The Nation Newspaper

Tag: social

  • Malls are big social network avenue

    Malls are big social network avenue

    Beyond being a business complex, shopping malls are gradually becoming an arena for social networking, especially among the upwardly mobile and fun seeking youths. TONIA ‘DIYAN writes.

    The potentials and opportunities in the Nigerian business space have continued to attract investments from all climes. With this has come modernization of the business arena, as businesses are now gradually being conducted in very conducive atmosphere. One venue that has attracted Nigerians, especially the youth, is the numerous shopping malls that now litter the country’s market place. From the Palms Shopping Mall, in Lagos, to Kwara Mall, Illorin, Nigerians have continued to throng these edifices. However, it has become clear that not every visitor to these malls are shoppers. A recent survey by The Nation has revealed that the malls have become a convenient meeting point for a growing number of Nigerians, who have made the shopping malls a place to tidy up their business dealings.

    Thomas, a middle aged Nigerian, though has lived abroad for over a decade, he recalled with nostalgic feelings, the state of the few existent malls in the country in his formative years.

    “When shopping malls newly came into existence in this country, they could be likened to stand alone and high street stores,” he said.  Going by his recap of the years back, Thomas’ memory obviously didn’t fail him. That was the era when malls or stores like Leventis, UTC and Kingsway, held the Nigerian market in awe wonder.

    Though back then a shopping mall in the real sense of it may never have been established, a pseudo mall existed in select areas of Lagos, with the few modern stores positioned side-by-side to form a fairly long chain of stores. The stores were mainly outlets for selling groceries and other household items, with buyers doing their purchases and walking away. But now, the situation has changed.

    Today’s shopping malls are built with provision for socialising or bringing people together to benefit from themselves and the stores. Besides, the ultra modern shopping facilities are built with unique and distinctive features fitted with innovative benefits to shoppers, especially the youth. The presence of top international brands, who take up spaces at such malls, has also contributed to the modernization of the mall concept.

    These, and more, has made Thomas come to terms with the fact that malls are not only for shopping, but that it extends to being a place of fun. By extension, this has made it possible for youths, especially, to have a meeting point, as it now provides them an avenue for social networking where this category of Nigerians share transforming experiences among themselves, meet with their pairs for interactions and also exchange business ideas in a relaxed environment.

    Apart from the new vista opened up by the malls, such complex can now pass for a tourist attraction centre, boosting the country’s revenue generation, especially on the side of value added tax (VAT).

    For instance, on a visit to a popular Lagos mall, Bola Ogunlusi, an Ibadan based entrepreneur, was able to establish a contact that eventually opened her business up to bigger market opportunities. Recalling how it all started, Ogunlusi said after her shopping spree at the mall, she opted to have a drink in one of the relaxation spots within the complex. And there, from a casual interaction with another visitor, she got a break into a niche market for her batik attire. “Since that my encounter at the mall, it has been good business for me all the way,” she told this reporter.

     

    Attraction

    According to a centre manger in a Lagos mall, Feyi Shoyinka, the attraction to shopping in the mall is the low pricing regime embraced by retail outlets in the mall. “Pricing is the main attraction here and I think the mall’s retailers or tenants have keyed into this,” he said, adding that retailers, especially the foreign ones, know the market and the right competitive price- a factor that has ensured their continued survival in the market place.

    He revealed that shopping malls, owing to the volume of business transactions that go on there, has advantage over stand alone and high street stores; hence, the improved revenue enjoyed by the space owners in the malls. “People do not only come to do one thing, but they come to do a variety of things at shopping malls. They come on shopping trips and stay all day with their families having meals, seeing movies, window shopping, doing cloth shopping or using the mall’s Wi-Fi to do online shopping,” he explained.

    Haven said all these, findings has it that, the primary motive of these malls is to make huge profit amid all that they have to offer. Their management therefore with the consciousness that the consumer’s main spend driver is price, encourage tenant to be use to constant price slash and promotional package which is capable of keeping old customers and attracting new ones.

    From observations, tenants at these malls are doing pretty well; they store merchandise of varieties and mix of customers wants. If a retailer stores insufficient merchandise, he/she won’t meet up to the mall standard. The Nation Shopping learnt that demographic researches are carried out before malls are opened.

