The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Vision 20/20

  • Vision 2020 empowers pupils

    Pupils of Vision 2020 Project Club exhibited creativity in science and technology at the 24th edition of career counselling, industry awareness and youth empowerment workshop.

    Vision 2020 is a youth empowerment and restoration initiative of Lonadek Consulting, a local content consultancy firm focused on empowering students in Senior Secondary Schools and undergraduates in tertiary institutions.

    An SS2 student of Gbaja Boys Senior High School Surulere, Clement Attach,  who represented his school, displayed a project on production of biogas from animal waste (cow dung).  He explained that the animal waste does not only serve as manure, but can also generate gas used for cooking.  He said to generate the gas, the waste is mixed with water and put into a gallon and connected to a substance (potassium hydroxide) and scrubber which after three days will start producing gas and at the 21st day, the maximum production of the gas got and is due for use.

    Attah noted that the locally made gas is cheaper, affordable and beneficial to rural dwellers, adding that if well utilised, it could be exported as a source of revenue for the country.

    Two pupils from Lagos State Senior Model College, Badore, David Akachukwu  and Bose Iroomo, displayed  a solar oven used for the preservation of food items. Also Lamidi Fifame of Kankan Senior Secondary  School, Badagry, showcased  the procedures in preserving Amala, a local delicacy and how it can be reprocessed. Other pupils  also displayed various scientific projects.

    The Vision2020 project consultant, Mrs Ibilola Amao, said the 15 -year-old project, which will end in 2020, is geared towards “helping the Nigerian students identify their potentials, talents and creativity with regards to Science,  Technology Engineering and Mathematics.

    “Nigeria is blessed with human resources and we need to harness it. We need to begin to look at how we can create values, harness our natural and mineral resources so that we can have more people generating wealth and more jobs created. We need to look at areas like agriculture, innovation, creativity, energy and infrastructure.  These are core areas we are challenged as a nation,” she added.

    She added that since its inception, about 80,000 pupils have benefited from the workshop which hopes to empower over 100,000 youths  before 2020.  She noted that the pupils have track records of excellence as some have made laudable imprints in the country.

    She called on the Federal Government to invest in human resources, empowerment of teachers, promotion of industry and and a visitation of abandon projects that are key to national development and socio-economic transformation.

  • Vision 2020 empowers pupils

    Students of Vision 2020 Project Club exhibited creativity in science and technology at the 24th edition of career counselling, industry awareness and youth empowerment workshop of Vision2020.

    Vision 2020 is a youth empowerment and restoration initiative of Lonadek Consulting, a local content consultancy firm focused on empowering students in Senior Secondary Schools and undergraduates in tertiary institutions.

    Clement Attach, a SS2 student of Gbaja Boys Senior High School Surulere who represented his school, displayed a project on production of biogas from animal excreta (cow dung).  He explained that the animal waste does not only serve as manure but can also generate gas used for cooking.  He said to generate the gas, the waste is mixed with water and put into a gallon and connected to a substance (potassium hydroxide) and scrubber which after three days will start producing gas and at the 21st day, the maximum production of the gas gotten is due for use.

    Attach noted that this locally made gas is cheaper and affordable and most beneficial for rural dwellers, adding that if well utilised, could be exported as a source of revenue for the country.

    Two students from Lagos State Senior Model College, Badore, David Akachukwu  and Bose Iroomo displayed  a solar oven used for the preservation of food items. Also Lamidi Fifame of Kankan Senior Secondary  School, Badagry, showcased  the procedures in preserving amala, a local delicacy and how it can be reprocessed. Other pupils  also displayed various scientific projects.

    The project consultant of Vision2020, Mrs Ibilola Amao, said the 15 -year project which started in 2006 and will end in 2020, is geared towards “helping the Nigerian students to identify their potential, talent and creativity with regards to Science,  Technology Engineering and Mathematics.

    “Nigeria is blessed with human resources and we need to harness it. We need to begin to look at how we can create values, harness our natural and mineral resources so that we can have more people generating wealth and more jobs are created. We need to look at areas like agriculture, innovation, creativity, energy and infrastructure.  These are core areas we are challenged as a nation,” she added.

