An HIV-free generation

      It begins with you

    Worldwide, Nigeria has the second highest number of new infections reported each year, and an estimated 3.7 percent of the population are living with human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV). The number of people living with HIV is 3, 400,000 in Nigeria.

    Young people are the mostly affected by the AIDS epidemic.  According to UNAIDS, every day an estimated 2 500 people aged 15-24 are infected with HIV and this accounts for more than 40 percent of new infections of all people aged 15 and over.

    HIV (human Immune Deficiency Virus ) is the virus that causes AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). The virus damages or destroys the cells of the immune system, leaving them unable to fight infections and certain cancers.

     

    Causes of HIV in children

    Most HIV infections in children are passed from mother to child during pregnancy, labour and delivery, or breastfeeding. However, thanks to preventive treatment regimens, the incidence of mother-to-child HIV transmission is decreasing. In 2009, an estimated 370,000 children contracted HIV during the prenatal and breastfeeding period, down from 500,000 in 2001, according to UNAIDS report.

     

    Other causes of child HIV include:

    •Blood transfusions.

    •Illicit drug use.

    •Sexual transmission.

     

    Symptoms of HIV among children

    •Failure to thrive, which is the failure to gain weight or grow according to standardised growth charts used by pediatricians.

    •Failure to reach developmental milestones during the expected time frame.

    •Brain or nervous system problems, characterised by seizures; difficulty with walking, or poor performance in school.

    •Frequent childhood illnesses such as ear infections, colds, upset stomach, and diarrhea.

    How to lead the change

    1)      Live a positive life

    2)      Create awareness in your school, home, market places about HIV and how children can protect themselves from the virus.

    3)      Volunteer your time, skills with a community based organisation, children and youth friendly initiatives that address behavioural change among children and teens.

    4)      Lead the change with your ideas, voice, and demand for a more pragmatic intervention programmes from government and other stakeholders on HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment among young people.

    Remember that the future belongs to you and the only way you can make a change is to stand up and be counted for what is right.

  • An HIV-free generation

      It begins with you

    Worldwide, Nigeria has the second highest number of new infections reported each year, and an estimated 3.7 percent of the population are living with human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV). The number of people living with HIV is 3, 400,000 in Nigeria.

    Young people are the mostly affected by the AIDS epidemic.  According to UNAIDS, every day an estimated 2 500 people aged 15-24 are infected with HIV and this accounts for more than 40 percent of new infections of all people aged 15 and over.

    HIV (human Immune Deficiency Virus ) is the virus that causes AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). The virus damages or destroys the cells of the immune system, leaving them unable to fight infections and certain cancers.

    Causes of HIV in children

    Most HIV infections in children are passed from mother to child during pregnancy, labour and delivery, or breastfeeding. However, thanks to preventive treatment regimens, the incidence of mother-to-child HIV transmission is decreasing. In 2009, an estimated 370,000 children contracted HIV during the prenatal and breastfeeding period, down from 500,000 in 2001, according to UNAIDS report.

    Other causes of child HIV include:

    •Blood transfusions.

    •Illicit drug use.

    •Sexual transmission.

    Symptoms of HIV among children

    •Failure to thrive, which is the failure to gain weight or grow according to standardised growth charts used by pediatricians.

    •Failure to reach developmental milestones during the expected time frame.

    •Brain or nervous system problems, characterised by seizures; difficulty with walking, or poor performance in school.

    •Frequent childhood illnesses such as ear infections, colds, upset stomach, and diarrhea.

    How to lead the change

    1)      Live a positive life

    2)      Create awareness in your school, home, market places about HIV and how children can protect themselves from the virus.

    3)      Volunteer your time, skills with a community based organisation, children and youth friendly initiatives that address behavioural change among children and teens.

    4)      Lead the change with your ideas, voice, and demand for a more pragmatic intervention programmes from government and other stakeholders on HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment among young people.

