The National Youth Service Corps said on Monday that it has launched an investigation into an alleged fake exemption certificate in possession of Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun.
The organisation, in a three paragraph statement issued on Monday by its Director, Press and Public Relations, Adeyemi Adenike, confirmed that the minister applied for an exemption certificate from the NYSC.
The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to the issue of the alleged forgery of an NYSC Exemption Certificate by the Honorable Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun.
“Checking our records, Mrs. Adeosun did apply for an Exemption Certificate.
“We shall investigate the origin of the purported Exemption Certificate in question.”
An online publication, Premium Times had reported that the Minister skipped the mandatory one year national service and obtained a forged exemption certificate.
Adeosun is yet to respond to the publication at press time.
Ebonyi State Governor, Chief David Umahi, has sought for the deployment of next batch of the members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members to their specific areas of specialization while in the higher institution.
He said it would be of no use posting corps members who studied Engineering, Agricultural Science or Information Technology to classrooms where their impact would not be felt.
Umahi requested this when he received the new State Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) posted to the state, Mrs Ann Ibe, and other officials of the council who accompanied her to the Government House, Abakaliki.
“When these new set of people will come, let me look at the list to know those who are professionals and see how we will use the professionals instead of teaching.
He said from next batch, his administration will utilize the expertise of Engineers among the corps in its massive construction projects around the state
“Some of them that are in ICT will also be useful. Civil and mechanical engineers and those who read Agriculture Science will not go to teach.
“You should be looking for lands. The NYSC should have a land for agriculture. We can give you a land and partner with you to do the agriculture. Let everybody be working”, he said.
The Governor also promised to renovate the permanent NYSC orientation camp at the Old MacGregor College, Afikpo which had become very dilapidated.
He also directed the Chief of Staff to immediately secure a Residential Area for the State Coordinator.
Earlier in her speech, the new State Coordinator, Mrs Ibe, lauded the governor for his welfare packages for the corps members serving in various state government establishments and the conducive environment the government has provided.
“My predecessor briefed me appropriately on the support of your administration to the NYSC in the state. Worthy of mention are the release of meal subsidy for the feeding of corps members during orientation course; payment of monthly stipend of N5,000 only to corps members serving in state schools among others”, Mrs Ibe said.
National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members have sensitised residents of Agbara community in Ogun State on how they can prevent, manage and curb malaria and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), including Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
The Corps members in Anti-HIV/STD Community Development Service (CDS) group, who organised the campaign, hosted members of the community to enlightenment sessions where lectures were given on sex education, food and nutrition, HIV/AIDs.
Yemisi Lawal, a nutritionist, who was the guest speaker, took the community residents through the rudiments of HIV/AIDS prevention, emphasising the need to eat nutritious diets to strengthen the immune system in fighting against viruses in the body.
She advocated adequate intake of protein-rich supplements, fruits and vegetables, while also encouraging intake of carbohydrates.
She said: “Our food diet should contain more of protein, fruits and vegetables. These nutritional food classes help to boost the immune system. We must avoid excess of carbohydrate-rich food, because abundance of sugar in carbohydrate exposes the body to the risk of high blood sugar level. Little quantity of meats should be consumed, while diabetic patients should avoid meat in its entirety.”
Speaking on the need to go for regular test, Lawal urged the beneficiaries to have a routine check of their HIV/AIDS status every six months.
According to her, the virus could only be detected upon infection after six months.
She said there was a need for awareness campaigns, noting that the attention given to HIV/AIDS programmes had reduced.
“In time past and television commercials, programme bordered mostly on HIV/AIDS. It was the top chart on radio stations and pages of newspapers. In recent times, there has been a diversion. No advert, no awareness programme of any sort. Even health programmes hardly talk about HIV; they mostly opt for nutritional programmes. Hence, people with this virus are oblivious of their status. Public health education like this is vital to address this issue,” she said.
The event also featured free malaria and HIV test, and distribution of protective rubbers to over 50 beneficiaries.