     

    Improving Customer experience

    Retail shopping is about convenience, comfort, security and providing a one top experience for shoppers. Malls offer unique experiences in the sense that they are more like community centers with a large variety of business merchandise. From time to time, the mall looks at what it can improve on, what it should change and add. For instance, at some point, the management of the malls conducted a survey to sample the expectations of its customers. The survey covered areas like the type of goods expected to be seen in the malls, and their choice of products. Everything is chosen according to the merchandise requirement of the market place.

    Besides, the introduction of the cashless policy regime led the mall managers to install ATMs, just as the mall also keyed into technology by providing point of sale (PoS) machines to encourage the policy. However, mall operators say five years from this time, they hope to see the regular London shopper staying and doing all their shopping in Nigeria. They promise to encourage such people to stay here and buy all that they need. Knowing that once the people know they can get the same quality stuffs here, Nigerians would stop going overseas to shop. Operators say they see the growing middle class holding a royalty towards shopping malls where they could come for their shopping most of the time and get whatever they want.

    According to operators, the malls have grown about 70 percent since their existence, which is a good indication. People stay longer in the mall. More people visit the mall on a daily basis, a lot more cars come in too. Retailers are doing better depending on how much marketing and advertising they can do for themselves.

    With the big population in Nigeria, there are lots of retail businesses that can still be boosted in terms of shopping malls. Because there are lots of people out there earning stable incomes and they want to go shopping.

     

  • ‘Why more women should be social entrepreneurs’

    ‘Why more women should be social entrepreneurs’

    Dr. Unoma Okoroafor, a computer engineer by profession, is also founder and Chief Executive Officer, Working to Advance Science and Technology Education for African Woman (WAAW), an organisation which empowers African women by building their skills  in the area of science and technology with a view to making them self-reliant. In this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf, she shares her experience working with women across the West African sub-region. 

    What is the main driving spirit for the programmes initiated by your organisation?

    I’m very passionate about promoting female education because we all know that if you empower a girl, that you actually empower a community; if you educate a girl, you educate a nation. Girls are the ones, when they are educated, they make sure that their own children and the generations to come are educated. They make sure that it trickles down into the community and they serve their community. So, am really passionate about this; also because I myself am a woman. When I was studying engineering, it was difficult for me because I was really the only woman in a lot of circles. So I want to make sure that more women come on board in engineering so that it’s not lonely for women, and there is more participation that people know that women can do sciences just as well, if not better than the boys.

    Since the inception of your organisation, how many people have you empowered thus far?

    WAAW Foundation started in 2007 when I was still a student, so it has grown very slowly. Last year alone, we impacted about 6000 girls all across Africa. WAAW foundation has cells now in nine different African countries including South Africa, Malawi, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Togo and Cameroun; and we are looking to even expand it to more countries to impact more girls. Because part of what WAAW Foundation does is that we really encourage girls, if we impact you, then you have to turn around and impact other girls. It’s not just for themselves, when we help somebody the way they pay us back is that they turn around and help other people coming back. It’s important that we Africans understand that we are the ones to help ourselves because nobody else is coming to help us. It’s Africans that need to look down and see who is coming up and see how we can help each other and education is the key. Education is what empowers people, and technology is the fastest way to make our economy grow.

    Without technology, we are really going to continually be an emerging economy. If we want to participate in the global economy of the world, we have to decide to jump in and start participating in technology, not just using it, creating it, innovating it and using it; that’s important.

    How do you source for funds?

    We are constantly looking for funding. As you can imagine, we are a non-profit organisation, so we are constantly looking at especially corporate donations from organisations which are involved in technology, either by using it or creating it. So, a lot of our funding actually comes from the US, but now we have started to get some funding even in Africa, in Nigeria. And we are looking more into our economy because our message is that we are the ones to help ourselves; we have enough of what it takes to really fund ourselves. So, we are really looking at companies in our community in Nigeria that really are interested in promoting technology to be the ones to start sponsoring us because it’s in line with our message that we need to help ourselves.

     Let’s look at the selection process. How do you source for these girls; how are they selected?