    Remember that the future belongs to you and the only way you can make a change is to stand up and be counted for what is right.

  • Mentor younger generation, Uduaghan charges elders

    Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State has enjoined elder statesmen in the state to sustain positive growth of the society by mentoring the younger generations.

    Speaking when the immediate past Head of Service to the Delta State Government, Sir Okey Ofili paid him a thank you visit at Government House, Asaba, Dr. Uduaghan observed that it will be wrong for the younger generation to lose moral values due to the failure of elders to inculcate the right ideals in them.

    The Governor decried a situation whereby youths in the society look up to uneducated questionable characters in the society as their role models just because they are wealthy, noting that there is need for all elders to ensure that the youths were properly groomed.

    “We should go back home and see how we can mentor our young ones. As elders and leaders, we need to look backward and see how to bring them (the young ones) up properly.”

    He lauded Sir Ofili for his contributions towards the growth of the civil service, disclosing, “I must say there was no time you advised me wrongly. I want to thank God for seeing you through these last 35 years. God also gave you the grace, intelligence and patience which you exhibited in all the positions you held.”

    The Governor reiterated that Sir Ofili “is a very patient person, very calm, well-educated and well groomed,” and wished him luck in his future endeavours as he observed that the former Head of Service still have a lot to contribute to the growth of the society, especially in the area of mentoring civil servants and youths in his community.

    Earlier, in his remarks, Sir Okey Ofili who was accompanied by the College of Permanent Secretaries in the state thanked Governor Uduaghan for exhibiting high quality leadership that has made the civil service to be professional and apolitical.

    He observed that the Governor “has enabled the civil service to grow in the state professionally despite pressures from all quarters.”

    “I joined the civil service 35 years ago and within this period, I had a total of nine promotions and I want to thank our Governor for giving me the opportunity to serve the state as the Head of Service for three years, nine months,” Sir Ofili said.

     

  • Nigeria’s lost and jobless generation (II)

    It was President Barack Obama of the United States who said: “The most important investment any country can make is educating its youths and providing the skills to compete in a highly technological world economy”. He went on to add that countries that fail to do this are bound to fail. He was saying this against the backdrop of his country’s youths shying away from the sciences and innovations which has comfortably been taken over by Asian countries such as China, Japan, South Korea and India. America’s Silicon Valley is brimming with egghead innovators from these countries.

    The world economy, I must emphasise, has become so technologically advanced that we may begin to wonder if we even have a place in it at all. I say this with all sense of humility because of the way we are treating education. How in the world do we expect the products of our institutions to compete with products from Chinese, Japanese, South Korean or South African universities? I can still recollect vividly – while in secondary school – when my teachers use to say Indian degrees were not worth the paper they are printed on! But today India is the preferred choice of medical tourism for hundreds of thousands of Nigerians. Some people got their hands dirty to make that possible.

    Now back to the issue at stake. Unemployment is an issue that should give any right thinking government sleepless nights because of its negative impact on both the unemployed and society at large. Just like I concluded last week, it is even more challenging now given the fact that the landscape has changed radically and there’s the need for creative thinking by policy formulators.

    I’m of the opinion that our youths should be motivated and taught that even though they, like their elders live under the wings of a state that cares little about them, there are escape windows even in Nigeria, but these windows are only for the discerning which unfortunately our epileptic education system does not showcase. If available statistics are anything to go by, the future may not look too good.

    I came across OECD figures which suggest that 26million 15- to 24-year-olds in developed countries are not in employment, education or training; the number of young people without a job has risen by 30 per cent since 2007. The International Labour Organisation reports that 75million young people globally are looking for a job. World Bank surveys suggest that 262million young people in emerging markets are economically inactive. Depending on how you measure them, the number of young people without a job is nearly as large as the population of America (311million).

