The Nation Newspaper

Tag: youths

  • Group empowers Niger Delta youths

    A group as Niger Delta Legacy Engagement (NDLE) in collaboration with the United States Government is empowering the youths of Niger Delta through film production and business.

    At a press briefing on the project held at the residence of the US consular-general in Lagos, the group said it is seeking sustainable peace and environment in the region through constructive engagements as against violence, militancy and kidnapping, among other.

    A popular Nollywood film producer, Jeta Amata, who trained the youths, spoke to The Nation. He said: “When the Americans looked at what we were doing, they said we want to work with Nigerians that can give their own initiative.

    “The concept is to use our own initiative to solve our problem and the Americans invited a few of us and say why don’t we use the media, Nollywood, which is one of the biggest film industry and the followership is good because people sit down to watch what is done. Why don’t we send these messages out through Nollywood, televisions and films and that is why we came up with the idea.

    “21 people have been trained, seven each from Nembe, Ozoro and Erema in Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers States respectively. This is just the first season and we can only afford to commit a particular amount at a time. We also don’t want to have many people at a time because we need to concentrate on the people we trained, follow them up and make sure they make their own films properly, professionally and to international standards.

    “Our target for change is now; our people need to get the message now because elections are coming up next year and there is always a reason for people to want to get violent. I brought in four sets of professional equipments and start up money for them to make films. They have made the films already. They make music videos, documentaries for people.

    “The films are not yet on sale because we want the televisions to run the episodes, give the films publicity, so that when the films go on sale, they (trained militants) will make money. We expect to begin the next season by January next year. Between September and October this year, we will go back to new communities in selected Niger Delta states for selection.

    “There are people who have ideas like this and capacity to do it but don’t have the funding to actualize them but we have the backing from the United States Government, the board of trustees of NDLE to be able to do this.”

  • Ikuforiji advises youths on leadership

    Ikuforiji advises youths on leadership

    Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly Adeyemi Ikuforiji has admonished youths in the country to step up their participation in politics and governance to ensure leadership change.

    Ikuforiji, while addressing a group of youths under the banner of National Youth Council of Nigeria who paid him a visit in Ikeja at the weekend,  advised  them to shun activities that are capable of jeopardising their future and the spirit of the nation.

    The national leader of the group, Comrade Deolu George, urged the Speaker to declare his intention to contest for the governorship election in February, 2015.

    Ikuforiji, in his response, expressed his gratitude to the youths for reposing confidence in his leadership quality.

    He said: “Having worked as number three citizen of this state, approving budgets of nine financial years and overseeing the implementation of policies and laws passed by the House of Assembly, I am convinced that I have all it takes to govern our dear state and take her to the next level.  And  in due course, I will make my intention known to Lagosians. “

    The speaker bemoaned the attitude of youths in leadership succession, urging them  to arrest the trend.

    “The percentage of the youth taking  up leadership positions in the country is abysmally low. If the youths, which possess 60 per cent of the voting power can still remain powerless and be suffering, then you should blame yourselves for self-denials,” he said.

  • Advice for youths

    Youths who are aspiring to go into politics have been admonished to always strive to be truthful, honest and be ready to serve the nation.

    Comrade Seun Balogun, Ikosi Youth, an umbrella body of youths in Isheri-Ikosi Local Council Development Area (LCDA), who gave the advice, said it was time the youth got actively involved in handling their destinies.

    He praised the Ikosi-Isheri LCDA chief, Abdulfatai Ayodele Oyesanya, an engineer, for the success of his administration.

    Balogun, who spoke at a media conference, urged residents and other people working for the council boss to be faithful and upright in their support for democracy and good governance in the area.

    “Our collective focus must be on developmental programmes which will strengthen good governance, lift the environment and facilitate harmony among us all,” he said.

  • Youths get leadership training in US

    Some young Nigerians have arrived the country after a two-week  leadership training and mentoring in the United States  of America.

    The youngsters, who were drawn from  different  secondary schools,  attended a  Global Youth Leadership Programme  were accorded a rousing reception  at the Prince  Georges County, Maryland, which also featured  notable community leaders, including Dr. James Dula, a retired Airforce  chief, Dr Frank Forka, Director  of Africa Trade Office USA, Rev. Michelle Agnew, Director of Youth at Greater Mt Nebo in Maryland  and members of CTU news crew.

    The scheme was initiated by Mrs Remi Duyile, a youth advocate, to expose and engage  Africa’s young leaders  between ages 10  and 17 to  where they can learn best practices, have positive mindset and ultimately, ‘I can do’  attitude and spirit  at a very young age. The young Nigerians interacted with leaders of strategic institutions that collaborated with the programme.