    The girls that we really reach out to are public school girls, government school girls. Girls, who otherwise would never have seen this kind of opportunity because they can’t afford it. We take our resources and we give all of them scholarships. We actually try to partner with the Ministries of Education or agencies of science and technology, like the Lagos State Ministry of Education. They give us access into the government schools; we actually go there and we tell them our programme. We have a way of selecting them, we let them write essays. Sometimes we do selection process where they do a screening exam, and we pick out the girls that we think they have the most potential to go back and impact their community. Because we can’t train everybody, we want to train the people that when we train them, they themselves would be the ones to go back and train the others. So that’s how we select them. Our girls are between the ages of 13 and 17, between JSS 3 and SS 2 because we feel that’s the age at which they are paying attention. They can change their mind in which career, if they understand that science is fun, those are the ages when we capture them, so that’s kind of how we select our girls.

    How do you ensure continuity of their studies?

    Part of what we do is we actually create a community. By the end of the week, we have helped all of them to create email accounts and we connect them. We have a Google plus community where we stay in touch with all of them, and we want to make it available to them. We are always there listening to their problems and helping them solve their problems. For example, you saw two of our ex-students who came; the reason they came is because we are in touch with them, we stay in touch with them, we stay in touch with their parents, we want to know when they get into the university. If they have problems paying their school fees we are there to help them. We are not just doing it and leaving them, we want to constantly be there encouraging them, telling them they can do it.

    Does the programme comprise both public and private school girls?

    Yes, we have only four private school students, but mostly we do it for the public school students, and the public students come 100% free. We provide scholarships and everything for them.

    How many states do you have WAAW Foundation in Nigeria; do you have participants from other states?

    Yes, we have students from Anambra and Port Harcourt in this camp. They travelled from Port Harcourt and Anambra to come here. Hopefully, we are working to make it more diverse; we are looking to have more and more participants.

    Having achieved so much from empowering these girls, what are some of the challenges your organisation encountered apart from funding?

    So many. Part of the challenges we encountered is that people haven’t understood the importance of what we are doing; we need to educate and sensitise people more. Sometimes when we talk about our programme, they haven’t really understood the importance of educating girls, they say why only girls, why is this different from any other organisation? This is the second year we are doing it, so we are still in the process of proving that our programme is not like any other programme anywhere around the country. We are doing something unique and we are really empowering those girls. So, part of the challenges is educating people and letting them know that a programme like this exists. Part of the challenges we faced is support from the parents and from schools in particular. You were asking about recruiting; we have had a major challenge recruiting girls. Many times when we go to the ministry, they say they can’t give us access to their girls or to their teachers. So, sometimes we stand at the gate; we just hang out flyers and we just tell them. A lot of people don’t know about it because the government has not really come out to support us.

    So, a lot of these we are doing them as best as we can. If we had a lot of support from the ministry, from the government, not even just financial support but, ‘here is our school, here is our principal go and talk about your programme,’ am sure that we will get so many more participants. We are looking for support in terms of location. We are constantly running around. Where do we host this camp? And sometimes it doesn’t work out. If we have more space, even a government school or a university who would give us their space, their classrooms, we can do much more and accommodate so much more girls. So these are some of the challenges that we face too.

     

  • Palmchat takes social media by the storm

    With over 80,000 users worldwide signing up daily, Palmchat has joined millions of users around the world in sharing the fun of mobile social experience.

    Palmchat is an amazing innovative mobile social app that is compactable with all mobile operating system and downloadable from all mobile app stores:  Java, Windows store, Apple store, Google play, Blackberry world-among others. It has interactive and fun custom features: Shake-Shake and Look around with other functional capabilities like the file share, instant messaging and voice recording.

    Palmchat offers premium user friendly online social and dating experience with functional features such as chat rooms, voice recording capabilities, photo and video sharing and chat by interest.

    A unique feature of Palmchat is Look-Around feature that gives the users the power to avoid all the queer chatties and connect with that special one just over your shoulder. The Look-Around uses GPRS system to show how close or far your online date is from you.

    Happy-ever-after stories have been told by users who met online using the Look-Around custom feature to connect with each other on their first date.

    With over 80,000 new users signing up daily from different mobile devices, Palmchat is fast becoming the choice social mobile platform for users around the world.

    It has become the user friendly interface and custom features usher in a new face of social interaction and bonding.

    Mrs. Bimpe Ajayi, a Human Resource Manager with a multinational company in Lagos, who met her hubby, Frederick on Palmchat said: “It was a very pleasant night; the first night of our honeymoon. Frederick is such a loveable person; he always has something amusing to say, quite an accommodating gentle man and slow to anger. Some people find it hard to believe me when I tell them that I met this amazing man on Palmchat.