At its inception in 1973, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) was designed as a tool for national unity. The idea was that, posting young Nigerian graduates to places outside their states of origin would get them better acquainted with the ways of life of their host communities, and thus help in reducing, if not eradicating some of the prejudices Nigerians have about each other. But, a situation where the NYSC boss had to announce that corps members would not be posted to troubled spots would appear to be a minus for the scheme that was started with such lofty idea.
But, is that necessarily so? Not exactly. As a matter of fact, the director-general of the NYSC, Brig-Gen. Suleiman Kazaure, struck the right cord when he announced, on Tuesday at the Orientation Camp in Sagamu, Ogun State, while addressing Batch ‘A’ corps members that the NYSC would ensure that no corps member is posted to areas having security challenges in the country. A release by the director, press and public relations of the NYSC, Adenike Adeyemi, said “no corps member would be posted to an area with security breach within the country. The corps members must uphold the ideals of patriotism as responsible citizens in the discharge of their duties in their different places of primary assignment.”
One should commend the NYSC boss for this initiative even though many parents had been using all manner of subterfuge to evade having their children posted to the troubled spots before now. So, Kazaure’s formal announcement must have been sweet music in the ears of parents whose children are serving or will still serve in the current service year. Many prospective or serving corps members too must have received the news with joy. Nothing less is expected from any man who has his own children and would therefore not want to put other people’s children in harm’s way.
It is not Kazaure’s fault that some parts of the country are having security challenges, just as it is not the corps members’ fault. At any rate, one has to be alive to serve one’s fatherland. One has to be alive to foster unity, too. You can’t do either in the grave. And, as they say,” life has no duplicate.” While the rest of us may see the corps members who had died in the course of the national service as mere statistics, which should not be so in the first place, not so their parents and relatives as well as other loved ones. They are the ones that know the value of what they had lost. Even if we pretend to be touched by describing their loss as a national tragedy, we are still speaking in abstract terms. He who wears the shoe knows where it pinches.
Another good thing from the NYSC is that this is not the only area where the it appears to have shown genuine concern for corps members’ safety and security. The organisation appears to have taken full advantage of information technology (IT) to ensure that corps members stay relatively secure, and in case they have any emergency. Kazaure said in an interview with a national daily that: “We provide them with a booklet on security tips as well as phone numbers that give them a direct access in their places of primary assignment to personnel of security agencies such as the police, the State Security Service and other agencies.
“Apart from these, the scheme has established Distress Call Centres domiciled in the NYSC Directorate headquarters which function 24 hours. We also have the relevant details of all corps members nationwide and their locations are uploaded to the database of the centre.
“If anyone of them puts in a distress call, the call will immediately reflect on the computer screen the details and location of that corps member.”
Nothing of the sort was available when we did our national service in the mid-1980s. Of course there could not have been anything like that then because the level of IT was relatively low. Today, the world is a global village and so many technological innovations have somewhat revolutionised the way we live. I do not know whether it was Kazaure that brought about this innovation or whether he inherited it; the important thing is that the scheme is trying to keep pace with technological developments and is indeed taking advantage of them.
But one should warn that having these technological devices is one thing, maximising their impact is another. Most of these gadgets, no matter how sophisticated would still be programmed by human beings. This is where the problem lies. There must be constant monitoring to ensure that human beings do not come in the way of the efficiency of these gadgets.
One other area one should expect the NYSC to look into is the allowance of the corps members. What they currently get cannot take them home and we should not send our youths to far-flung places only to lead them into temptation. Our VIPs whose children participate in the scheme know what they augment their children’s stipend with. They should therefore realise that ‘what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.’
As we prepare for next year’s General Elections, it is also necessary to remind the government thast if any of these children must be given electoral roles, he or she should be adequately protected. Politicians cannot keep their own children safe at home or abroad only to use other people’s children as cannon fodders.
Above all, corps members themselves must hearken to the admonitions of the NYSC authorities, especially concerning unnecessary travels and keeping late nights. It saddens one whenever any corps member dies as a result of these avoidable circumstances.
