Out Of The Mouth Of Babes: What Nigeria Should Be Doing About Honesty and Accountability

I had the privilege of attending a symposium contest held for public secondary schools here in Nasarawa state on Thursday. And as always, I was pumped to watch and hear young Nigerians speak on the future they'll like to see. The none jenniferized themed of the contest was "value and ethics re-orientation in Nigeria." About 30 schools were invited by the organizers, Center for Educational Empowerment and Orientation CEEO, and given 30 different topics to speak on in advance (only 23 schools showed up). Each school had 5 minutes to speak.

GSSS students were well represented- actually the speaker from the school are girls on fire! I think you seeing the video will give a clearer understanding of what I mean. Their charisma lit up the room and their delivery of the points got people at the high table and main audience nodding in affirmation. But for the poor management of time, I'm sure they would have come out top 3.

But, as my colleague, Ayobami said after the contest, it was an "Olympic." Olympic is not to win but to participate. Their participation sure made an impact!

Here is a text of what the girls presented:

  "Honesty and accountability for National Transformation and Development"

Presenter 1: During a fellowship programme in the US in 2009, a group of young people, including a Nigerian, were asked to rate their country based on how honest the people were. Are people honest in your country? "No," they all replied. Then another question was posed at them: Do you think you are an honest person? Surprisingly, they all responded with a yes.

The interesting part of the exercise was that the participants said that they are honest but do not think others in their country are honest people. This is the reality of where we are today as a country: everyone is always looking over the shoulder of his neighbour and pointing accusing fingers at others and the government for the many problems as well as the corrupt state in the country. Everyone else wants to blame others and keep them accountable. We forget that real measure of honesty and accountability starts with self.

Good morning honorable commissioners, school principals, educators, other stakeholders and the panel of judges present here today. My name is Grace Noah Bashiru, an SS 1 student of Government Science Secondary School...

The purpose of this presentation themed: "Honesty and accountability for National Transformation and Development," is to share my views on how honesty and accountability can be used as a tool to improve the current state of Nigeria's development. To achieve this objective, it is pertinent to understand the context of the topic by defining the term honesty, accountability and national transformation and development.

Honesty means being truthful, trustworthy. Accountability means to be answerable for one's action. Transformation means the act of changing completely. According to the advanced learner's dictionary, national is defined as connected with a particular nation, shared by a whole nation. Development is defined as the gradual growth of something so that it becomes more advanced or stronger.

To further explain the concept, national development is defined by O. Obasanjo and Mabogunje in a paper titled "Element of Development", as "a change or transformation into a better state…it is a process concerned with people's capacity in a defined area over a defined period to manage an induced positive change: in terms of ability to predict, plan, understand and monitor change as well as to reduce or eliminate unwarranted change."

From these definitions, national transformation and development refers to the collective effort of a particular nation put in place to attain a gradual growth or advancement. The essence of such development is to bring about an improvement in all areas while eliminating unwanted change. But this cannot happen in isolation. We need men, women and children to embrace truthfulness and be able to account for their action at all times.

At the national level, there is a transformation agenda which draws inspiration from the Vision 20.20 and the first National implementation plan and is based on a set of priority policies and programme which when implemented would transform the Nigerian economy to meet the future need of the people. But while some say lack of continuity, consistency and commitment has hindered the actualization of this agenda. Others might blame it on corruption and lack of accountability on the part of our leaders. On this note, I will like to invite my colleague to explain more.

Presenter 2: All protocols duely observed. My name is Edwin Bashiru Rosemary, an SS 1 student of GSSS.... To explain further, in Nigeria today, one of the major factors hindering us from fully realizing our development potential as a country is corruption. This challenge cuts across different spheres of our society- from Education to politics to business even to our daily routines as individuals. Our reputation of corrupt practices resonates at international level.

According to the 2012 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index report on Nigeria, our country ranks 135 out of 176 countries surveyed. This report revealed that Nigeria shares the position with Pakistan and Nepal, to remain one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

But we can choose to consciously change things. Indeed, to achieve the much-anticipated transformation we seek in Nigeria, all hands must be on deck. We must all be more honest and more accountable at our individual level while holding leaders in different places as well as the government accountable.

Honesty and accountability starts with simple actions such as students abstaining from examination malpractice, parents not giving bribe to educators to falsify their children's result, religious leaders not being hypocritical in their dealings, business men and women not using substandard materials to produce their goods and so on. Honesty and accountability is not only expected of the government but also of us.

As my colleague mentioned at the beginning of this presentation, many people think others are not honest in Nigeria. But instead of just seeing ourselves as the only honest people in Nigeria, we should be able to pay attention at what others are doing and keep them accountable and vice versa.

