The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NGO

  • NGO backs Aregbesola for second term

    A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in Osun State, the People’s Welfare League (PWL), has said Governor Rauf Aregbesola deserves a second term.

    It said the Aregbesola administration has recorded “monumental achievements” in less than three years.

    In a statement, the NGO’s National Coordinator, Abiodun Agboola, said the administration’s policies and programmes have improved the standard of living.

    Agboola said: “We praise Aregbesola for creating a secure environment for residents to move about without fear of molestation as was witnessed in the past before his advent.

    “We also appreciate the massive road projects going on across the state. We have no doubt that with the standard and specification of the government, the roads will stand the test of time and compete favourably with what obtains in any civilised world.”

  • NGO holds seminar for students

    Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), a women-focused non-governmental organisation (NGO), has held a seminar for students of the University of Calabar (UNICAL).

    Tagged:Winning without compromise, the event was held at the International Conference Centre of the institution and attended by successful women, who were part of the resource persons. They included Head, Corporate Communication, Moni Pulo Limited; Mrs Julia Oku-Jacks, Stanbic IBTC Bank official, Miss Aisha Ahmad, Nollywood actress, Kate Henshaw, Founder, Rainbow Bookclub, Mrs Koko Kalango, Managing Director, Rise Networks, Ms Toyosi Akerele and Dr Bisola Onajin-Obembe, a lecturer in the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT).

    Henshaw, in her lecture entitled:Societal peer pressure, advised the participants not to be influenced negatively by their peers.

    Oku-Jacks said one of the aims of the programme was to prepare undergraduates for workplace, business and health issues by challenging them at an interactive session to unveil, discuss and resolve their expectations and also share opportunities. She added that the programme had already been held in UNIPORT, University of Lagos (UNILAG), University of Abuja (UNIABUJA) and the University of Ibadan (UI).

    The event, which was well attended by students also, featured stage performance by UNICAL’s Students’ Union Government (SUG) Director of Socials, William Usese, and a comedian known as Koboko.

  • NGO holds seminar for students

    Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), a women-focused non-governmental organisation (NGO), has held a seminar for students of the University of Calabar (UNICAL).

    Tagged:Winning without compromise, the event was held at the International Conference Centre of the institution and attended by successful women, who were part of the resource persons. They included Head, Corporate Communication, Moni Pulo Limited; Mrs Julia Oku-Jacks, Stanbic IBTC Bank official, Miss Aisha Ahmad, Nollywood actress, Kate Henshaw, Founder, Rainbow Bookclub, Mrs Koko Kalango, Managing Director, Rise Networks, Ms Toyosi Akerele and Dr Bisola Onajin-Obembe, a lecturer in the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT).

    Henshaw, in her lecture entitled:Societal peer pressure, advised the participants not to be influenced negatively by their peers.

    Oku-Jacks said one of the aims of the programme was to prepare undergraduates for workplace, business and health issues by challenging them at an interactive session to unveil, discuss and resolve their expectations and also share opportunities. She added that the programme had already been held in UNIPORT, University of Lagos (UNILAG), University of Abuja (UNIABUJA) and the University of Ibadan (UI).

    The event, which was well attended by students also, featured stage performance by UNICAL’s Students’ Union Government (SUG) Director of Socials, William Usese, and a comedian known as Koboko.

  • NGO donates books to primary schools

    To instill a culture of reading in pupils, the Educational Standard Revival Initiative (EDUSTAR), a non-governmental organisation has presented 50, 000 text books to 100 primary schools in Cross River State.

    Speaking at the presentation in Calabar, EDUSTAR Executive Director of Prof Owan Enoh, said it is important to pay more attention to basic education because it forms the foundation of any development.

    Enoh lamented that many pupils at the tertiary level could neither read nor write properly, a situation he attributed to poor education background.

    He said the 50, 000 copies of the text entitled: ‘Reading Companion for Primary Schools’, were distributed to the selected schools free, ditto for the ‘Pupils Progress Monitoring’ exercise books in the EDUSTAR Reading Intervention Programme.

    He said the programme involves raising the reading ability of pupils through teacher retraining in reading and continuous monitoring of their teaching effectiveness, and through pupils’ performance in class tests.

