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Tag: youths

  • Creating productive youths through agro enterprises

    Youths are the livewire of any country. A productive youth will create a productive economy. In collaboration with the Michigan State University, Master Card Foundation has launched a programme for the empowerment of 15,000 youths in Nigeria and Tanzania. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    With unemployment on the rise, the youth can find opportunities in the agricultural sector as entrepreneurs.

    The Master Card Foundation and Michigan State University (MSU) Ag youth lab is designed with this in mind to assist the youth in employment and entrepreneurship in the agrifood system in Nigeria and Tanzania.

    Launched in Lagos, the Ag youth lab is intended to support 15,000 youths aged 18 and 24, by improving their abilities to find quality farming and agro-processing jobs, access finance, start and grow agro businesses, and expand opportunities.

    At the launch of the  lab in Lagos, the Special Assistant on Innovation & Entrepreneurship to the Acting President, Ife Adebayo, said job creation through agriculture remained a priority of the Buhari-led administration.

    He reiterated that the government was determined to invest in empowering the youth to build their entrepreneurial  and technical skills and spirit, so that they could help boost agricultural productivity.

    Adebayo said  youth participation along the value chain was vital to the growth of the  economy, from food production, storage and handling, to agro processing.

    He urged the youth to avail themselves of the opportunities in the sector.

    The Ag youth lab, he said, will  provide a vibrant space for youths development – supporting young people to play an active role in food production.

    John Hannah Distinguished Professor in Land Policy, MSU, Adesoji Adelaja, said it is a five-year $13 million collaboration.

    The partnership, he explained, will  support the youth in major food sheds in Lagos and Dar es Salaam to access employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.

    Nigeria, according to him, will have the lion’s share in the deal to help young people access employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in the fast-growing horticulture, aquaculture, poultry, cassava and oilseed sectors.

    He said the project is targeting 10,000 youths in Nigeria, adding that 75  per cent of the fund will be used to support them.

    He said the project could provide new jobs in agrifood systems, by identifying constraints affecting the capacity of youth to take up these economic opportunities.

    Adelaja explained that the project would pursue a mixed programme strategy to increase youth economic opportunities on and off-farm. The programmes will increase the knowledge, productivity and market engagement of youth who have the desire and ability to be good farmers.

    He noted that agriculture is increasingly seen as offering a bright future for young people and a way to stimulate growth in the rural economy.

    Senior  Adviser to the Associate Provost and Dean, International Studies and Programmes at MSU, Dr Julie Howard, said the project will seek increased investment and policy change to support the scaling up of activities to boost  youth participation in agric employment and entrepreneurship.

    She said efforts would concentrate on green revolution technologies and supportive government policies that kick-started rural economic growth processes and pulling more youths into more productive jobs.

    She talked about unexploited opportunities: increasing youth employment and entrepreneurship in agriculture. These opportunities, according to her, relate to modernising traditional agriculture, and range from on-farm service provision (e.g. tractors for hire, input dealers) to food processing, marketing, and the expansion of food away from home products and services. Not creating more and better economic opportunities for young people, she warned, could threaten to stability.

    Managing Director/CEO, Venture Garden Group Nigeria,Bunmi Akinyemiju, said Information Communication Technology (ICT) tools would help modernise agriculture, make value chains more efficient, provide new employment opportunities, and attract more young people to the sector.

    Specifically, he said young farmers who apply ICT tools and skills to their farming businesses have higher yields, incomes and social status.

    According to him, facilitating access to ICTs and improving rural broadband connectivity are key to attracting young entrepreneurs to agriculture.

    He stressed that efforts in this field must go hand in hand with increased capacity building in ICT use, tailored towards agribusiness development.

    The Ag Youth Lab would emphasise policy research, data and analytics to develop a cost-effective, scalable model for youth training and facilitation, she added.

    “Our e-learning and monitoring and evaluation platforms will support the program by providing trainees and other stakeholders with the information needed to succeed,” Akinyemiju,  the lead partner responsible for data and information technology activities, said.

    Senior Programme Manager, Youth Livelihoods, The Master  Card Foundation, Alemayehu Koira, said the  youth programme would provide skills training for economically disadvantaged young people so they could find employment.

    The skills training will focuse on developing foundational skills, such as literacy and numeracy, and technical skills.

    He said agricultural production is central to young people’s livelihood. Youth participating in the programme, he noted, is given to enable them to venture into farming  and  food processing, value addition and sales.

    The vision of MasterCard Foundation, he reiterated, is to see youths transform agriculture into agri-businesses.