    They enjoyed a tour of the White House, the official residence of the US president. They also had the privilege of sitting in galleries of the America’s Senate and Congress where they watched the legislative arm of the US government in session. Thereafter, some of the pupils interacted with some of the lawmakers and community leaders, who lectured them on how leadership qualities could be imbibed.

  • IITA to train youths

    The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Youth Agripreneurs (IITA Youth Agripreneurs) have con-cluded plans to train and empower youths from Borno State.

    The proposed three-week training, which comes up next month, will equip youths  with knowledge on modern agricultural practices and entrepreneurial skills that will make them self-dependent and create wealth.

    “What we intend to do is actually use agriculture to solve some of the social problems in most societies of Africa including poverty and hunger,” IITA’s Director-General,Dr Nteranya Sanginga, said.

    The programme will draw from the experiences and successes of the IITA Youth Agripreneur model, and will be conducted by youths that have been trained and empowered by IITA.

    “Over the last few years we have seen that it is more effective for youths to train youths. And we want to use this approach to bring more youths to agriculture, take them off the job market, and reinstate stability in our communities,” Dr Sanginga added.

    Established over two years ago, the IITA Youth Agripreneur program uses teaching, mentoring and practical demonstrations of modern agriculture to attract youths into agribusiness. The primary goals are to attract to the sector the necessary young and vibrant human capital by making farming profitable, thereby creating wealth and the most needed jobs in the society.

    “By engaging Borno youths in agriculture, we envision to solve the problem of youth restiveness in that state, and make the state one of the major food exporters in the country,” Dr Alfred Dixon, Project Leader for the IITA-managed project on Sustainable Weed Management Technologies for Cassava Systems in Nigeria said.

    Under the training, which has strong financial support from N2Africa–to-Borno project, 16 youths from Borno State will be trained for three weeks for a start. It will involve lectures, on-field practicals, and interactive sessions and group exercises.

    IITA Youth Agripreneur, Ms Evelyn Ohanwusi, said: “We are happy to meet our peers in Borno state. We will be sharing knowledge with them so that they can better their lives.”

  • Adamawa youths vow to resist imposition of Ribadu

    Adamawa youths vow to resist imposition of Ribadu

    Youths in Adamawa State have vowed to resist the imposition of Malam Nuhu Ribadu by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    This followed Ribadu’s  defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP. The pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), it was learnt, may have picked the party’s governorship ticket.

    The youths, under the aegis of the Adamawa Youth Alliance for Change (AYAC), warned the PDP leadership to beware of people like Ribadu, who were coming into the party to cause chaos.

    The group’s president, Mr. Umar lya Gulak, with other leaders, who addressed a news conference in Kaduna yesterday, said: “We are ready to resist any attempt to impose any candidate on us.”

    AYAC said it has endorsed Senator Abubakar Halilu Girei of the PDP.

    It said: “After studying the situation, we have agreed that of all the governorship aspirants, Senator Girei stands out. We are supporting him.

    “Following the impeachment of former Governor Murtala Nyako and the resignation of his deputy, James Bala Ngilari, we have monitored the political activities in the state and have taken a stand.

    “We have also monitored the political calculation and manipulations of those aspiring to govern the state. We have looked at the pedigree of the aspirants.

    “Based on our assessment, we have concluded that  Senator Girei is the most experienced and credible.”

    The group urged the people to ensure that a credible candidate is voted into office.

    “We have seen that credibility in Senator Girei,” it added.

  • Honeywell boosts youths’ cooking skills

    Honeywell boosts youths’ cooking skills

    Honeywell Flour Mills Plc has reiterated its desire to make Nigerian youths rediscover themselves and be useful to the society through skills development. The company listed its regular Wheat meal cooking competition among youth corps members as one of the ways it is achieving this objective.

    Executive Director, Marketing, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, Mr. Benson Evbuomwan, who stated this on Thursday at the Cooking Competition held at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Lagos State camp, Iyana Ipaja said Honeywell will continue to promote cooking talents among the youths, as such will bring out their unique skills with a view to equipping them for future challenges. It will also endear them early enough to the company’s products by making them Honeywell Ambassadors.

    Explaining the rationale for the competition, Evbuomwan said the company, Nigeria’s premier producer of wheat based products, is utilizing the opportunity provided by the unique change point of the youth corps members who are basically future mothers and fathers by introducing to them the company’s products so as to appreciate them with a view to shaping their choice of food items in future.

    “We are looking beyond today. Our expectation is in the long run. These are prospective mothers and fathers who will be opinion molders in their respective families.  They will virtually be Honeywell Ambassadors as they have affinity with the products already. Besides, we are doing this to also lift the social activities in the camp so that the corpers’ stay will not remain boring”, he said.