    Chairman of the organisation’s Board of Trustees and a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof Kevin Etta, said EDUSTAR is poised to reverse the trend where many undergraduates have poor reading and writing skills, by ensuring standards are maintained in the school system. He said this is achievable through entrenchment of a culture of reading at a very early age.

    Commissioner for Education, Prof Offiong Offiong, said no matter the sophistication of technology, it can never supplant the essence of reading. He said no matter how much a child is exposed, the mind cannot be properly developed except through reading.

    Prof Offiong called on other well-meaning individuals and organisations to also join hands in the provision of qualitative education for the children.

     

  • NGO launches youth empowerment scheme

    A non-governmental Organisation (NGO), Masterpiece Resource Development Centre(MRDC) has launched a youth empowerment programme in two local governments in Lagos State.

    The programme tagged: Community Driven Entreprise Initiative(CDEI), the organisers said, is targeted at helping youths discover their talents, gifts, potentials and passion in order to live a purposeful life.

    Chief Executive Officer of MRDC, Mrs. Modupe Oyekunle told reporters that Igando, Eti-Osa and Amuwo Odofin local governments have been enlisted for the first pilot scheme the CDEI.

    She said the objective of the CDEI was to ensure that a maximum of 25 youths between the ages of 18 and 35 in each of the 774 local governments in the country starting with the 20 local governments in Lagos.

    She said the CDEI was inspired by the alarming rate of youth unemployment in the country which has led to the rise in social vices, kidnapping, militancy, cyber fraud and recently terrorism.

    Oyekunle noted that the task of reducing unemployment could not be left to the government, saying MRDC is poised to contribute its own quota to engaging youths productively.

    “A recent report shows that if Nigeria is not able to create at least 24 million jobs by 2020, crime rate will triple. We need to proffer solutions, we need to do more than talk about the problems”.

    She said the CDEI is partnering with the local governments as the grassroots government to “reach out to youths on the streets, help them discover their potentials which can also drive community development to help empower other youths”.

    She called on well-meaning Nigerians to support the drive by taking up sponsorship of the CDEI in local governments, saying the success of the programme was be for the development and utilisation of human resources for the good of Nigeria.

    Also, a renowned entrepreneur, Mr. Dapo Adelegan, urged government at all levels to put youth empowerment on the front bunner, saying it is the one-way to address youth restiveness.

  • NGO trains 486 artisans

    NGO trains 486 artisans

    Mrs Adama Ahmed, the Coordinator of Good Access, an NGO, says 486 artisans trained by the organisation will graduate after undergoing training in different skills.

    Ahmed told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Saturday that the organisation was currently training 1,000 artisans in skills acquisition out of which the 486 would graduate on May 25.

    She said that the NGO was set up to respond to the needs of disadvantaged people.

    She said that youths and women were the major beneficiaries of the skills acquisition, entrepreneurial training and capacity building programmes of the organisation.

    She said that this was part of efforts to contribute toward the development and eradication of poverty in the country.

    According to her, training and equipping young talents and women in acquiring knowledge in artistic work will go a long way in reducing poverty and corruption in the society.

    “If a woman is self-reliant, a great burden will be removed from her husband and the society.

    “The same thing applies to youths. Once they have been identified and trained on what to do, they become independent of themselves,’’ said the coordinator.

    Ahmed said that skills such as bead making, dress making, soap making and hotel management were some of the areas the trainees were specialising in.

    She, however, solicited the financial support of the Federal Government and private individuals to be able to create more centres across the 36 states and in Abuja.

    She said that the donations would also empower youths and women who were classified as the most vulnerable in the society to eradicate unemployment and idleness.

    “There is a great challenge in training these people as the facilities on ground cannot cover a whole lot of trainees we have.

    “We therefore need the intervention of the Federal Government and private donations to be able to reduce corruption in the country.’’

  • NGO makes case for environment laws

    The Coordinator, Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ), Comrade Sheriff Mulade, has called on federal and state lawmakers to enact laws towards clean cities and communities.

    Mulade made the call in Sheffield, United Kingdom when he and other members of the Nigerian environmental stakeholders visited the UK.

    He said such legislation would not only make the cities clean, but also manage waste to create employment through recycling processes and harnessing of bio- energy for electricity generation.

