The Nation Newspaper

Tag: youths

  • Youths urged on integrity

    The Vine Branch Church, Mokola Ibadan Oyo State,  celebrated the first anniversary of the Stag Project,  a youth programme that imparts values that will help them to realise their potential. The lecture was anchored by the Pro-Chancellor, Bowen University and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Meristem Securities, Wole Abegunde.

    Tagged Men of Honour, the programme began at 11:00 p.m. Over 830 young men within the age brackets of 12 and 25 from different parts of the city attended the event.

    Intended as a platform for social re-engineering, the Stag Project is a continuous developmental programme initiated by the church to bring up young men in the way of the Lord.

    More striking was that those that attended the programme cut across different social strata and age groups. Artisans, undergraduates and graduates came together to share ideas.

    Sharing her grass-to-grace story, Pastor Bridget Iguehi Kolade enlightened her audience on how she rose from very humble beginning to become a woman of honour.

    Continuing in her thought-provoking lecture, she educated them on the essence of being a man of honour, what it takes to become a man of honour, the pitfalls to look out for while climbing the ladder of progress, and most importantly, how to remain a man of honour after achieving success.

    She posited that integrity and righteousness are the foundations of honour, saying that honour will always bring wealth.

    Advising the participants not to pursue wealth, she said: “With integrity and righteousness, you are sure of becoming a man of honour. A man of honour will also be a man of wealth because honour brings wealth. Wealth will not always bring you honour, but wealth is a bye-product of honour. You have to pursue the main product before you can have the bye-product.”

    She also advised the youth not to give in to negative peer influences, saying they should rather seek positive peers who share the same plan and purpose with them.

    She reeled off some distractions that bedeviled young men to include the lure of the opposite sex, the get-rich-quick syndrome, fashion and television, among others. She advised them to remain steadfast.

    She said: “Don’t be distracted. These distractions are potholes that will derail you from getting to your destination as a man of honour.”

    Just as a pothole can destroy a car, she explained that illegal sex is the number one distraction against the male destiny, which has brought down many wealthy men, men of honour and even clergymen.

    Speaking to Southwest Report, Pastor Kolade said: “The ministry was envisioned by Rev. Sola Kolade, and was targeted at grooming young men to become what God wants them to be.” Speaking on the impact the ministry has on the society vis-a-vis the pervasive notion that the religiosity of the average Nigerian is not reflected in the lifestyles of the people across board, she said: “It is not churches that change society but people; people who are doers of God’s Word; not just those who go to church.”

    Continuing she said “you go to church, but live like the devil. That does not change the society. The church is the building, but it is the people who can go out and change society by being doers of God’s Word. What we see are people who go to church but not people who do God’s Word. It is obedience to God’s word that brings about change. That is what the Stag Project is all about.”

  • Youths to Akiolu: we need your tutorship

    Youths to Akiolu: we need your tutorship

    Youths under the aegis of the Nigerian Youth Parliament have urged Lagos monarch, Oba Rilwanu Akiolu to teach them his leadership skills and adopt them as children and leaders of tomorrow.

    The youths, from various group across the country, made the appeal over the weekend, when they paid Akiolu a visit at his Iga-Iduganran palace.

    They sought to make him their grand patron during their first summit billed to hold later in the year.

    Their leader, Ayodele Obe, said there was a burning need to learn valuable leadership skills from the monarch, which will be useful to them in the future. He also noted that the summit will feature seminars, sensitisation and trainings.

    In his remark, Akiolu advised them to shun greed and show respect for constituted authorities.

    He urged them to draw closer to God, be cooperative amongst themselves, adding that they should be patient.

    Debunking the notion that Lagos was ‘no man’s land’, the monarch attributed the peace being enjoyed in the state to  peaceful coexistence.

    Akiolu said: “The youths are the hope of the present. Yet, they are greedy and lack respect for constituted authorities and the government.

    “It is good that they put down their demands through the right channel, which will be met how it should be instead of them resorting to violence.