This implies that no development championed by honesty and accountability can take place automatically or in isolation. It involves a process and conscious collective effort of all affected to induce and sustain the desire for an improved nation and take action to effect such improvement. Honesty and accountability are therefore important tools we can use to induce this transformation and development.

Honesty brings about absolute development and growth in different aspects like peaceful co-existence, loyalty and harmony that can foster the much-anticipated development you and I want in Nigeria. Central Bank Governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, once said no country is immune to corruption. In his words, "the greatest challenge facing Nigeria is the challenge of a people that have lost sight of the importance of merit and not corruption."

In my opinion, it is time to refocus our sight to embrace the importance of merit. We need to begin to celebrate people of integrity as much as we keep those who are not honest in their dealings accountable. This way, the younger generation will be able to emulate the behaviour of role models who are celebrated for good.

Thank You.

:-)

What do you think?

Indonesian Journalist Prodita Sabarini named 2013-14 @IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow

The International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) has selected Jakarta-based journalist Prodita Sabarini as the 2013-14 IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow. Sabarini is the ninth recipient of the annual fellowship, which gives a woman journalist working in print, broadcast or online media the opportunity to build skills while focusing exclusively on human rights journalism and social justice issues.

Sabarini, a staff reporter for the English daily The Jakarta Post, was chosen from a pool of highly qualified applicants from around the world. She plans to research the phenomenon of religious intolerance in Indonesia during her tenure as the Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow and wishes to explore the factors that turn people's fear into acts of violence. "The Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship provides an opportunity to access research materials that are not available in my home country," Sabarini said.

Peter Canellos, Editorial Page editor at The Boston Globe, noted that "The Neuffer fellows are both students and teachers. Each fellow has made her impact felt in Boston and elsewhere in the United States, and then taken her own lessons back to readers in Uganda, Colombia, Pakistan, India, and many other countries where former fellows are living and working."

The fellowship is named for Elizabeth Neuffer, a Boston Globe reporter and winner of the 1998 IWMF Courage in Journalism Award, who was killed while on assignment in Iraq in 2003. Neuffer's life mission was to promote international understanding of human rights and social justice.

For more information about the Neuffer Fellowship, visit iwmf.org/elizabeth-neuffer, contact Annie Valentine (avalentine@iwmf.org, (+1) 202.496.1992), follow @IWMF on Twitter, and "like" facebook.com/IWMFpage.

#IRP13 TweetChat: Media tools & challenges of reporting health

#Media tools & challenges of reporting #health!!

Join us at The International Reporting Project (@IRPChirps) for a tweetchat tomorrow: June 12 by 10am Washington/3pm Lagos & London.

If you are not a journalist, still free to swing by and tell us what more you will like to see on health reporting.

Use hashtag #healthreporting #IRP13 follow on Twitter: @IRPChirps.

Thank you & see you there, on twitter!

Please tell others!!

Stakeholders Advocate For An Increase In Awareness To Curb The Spread Of HIV and Hepatitis In Nasarawa State

Okoh Emmanuel, a student at BITC, and a staff of CDAC during the free HIV and Hepatitis testing session

A one-day awareness campaign on the dangers and realities of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis was held on Thursday at Business Information and Training Centre (BITC), Lafia Nasarawa State.

According to Mr. Adenitan Lawrence, the manager at BITC, the purpose of the program was to create awareness about Hepatitis and HIV/AIDS to staff, students and clients of the organization.

“We believe that once you are informed, you are better transformed,” he says, “Not only you but even your family and other colleagues and members of the society, as the case may be.”

The event, which was a collaboration between BITC and the Center for Disease and Aid Control (CDAC) was aimed at also creating an avenue for participants to access free voluntary HIV and Hepatitis counselling and testing.

Nasarawa state currently has one of the highest HIV prevalence rate in Nigeria. According to National Bureau of Statistics, while there were 3, 083, 004 people living with HIV in Nigeria in 2007, Nasarawa state had a population of 106, 629 people living with HIV. In 2012, the Nigerian Journal of Basic and Clinical Sciences reported that Nasarawa has a prevalence of 7.5% of HIV, which is higher than the average national prevalence of 4.1%.

Dr. Gideon Ayuba, a representative of CDAC points out that illiteracy and religion are barriers hindering efforts to curb the spread of HIV in the state.

“We understand it [HIV] is rising very very fast and also the issue of Hepatitis is also rising,” Ayuba says. Adding that awareness creation is an important tool needed to reverse the impact of the spread of the virus.

According to Ayuba, most people in Nasarawa state do not go for HIV test because of their religious beliefs and tradition. People’s ignorance and poor literacy level also hinders the AIDS response, he says.