    She added that since its inception, about 80,000 pupils have benefited from the workshop which hopes to empower over 100,000 youths  before 2020.  She noted that the pupils have track records of excellence as some have made laudable imprints in the country.

    She called on the Federal Government to  invest in human resources, empowerment of teachers, promotion of industry and and a visitation of abandon projects that are key to national development and socioeconomic transformation.

     

  • VISION 2020 way out of recession, says NLC

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday asked the Federal Government to go back to the Vision 2020 document and other policies for solutions to challenges facing the nation.

    Speaking at the First NLC Youth Summit in Abuja, its President, Ayuba Wabba, said the Vision 2020 document and others gathering dust in government shelves could pull the country out of the crisis.

    According to him, the Vision 2020 document envisaged the problems and provided solutions, stressing that it is, however, worrisome when government is seeking solutions elsewhere.

    The NLC president advocated youth participation in labour activities, adding that the congress decided to set up a youth wing to give strength to labour activism.

    He said the congress lost a position at the global labour youth level because it lacked a functional youth wing, adding: “The candidate we presented was adjudged over-aged”.

    He said the congress would encourage state councils and industrial unions to set up wings.

     

  • Still dreaming about Vision 2020?

    SIR: We all know that Nigeria’s vision to become one of the world’s 20 largest economies by 2020 has attracted endless debates. So far, the pessimists would appear to have it. Most people believe that it’s an ambitious vision lacking well-articulated and implementable plans.

    Should this be a surprise in a nation with a history of countless failed visions?

    Sample: Green Revolution; Education-for-All; Vision 2010; National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy; Seven Point Agenda, and Transformation Agenda.

    Why should anyone disagree with pessimists’ conclusion that it is going to be easier for the proverbial camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for Nigeria’s Vision 2020 to be realised halfway?

    With the facts on the ground, beyond the usual crowded committees, expensive conferences and workshops where beautiful speeches are made, plagiarising similar visions elsewhere, those in charge of this vision have not shown serious strategic and tactical plans that are rigorously time-bound, financial-bound and execution-bound to prove to us that their vision 2020 dream isn’t our usual daydreams.

    • Kazeem Olalekan Israel,

    kazeemolalekanisraelgcaf@yahoo.com

     

  • Vision 2020: FG attracts N28tr investments

    Towards realizing the Vision 2020 agenda, the Federal Government on Wednesday said it has overshot its private sector investments target from N13 trillion with private businesses investing about N28 trillion between 2010 and 2013.

    This was disclosed by the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, while briefing State House correspondents in the company of Minister of Culture and Tourism, Edem Duke, at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja.

    This, he said, was uncovered during the ongoing review of the First Implementation Plan for Vision 2020 agenda.

    According to him, President Goodluck Jonathan’s macroeconomic policies in line with the first implementation plan are recording appreciable results.

    Noting that with Nigeria now the 26th largest economy in the world from 30th position in 2009, he said that the target to become world’s 20th biggest economy in 2020 is achievable.

    He said: “Today’s council was devoted to the review of the implementation of first development plan of the Vision 2020. The report is very rich, it shows very clearly that the President has achieved significantly the goals set out in the first implementation plan.”

    “And not only in terms of sectors review which shows clearly the progress  we have made in agriculture, in the economy, in industry, in flow of investment.”

    “One of the highlight of what we saw today was that under this period, because of the present reforms that were really encapsulated in the take-off of the first national implementation, we have overshot by more than 100 per cent.”

  • ‘Vision 20:2020, MDGs unrealistic without ICT’

    ‘Vision 20:2020, MDGs unrealistic without ICT’

    The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) has warned that the pursuit of the Federal Government’s Vision 20:2020 objectives and the Millennium Development Goals (MGDs) as set by the United Nations Organisation (UNO) may be a mirage if government refuses to develop an attitudinal change to the information communication technology (ICT) sector.

    The NCS President, Prof David Adewumi, made this remark while speaking with ICT journalists in Lagos, expressing concern over what he described as ‘the marginalisation’ of the ICT sector by government agencies, and warned that the development portends serious danger to the attainment of the goals set down by the government.