Take heart, Evans, such is life
Chukwudubem Onwuamadike, also known as Evans
Chukwudumeje Onwuamadike, popularly known as Evans, unarguably the most celebrated kidnap kingpin suspect (what a mouthful) of our times is sad, and angry. And, in fairness to him, he has every cause to be. How can a celebrated accused of his caliber be treated the way he said prison authorities have been treating him? Evans said for three consecutive days, he was not given food. They are not allowing him to have his bath even as they disallow him from changing his clothes. He is not even allowed to see visitors. Although the kidnap suspect did not say what kind of visitors, one can understand what he is probably talking about: after all man no be wood! We should sympathise with him because in his ‘heyday’, beautiful ladies would be tumbling over themselves to ensure Evans took their own sponge whenever he was having his bath at the stream.
An aggrieved Evans therefore seized a golden opportunity to air his grievances when he appeared before a high court in Igbosere, Lagos, on May 7 to answer the charges of kidnap, murder and attempted murder brought against him by the Lagos State government. He caused a mild drama at the court premises, as he initially refused to alight from the vehicle which conveyed him from the prison to court. But the judge, Adedayo Akintoye, was not one to fall for such antics. He ordered that Evans should be bundled. When he was eventually forced inside the court, Evans signalled the judge that he needed to speak. When the judge allowed him, Evans said: “I have an explanation to make. Since I have been in the maximum prison, they have been maltreating me; no visit, they don’t feed me well, I have an eye problem and I cannot see afar.”
And when the judge ordered prison authorities to take good care of him since he is still deemed innocent until he is convicted, if guilty, Evans broke down in tears. “What have I done to you people? They have been beating me; no good food; I have been locked up in one place since last year; why are they taking my case personal? Why do you people want to kill me,” he said.
In fairness to Evans, he should not be going through this kind of ordeal. Is it not the same prisons where we hear all manner of stories of how well our Very Important Prisoners (VIPs) are spoilt with everything they want, everything under the sun? Have we forgotten that the media carried stories of how one of the oga at the top in the former ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who had a brief stop-over in Kirikiri Prison over contract-splitting had everything at his beck and call? So, could it be that our prisons have changed? Or is it a case of Evans being stingy?
Anyway, whatever it is, Evans deserves better treatment in Kirikiri. Although I would want to admonish him that Nigeria is not the best of places to be suspected on the wrong side of the law. Life at that end is better in the United Kingdom or the United States of America. Or, in some other civilised places. Those are the places where one can get red carpet reception in prison. His wife or girl-friend can even be visiting to satisfy him with ‘tibi’ right there in the prison. Such democracy ends at the entrance of our prisons in Nigeria. Once you are in, you are on your own. Except of course you are ready to play ball, or you know somebody who knows somebody that is close to somebody at the top, the very top! If Evans is not having anyone to help him in these high places, it is because they dread him. In his days ‘in government and in power’ in the kidnap world (that is if he was the one terrorising the rich then), if any of those big people heard his name, they would run for cover.
The rich who could have saved him know how much they were shocked and awed whenever they heard he was in town.
Even if it is seven years since a fowl died, which fox would say it wants to go there to feed its eyes?
Parents nationwide must hail the latest news coming from the camp of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). A press release, signed by Adenike Adeyemi, the NYSC director for press and public relations, quoted Brig-Gen. Suleiman Kazaure, the NYSC director-general, as saying “no corps member would be posted to an area with security breach within the country.”
Parents and guardians, always perturbed at NYSC postings, because of the testy security situation in some parts of the country must heave a sigh of relief at the assurance by the NYSC boss. It is not only good, it is fair and equitable.
Indeed, even if the best of secured countries still suffer occasional security glitches, no government has the moral right to post youths to locations it hasn’t adequately secured. That is why the NYSC D-G’s assurance could not have come at a better time, when there are growing fears that the government might just be posting some youth corps members, core investment of their parents and trove of Nigeria’s future manpower, to nothing but early death.
Though such thinking cannot be fair on the government — no sane government would send the flower of its youth to early deaths — the fear is not totally unfounded. Life, after all, has no duplicate; and every rigorous step must be taken to secure it. But it is good the NYSC is acknowledging the security challenge and it is factoring it into its posting policy.