    One of the major goals of the project, Koira said, is a radical change in the way youths are taught agriculture and entrepreneurship. The skills required for a modern agriculture and food system, he explained, are of a higher order and need to be upgraded significantly.

    Provost, Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology (OYSCA-TECH), Prof Gbemiga Adewale, said the project delivers a comprehensive package of services, including skills training, business development and mentoring to young people aimed to equip youth with the skills and knowledge necessary to capitalise on economic opportunities and increase their incomes, with the ripple effects benefiting thousands out there.

    Using a “train the trainers”approach, local colleges and their graduates would train community facilitators to expose youth to new opportunities and pass on skills using an experiential learning approach.

    “We will work together to establish an atmosphere where youth will be able to create jobs and become agents of food sufficiency as well as ambassadors of character,” Adewale said.

    Deputy Director-General, Partnerships for Delivery, International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr Kenton Dashiell, said IITA would bring the lessons from its experience to help Ag Youth Lab tap the dynamism of Africa’s youth.

  • Obi to youths: don’t give up

    Obi to youths: don’t give up

    Former governor of Anambra State Peter Obi has advised youths to remain focused and keep pushing forward even when they are down. He reminded them of the saying: when there is life there is hope.

    Obi was speaking to medical students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University on their campus at Okofia, Nnewi, Anambra State.

    Speaking to the students who filled the auditorium, with many more standing outside, Obi emphasised that whatever the distraction, anyone desirous of success must not lose focus. He hinted that despite the fact that people called him names in an attempt to force him to share Anambra State’s money out to people, he refused and stayed focused in delivering dividends of democracy to the people.

    He made it clear that a committed man should not be interested in making a few friends happy, but rather should be focused on doing what is right and beneficial to the entire society.

    Speaking further, he reminded the students that their youth was their critical tool. Obi agreed that young people were permitted by the law of growth and development to be impulsive, but he said that the problem was usually when some of them, rather than grow to thoughtful young adults, remained becalmed in adolescence.

    Obi said most famous men, including those that founded business and Information Technology empires, started in their youth and concluded that the successes of today were the crystallization of the dreams of yesterday.

    Speaking briefly on the youth and Nigerian politics, Obi advised them not to allow themselves to be used by politicians, some of whom sent their children to schools abroad and remain at home looking for youths to use as thugs. Obi argued that once the youth follow the dictates of their conscience in playing politics and not contended with “crumbs”, things will improve in Nigeria.

    Speaking after the conference, the man behind it and the chaplain, Catholic Youth Organisation of Nigeria, Nnewi Diocese and St. Camillus de Lellis Chaplaincy, College of Health Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Rev. Fr. Chetanna Jude Chukwuneke said that he was fulfilled by the programme, which he described as among the programmes designed to inculcate positive values in the youth through words of wisdom from men of proven integrity

  • Ex-JAMB Registrar seeks reading culture among youths

    The immediate past Registrar of Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, has given reasons why youths should have flair for reading, irrespective of their discipline.

    Ojerinde, who presented a paper: “Promoting reading culture among Nigerian youths”,  to officially declared open this year’s Nigeria International Book Fair conference, recalled his encounter with a lady, who refused to oblige him a material in her possession on a tour to a foreign land 46 years ago. He also described the ‘bring back the book’ initiative of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, as remarkable. His experience and the initiative, he said, propelled his gospel of reading.

    He said: “At the end of the (bring back the book) campaign, questionnaires were distributed. One striking questions to me on that day was: ‘What will you do to promote reading culture in your establishment?’ My response was categorical ‘I will introduce a reading material in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) questions.”

    Ojerinde, a professor of Test and Measurement, said he presented the idea to JAMB management, which was approved. In 2013-2014, Ojerinde said reading materials were introduced for all JAMB candidates in the English Language.

    The initiative, Ojerinde continued, had enormous challenges ranging from candidates’ unwillingness to identify with books, publishers/authors disagreement and piracy,  but he stuck to his guns.

    He recalled that the 2015 examination got positive responses from candidates, who eventually developed interest in reading, having gone through JAMB’s prescribed material.

    The Senate Committee Chairman on Local and Foreign Debts, Shehu Sani, corroborated Ojerinde.

    He said: “Our young people nowadays no longer read books, but enjoy posting messages on social media. Our public office holders too do not read. Many books in the house of politicians today exist as part of furniture because they do not read them. The declining reading culture affects the level of the intellectual and political discourse in Nigeria today. You hardly see politicians quoting great figures or writers. The only book they know are cheque book and facebook; and that is unfortunate.