    I mentioned last week CNN’s feature on “the lost generation of Europe” and how EU leaders have been brainstorming on creating jobs for its citizens. So it would be apt to state here that this is not an entirely Nigerian problem, but what the Economist termed a “global epidemic”. The statistics are scary globally. Fifty-five per cent of young black South Africans is jobless. This notwithstanding, there is something fundamentally wrong with an economy like Nigeria’s which has witnessed steady “growth” in the last three years yet cannot boast of creating jobs. It doesn’t take an economist to realise that you cannot create jobs where there are no industries; our real sector is simply non-existent.

    However, one way to start tackling this issue is through technology which is capable of providing solutions, but at the same time it is also capable of exacerbating the problem. Let me explain with examples. Even though based in the United States, our youths can benefit from virtual programmes such as the “Serious games initiative” which can provide young people with a chance to gain “virtual” experience at minimum cost.

    An initiative of the Woodrow Wilson Centre for International Scholars in Washington D.C., it is primarily concerned with ushering in a new series of policy education, exploration, and management tools utilising state-of-the-art computer game designs, technologies, and development skills.One of America’s top companies, McDonalds already uses competitive video games to teach people how to use the till and interact with customers. Another, Mozilla, the creator of the Firefox web browser, has created an “open badges” initiative that allows people to gain recognition for programming skills.

    Technology is also making it easier to take work to people who live in work-deprived areas or who are shut out of the market. Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, an internet marketplace, enables companies to hire workers to perform simple tasks such as identifying people in photographs. They can take part from anywhere in the world. That is why the age we are living in is referred to as the information age.

    I can hear someone whispering: what about the majority that has never had access to the internet because of our peculiar situation? To them, I’d only advice they take the bull by the horn and not wait for a government that does not have plans for them, both now and in the future. It is quite unfortunate that we have graduates who have not come into contact with the most important tool in this age; the computer. What matters to me is not just the number of years of education people get, but it’s content. This means expanding the study of science and technology and closing the gap between the world of education and the world of work—for example by upgrading vocational and technical education and by forging closer relations between companies and schools.

    There are examples for us to learn and borrow from. Germany’s long-established system of vocational schooling and apprenticeships does just that. Under it apprentices spend three to four days a week at a company providing vocational training where they acquire the practical skills required for their field of work. The remaining one or two days is spent at a vocational school, where they receive a theoretical grounding in their future job. The success of this programme has led other countries to follow suit: South Korea has introduced “meister” schools, Singapore has boosted technical colleges, and Britain is expanding apprenticeships and trying to improve technical education. Though we have our own SIWES programme, but the fact remains that since it has not made impact over the years meant it isn’t working.

    The problem of youth unemployment has been getting worse for several years. But in some climes there reasons for hope as governments are trying to address the mismatch between education and the labour market. Companies are also beginning to take more responsibility for investing in the young. And technology is helping democratise education and training and we have to put our house in order so as not to be left behind.

    However, there appears to be a general consensus, both at a global and national level that a “mismatch” has developed between the needs of many employers and the skills of both old and recent graduates. Indeed, some countries have recently experienced simultaneous unemployment increases and labour shortages, and particularly in sectors or workplaces that rely on new technologies. In light of this, there is an emerging recognition that emphasis should be placed on creating and promoting apprenticeship and similar “practical training” opportunities for youth, and that employers and workers’ representatives must be involved in formulating and implementing these programmes at the local level.

    Among the potential solutions tabled by EU leaders in addressing their unemployment challenges, which we can equally learn from, was using the European Investment Bank as a mechanism for providing small businesses with loans, so they can hire. Job and training guarantee schemes were also agreed by member states as well as a plan to roll out six billion euro ($7.8 billion) to the hardest hit countries like Greece and Spain where more than half of the young workforce is standing idle.

    The emphasis on small businesses here is fundamental because they need small capital to start and can be very effective in tackling the issue of unemployment. But unfortunately, this has been in the front burner for years in Nigeria without tangible results. Our banks are rather interested in ‘financing’ oil importation deals or the likes of the controversial bulletproof BMW cars that is causing a ruckus in the country. How sad.