It is even better that the NYSC secretariat, even where security is not a serious issue, is by its training regime in its state orientation camps, looking out for the safety and security of the youths in its care. The NYSC D-G again: “We provide them [corps members] with a booklet on security tips, as well as phone numbers that give them a direct access in their places of primary assignment to personnel of security agencies, such as the police, State Security Service and other agencies.”
“Apart from these,” the D-G continued, “the scheme has established Distress Call Centres domiciled in the NYSC Directorate headquarters, which function 24 hours. We also have the relevant details of all corps members nationwide; and their locations are to be uploaded to the database of the centre.”
These measures would appear impressive, and should be commended. Still, plans are one thing, and Nigeria is not bereft of beautiful plans. Implementation is another, but Nigeria is not blessed with the best of records in implementation.
That is why the NYSC should strive to secure the buy-in of every security agency involved in this intricate security arrangements. The NYSC should ensure these arrangements are matched by swift responses, and not marred by the tardiness of individual troopers, which could make the vital difference between life and death. That is the only way the security plan would succeed.
Still, the most critical key to the NYSC achieving its goals is good security nationwide. That, for security reasons, corps members cannot be posted to every part of the country, is a big negation of the scheme’s goal: to foster national unity, love and integration. If things continue like this for long, the NYSC would have failed in a core mandate.
That is why the government and people of Nigeria must give the security challenge the attention it deserves — the government and people of Nigeria because security is a collective endeavour. Security might be the government’s core duty. But it cannot achieve that without the people’s cooperation and buy-in, not the least in the vital sphere of intelligence, where civic citizens promptly report suspicious activities; and putative crimes are nipped in the bud.
The earlier good security is restored, the better for the NYSC scheme. That is when it can fully deliver on its core national integration mandate.
The Director General, National Youth Service Corps, Suleiman Kazaure has expressed sadness over the death of a female Corps Member, Hilda Eva Amadi.
She died in Kwara State Orientation Camp, Yikpata, in Edu Local Government Area of the State.
Kazaure commiserated with the deceased family, other Corps Members and the entire camp community.
While praying for the repose of the soul of the deceased, he said NYSC Management would not undermine the welfare and security of any Corps Member.
Kazaure, in a statement by the Director, Press and Public Relations, Adenike Adeyemi, ruled out negligence of duty on the part of camp officials.
“Corps member Amadi gave up the ghost at the General Hospital in Ilorin where she was referred to, by the Medical Consultant at the Camp Clinic after she sustained leg fracture,” the statement said.
The NYSC DG appealed to state governments towards performing their statutory responsibilities with regards to the provision and maintenance of Orientation Camps across the county.
“I am here to console you while l pray that God gives our departed sister eternal rest,” the statement quoted Kazaure as saying.
The Director-General also urged other Corps Members to be security conscious at all times and avoid night parties which might expose them to danger.
He advised them to acquire relevant skills in order to empower themselves for job creation and not being victims of unemployment.
A total of 1,940 Corps Members were sworn-in for the 2018 Batch ‘A’ Orientation Course according to the State Coordinator, Mr. Remigius Amaefule.
It is high time the Federal Government made up its mind on whether it wants to continue with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Scheme or not. This has become necessary in view of the many problems confronting the scheme, and by extension, the teeming Nigerian youths who are being sent to far-flung places that they only get to know courtesy of the youth service. I stumbled on a long list of what prospective corps members were asked to bring to the orientation camps and I started asking myself if parents are not being unnecessarily overburdened with what should be the government’s responsibility – round-necked white shirts, white shorts, plain white tennis shoes/white socks, mosquito nets, bed sheets, pillow cases, pillow/s, etc. As a matter of fact, some said the list include pain relief drugs, antibiotics, etc.
I cannot remember if we took along some of these items when we did our national service in the 1980s. Almost everything we needed was provided free by the Federal Government. I even remember that at the then Gongola State Ministry of Information where I served in Yola, five of us were provided with a five-bedroom flat in the heart of the town.