    “I didn’t just bump unto him on Palmchat-no. I wanted him, I dreamt of that special one but I just didn’t know how, where and when I will meet him until a friend introduced me to Palmchat.”

    Palmchat is giving an opportunity to Nigerian ladies to become Miss Nigeria in the 2014 beauty contest.

    With over 80,000 users worldwide signing up on daily basis, Palmchat is a new innovative mobile social app that is compactable with all mobile operating system and downloadable from all mobile app stores: Java, Windows store, Apple store, Google play, Blackberry world, among others

    With Miss Nigeria beauty pageant around the corner, Nigeria’s to-be beauty icons are grabbing their chances to be shortlisted for the contest and show off what sublime endowment a cocktail of genes could conjure.

    Some contestants are really showing innovation, a really good criterion for selecting a Miss Nigeria. These beauties are filling out their registration form and sharing their Miss Nigeria story on Palmchat.

    The Palmchat Miss Nigeria group is a group open to contestants of the 2014 Miss Nigeria beauty pageantry. Contestants fill their registration online hassle free and share their stories and selfies on a cool, interactive platform.

    Nigerian ladies can join the world of hi-tech beauties on Palmchat; check out whose story is the most inspiring and whose selfie is making the buzz as Nigeria’s premiere beauty contest gets social.

    Palmchat offers premium user friendly online social and dating experience with functional features such as chat rooms, voice recording capabilities, photo and video sharing and chat by interest.

  • LG increases social responsibility

    LG increases social responsibility

    Leading global brands are today developing as well as adopting initiatives that enable them give back to the society. One of such companies is LG Electronics with its far-reaching Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities aimed at giving back to its host communities.

    Recently in Nigeria, the company joined the rest of the world in commemorating the World Environment Day by embarking on a beach cleaning exercise. The event was aimed at protecting the environment as well as to forge a collective path towards a sustainable urban future. Showing its commitment to issues that affect the environment, staff of LG Electronics Nigeria came out in their numbers to clean up an expansive beach in Epe, a Lagos suburb.

    To this end, LG’s famous slogan, Life’s Good has served as a reminder of the core ethos at the heart of the company – to help improve quality of life through technology. Extending this, the new theme “It’s All Possible” points towards the company’s future in creating value for consumers with advanced products such as the LG G2 smartphone, which is a prime example of this consumer-centric approach, designed via insights and inspiration from actual consumers.

    LG products have had a significant role and have country-specific examples of the company making a difference in people’s lives.

    LG operates in many diverse markets where the company’s products provide many valuable solutions to the challenges of everyday life. Extreme weather conditions and infrastructural issues are examples of specific challenges which people in many countries face in their day-to-day life. One way in which LG can contribute socially in these markets is to link its products to the developmental aims and specific context of people that live there,

    Mosquitoes are the primary carriers of plasmodium- the malaria parasite. Malaria is one of the most serious problems facing the world today. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that over 300 million new cases of malaria arises a year, with 2-3million deaths resulting from contraction. In Nigeria, malaria is a massive health problem. the available methods of mosquitoes control all have some inconvenience in one form or another. The need for a formidable way of combating mosquitoes is on the increase. Repulsively, it affects the morbidity and mortality rates, as well as the national economy.

    The LG Mosquito Away Air Conditioner repels mosquitoes which are the carriers of the malaria parasite. The air conditioner emits ultrasonic waves that repel mosquitoes. This technology is completely harmless to humans. The effectiveness of LG’s product was certificated by the University of Ibadan’s College of Medicine, and the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON).

  • Mina Okoloko off social radar

    Mina Okoloko off social radar

    Ever since she opened Fluid Lounge, a strictly champagne bar on Saka Tinubu Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, Mina Okoloko appears to have taken a flight from the social sphere. The woman who loves to tread on roads that men dread has chosen to lie low for some time now.

    Until her seeming sabbatical from the social scene, Mina was never a scarce face in the nation’s socio-economic space. Although she could not be described as a party freak, the Obafemi Awolowo University-trained-lawyer-turned entrepreneur was always seen at events involving top government functionaries and corporate players.

    While many have attributed her silence to the toll that the current economic downturn must have taken on her chain of businesses, those who should know told Celeb Watch that the half Scot has only gone off the social radar to take stock of her recent investments with a view to re-strategising.

    In fact, an inside source said Mina might unveil a new card off her sleeve towards the tail end of the year or early next year. For now, she seems to be enjoying life away from the public glare.