    “Search your consciences; tell yourselves the truth; talk to others and wait for all to be well.”

  • Youths to monitor Northeast rehab

    As the Federal Government rehabilitates the Northeast wrecked by the now weakened Boko Haram sect, youths in the zone have undertaken to closely monitor the rebuilding efforts. In about five years of the insurgency, the zone lost much of its infrastructure and its life. Youths were killed and maimed, some forced to flee, other captured and recruited into the invaders’ army. Now some of the survivors who have coalesced into non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society groups have pledged to join the efforts to prevent a repeat of what the region suffered at the hands of the terrorists.

    The youths articulated their position at a conference, noting that the high level of poverty in the zone makes it easy for insurgents and other agents of destruction to recruit youths into their fold.  Closely related to this is the role of the youths as catalysts for any future the zone may have and therefore the need for them to take up leadership role and not resign to fate.

    The conference further observed that youths are central in the process of post-conflict trauma management and that their participation in the effort to reconstruct the infrastructuresdestroyed by the insurgents and the resettlement of returnee internally displaced persons (IDPs) is of paramount importance.

    They also took cognisance of the untiring efforts by the government and the military in crushing and annihilating the insurgency in its entire ramification, following which they recommended that:

    • Youths should henceforth act as the agents of development rather than be cannon fodders to unscrupulous politicians and agents of destruction.
    • Youths should take particular interest on how the government plans to implement its reconstruction, resettlement and rehabilitation programme in the northeast.
    • Northeast governors must show more interest in the plight of our Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).  They feel abandoned and at the mercy of the vagaries of uncaring governments agencies
    • The National Assembly shall hasten the passage of the Bill seeking the establishment of the North East Development Commission.
    • Proper documentation should be carried out for the entire insurgency affected areas in the North East.
    • The rehabilitation and re-integration of the IDPs and those Boko Haram fighetrs who surrendered to the authorities should be treated with all the deserved seriousness.
    • The stakeholders of the Northeast sub-region are urged to contribute their quota in the reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement of the North East.

    CSOs (Civil Society Organisations) should intensify their commitments and devise ways of getting information on empowerment initiatives by the government and make such information available and accessible to the general public.

    Mallam Babayola Muhammadu Toungo, who represented the Chairman, Arewa Research and Development Programme, Dr. Usman Bugaje said the meeting was to prepare the youths towards being agents of development and peace in a post-conflict northeast.

    He said the belief that lack of implimentaion of budgets over time by the various governments in addition to aforementioned factors were responsible for fueling the disturbance in the northeast.

    Even now: “We don’t have any guarantee that the N500bn social safety the Federal Government is talking about may not go down that way again. So we want our youths in a position whereby they can track the disbursement and usage, and be agents of development and peace.

    “The whole idea is to make youths see other forms of opportunities; particularly in agrarian areas which is very enormous. We are trying to re-engineer or re-synergise their thinking to make them understand the need to take their destiny in their hands – chart your vision, chart your course. Nobody is willing do that for you. He said education was another scheme they were working on, considering that 90% of the 12million children the UN said were out of school in

    Nigeria were in the north.

    “This is part of what we are campaigning for now. Government should sit down and look at our basic education with a view to taking those kids off the street because that is a very big time bomb we are sitting on.

    Our teachers today are reluctant teachers in the sense that most people that went to colleges of education in my opinion went there because they couldn’t get admissions into universities or

    polytechnics. But finding yourself in a teachers’ college, you are trained to be a teacher from day one,” said Babayola while making case for the reintroduction of teachers’ training schools

    Ibrahim Yusuf, Chairman, Civil Society Coalition in Gombe state and also the Mobilizer of the Civil Society Meeting in the Northeast said the objective of the meeting was to build the capacity of young people’s organsation on how to track and monitor the programme of the Federal Government in the three Rs Programme – reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement of the people affected by the insurgency so that the organisation will be empowered in order to

    engage the process so it will not be diverted by politicians and also the contractors at the community level.