  • Nigeria’s lost and jobless generation (I)

    Nigeria’s lost and jobless generation (I)

    I watched a documentary on Cable News Network (CNN) about three years ago where one of their correspondents posed as an undercover economic migrant seeking to enter Europe from Africa. The migrants he hobnobbed with were unaware he wasn’t one of them. Whenever he runs into a hitch, he will let the viewer’s know his journey would have ended there assuming he was a genuine economic migrant. He chronicled their lives in the bush struggling to make it to Europe. He took a keen interest on a Nigerian graduate from Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma. He wanted to know why, with his degree, he chose this dangerous and treacherous route to Europe.

    What actually caught my attention in the documentary was one of the immigrants who finally made it to Britain hanging under a trailer! When the surprised undercover correspondent saw him on the street on London, he asked him one simple question; “Now that you’re in London, what next?” The befuddled immigrant looked at him forlornly and said: “I don’t know”. That sums up the dilemma of youths bent on going to Europe or the United States at all cost.

    Recollect that only a few days ago, more than 300 African migrants from Eritrea drowned when the boat they were travelling in sank off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy. Close to 20 also died a few days after that incident. Since the identity of many of them could not be ascertained, they were buried and referred to by unique numbers! The irony of the whole situation is that Africa has been seen as the rising continent where there has been steady economic growth for the last three years at a time Europe and most part of the west is struggling. But unfortunately, this growth has not translated to a better life for its citizens.

    I met a former university course mate last week and after exchanging pleasantries and catching up with old times I inquired how things were with him. “You cannot believe that I’ve not worked in a structured place since we graduated” was his reply. It turned out he had taught in a couple of private secondary schools and worked in what he termed “unorganized private sector”. The sad part of his story was when he finally got a break and was about to be offered a job, but was told “you’re too old for the job”. Then he was just 32 years old. Another sad part of his story was that it also affected his two other brothers who graduated six and eight years after he did.

    I’ve heard such tales from the generation before mine and the present generation. Prof Wole Soyinka at a point referred to his generation as “the wasted generation”; Prof Pat Utomi referred to his as “the generation that left town” and I want to refer to mine as the lost and jobless generation.

    The term “lost generation” is not a recent coinage; it originated with Gertrude Stein, a noted American art collector of seminal modernist paintings and an experimental writer of novels, poetry and plays who, after being unimpressed by the skills of a young car mechanic, asked the garage owner where the young man had been trained. The garage owner told her that while young men were easy to train, it was those in their mid-20s to 30s, the men who had been through World War I, whom he considered a “lost generation”. In essence, the years that could have been used to train and properly equip them were wasted during the war years.

    The 1926 publication of Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises further popularised the term, as Hemingway used it as an epigraph. The novel serves to epitomise the post-war expatriate generation. However, Hemingway himself later wrote to his editor Max Perkins that the “point of the book” was not so much about a generation being lost, but that “the earth abideth forever”; he believed the characters in The Sun Also Rises may have been “battered” but were not lost.

    Former late British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher was right on point when she made a profound statement in 1984, saying: “Young people ought not to be idle. It is very bad for them.” Though referring to the period when she was in power in Britain, anyone living in present day Nigeria cannot fault her submission; there are few worse things that society can do to its young than to leave them in limbo. Even “well-connected” individuals in Nigeria complain that they cannot find jobs for their wards.

    An instructive feature narrative on CNN about a month ago titled: ‘Europe’s lost generation’ depicts grippingly the plight of young European graduates between the ages of 19 and 26 with no jobs. As is well known, Europe is currently going through its worst youth unemployment crisis in its history resulting in 26 million youths without jobs. In worst hit countries such as Greece and Spain, youth unemployment rate is close to 60 per cent triggering a wave of migration to better off countries such as Germany. One report informs that most European graduates would have made 60 or more applications for a job before they finally get one and what they get maybe frustratingly below expectation as the majority of those employed do not have decent jobs.