  • Kojo Anan turns 40, goes off social radar

    Kojo Anan turns 40, goes off social radar

    Kojo Anan is the only son of the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Anan, and his wife, Titi Alakija. Blessed with good looks, charm and wealth, Kojo is a man with almost everything at his disposal.

    The fun-loving dude turns 40 in a few weeks, and the social firmament is waiting for his initiation into the league of 40-year-olds.

    The list of silver-spoon kids would not be complete without a mention of this handsome young man. Having grown up in Ikoyi, Lagos, he maintains thea same standing with other Lagos big boys like the Ladi Baloguns, the Maje Ayidas, the Laolu Sarakis and the Abi Kukus, to mention a few.

    But one thing that makes Kojo different is his refusal to take a plunge into marriage. Although he was rumoured to be waving goodbye to bachelorhood sometime in 2012, the rumour has definitely not seen the light of day.

    With 40 comes great responsibilities, and Kojo seems to share this belief as he seems to have abandoned his penchant for high society parties. As he now turns down virtually every invitation to social events, it could be safe to say that his active days on the social radar are numbered.

    The graduate of Keele University appears to be taking life more seriously. With the look of things, marriage may feature prominently on the calendar of the highly eligible bachelor in the near future.

  • ‘Social justice, a panacea for security’

    ‘Social justice, a panacea for security’

    Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President Okey Wali (SAN) has said the society can only be secure if there is justice.

    Speaking at the NBA Gombe Branch Law Week programme, he said insecurity is stalling Nigeria’s development.

    Wali was represented by NBA Second Vice-President Mr Stephen Abar.

    He said: “The topic chosen by the Gombe Branch of the NBA for this year’s Law Week could not be more apt given the prevailing state of insecurity being experienced in most parts of Nigeria and particularly in the North – Eastern parts of the country.

    “The state of affairs has constituted a serious impediment to development and is even threatening to undermining the territorial integrity of the Nation.

    “The leadership of the NBA has demonstrated deep concern about this seemingly intractable situation which is not only undermining the sanctity of human life, but has also portrayed the security agencies as incapable of reining in the challenges posed by belligerent elements who are hell-bent on unleashing mayhem on innocent members of society and visiting untold hardship by engaging in systematic destruction of both private and public properties.

    “It was borne out of this deep concern for the deteriorating security situation in the country that the NBA, under her current leadership convoked a National Peace and Security Summit as a priority programme in January, 2013.

    “It is apposite to state that social justice cannot find expression in a system where the rule of law does not prevail. It is therefore trite that the two concepts are inseparable.

    “This explains why the NBA has remained consistent at the vanguard of advocacy for all strata of governance in the country to evolve and pursue policies and programmes that will entrench social justice. This is one of the surest ways to dousing discontent that inevitably results to insecurity.”

     

  • Social Marketplace

    My wife did not believe online stores that promise to deliver orders at your doorstep. Therefore, she tried to prove me wrong. On this fateful day at the office, she ordered a Nokia phone and within an hour, a call came from the office reception that a representative of an online store was around to meet her. Surprisingly, she jumped down stairs just to confirm. After paying and closing the deal, she called me and we laughed over the whole thing.

    Nigerians have caught the act of online shopping, and gradually orders are been placed across the country via the internet. According to Euromonitor International, global market research organisations, Nigerians spent a whooping N49.9 billion shopping online in 2010 and N62.4 billion in 2011. This indicates a 25 per cent growth rate in one year.

    This sudden shift in the purchasing cycle of Nigerians is traced to the change in the buying and selling medium adopted by the sellers and the buyers. The increased level of technology infrastructure, too, is another factor responsible for the change in buying habit. These transactions are done over the internet, and with the proliferation of smart phones, it is easy to access the internet and make a purchase. Based on this, market watchers are estimating that the value of online shopping may go as high as N150 billion by 2014.

    Since there is virtually nothing that cannot be purchased online, will traditional form of marketing and purchase be extinct? In my previous write up, I asked a question: will your business be in existence in the next 5 years? The truth is traditional form of marketing and purchase will not give way to online purchase but I see a 50/50 sharing ratio between these modes of transaction. Is your business positioned for such a change? Getting your business online is not expensive compared to the profit and customers you will miss.