About two weeks ago, Brig-Gen. Suleiman Kazaure, NYSC’s director-general, expressed concern over the dilapidated state of facilities in many orientation camps across the country. Kazaure, who spoke at the opening of the 2018 Batch ‘A’ Pre-orientation Workshop, held in Ibadan, said that facilities in many of the orientation camps were nothing to write home about. Yet, by virtue of the law establishing the NYSC, state governments are to provide and maintain orientation camps, where the corps members first report to upon arrival in their state of assignment for a three-week orientation. Listen to Kazaure: “Permit me to use this occasion to remind all stakeholders that the law establishing the NYSC scheme places the responsibility of provision and maintenance of orientation camps with the state governments … On this note, I wish to reiterate our call on them to live up to this statutory responsibility. This call has become necessary in view of the dilapidated state of the facilities in many orientation camps.”
Without doubt, the idea of national youth service is laudable; its objectives noble. Although these are clearly spelt out in Decree No.24 of May 22, 1973, these could be summarised under two broad headings: fostering national unity and inculcating in the youths the idea of tolerance which exposure to places other than theirs is expected to bring to bear upon their lives. For a country just bouncing back from a debilitating civil war that claimed over two million lives, it was a worthy scheme that was expected to be part of the healing balm for whatever sores the civil war had created.
But, if the government made national service mandatory, it should be its duty to provide the corps members with virtually everything they need. At least that was the way it was when many of those now asking the corps members to bring all manner of items after running the country aground did their own national service. Some people have always said that many of those in leadership positions in the country today remove the ladder after using it to get to the top.
That would appear to be right. Or, how else do you explain a scheme that began 45 years ago to be suffering the kind of lack that is palpable in the national service today? Forty-five years down the line, one would expect that things should be looking up with the scheme, with many graduates looking forward enthusiastically to the time they would get their call-up letters. If that is happening today, it is not because of any excitement from the experience but more because there are no jobs for the graduates to do. So, they see the one year of national service as a temporary escape from the joblessness.
Today, corps members are paid N19,500 stipend per month. We all know this cannot take any corps member home, even though the degree of the poverty in this stipend will vary from state to state. I remember in our own days, our stipend was about N96 per month, about what a school certificate holder earned then. But that, by the economic standards of the era was a lot of money. I remember out of the about 10 copies of Newswatch magazine that the vendor that supplied papers to us normally brought to the state capital, he would always reserve one for me every week. I also remember too that two of us then usually contributed to buy a carton of Peak Milk which was about N96. Even as corps members, we had choice; we had nothing to do with milk if it was not Peak. As a matter of fact, the carton had become expensive as at then, as it went for far less before our service year in 1984/’85. Those of us with parents who could add a little to the stipend were usually awash with cash, such that many things, I repeat, many things imaginable were at our beck and call.
I am referring to an era when national service came with a lot of dignity. As a male youth corps member, any lady you pointed at then was almost yours with little or no effort, especially those of them willing to settle down. I am sure some of us narrowly missed marrying ladies that we met in the course of the national service. Definitely, if the Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication phones and the internet that have come to revolutionise our world had existed then, the social calculations and equations in many homes would have been different today. In short, there was something irresistible or magnetic in the NYSC uniform – the white round-neck shirt, the trouser, the khaki shirt, the boots and the caps, not forgetting the belts to match, were hallmarks of success that many ladies wanted to identify with. As a youth corps member then, one could transport himself from a place like Lagos to, say Yola, by air! How much was Nigeria Airways flight then from Lagos to Yola? I remember my father (of blessed memory) gave me N49 for a return ticket from Lagos to Yola when I was going for youth service. As a youth corps member, you were entitled to 50 percent rebate. Forty-nine Naira was about 50 percent of my stipend. Today, the N19,500 stipend cannot take a corps member through the same distance by air!
In effect, the slogan: “Now Your Suffering Continues (NYSC), is much more relevant today than in our time. I pity today’s corps member when I see them on our roads because I know life is not easy for them. You even find situations where some establishments reject those posted to them on very flimsy grounds. Thus, you find cases where the corps members themselves begin the long treks in their stations in search of places where they can hide their heads at least for the next one year. We do not have to expose our youths to avoidable dangers and temptations in the name of national service.