Although free counselling and testing session was available during the awareness campaign program, not all the participants took advantage of it. Fatoyinbo Olasimbo, one of the participants, says she did not take any HIV test because of fear of the unknown.

“I’m not interested,” she says. “I have never had HIV test and I don’t have plans to.”

Fatoyinbo, in spite of her unwillingness to know her HIV status, advocates for more awareness creation.

“Although I did not get the test done but at least I’m informed,” she says, “People should come for this kind of program to get informed to know what is good for them.”

Another participant, Joseph Omugu, says lack of awareness is the leading cause of most related deaths. He also believes an increased awareness on the issue of HIV and Hepatitis will reduce such incidences.

“By giving this awareness, it is going to help us a lot,” he says.

He however disagrees with Fatoyinbo on the issue of HIV test. “It is good for one to know his status because [by] knowing your status you will take prevention,” he says.

Omugu says his knowledge about HIV and Hepatitis is improved as a result of attending the program.

“This lecture is going to make me know my status today,” he says.

Early this year, the Executive Governor of Nasarawa state, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, signed the bill prohibiting discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS into law. Stakeholders in the civil society sector believe the action will improve efforts to curb the spread of HIV.

“We understand the stigmatization is worse than the virus itself,” says Ayuba, “it kills faster than the virus itself.”

Ayuba says the anti-stigmatization law will make a lot of impact in Nasarawa state because many people living with HIV will be free to live their lives.

“They will be able to live their lives without people stigmatizing them,” he says.

He, however, noted that there was need for more awareness on what stigma is about in order for people to understand the relevance of the law at the grassroots.

Adenitan advises other Non-Governmental Organizations to keep spreading the message to raise awareness.

“I just want to use this forum to call on other NGOs and other well to do philanthropists in our society to keep spending their money to create more awareness.”

He adds, “Keep sending the message, keep creating awareness so that people will know. We want to spread the information and not the virus.”

An increased awareness can reduce the spread of HIV and Hepatitis in Nasarawa state, he says.



This report was made possible by a grant from the International Reporting Project to report on global health and development in Nigeria. This story was first published by HealthNewsNG.com.

Youth Media Summit: Challenges in Young People’s World of Communication

Here is introducing the 1st National Children and Young People's Media Summit organized by Media Advocacy and Development Initiative in partnership with DAAR Communications Plc, CHAMS Plc, Television Continental, National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (FCT Chapter) and several other organizations scheduled to hold in Abuja between July 28 th and August 3 rd , 2013 at British Nigerian Academy with the theme "Challenges in Young People's World of Communication".

Media Advocacy and Development Initiative (MADinitiative) is a registered non-government organization focused in the area of promoting Theatre and Media for advocacy among children, women and youths in Nigeria.

The National Children and Young People's Media Summit 2013 is a gathering of delegates from different continents of the world preparing children and youth for a new media world in the 21st century while encouraging global networking.

It offers great opportunities to network, to be part of debates, to be interactive and to be part of workshops; to share perspectives, experience and expertise. It will be the most important meeting place for Children and young people in 2013.

Participants at the 1 st National Children and Young People's Media Summit would be trained on the technical aspect of following areas –

1. T.V/Radio Programming and Production, Presentation,

2. Photography,

3. New Media (Blog/Web streaming)

4. Video Editing, Cinematography and Animation

5. Graphics Design and Printing Technique.

At the end of the 1week practical summit, the participants would have gained enough knowledge on the technical background of the 21 st Century Media World and be able to influence the world through media with their contents.

The summit will also create a platform for media tycoons and young people in media to brainstorm and create positive media content for young people.

For further details, please visit www.madinitiativeng.org or email us at contact@madinitiativeng.org, advocatingthroughmedia@gmail.com or call 08052194095.

Note: Press Release.

Nasarawa State Offer Skills Trainings to Combat High Illiteracy and Unemployment #IRP13

Participants at McCEF training, Lafia

LAFIA, NIGERIA – While applying to university, Isabella Anna Anzolo, 20, enrolled in a free computer literacy training offered by a local organization in Lafia, the capital of Nigeria’s Nasarawa state. Anzolo says she wanted to gather new skills to make her marketable for a job in case she does not receive acceptance to university.

“As a young girl or a young person, the best you can ever achieve is education,” she says. “That is the best you can do to your youthful age. It is a legacy you can never regret.”

During the six-month course, Anzolo learned about computers as well as gained administrative skills. She completed the program in December 2012 and will participate in a graduation ceremony in June.