    He explained that the sector is concerned about the marginalisation of ICT today in the country, which is the driving force and contributor to the digital economy, adding that it would be tragic if Africa lost out on the ongoing digital revolution, having already lost out in the industrial revolution.

    “Nigeria is not fully harnessing the growth opportunity of the IT sector. The academia, manufacturing sector, government and other stakeholders must take advantage of the enormous opportunities available in IT to drive growth and development.

    “Local content needs to be enforced practically and those working and providing services in ICT in Nigeria should be encouraged and supported in providing the much-needed innovative solutions for job creation, security, governance, health and other challenges besetting the nation,” Adewumi said.

    He assured of the commitment of the NCS to embark on research and development (R&D), ICT-enabled employment generation, and promotion of excellence and professionalism in the industry and urged the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue to incorporate and prioritise the role of the ICT sector if Nigeria is to be a key player among the comity of nations.

  • Vision 20/20

    Vision 20/20

    Today is December 9. We have approximately three more weeks before the year comes to an end. This realization takes me back to the debut of the first Beyond Talent Article, titled “An Adventure Called 2012”, which was published on New Year’s Day 2012.

    At the time, I wished I had a crystal ball to tell me what the year had in store for me. I had just quit my job in Corporate America and moved back to Nigeria to live out my entrepreneurial dream. There was no longer the security of a monthly pay cheque and I only had two clients with remote probabilities of repeat business. My corporate and personal brand in the Nigerian market was anemic at best, and I had nothing but faith, hope, passion and talent to go by. I loved it! For me 2012 was an adventure, an opportunity to “create” my future like an artist creates a masterpiece out of a blank canvass. I had no clue what lay ahead or how I would bring to life the vision in my heart.

    Now, that road that lay ahead of me on New Year’s Day is now behind me. Three hundred and forty four days have gone by. How has the universe cooperated with me in achieving my goals? This period, the end of 2012 to the beginning of 2013, should be a season of thankfulness and below are all the reasons why I am personally thankful for 2012.

    1. I am thankful to be alive to see today. So many senseless tragedies occurred in 2012, air crashes, road accidents, fires, terrorist attacks, to name a few. I am thankful to have been in good physical and mental health throughout the year.

    2. I am thankful for family and friends. What would life be without their love and support? The encouragement of family and friends kept me going throughout the year. The knowledge that there are people who are cheer-leading my dream and invested in my success has been a powerful motivator.

    3. I am thankful that I have not travelled alone on this entrepreneurial journey. I found a strategic partner of like mind and passion that has, without reserve, expanded my network, increased my sunshine yellow energy, and taught me how to be more effective in selling.

    4. I am thankful for the 400+ delegates whose lives I have had the opportunity to impact. They have helped me to live my dream and I can only hope that I, in turn, inspired them to start living theirs. There are few things that are more rewarding to me, than to hear someone say I made a difference.

    5. I am thankful for the 20+ companies that I have had the privilege of providing professional services to in my inaugural year. This number has exceeded my wildest imagination. With each additional company, my track record and brand in the market has been enhanced, and my value proposition validated. It says a lot, when a client comes back for “Round Two”.

    6. I am thankful for new experiences and personal growth. This year I added Kenya and South Africa to my list of countries visited. I recall how my new Kenyans friends kept refilling my glass, despite my objections, until I finally decided to leave my drink untouched. I also became a newspaper columnist and the first female Licensed Practitioner for Insights Discovery® in West Africa.

    What has your 2012 adventure been like? Think back and reflect on all the reasons you have to be thankful. Do you still have a job? Did you escape spending a night in a hospital ward? Did you have a roof over your head, clothes on your back, shoes on your feet and food in your belly? Did you have reasons to laugh? Did you have people who loved and supported you? Did you wake up each morning to the sound of peace, rather than war? Were you able to accomplish some, if not all, of your goals? Did you try something new? Did you invest in yourself? Did you make a difference in someone else’s life? Did someone else make a difference in yours?

    2012 is on the verge of ending and it is time to come to terms with it. I put it to you that, though there may have been many disappointments along the way, there are many more reasons you have to be grateful for where you are.

    Yes… hindsight is 20/20 vision, however, only those that are living have the benefit of hindsight. If you are reading this article, that is one thing that at least you can be grateful for.