I was about concluding this piece when I stumbled on the information from the NYSC boss that corps members have to wait until minimum wage is reviewed before their stipend too could be raised. Kazaure may have spoken as a public official, but deep down in his heart, he knows that even the so-called minimum wage is a huge joke. Some of the same people who are dilly-dallying over its upward review are earning stupendous emoluments illegally every month. As another batch of corps members is getting set to begin the national suffering, one can only hope that something would prick the conscience of those deciding our fate to do something about these vulnerable youths, particularly the ladies among them.
On this score, one is forced, once again, to agree with the great Chinua Achebe: there, indeed, was a country!
The Coordinator, National Youth Service Corps ( NYSC ) in Kano state, Alhaji Ladan Baba, says about 8,000 people will benefit from the scheme’s medical outreach across the state.
The Coordinator made this known on Tuesday while launching the medical outreach at Rugar Duka community in Kura Local Government Area of the state.
According to him, 2,000 people are expected to benefit in each of the four selected communities by the scheme.
“In Kano, we are planning to embark on such medical outreach as part of the NYSC’s initiative across selected communities quarterly,” he said
He said the gesture was part of the NYSC Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers ( HIRD ) in the state in the four selected communities.
Baba said that the programme was also aimed at mobilising corps members to provide health intervention to the general public, especially those in the rural communities.
Baba explained that the week-long intervention programme include; diagnosis, treatment and referral cases, when the need arose and proper preventive measures that would enhance health status of the people.
The coordinator further said that NYSC had impacted positively on people of the state through Community Development Services ( CDS ), particularly in Education, Health and Environmental Sanitation.
“It may interest you to note that at the moment, we have a total of 227 corps health personnel in the state with 88 Doctors and 27 Pharmacists.
‘’In addition to other logistics, we sensitised and prepared 15 Doctors, 10 Pharmacists, eight Medical Lab, two Optometrist, five Nurses and 15 other Para-medical personnel for this programme in the first quarter of 2018”.
In her remarks, the Wife of the Governor, Hajiya Hafsat Ganduje, represented by the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Hajiya Yardada Maikano, expressed her commitment in supporting the scheme’s health initiative.
She commended NYSC, saying that the initiative was a welcome development that would assist the rural dwellers who could not afford to pay medical bill in the hospital.
According to her, such gesture is worthy of emulation by wealthy individuals and private organisations.
Responding on behalf of the community, the Village Head of Rugar Duka, Malam Abubakar Lamido, called for such programme, on a regularly basis, to reduce health challenges in the community.
The National Youth Service Corps ( NYSC ) has appealed to employers of corps members to provide standard employment opportunities to those serving in their establishments.
The Ogun State Coordinator of the NYSC, Mr John Okpo, made the appeal on Thursday during deliberations at the 2018 Corps Employers workshop held in Abeokuta, Ogun.
He also advised the employers to allow their corps members access to medical facilities in their places of primary assignments.
Okpo said that the provision of basic benefits would improve the self worth of the corps members and enable them integrate fully into such establishments.
“Employers should see corps members, first as human beings, rather than mere ad-hoc staff and as such must ensure they are well-catered for.
“The best way to motivate and get the best from your staff is by making them feel wanted and comfortable in the course of their duties.
“Corps members should be provided with medical facilities as available for permanent staff.
“Employers of corps members should, likewise, strive to give permanent employment to corps members who performed reasonably well during the service year.”
Okpo said that the laws establishing the NYSC scheme required the employers of corps members to see themselves as partners and stakeholders in the development and training of youths.
“Your actions or inactions can either destroy or uplift the dreams of the founding fathers of the scheme,” he said.
He said that the workshop explored issues relating to corps members and their employers.
The workshop had as its theme: “Tackling Emerging Challenges in Youth Corps Administration through Greater NYSC/Stakeholder Participation.”
The chairman of the State NYSC Governing Board, Mr Afolabi Afuape, assured the NYSC that the government would continue to discharge its obligations to the scheme.
Afuape also the Ogun State Commissioner for Youths and Sports said, “Corps members are change agents, youths with abundant energies and awesome talents.
“ When their welfare is prioritized, their level of productivity knows no bounds.
