The Nation Newspaper

Tag: learn

  • Etisalat workers train Lagos pupils on counselling

    Etisalat workers train Lagos pupils on counselling

    Pupils from select public secondary schools in Lagos have benefited from a career counselling programme organised by Etisalat Nigeria.

    The event, the eighth to be organised by the company, was held in partnership with the Lagos Empowerment and Resource Network (LEARN).

    Over 500 pupils from Ogba Junior Grammar School, Oke-Ira Junior and Senior Grammar Schools, Ojodu Junior High School, Babs Fafunwa Millennium Senior Secondary School, Omole Junior and Senior Grammar Schools and State High School, Ikeja learnt various career choices, creatively delivered by workers of Etisalat.

    A financial analyst Akinjide Obanewa, explained the rudiments of the accounting profession; Bankole Alao, Etisalat’s Manager, Data Marketing spoke on marketing technology while the sessions were rounded-off by a presentation on the attributes and duties of a Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) professional.

    Representing the Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Nigeria, Steven Evans, Director of Legal Services, Adeolu Idowu, said the event enabled Etisalat employees to fulfil a desire to give back to society by volunteering time and their skills in providing career counselling and mentorship to the pupils.

    “Career counselling scheme brings a great feeling for us at Etisalat because it enables us to demonstrate our passion for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), through both internal and external platforms. We are aware that students need appropriate direction to make compatible and fulfilling career choices, because a wrong career move may have some serious negative long-term effects,” she said.

    Special Adviser to the Governor on Special Duties, Dolapo Biodun, praised Etisalat for its impact on the students’ knowledge bank, future contributions to society and self-development.

    Addressing the pupils, LEARN Executive Director, Mrs Bisi Awoyomi, encouraged the pupils to make career choices based on God-given talents, not because of family values or societal influence.

    There was excitement when Etisalat rewarded all winners of competitions with prizes, including laptops and HP printers.

    The competitions included mental exercises like spelling bee and inter-school debates. The students also watched a performance by Nigerian singer and producer, DJ Zeez and Sean Tizzle.

    The sponsors have lined up two more career counseling sessions for Lagos to hold in Surulere and Lagos Island later in the year.

     

  • Can opposition parties learn from history?

    Can opposition parties learn from history?

    Opposition parties are back on the drawing board. Many people believe that, without a formidable alliance or collaboration, it is doubtful, if they can dislodge the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from power. Obviously, they are gradually waking up to the reality that there is strength in unity.

    But can they get it right in 2015? To observers, the lessons of past botched alliances are confounding. Collaborations, alliances and mergers collapsed in earlier dispensations because politicians differed on the distributions of the political offices and pecks of office. It was also evident that some of them thought that fusion may rob them of the relevance conferred by their feather-weight parties.

    Currently, many challenges are confronting the opposition camps. Top on the list is how to agree on a popular presidential candidate and running mate. If they are to merge, as it is being contemplated, then, they also have to agree on critical issues, including party name, logo, manifestos, constitution, symbol and composition of leadership at the federal and state levels. In the past, they were unable to properly resolve these challenges.

    Ahead of 2011 polls, talks between the ACN, led by Chief Bisi Akande and the CPC, led by Maj-Gen Buhari (rtd) broke down; no thanks to irreconcilable perceptions. Indeed, their inability to harmonise their slight differences, approaches and strategies underlined the failure of the planned accord.

    Thirteen years after the first military rule in 1979, the Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP), which was an incarnate of the banned NCNC, led by Zik, teamed up with the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in an uneasy accord, following the 12 two-third controversy. When the relationship broke down in 1981, NPP ministers held on to their portfolios in the NPN-controlled Federal Government. Some even defected from the NPP to the ruling party. In 1999, PDP and All Nigeria Peoples Party (APP) formed a controversial Government of National Unity (GNU). Ironically, the APP and the Alliance for Democracy (AD) fielded a joint candiate against the PDP’s. APP chair, Senator Mahmud Waziri, later abandoned his party when he was appointed Special Adviser by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. In 2003, the AD National Chairman, Alhaji Ahmed Abudulkadir, was rewarded by Obasanjo with the position of Special Adviser on Manufacturing, following the inexplicable cooperation between selected AD leaders and PDP-controlled federal government. In 2011, ANPP led by the late Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, isolated itself and teamed up with the PDP to form an inexplicable GNU. The terms baffled Nigerians. The party also became polarised.

    Since 2007, when the country witnessed the worst elections, opposition groups have been holding discussions on possibility of an alliance. But the Southwest, which was perceived as the main pilot in the venture, has been politically divided. Opposition figures outside the zone were in regular contacts with a faction of the entrenched establishment, which had regrouped as Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA), following the eclipse of the AD. But the old men lack mobilisation prowess like their old colleagues, who are in AC N, the widely accepted party in the zone.

    The alliance talks supported by the men of the old order later collapsed. From its ashes rose two parties, MPPP, led by Sikiru Shita-Bey and another mega party sponsored by Prof Pat Utomi, Chiefs Olu Falae, Ayo Adebanjo and Olaniwun Ajayi. Although former governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, also tried to bring some groups together for the purpose of rallying progressives for a better defence, the effort did not see the light of the day.

    Analysts are of the opinion that 2015 is another opportunity. The options are also plausible; merger, accord, alliances and fusion. The ANPP chairman, Chief Ogbonaya Onu, has demonstrated seriousness and commitment like Akande and Buhari. Already meetings are being held regularly to concretise the idea. But Buhari faces personal hurdles within his former party (ANPP) and his present CPC camp. While the CPC chairman and former Information Minister, Prince Tony Momoh, and former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Mallam Nasir el-Rufai are said to be enthusiastic, it is not certain that Buhari’s former running mate, Pastor Tunde Bakare, and spokesman, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, are teeming up with him in the alliance talks. Besides, some ANPP leaders have said that they could not work with Buhari. It is a carry-over of the deep-seated crisis in the ANPP, which forced Buhari out of the party.

    In 1964, 1979, 1999, 2007 and 2011, collaborations among oppositional parties failed. Proposed alliance, fusion and accord crumbled. Will they succeed in 2015? Time will tell.