    I recently did a presentation in-house on Scaling at Social Media and my case study was on online shopping. After the presentation, the conclusion was that online stores need social media to engage people to shop online. Social media allows them to market people instead of advertising to people. You may be wondering why getting online is necessary, here are some reasons:

    Convenience:  The first thing about this method of shopping is the incredible convenience. You save yourself the stress of going all the way to the mall to shop, considering the traffic, the stress, crowd in the mall and even the risk you are exposed to. Expenses are reduced in terms of transport fare, impulsive purchase and buying meals. It is so much fun that you can even shop in the middle of the night. My wife shopped from the office in less than a minute without hindrances to her normal office work and it was delivered right on time. I did many e-books shopping online because, once I pay, I downloaded the items immediately.

     

    Prices: One fascinating thing about online shopping is the cheap deals and better prices you get. Most of these shops get their products directly from the manufacturers and the place of the intermediary is eliminated. In fact, you get discounts and rebates daily. You can as well compare prices across different online shops to make a good buy. Most online shops make comparison and research of products and prices possible.

     

    Quality: Since most of these products are direct from the manufacturers, the chances of getting fake product are reduced. Most online shops have the policy of returning the product if you do not want the product.

    Discreet purchases: A colleague bought for his wife some lingerie last valentine and I asked why he did not go to a shop to make a direct. His reply was quite understandable. He said, “Deji, I will be embarrassed pointing to what I want in front of other customers”. I think I will do same next valentine. You enjoy your privacy while shopping online. For instance, you can shop online while working and minimise the page if you want your privacy.

    Is your business positioned for the next phase of transaction cycle? It is never too late to get your business online and reap the huge and awesome benefits of both forms on purchase.

    Deji Bankole, a social media-savvy commentator, contributed this piece from dj2rhyme2002@yahoo.com

     

  • Youths rise against social ills

    Youths rise against social ills

    Youths, under the aegis of Nigerian Youths Organisation (NYO) have met in Anambra State to deliberate on their future.

    The youth converged on Emmaus House in Awka, the Anambra State capital to chart a way forward for themselves and the country.

    Led by its National President, Alhaji Ahmed B. Musa (Dan Iyan Zamfara), the youth also took time off to reward those they felt had championed the cause of youth in the country. Such people included Governor Peter Obi, a philanthropist and oil magnate, Prince Arthur Eze, who received different categories of awards.

    Others honoured were Sir Jonah Eze, Chief Vincent Obianodu (Young Shall Grow Motors); Chief Ugochukwu Okeke; Chief Pat Obianwu; Chief Obi Okoli; Chief Tony Offia and Don Umealor.

    Chairman of Anambra State chapter of Nigeria Youths Organisation Comrade Ozoemena Unegbu told Newsextra that the group has the zeal to re-orient and refocus the Nigeria youths by inculcating in them refined lifestyles and values that would enable them to shun all forms of vices and violence.

    The organisation, according to him, was established in 1980 and aims at building a virile and more united Nigeria. Its motto is “commitment to excellence and patriotism.”

    Unegbu said: “It is a fact that the Nigerian youth cannot hold his head high and beat his chest and say that he has achieved a lot like his counterparts in other parts of the world.

    “This is because the socio-economic and political factors prevalent in the society have succeeded in pushing him to the background; the society views him as a drug addict, a drunk, a cheat, a prostitute, a thug, and a rapist. All these we want to correct.”

    The National President of the group, Alhaji Musa revealed that the group is not under the influence of any individual or group, adding that it is also non-tribal, non-religious, non-sectional and non-political.

    He said:”Take note that the destiny of this country is in our hands. It is time to come together and move the country forward by shunning thuggery, arm robbery, kidnapping and prostitution, among others.

    “I therefore call on our youths in Igbo land that these things are not your portion and not in your characters. You are known to be hard working men and women and that is why those representing you at the state and National Assembly are among the best.”

    Though Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha who was the guest key speaker was absent, he sent a representative. Over 1,000 youths from all the South-east states and the entire country were in Anambra for the event.

    Unegbu further called on state governments to involve youths in their programmes and policies.

    However, they solicited for help from public-spirited individuals, patrons and governments at all levels to enable them to reach to the Promised Land.

    Others who spoke at the event included the chairman of the planning committee, Comrade Henry Okoro, secretary (NYO) in the state, Comrade Azuka Nwobu and Comrade Onyedika Eweh, social and welfare secretary of the group, among others.