    He explained that ten participants representing ten organisations were drawn from the six states of the sub-region to stream down lessons from the meeting to their home states and also mobilize stakeholders in the process in order to make sure that everybody is on board.

    Mohammed Anur, a participant from Yobe State Civil Society Organisation said he had learnt the need for youths to be proactive by telling government what they need, since they are closer to the communities and know the problems.

    He said the meeting had opened their eyes on collaborating with donor agencies to engage youths on skills acquisition training. “So we want to teach them on how to stand on their own because unemployment contributed a lot to this Boko Haram thing,” he said while urging

    Youths to be less angry about unemployment.

    Ismaila Mohammed, the Coordinator for ISMI (International Strategic Management Institute), Adamawa state said the meeting brought them together to see how they can contribute to the development of the Northeast region of the country by learning from each other as constant exchange of ideas is a veritable way of helping individuals develop their potentials.

    He said: “Unemployment is the inability of the individual to have creative thinking because there is no job anywhere, but creative thinking can enable an individual make something out of his life

    because everyone has potentials in them and the only way to bring them out is by thinking – looking inward.

    How to improve the lives of the IDPs, fast tracking their rehabilitation and how things will be done to take care of them was uppermost in the mind of Garba Rebecca, a participant from Borno state.

    “The condition of the IDPs is improving, but there is room for more improvement. I will organise the IDPs and educate them; let them not feel neglected or as if government is not taking their issues seriously. We will also reach out the non-IDP youths as well.

    Educating them will make them understand that government is trying and be supportive,” Rebecca explained.

    Comrade Aminu Saleh from Bauchi state of Northern Youth Assembly which partners with Arewa research Development Project ARDP said the meeting afforded them the opportunity to rub minds with colleagues across the northeast in order to look at the problems that have been facing in the zone and the entire country, Nigeria.

    “In the northeast, we have the problem of Boko Haram and if you look at it critically, you will realise that the problem is as a result of some negligence. Greed and corruption is directly proportional to what cause this problem

    “Also, our elders sometimes initiate policies that can directly go in contrast with helping the youth and indeed the country. For instance, ATBU Bauchi said they cannot employ Third Class graduate and about 60 to 70% of their students are Third Class – if you don’t want a child, you don’t need to have one.

     

    “So, in this meeting, we are going to rub minds, look at some of the policies our leaders are introducing without bringing the youths closer to them so that we can advise on the basis of reality or so that they can revisit some and do something reasonable to assist the

    youths,” said Saleh

     

  • Providing youths with business, skills, training

    Providing youths with business, skills, training

    The growing youth population brings with it a high number of social and economic challenges. The Lagos State Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment is, however, taking steps in partnership with some private organisations to boost youths’ entrepreneurial and employability skills. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    In a rapidly changing, hyper-connected world, the information communication technology (ICT) industry is driving economic growth, innovation and job creation. The ICT world is also where the jobs are.

    But many Nigerians have limited access to these new technologies. This has been a major concern for the Lagos Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment as it tried to implement strategies to address youth unemployment across the five divisions in the state.

    At the flag-off of the ICT training programme for unemployed youths in the state, Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti, expressed concerns over stubbornly high levels of unemployment largely caused by lack of ICT  skills.

    His concern is that too few graduates are entering the job market with the right qualifications to match market demands.

    According to him, the demand for ICT is surging and it makes sense to train unemployed, vulnerable young people in an industry that is thriving. For young entrepreneurs, he said  technology skills and access to technology  will improve productivity, lower costs and advance businesses into higher value-added activities, thus enhancing their market competitiveness.

    He said the ministry was determined to support young people in finding work by providing training that will foster work-readiness, talent and entrepreneurial spirit.

    According to Durosinmi-Etti,  the state  has launched an eleven-week Lagos Study Programme in partnership with Etisalat, Sterling Bank, Google, Andela, Microsoft and Audax  Solutions to produce software developers and digital marketers.