    ”Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice will continue to strive to work with all relevant environmental authorities in Nigeria on the best ways to manage and dispose waste in a more environmentally-friendly and cost-effective manner.

    ”It is high time the Nigerian legislature enacted environmental best practice law to address the challenge of indiscriminate waste disposal in our cities. Nigeria can no longer continue to send majority of its household waste to land-fill sites instead of recycling facilities,” he said.

    Mulade expressed optimism that accepting modern method of waste management would guarantee the cleanliness of our environment while ensuring the provision of employment and bio-generated energy.

    “We were attracted to Lagos State last year where, in collaboration with the state government, we held a national environmental summit. What we saw in Lagos clearly demonstrates that waste is now wealth,” he stated.

    Explaining further, the National Coordinator of CEPEJ reiterated that in line with its mission statement, the NGO is fully committed to partnering with relevant government agencies and other stakeholders for a sustainable campaign for the transformation of the Nigerian environment through reduction of waste, proper waste disposal and recycling.

    Mulade said: “In CEPEJ, we have continued to carry out enlightenment workshops that are meant to change the old system of waste disposal and management.”

    Commenting on his Sheffield experience, the Comrade noted that, “we were in the U.K to study waste management facilities. One of the sites we visited was the Sheffield energy recovery facility and we discovered that waste is no longer waste but a lucrative business that creates job opportunities. The waste awareness campaign, recycling service and the efficient energy recovery facility ensures that the residents of Sheffield only send a small amount of waste to land-fill sites.”

     

  • That prisoners may read

    That prisoners may read

    T was an emotional session when a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Zeacheus Onuba Dibiaeze Memorial Library (ZODML), donated e-books and other library resources to the Ikoyi Prison for its inmates. The inmates presented a drama on how cases are judged in Nigerian courts, with the accused condemned to life behind bars. One of them also provided music, singing a song titled: Freedom. The musician pasted papers bearing various inscriptions on his body. They include, affliction, suffering, sorrow and trouble. His lyrics said he was tired of government food, and missed his mother’s cooking. Some people in the audience shed tears. ZODML’s donation of Prison Knowledge Centre, consisting of 500 e-books, dictionaries, and bibles was meant to help the inmates to develop their minds while in prison. The NGO also donated copies of the Quran, encyclopedias, and Microsoft word office suite software, among others. Its Project Facilitator, Mrs Lilian Esiri said ZODML was consolidating on the foundation laid by the Muharam Sisters Foundation Education Centre (MSFEC), which had donated a library to the prison. She said ZODML aligned with the philosophy of Nigerian Prisons and correctional Service (NPCS), which she said is aimed at equipping inmates with values and skills that would help their re-integration into the society after their sentences. “NPCS has as its philosophy ‘that treatment and rehabilitation of offenders can be achieved through carefully designed and well articulated administrative, reformative and rehabilitative programmes aimed at inculcating discipline, respect for law and order and regard for the dignity of honest labour’. ZODML aligns with this philosophy and is committed to channelling some of its resources to help with this realisation. “The United Nations (UN) Office for Drugs and Crime has stated that ‘when released, often with no prospects for employment, former prisoners are generally subject to socio-economic exclusion and are thus vulnerable to an endless cycle of poverty, marginalisation, criminality and imprisonment. Thus, imprisonment contributes directly to the impoverishment of the prisoner, of his family (with a significant cross-generational effect) and of society by creating future victims and reducing future potential economic performance’. “It is this cycle that ZODML is trying to break with the establishment of the Prison Knowledge Centre (PKC) which we are here to open. The PKC is a centre with seven computers and over 2000 volumes of books. Each computer comes equipped with more than 500 e-books, the Bible and Koran, Microsoft Office Suite, games such as chess and scrabble, dictionaries and encyclopaedias.” On the cost of the project, she said, the organisation spent about N4 million raised from the public. MSFEC’s Principal, Mr Ayodele Obarewo said the centre is open to interested inmates willing to study. He told them that there were teachers available to teach them. He also said that 43 inmates whose cases will soon be determined by the court would be allowed to sit for this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). “If they pass the exams, they would be allowed to attend the National Open University (NOUN), also situated in the area,” he said. The Chief Registrar of Lagos State High Court, Mr Ganiyu Safari thanked the organisation for the gesture and enjoined the inmates to make a judicious use of the computers and developed their minds by reading. This, he added, would provide them the opportunities to sit for public examinations.