    “Reading is indispensable for national development. When people do not read, they have nothing to offer and that is the issue we are having in the country today.”

    The Secretary of NIBF, Abiodun Omotubi, said the foundation would continue to support reading culture in the country.

  • Youths caution Fani-Kayode

    Youths caution Fani-Kayode

    President-General of the Concerned Oodua Progressive Youth Assembly Kola Salawu has cautioned the former Minister of Aviation Femi Fani-Kayode on his unguarded remarks against President Muhammadu Buhari.
    He said the remarks were capable of causing hatred and acrimony in the polity.
    In a statement, Salawu: “We have watched with concern the growing instance of promotion of hate, call to insurgency, call to commit pogrom and other negative acts that amount to crimes by the politician.
    “In this instance, we specifically want to address the activities Femi Fani-Kayode. He constitutes an obstacle to the Yoruba in the Federal Executive Council and those appointed into other position by President Buhari. He is running a campaign of calumny against the President.
    “We think he does this in the hope that he can drive a wedge between President Buhari and the Yoruba in the cabinet, so that they can be shoved aside.
    “Femi Fani-Kayode has taken the proverbial sacrifice past the indicated road junction in his recent call on the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo to take over government from President Muhammadu Buhari.
    He added: “FFK has backup vocalists in this demented call that has no place in the constitution. It is nothing short of a ploy to pitch the Yoruba in government, led by Vice President Osinbajo, against other ethnic groups in the country.
    “We are therefore, warning that FFK and his likes are distracting the Vice President who assiduously goes about his duties as assigned to him by President Buhari. His recent criticism of Buhari’s letter to the National Assembly tranferring power to the Acting President, indicated his desperation to heat the polity. “
    The group urged Osinbajo to remain focused, adding that God would grant him grace to steer the ship of state.
    Salawu said: “The Acting President must not heed the call chorused by this rubble rouser.We demand that Femi Fani-Kayode and his likes immediately withdraw the call for war in the interest of the country’s peace and unity. If FFK truly has the interest of the Yoruba race at heart, he should ceasefire on issues pertaining to the President’s health.
    “No true Yoruba man wishes evil to their leader, he should surrender to the supremacy of the leaders of the Yoruba race who have excelled in creating a political path for the country. He should emulate the likes of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu who have made the Yoruba proud by being proactive in the development of the country,” he said.

  • Ijaw youths hail Senate for passing Maritime Varsity Bill

    Ijaw youths have hailed the Senate for passing “A Bill for the Establishment of Nigerian Maritime University at Okerenkoko in Delta State”.

    This brings the proposed institution close to gaining statutory status, three years after its foundation was laid.

    Youths, under the aegis of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, noted that the senators did the right thing by providing the enabling legal framework to pave the way for the institution’s kick-off.

    In a statement yesterday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, by its President, Pereotubo Oweilaemi, IYC said: “We will like to thank the 8th Senate for the proactive step it has taken to pass the ‘Bill for the Establishment of the Nigerian Maritime University at Okerenkoko in Delta State’. The university is one of the demands of major Niger Delta stakeholders.

    “The 8th Senate has demonstrated its responsiveness to the genuine wishes of the Niger Delta people. The Senate has, by passing this bill, contributed to peace building in the Niger Delta and indeed Nigeria, because the university will serve all Nigerians in manpower development in the Maritime sector.”

    The umbrella organisation of Ijaw youths also praised the Presidency for ordering the commencement of academic activities at the university before this year runs out.

    IYC said: “It is indeed commendable that the Presidency has promptly followed its directive on commencement of academic activities at the Maritime University with the setting up of a five-man inter-agency committee, to be headed by the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, to see to the implementation of the President’s directive.

    “It is our hope that everyone involved will contribute their part to ensuring the opening of the Maritime University in the 2017/2018 academic session.

    “We wish to salute the representative of Delta South Senatorial District, Senator James Manager; the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachuckwu and Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for their ensuring the take-off of the Maritime University.”

    The passage of the bill and the Presidential directive came over one year after attempts to scrap the strategic institution, which Niger Delta leaders kicked against.

  • BoI to support youths with zero interest loans

    BoI to support youths with zero interest loans

    The Bank of Industry (BoI) has revised its interest rates for corps members under its Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund (GEF) programme, from nine per cent to zero per as part of measures to encourage entrepreneurship and aid business growth.

    Currently on the second edition, the GEF scheme is being implemented by BoI in partnership with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Directorate. It has recorded over N262.9 million disbursements to 177 successful candidates.