    Five hundred graduates are targeted to be trained across the five divisions of the state. He said young people would be offered entrepreneurship training to give them self-reliance skills in business planning and management, as well as hands-on experience.

    He said 40 successful graduates of the programme would be admitted as Andela Fellows and guaranteed  employment.

    The state Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment Permanent Secretary, Mr. Abdul Ahmed Mustapha said the  state’s vision is  to expand opportunities and unlock potential through retooling of knowledge and skills.

    According to him, promoting youth employment and employability requires integrated efforts that include actions in the areas of education, skills development, job supply and support for young low-income entrepreneurs, particularly in the knowledge intensive sectors.

    The training programme, Mustapha, explained, teaches unemployed and underemployed youths the basics of entrepreneurship with practical hands-on experience in the use of computer technology.

    Access to ICT  business training, according to him, would  enable young people to better qualify for a job and understand how to run their own business successfully.

    Managing Director, Audax Solutions Limited, Mr Emeka Onyenwe  explained that the training was aimed at helping young graduates  explore  opportunities in the software and the digital industry.

    According to him, the training would enable participants  become competent in software  development  methodologies and get the chance to work on a variety of platforms.

    He  explained that they are going to be  working alongside some of the best senior developers and product specialists in the industry.

    The Head of Branding, Sterling Bank, Mrs Peju Ibekwe  said the  bank was excited to be part of the historic project.

    According to her, the Lagos Study Programme was highly laudable as it was one of the novel initiatives to stamp the nation’s evolution and growth in the ICT space. She said it again empowered the youth to run their own businesses and be gainfully employed wherever they chose to be. She  said education and empowerment are major focus of Sterling Bank’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy.

    She listed some of the projects executed in the empowerment space to include ‘Meet the Executive’, a business plan competition, which availed participants grants of about N12 million to grow or establish their businesses. The participants with viable business ideas and plans, she added,  got the opportunity to pitch these ideas before the bank’s executives to stand a chance of getting significant financial support for their businesses.

  • Group to create jobs for 6 million youths

    In advertising school, O2 Academy, is targeting about six million youths for training in advertising and marketing communications.

    Having trained 5000 youths in less than 10 years of its establishment, many of whom, it said, are employed in advertising agencies across the country, the Chief Executive Officer of the academy, Ozone Mbanefo, said it was very easy to realise the target.

    Mbanefo said there were plans to establish branches of the academy across the country.

    He spoke during the graduation of students of the academy in Lagos. He said the academy engaged  students on four-month intensive advertising and marketing communications training.

    “We create this graduation to showcase students’ works and we invite industry experts, who want to employ them to come and have a look at their works and of course, get them employed,” he said.

    The Managing Director, Creati-vexone, a brand management consultant, Doyin Adewunmi, described the academy as a veritable platform for enhancing industry performance, urging stakeholders to be passionate about it.

  • Why youths must support Buhari, by pharmacist

    A United Kingdom (UK)-based Nigerian pharmacist, Peter Iyoko, has urged the youth to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in its drive to build a modern Nigeria that will be corruption-free.

    Iyoko, a University of Jos (UNIJOS) graduate, said the President inherited many challenges that would need time to solve. He said it would be wrong for anyone to assess the Buhari administration without considering the problems it inherited from its predecessors.

    Iyoko said: “The wanton corruption that happened under the last administration needs time to be cleaned up. Things may not happen quickly as we all expected, but President Buhari needs more time to get the dividends of democracy delivered to Nigerians. I strongly believe in his change agenda, but he needs time to clear the rot and build a solid foundation that will stand the test of time.”

    The pharmacist urged the youth to prepare for the challenges ahead, noting that they must join hands with the government to rebuild the nation. He lamented lack of unity among young Nigerians, expressing disappointment over the cancellation of the youth conference billed for Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife.