    How about the United States, the land of ‘romantic dreams’ that most would give anything to settle in? It is a country in the throes of mass youth unemployment and underemployment as more than 10 million Americans under 25 are out of work. There is over 16 per cent unemployment rate affecting youths between 16 and 24; among Blacks and Latinos the rate moves up to 36 per cent and 28 per cent while in some cities such as Chicago, the youth unemployment rate among Blacks is 90 per cent.

    Described as an economic emergency, the desultory job market in the United States features many college (University) graduates in low skilled and low wage jobs such as serving tea or coffee while many have their careers frozen in internships with no remunerations. In other words, many youths in what is increasingly called the ‘generation jobless’ are not building up human capital assets either through experience at work or time spent in profitable study.

    What’s my point here? It’s simple; while these countries are passing through difficult times economically, they’re fully aware of their predicament and are doing everything possible to seek out solutions. But from what we have on ground and can visibly see, ours may not be on the front burner. In August, the Chairman, Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P), Dr. Christopher Kolade, said about 40 million Nigerians, translating to 23.9 per cent of the population, are unemployed.

    Quoting the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), he added that one of the challenges of graduate unemployment is the “inability of the system to absorb the about 300,000 graduates churned out of our tertiary institutions.” He added that the Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS) of SURE-P aims to employ about 50,000 unemployed graduates in 36 states and FCT in one year. The scheme is targeted at improving the skills unemployed graduates through work placement in registered firms.

    Kolade lamented that only 35 per cent of 2,000 registered firms had met minimum requirement for participation, saying over 96,000 unemployed graduates have registered on the GIS portal. The big challenge with this scheme remains our weak and mono cultural economy. We simply do not have the industrial base to employ the army of unemployed that we have. Most firms that have signed into the programme also complain that its website is difficult to access with some looking at it as a scam to siphon public funds by corrupt officials.

    What is more, the programme is only a palliative as graduates who sign on are only expected to remain in a partner firm for only one year, and then they have to move on and give others the opportunity to be ‘employed’. In essence, they would be unemployed again after their one year stint.

    A deeper worry is that the business environment is going through a particularly dramatic period of ‘creative destruction’. New technology is unleashing a storm of “disruptive innovation” which is forcing firms to rethink their operations from the ground up. Companies are constantly redesigning work – for example they are separating routine tasks (which can be automated or contracted out) from skilled jobs. They are also constantly redesigning themselves by “upsizing”, “downsizing” and “contracting out”. The life expectancy of companies is,therefore, declining. Policymakers elsewhere are finding it more difficult to adapt to this new phase and are seeking out lee ways. Are ours thinking in this direction?

     

  • Obasanjo blames poor leadership on younger generation

    Obasanjo blames poor leadership on younger generation

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo dissected yesterday the poor leadership problem confronting Africa and lampooned the younger generation of leaders as a failure.

    Obasanjo, who gave a keynote address at the summit on leadership failure in Africa, posited that his generation led the way with purposeful, progressive, visionary leadership marked by accountability and probity. He stressed that younger generation of leaders, however, failed to continue with the good legacy that his generation left.

    The former president spoke at the 4th Annual Ibadan Sustainable Development Summit organised by the Centre for Sustainable Development (CESDEV), University of Ibadan(UI), in collaboration with African Sustainable Development Network (ASUDNET).

    Commenting on poor leadership in Africa, Obasanjo noted that the crop of younger generation of leaders failed the citizens.

    The former president also lumpooned former Vice President Atiku Abubakar with the “failed generation of leaders”, saying it was the reason he did not hand over to him.

    He specifically labelled Atiku as a betrayer while making reference to others who failed to live up to expectation when he invited them to serve.