  • NGO empowers women

    NGO empowers women

    There is urgent need for government and public-spirited individuals to address issues relating to women and children in the country.

    This was the concern expressed by Mr Adeyinka Odukoya at the launch of Hand of God Support Organisation,a non-governmental organisation.He is the president of the group.

    According to Odukoya, if women and children are empowered there will be less economic burden in each family and the society at large, adding that as a pilot scheme, the NGO is concentrating on how to create enterprising vocation for the less privileged especially women.

    To make good his words, about 12 women were empowered with cash donations on the occasion while a good number of public school students were given free school uniforms and writing materials. The icing on the cake was the presentation of a two 14-seater urvan buses as free school ride for pupils from Alagbado axis, a densely populated area in Lagos State.

    “Our main focus is not only women and children but the less-privileged in the society. We are primarily out to touch and change lives. We also aim to assist in areas of development such as migration, education, skill acquisition, loan, counseling, accommodation and job placements, free education for the youth, among others. Our ultimate goal is to provide a safe world free from injustice against women and children across the globe. Yes we are also out to fight against child abuse, domestic abuse in women and rape.

    “The financial assistance we gave out today are in categories, based on the vocations the women had undergone. At least each beneficiary had passed through a 90-day intensive vocation training of their choice. Six women are empowered on water treatment profession. They are now water technologists that can empower any other person. Don’t forget that a person success only become real when it has incorporated the value he/she has to others.

    He said the donation of the two buses was informed by the rigours students in the area have to pass through while crossing the busy Lagos-Abeokuta Express Road. He said: “ So we source for fund to get the two buses that are being used for free school ride for the pupils. We are happy doing it because it is a welcome initiative to school staff and parents of the pupils”.

    “Most of these pupils their parents are facing a whole lot of economic challenges, because of lack of employment opportunity out there. As you can see their clothes are toured and old, some of them go to school naked literarily speaking, barefooted and without books.”

    When asked on what does the people behind the initiative stand to gain, Odukoya was quick to say “ Our joy and reward will come alive when see that the social and economic conditions which prevent individuals from acquiring basic human standard of living as recognized in international law is eradicating.”

    In a chat with the Nation, the Chairman of the occasion, Mr. Areo Sadiq described the initiative has worthy of emulation stating that government alone cannot do it all. “The responsibility of the country is not in the shoulder of the government alone, we must contribute our quota to build a viable society worthy of international emulation like this one. That is why I am here to support and encourage the brains behind it.”

    He further charged that The government should take the plight of the masses, especially the down-trodden and less-privileged seriously. This he said could easily be achieved through genuine collaborative efforts/partnership with charity organisations.

    “Beside, every Nigerian should be prepared to play his or her role in uplifting the living standard of the less privileged,” he added

     

  • Free diagnosis for 10,000 people in Ogun

    Rainbow Coalition, a Non-Government Organisation (NGO), is to offer free comprehensive medical diagnosis to over 10, 000 rural dwellers in Ogun State.

    The programme facilitator, Mr Tony Ojeshina, told reporters in Abeokuta, Ogun State, after evaluating the pilot study of the project carried out at the university town of Ago – Iwoye in Ijebu North Local Government Council of the state.

    Ojeshina said the initiative was to raise the consciousness of people regarding their health status, which he said could help stem the tide of early death being recorded in the country.

    He said when the programme was carried out in Ijebu North state constituency, over 500 people benefited; stressing it would be extended to the 26 state constituencies.

    The facilitator said if such diagnosis is to be charged, a beneficiary would pay between N100,000 and N200, 000 to obtain such health care service.

    He said: “The original plan was 4, 000 that is 200 people per one local government but we recorded about 500 instead of 100 that we planned for and if you multiply that by 26 constituencies, you will be talking about well over 10, 000 people.

    “When people know the state of their health, they will start to manage it and they would  be able to live longer. We are focusing more on the grass root,” he added.