“It is my fervent belief that all stakeholders will look into the recommendations made with the ultimate aim of moving the scheme forward.”
He said that the NYSC management would, routinely, monitor employers of corps members to ensure that they provided accommodation for NYSC members serving with them.
Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN), a non-profit organisation, has selected 50 outstanding graduates and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members for a residential entrepreneurship and leadership programme at the Lagos Business School. TAIWO ISOLA was among them.
Fifty outstanding graduates and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members have participated in a five-day residential entrepreneurship programme of the Lagos Business School (LBS).
The participants, drawn from various parts of the country, were selected for the Venture in Management Programme (ViMP) based on the leadership skills they displayed during their service year.
ViMP is a mini Master’s in Business Administration facilitated by the Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN) – a non-profit organisation – that educates young people between the ages of 15 and 27 on financial literacy and entrepreneurship to make them self-reliant.
The programme focused on preparing the participants to become business leaders who would run their own businesses and manage already-established ones and social enterprises.
The programme featured lectures and interactive sessions with business leaders, including the chairman of KPMG Africa, Kunle Elebute; Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Africa Initiative for Governance, Chienye Ogwo; and the Managing Partner, Growth Capital Fund, Tunji Eleso.
The participants took courses in business strategy, management, entrepreneurship, finance, corporate governance, ethics and leadership, as well as MBA-modelled business cases. They were exposed to the concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its impacts.
After the lectures, each participant was required to impart the knowledge gained from the programme on primary and secondary school pupils in the Ajah axis of Lagos. This, the organisers said, will expose the trainees to the values of giving back to the society.
The participants also had the opportunity to network with ViMP alumni, programme sponsors, and JAN board members.
JAN founder and Executive Director Simi Nwogugu described ViMP as a platform for breeding future business leaders.
She said the ViMP programme had been sustained by the changes championed by the alumni since its inception 19 years ago. She said many of the alumni had become top directors and leaders of industries, business firms and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), while others had started their businesses to add value to people.
She said: “JAN has become an enviable platform for raising responsible business leaders. What keeps me going is the huge transformation people experience after passing through our process. Every year, we gather graduates at LBS for training in entrepreneurship, financial literacy and leadership. This exposes them to mentoring and creates opportunities for them to practically discuss real life business cases.”
The highpoint of the programme was the advertising contest in which the participants were grouped into six teams, with the mandate to come up with innovative ways to advertise a particular product in an entrepreneurial manner.
Presentations were made by each team and the panel of judges comprised faculty members from LBS. The panel evaluated each team. At the end, Taiwo Isola, a CAMPUSLIFE reporter and participant from Sokoto State, was the best presenter, while the most-innovative team was applauded.
In his lecture, the Executive Partner of African Capital Alliance (ACA), Paul Kokoricha, tasked the participants on the firm’s core values of integrity, humility, excellence, discipline and contribution. The values, he said, are relevant to sustain any business.
The Most Outstanding Male and Female awards went to Caleb Adebayo, a Law graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University, and Elohor Udubrae, a Chemical Engineering graduate of Caritas University. Caleb, a former CAMPUSLIFE reporter, won the award based on his participation and contribution to activities in the course of the programme.
Caleb said: “ViMP programme is amazing. It opened my mind to new vistas I had not seen before. I came to understand leadership and how character and teamwork amongst other things are essential. I learnt strategy and critical thinking through in-depth case studies. I understood the intricacies behind branding. Most important of all, I was constantly in the midst of 49 other intelligent and amazing youths, and the network and idea-sharing opportunity was one that I am also grateful for. From my conversations with them, I was spurred to keep hope alive that Nigeria will rise again.”
The programme ended with a movie night experience, which had the participants taken to the cinema to see Black Panther.
A participant, Joseph Okoroafor, said: “We have been equipped to go take over every sector of the economy and inspire the change we desire to see.”
Another participant, Esther Agbenla, a Public Health graduate, said the programme had ignited the change zeal in her, having been exposed to skills that would enable them blend into the work environment.
The programme was sponsored by ACA Foundation and supported by the LBS and Accenture Nigeria.