    The conference, he said, would have been a good platform for the youth to engage the government and contribute their quota to the present administration’s drive to rebuild the country.

    Speaking on pharmaceutical practice in Nigeria, Iyoko said the administration of drug was still far from being customer-oriented. He said:“When it comes to training, which is theoretical, our pharmaceutical practice is not geared towards customers, unlike what we have in the UK. Here, pharmacists are trained to satisfy customers.

    “In practice, Nigeria practically does not have the kind of scheme where you get your medications almost free. Drug distribution in the UK is effective and efficient unlike what we have in Nigeria.”

    Iyoko said the former Director-General of National Administration for Food, Drugs and Administration and Control (NAFDAC, the late Prof Dora Akunyili, should be immortalised for her key role in the standardisation of drug distribution, which were initially left in the hands of illiterate hawkers.

    “Drug distribution process must be made flexible. Measures must be placed on how to ensure that drugs entering through the border are not adulterated. Government needs to train NAFDAC workers on digitisation of drugs to promote accountability, transparency, efficiency and effective service delivery,” he said.

     

  • Council urges youths on hard work

    The Sole Administrator of Mosan Okunola Local Council Development Area, Lagos State, Mr. Rotimi Ogunwuyi, has urged youths to shun vices and embrace hard work in order to be useful to themselves and the society.

    He spoke during the distribution of General Certificate Education (GCE) forms to 50 youths of the council.

    Ogunwuyi explained that the country was undergoing a structural change that will turn the country around, adding that the youth must show interest in matters that will enhance their development.

    He further stressed that students should take their studies seriously. This, he said, will ensure their success in any examination, noting that it was time they did away with shortcuts approach to attaining success in their examinations.

    He said: “There is no magic about success. You need to work hard by reading your books always. History has shown that those who apply the principle of hard work excelled in their examinations.

    “It is unfortunate that some youths often resort to unorthodox method by hiring mercenaries and following dubious paths towards attaining success in any examination because they want to pass at all costs. At the end, they pay for such serpentine approach.

    “I therefore urge you in your own interest to work hard. Those who excel will be further assisted in their future careers.”

    Ogunwuyi maintained that the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) frowns at special centres where all sorts of abnormalities are perpetuated.

    “You must imbibe the spirit of hard work, diligence and truthfulness in all your dealings. This is the era of change and everything must change positively,” he said.

  • Fed Govt trains 9,500 youths in Ebonyi

    Fed Govt trains 9,500 youths in Ebonyi

    The Federal Government has started training no fewer than 9,500 unemployed youths in Ebonyi State in a bid to shore up jobs in the state. The trainees are being coached in various skills.

    The programme is part of the fifth phase of the government’s youth empowerment scheme across the country under the Industrial Training Fund (ITF).

    Acting Director General of ITF, Mr. Dickson Onuoha disclosed this in Abakaliki during flag-off of the programme.

    “The fifth phase of the programme will cover 18 states including the FCT with 500 youths expected to be trained in each state,” she said.

    She said the areas where the state beneficiaries will be trained include tailoring and weaving, welding and fabrication, carpentry and joinery, shoe and bag-making, masonry and bricklaying.

    She said, “These trade areas were carefully selected based on their anticipated value addition to the citizens of the state and the potentials to provide sustainable means of livelihood”.

    The state governor David Umahi said  his administration  was poised to develop the capacity of the youths to become self-reliant.

    He called on the youths of Ebonyi who are jobless in other parts of the country to return home and find something meaningful to do under his government’s youth-oriented programmes.

    He said: “Every Ebonyi youth in other parts of the country especially Lagos should please come back home; we are ready to create jobs for them.

    “A day is coming when nobody will be willing to seek political office because of the current reality.  One day, there will be no kobo from the Federation Account so it high time we started thinking outside the box.”

    The governor said his administration would create over 100,000 jobs for the youth and women especially in the agriculture sector. He said the state now focused mainly on mechanised system of farming as according to him “agriculture without technology is death.”