    BoI said it decided to further encourage such young entrepreneurs by administering their loans at zero per cent interest charge effective from May 1, this year.

    Existing GEF loans and those to be disbursed from May will require repayment of only the principal amounts, while the 177 candidates that have been financed under the scheme will pay the loan interest that accrued up to April 30.

    As at March 31, 2017, the bank had approved N583.8 million for disbursements to entrepreneurs under the scheme.

    BoI said it was motivated by the larger part of the 177 candidates who have exhibited strong dedication to their businesses and have demonstrated unusual commitment to repayment of their loans including the nine per cent interest portion.

    With the first disbursements already creating impact in the agriculture value chain and creative industry, the bank added that N46.98 million is expected to be disbursed to the remaining 28 successful candidates who are in various stages of complying with the loan requirements.

    “The Bank of industry is highly delighted in the outcome of its investment in these young Nigerians. The bank firmly believes that entrepreneurship is a critical pathway to resolving the worrisome unemployment problem in the country.

    “Hence, the bank desires to ensure the businesses that have been created through the GEF programme remain sustainable with progressive migration from small businesses to medium and eventually to large enterprises,” a statement by BoI said.

    The statement added that the bank believes that that the gesture will further attract young Nigerians that are undergoing their one-year compulsory national youth service to embrace entrepreneurship by participating in the GEF programme.

    “It is pertinent to reiterate that the zero per cent interest charge on loans apply only to the GEF programme, which is implemented in partnership with NYSC Directorate”, the bank added.

  • Youths protest detention of petrol dealer, seven others

    There is tension in Igede-Ekiti, Ekiti State, over the arrest and detention of a petrol dealer, Femi Anifowose and seven others. They were nabbed over an attempt by the government to demolish a filling station under construction.
    The eight were arraigned last Friday and charged with alleged terrorism and kidnapping. They were remanded in prison and the case was adjourned till May 31.
    The crisis was caused by the alleged deployment of a bulldozer to the town last Wednesday to demolish the station, which was resisted by youths.
    Anifowose, who got wind of the crisis, arrived the scene and appealed to youths not to resort to violence, but he was arrested by men of a security outfit, “Operation Flush”, with seven youths.
    The youth alleged yesterday that men of “Operation Flush” beat up Anifowose and stripped him naked before taking him and others away.
    The Vice-President of Igede Youth Forum, Olufemi Adebayo, said residents were afraid, adding that they stayed indoors to avoid arrest.
    Adebayo, who sought unconditional release of the petrol dealer and others, said nobody died during the protest, adding that none of the protesters was arrested with weapons.
    He said: “We call for the unconditional release of those arrested. We condemn the spurious charge of terrorism and kidnapping brought against them.
    “We see the charge as an attempt to keep them behind bars. Commercial activities have been paralysed in Igede.
    “We demand unconditional release of Anifowose and others.
    “Youths should not be forced to resort to violence. We are peace lovers. We demand justice for the Igede eight.”

  • Itsekiri youths to shut down Chevron facilities, if…

    The National Association of Itsekiri Graduates (NAIG) has urged its compatriots who are VTP5 and VTP6 trainees of Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) to prepare to shut down the company’s operations at Escravos and other fields, if the company fails to give them permanent jobs before their contract runs out next month.

    In a statement at the weekend by its President/CEO, Edema Collins Oritsetimeyin, NAIG said: “It is an insult on the Itsekiri nation to keep our graduates as trainees for four years without employment.”

    The group urged the trainees to ensure that “Itsekiri graduates under VTP5/OTP2 and VTP6/OTP3 are staffed without further delay”.

    It said the OPITO certificates of the affected trainees were in custody of Chevron to purportedly keep them tied to the company.

    NAIG noted that such treatment was “not being done in Richmond, Angola or those trainees in ‘national’ the programme”.

    The group said the excuse of cutting cost, as adduced by Chevron for non-regularisation of the trainees, “is not only a fallacy but a dent on the integrity of CNL”.

    It said the company “recorded a profit of $1.2 billion in the just concluded fiscal year” and “the EGTL train 1 and 2 are fully operational. Pure diesel, naphtha and LPG are constantly being exported daily”.

    NAIG said the Itsekiri host over 75 per cent of Chevron’s onshore/offshore/swamp fields under the Olu of Warri.

    The students’ body decried the attitude of House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara and Majority Leader Femi Gbajabamilia for their position on the Presidency’s directive for IOCs to relocate their corporate headquarters to the Niger Delta.