    The company, which produces Superfine Flour, Whole Wheat Meal, Semolina, Brown Flour, Honeywell Noodles, Spaghetti and Macaroni, is currently at advanced stages in the development of a new Pasta plant and an Integrated Animal Feed Mill in Sagamu, Ogun State. Both projects, which are to be completed in year 2016, will create thousands of jobs and support several agriculture value chains in Nigeria, focusing on local raw material inputs.

    The competition, which was also graced by top notch of the Service including NYSC Lagos State Coordinator, Mrs. Adenike Adeyemi, also witnessed various talent shows where various gifts and consolation prizes were won.

  • Ministry, agency sensitise youths on HIV/AIDS

    The Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperative, Alausa-Ikeja in collaboration with Lagos State AIDS Control Agency (LSACA) has advised students to drop habits that could predispose them to contracting HIV/AIDS.

    No fewer than 200 higher institution students attended the exercise.

    Participants were charged to stop the spread of the dreaded virus by protecting themselves from unprotected intercourse.

    The seminar was held at Kakawa Hall at the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH), Ikorodu campus.

    The HIV/AIDS Prevention Unit Project Manager of the ministry, Mrs Titilayo Abraham-Onu, said the aim of the event was to make students have a comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS and how it could be prevented.

    “The objective os this seminar is to make the students have a knowledge of the HIV virus and how to protect and prevent themselves from contracting it.” she said.

    Mrs Abraham-Onu said the government was making efforts to manage the spread of the disease.

    Technical Adviser of the Enhancing Nigeria’s HIV/AIDS Response (ENR), Mr Hamzat Ibrahim, condemned stigmatisation of the victims.

    Hamzat said the virus could not be transmitted by mosquito bite, hugging or kissing.

    He said: “Misconceptions like mosquito bites, witch craft or wizard, sharing of toilet materials with an infected person cannot transmit the virus but stigmatisation is a negative tag or labelling given to the victim either by their peer group or family like living corpse, AIDS career. Please desist from calling them names.

    “I implore you today to practise safe sex. Infected mothers should seek advice before pregnancy. I also want to urge you to avoid the use of unsterilised skin-piercing instruments,” he stated.

    Mr Hamzat Ibrahim said the exercise was necessary for the students to know their status and to make Lagos State HIV-free.

    President, Nigerian Association of Agricultural Students, LASPOTECH chapter, Joseph Ilori, said many students were ignorant of their status, calling on the Lagos State government to encourage medical centres to do more enlightenment campaigns.

    Lateef Olaide, a student of Agricultural Technology, said the programme was educative.

     

  • Women group seeks entrepreneurships for youths

    The President, Network of Entrepreneurial Women (NNEW), Mrs. Lola Okanlawon, has urged non-governmental organisations and parents to impart basic entrepreneurial skills in youths to reduce unemployment.

    She said most viable businesses collapsed because their owners did not have the children that could be relied upon to run their businesses successfully after they might have passed on.She said entrepreneurship skills should be encouraged at the secondary school level to equip young people to be job creators.

    She said: “If the women should die without getting someone that will succeed them, it will be a problem; and we are saying it is better for us to catch them while they are young.

    “We want to have them looking for things where others are not looking at; where opportunities can come up.

    “And we feel that we can do it with these young ones so that once we start to tell them, or to teach them to look outside the box, they should not say okay when I finish the university, I am going to start to look for a job, because you know right now, getting jobs is very difficult.

    “We have so many graduates out there who don’t have a job.“

    She said one of the visions of NNEW was to inculcate entrepreneurial skills in youths across secondary schools to teach them self-employment.

    While the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) put urban unemployment in 2013 at 29.5 per cent, a financial advisory company, Financial Derivatives Company (FDC), in a recent report, predicted an increase of two per cent in the rate of unemployment in the year.

  • Allow youths to rule, Yero urges elders

    Allow youths to rule, Yero urges elders

    Kaduna State Governor Mukthar Ramalan Yero, at the weekend, told the older generation to give youths the opportunity to lead the country.

    Speaking at the International summit, organised by the Nigerian Young Professionals Forum, Governor Yero said the older generation should assume the role of advisers.

    Yero, who was honoured as the best supportive governor for national integration and purposeful leadership, said  required of the older generation should guide the youth.

    “It is time our elders took the back stage and avail the younger people of their experience through counselling.

    “The best formula for dynamic leadership is the mix of the agility of young people with experiences of elders. It is time for the younger people to take centrestage.

    “Young professionals in Nigeria cannot live in isolation. All over the world, countries are entrusting leadership to youths.”

    Chairman and Founder of the forum Mr. Moses Siloko Siasia said Governor Yero was honoured because of his effort at sustaining the peaceful co-existence among all sections of the country.

    He praised the governor for his youth and women empowerment programmes towards reducing restiveness and poverty.