    Obasanjo listed the failed leaders to include former House of Representatives Speaker Salisu Buhari; former Bayelsa State Governor, Deprieye Alamieseigha; former Edo State Governor Lucky Igbinedion, former Delta State Governor James Ibori; and and his counterpart in Abia State during the last dispensation, Orji Uzor Kalu.

    Though he listed former Lagos State Governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to the list, Obasanjo quickly paused and avoided further comments on him. Tinubu is one of the national leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Referring to his administration as president in his answer to a question. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief said: “We had some people who were under 50 years in leadership positions. One of them was James Ibori; where is he today? One of them was Alamieseigha; where is he today? Lucky Igbinedion; where is he today?

    “The youngest was the Speaker, Buhari. You can still recall what happened to him.” Obasanjo claimed that the allegation against Tinubu were not properly investigated, adding that a former governor of Oyo State bungled the investigation.

    The former president went on: “I wanted someone who would succeed me so I took Atiku. Within a year, I started seeing the type of man Atiku is. And you want me to get him there? Atiku’s media office in a statement by Mallam Garba Shehu said: ­”Yes, President Obasanjo is right. He didn’t know Atiku well. It was later he got to know him as a fighter for democracy and defender of the constitution.”

    “I once went to Tanzania because Julius Nyere recognised Biafra. He told me not to mind his aides and others in government. They would say they have one house in town but their five-year old sons and daughters would have houses all over.

    “Some of you who are condemning the leadership would get there tomorrow and it will be a different story. Only very few are actually good.

    “Abacha, my predecessor, got $750m. Through our lawyer in Switzerland, we recovered $1.25bn and the lawyer still said there is probably still another $1bn to be recovered. In 1979, we had 20 new ships specially built for Nigeria. When I came back 20 years after, the National Shipping line had liquidated.

    “The whole thing is not just about leadership. If we talk about good leadership, you should also talk about good followers. If you talk about human rights you should also talk about human duties and obligations.

    “It is sad that after 53 years of independence we have no leader that we can commend. Then we are jinxed and cursed; we should all go to hell. The problem in Africa is that when one person takes over he would not see any good thing that his predecessor did. Let us condemn but with caution.”

    On “Leadership in Africa’s Quest for Sustainable Development”, the former president said the topic came when humanity is in search of innovative ways of managing globally shared challenges.

    He listed some of the problems confronting the country as insecurity and unemployment, stressing that good leadership can stop them all.

    Obasanjo said: “The Nigerian state is currently beset with myriad of security, economic, environmental and social challenges. The issue of security is the most pervasive, not only in terms of Boko Haram but also in terms of armed robbery, kidnapping, corruption, drug and human trafficking. We can only ignore this at our own collective peril. Peace and security require effective and proactive leadership and people’s support. Without adequate mechanism to restore peace, the country risks losing more lives and property and in particular, the goal of sustainable development will be out of reach.

    “Youths unemployment threatens to further worsen the problem of crime if adequate care is not taken. The vulnerability we are all exposed to because of having millions of unemployed people can only worsen when the problem is treated with neglect. The lack of job opportunities for able and capable citizens will only make them lose hope in the system and thereby become frustrated, and make them desperate and fall into despair, bringing up many problem for the system as a whole.”

    In his brief contribution, the Vice-Chancellor, UI, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said lamented the failure of only 36 governors to conduct a credible election within the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), saying it is a manifestation of the leadership malaise in the country.

    “We have not raised question about the scenario where 35 people found it difficult to conduct a credible election in this country. I then have concern about how 2015 election would be,” Adewole said.

    A discussant, Prof. Mojeed Alabi, said: “The task of leadership in Africa has been quite challenging. Africans have been so unfortunate. The question is whether our leaders wanted development or power.”

    Another discussant from the Institute of Sustainability and Peace, United Nations University, Tokyo, Dr. Obijiofor Aginam, said: “Unemployment is a bomb that has exploded and manifested itself in hunger, violent attacks, crimes and killings.”