    It noted that the actions of the lawmakers “only buttress our long-held belief that the treatment meted out to the Itsekiri by Chevron is because some people in the corridors of power, especially of the Yoruba stock, are aiding Chevron to marginalise us without recourse to the fact that we host Chevron Tank Farm at Ugborodo”.

  • Youths urge free, fair party primary

    Youths urge free, fair party primary

    A chieftain of the Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya has urged leaders of Oshodi Local Government Area, Lagos not to impose candidates on the electorate during the party’s primary for the forthcoming local government election.

    He said the party did not field some popular aspirants in the 2015 elections which led to the emergence of the candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the House of Representatives and Lagos State House of Assembly.

    He noted that Oshodi is one of the major communities in Lagos State that contributes to the overall development of the state, stressing that it is the stronghold of the APC.

    “The local government election that is on the way and with reference to Oshodi LGA, which is one of the popular areas in Lagos, has been in the news for the good, bad and ugly.

    “We that are residents of Oshodi understand the intrigues of the council. We are aware of what is happening and wish to use this medium to tell Governor Akinwunmi Ambode that he should prevail on the elders of the council not to impose any candidate on the electorate in the forthcoming election.

    “We saw hell in the 2015 elections due to the invasion of Oshodi by the opposition. They were supported by federal might and used all sorts of obnoxious acts to undermine the election process.

    “I want the government to create a level playing ground that will ensure that only a popular candidate is allowed to fly the ticket of the APC. We should avoid the mistakes of the past, which gave the opposition the opportunity to encroach on the APC stronghold in the last election.”

    Akinsanya further explained that the youth were fully ready for the council polls, noting that he would mobilise them for a successful outing during the election.

    “Oshodi is a great council in Lagos State and would not be fair to allow the opposition party to encroach into it because they have nothing to offer the people. Our elders should be prevailed upon to support the popular candidates in the coming elections.

    “The residents are ready for the election and they are going to support only the popular candidate to win the election for APC.

    “Former President Goodluck Jonathan never gave us peace during the 2015 elections. We were running for our dear lives. They used soldiers, thugs and all manner of people to terrorise us. I had to escape from the country through Cotonou, Republic of Benin to Saudi Arabia.

    “The only caution ahead is for the APC to produce a popular candidate during its primary. There should not be any form of imposition of candidate by leaders in Oshodi LGA, so that what happened in the past does not happen again.

    “Again, I am confident that the APC has learnt its lessons. I believe it will organise a free and fair primary which the people will be proud to support,” he said.

  • Stop leaving Nigeria for greener pastures, ex-minister advises youths

    Former Minister of State for Finance Aderemi Babalola has urged youths to stop leaving the country for greener pastures.

    Babalola, who spoke at the weekend at the Young Managers’ Quiz Competition organised by the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN), Lagos State Area Unit, for primary and secondary school pupils across the state’s 57 councils, said there were opportunities yet to be tapped in the country.

    According to him, Nigeria will regain its economic pride if youths become more productive by creating their own businesses rather than running to other countries for greener pastures.

    He blamed the mismanagement of oil proceeds for the prevailing economic challenges.

    Babalola said: “Many youths now believe that deciding to stay in the country is the worst choice to take. Yes, It is tough, but running away is not the best decision to make. There are better opportunities here too. As citizens, we need to make some sacrifices.

    “Start thinking about what should happen in 20 years’ time. Nigeria presents an unusual opportunity for entrepreneurs because all the things have not been done. Things are waiting for people to come and do them, so opportunities are here untapped.

    “We had so much money that came all of a sudden from oil. If we had used that money to develop our infrastructure, productive aspects that will enable individuals to do whatever they want to do, it would have been a different ball game. That’s what some other countries actually did. But what we did in our own case is sharing the money within the three tiers of government and it encourages corruption and that is the reason why the country has not been developed.”

    MSSN President Dr Saheed Ashafa, who lamented the nation’s over-dependence on oil, enjoined youths to engage in activities that would make them self-reliant.

    Ashafa said the competition was aimed at engaging youths to provide a lasting solution to the country’s economic challenges.

    “Youths, regardless of the challenges faced must begin to take bold steps towards being self-reliant. A situation where youths rely solely on paid employment and refuse to own businesses is dangerous for a developing country like Nigeria. Government at all levels must take as a priority the creation of a conducive business environment for start-ups and existing businesses,” he said.

    He said education curriculum should be tinkered with to inculcate entrepreneurship studies to address joblessness.

    Another guest speaker, Mr AbdulHakeem Bashorun, a chartered accountant, urged the government to assist small and medium scale enterprises for Nigeria to grow.