    Governor Umahi promised to provide the trainees with financial assistance to enable them set up their businesses after acquiring necessary skills from the programme.

    The ITF Area Manager in charge of Enugu and Ebonyi states Mrs. Linda Egbonu said the programme was organised to develop the mindset of the youths in the areas of entrepreneurship and skill acquisition.

  • Youths seek end to herdsmen, farmers clash

    Ilorin, the Kwara State captal was agog for the maiden National Economic Youth Dialogue organised by the North Central caucus of the Nigerian Youth Parliament (NYP). The event was held at the state Banquet Hall.

    Leader of NYP in the zone, Umar Etudaye, said the objective of the event was to raise awareness among the youths on the need to desist from crime and engage in agriculture and entrepreneurship.

    Participants, including Corps members and students, discussed burning national issues, which borders on security and economic matters. They condemned the incessant clash between farmers and herdsmen, calling on the government to fast-track the proposed biometric capture of cattle owners to stop the bloodshed resulting from herdsmen and farmers’ clash in rural communities.

    The youth also appealed to the Niger Delta Avengers to go on dialogue table with the government, saying blowing up the oil installations would only result in collective loss and pose great environmental challenges to the region.

    They advocated for cooperation between the presidency and the National Assembly, saying the subtle crisis of confidence between the executive and legislature could erode the core values of democracy.

    They unanimously endorsed the diversification of economy by the Federal Government, stressing that agriculture remained the solution to drive the needed economic revolution.

    The youth resolved that Kogi, Benue, Niger and Kwara states should be engaged by the Federal Government for the take-off of its Agro-allied revolution, which will provide jobs for the youths in the region, and give them opportunity to acquire professional skills.

    They said data collection of jobless youths to be trained in agro-business would start in October via online registration.

    Etudaye hailed the chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, for sponsoring training of youths for agro-allied business event and for his commitment to making the nation a business hub.

    Speaking with CAMPUSLIFE, one of the organisers, Titilayo Yusuf, praised the participants for attending the summit, advising them to return to their communities and share the message with other youths.

  • Wake up from your slumber, youths told

    Former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, has urged youths to wake up from their slumber, saying it is time they channeled their energy towards eradicating poverty.

    Anyaoku admonished them to be focused on  politics, social change and economic values, especially entrepreneurship.

    The former scribe spoke at this year’s International Youth Day, organised by the RISE Networks in collaboration with the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC).

    The event, which held at the multipurpose hall of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Akoka, had as theme: ‘The road to 2030: Eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable production and consumption”.

    Anyaoku said: “Youths must wake up ad rise to this call by mobilising themselves and channeling their energy to governance that will create true federalism. This restructuring that I am advocating for, poses no threat to our national unity. On the contrary, it is the continuation of the ongoing agitations in different parts of the country which are encouraged by the present governance structure.

    “Youths should venture into manufacturing of little things like pencils, erasers, toothpicks and I believe that there are institutions that will provide youths with financial support. Nigeria is in great need for social change. Youths now worship wealth. Hardwork is no longer recognised as the way to success. Our youths must embrace entrepreneurship.”

    The director, Legal and PA&C of the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC), Sade Morgan, said the company is committed to eradicating poverty as well as sustaining production and consumption by empowering youths through vocational skill trainings and other competitions as well as partnering with agencies to encourage recycling.

    Morgan said: “We have a continuous partnership with LAWMA (Lagos State Waste Management Authority), which support recycling in schools. We have also been committed to supporting the annual gathering of the school recycling clubs which always includes an exhibition of various materials created from recycled materials.”

    She added: “We recently launched the Coca-Cola bottle art competition in partnership with YABATECH (Yaba College of Technology). The competition will see teams create forms of art using the Coca-Cola bottle while promoting environmental friendliness, youth development and artistic expression. It would encourage reuse of glass and absorb glass from polluting the environment while creating beautiful work of art that can generate income.”