She took the course through the Mother and Child Care Enhancement Foundation (MCCEF), a nongovernmental organization founded by the first lady of Nasarawa. It aims to empower youth and women through free vocational and entrepreneurial training.

The organization is among various private institutions and government agencies in Nasarawa offering free skill-acquisition classes to combat high rates of illiteracy and unemployment in the state.

Hajia Salamatu Tanko Al-Makura, the first lady of Nasarawa, emphasized her organization’s commitment to boosting literacy rates in an event to promote literacy that it hosted on April 24.

The UNESCO delegation in the Nigerian capital of Abuja gave Al-Makura an ambassadorial award in 2013 to recognize her efforts to advance literacy, vocational skills and entrepreneurship.

Established in 2011, the organization has already trained more than 625 women and young adults through its literacy program, says Audu Blackgold Sanni, the organization’s technical adviser. Its courses are free, though participants must pay for materials as well as 500 naira ($3) to apply.

The Nasarawa State Agency for Adult and Non-formal Education also offers literacy and vocational skills training at 300 centers in the state, says Williams Ebuga, executive director of the governmental agency. The trainings are free in order to make them accessible to all.

“The literacy centers are where we teach those people who did not have the opportunity to go to school when they were young,” he says.

Under the state's current administration, the agency has aimed to modernize the equipment and trainings that the centers offer, including basic reading and writing in the local Hausa language, computer literacy and vocational education for women, Ebuga says. Women learn skills such as sewing, knitting and baking.

“Through those skills, they are able to take care of themselves and have some little independence where they can earn some income,” he says. “And through that, they can contribute to the welfare of the family and also to the society.”

The centers also offer skills training to men and young people, including those who have dropped out of school.

During the May 1 commemoration of International Workers’ Day in Lafia, Gov. Alhaji Umaru Tanko Al-Makura pledged his administration’s commitment to tackling unemployment and increasing self-reliance through these trainings. The state administration does not have the resources to create more jobs and does not want to hire employees only to underpay them, he said.

“There are no jobs to give these youths,” he said. “If the jobs are there, money is not there to correspond with the amount of work they will do.”

Formal education has not provided young adults with the job opportunities they expected, and a diploma is no guarantee of employment, he said. So his administration is promoting trainings to encourage self-employment and to decrease restlessness and social instability.

“The only way out is to go the skill-acquisition way,” he said.

Approximately half of Nasarawa’s population is illiterate, Ebuga said at the April literacy event organized by the first lady's organization. The national literacy rate in 2011 was 67 percent, according to Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics.

Nasarawa also faces high unemployment rates. In 2011, the state’s unemployment rate was 36.5 percent, according to the bureau. This was higher than the national unemployment rate of nearly 24 percent for 2011.

Participants say they are benefiting from the free trainings.

Maiwaazi Rahila, 23, learned how to create and to embroider beaded bags during a three-month training offered by the Mother and Child Care Enhancement Foundation. She now sells the bags to her peers at Nasarawa State University, Keffi, where she studies psychology.

The training has empowered her, has made her self-reliant and has eased the financial burden on her parents.

“Nobody is poor unless you are not using what you have in your life,” she says.

Stephen Usman says that young graduates who struggle to find employment should embrace trainings to acquire skills that will help them become self-reliant. He uses his own experience as an example.

When Usman could not find a job in agriculture after graduating with a degree in this field in 2005, he taught himself photography skills. He now runs a commercial photography business as his main source of income.

“I am encouraging the young graduates to engage themselves in any business to sustain their living,” he says.

And trainings are not just for young people.

“I have seen people going into business because of this program,” Anzolo says of her course. “It is really affecting the lives of especially older women.”

But others say skill-acquisition trainings are not a panacea for illiteracy and unemployment in Nasarawa.

The formal education system is flawed, says Luka Iliya Zhekaba, a member of the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools, which represents secondary school staff in Nigeria. But adults and children must still embrace formal education because it provides consistent and continuous schooling, unlike skills trainings.

Ebuga says the trainings increase young people's ability to obtain formal education.

“There is no way you can develop a nation effectively without education, without educating the citizenry,” he says. “The nonformal is to lift them up to a level whereby at a point they may stream into the formal one.”

Usman asks the government to increase both entrepreneurial and formal employment opportunities. Although he was able to start his own business, he says that self-employment is not easy. Even after acquiring skills through trainings, it is difficult to launch a business without startup capital.

“If you don’t have a source of income, there is no way you want to establish that business,” he says.

The government should provide small loans to participants of the skill-acquisition trainings, he says. It also must not lose focus on creating formal jobs for young adults because people tend to respect government employment more than self-employment.

Zhekaba recommends that the federal government increase job opportunities for young graduates by enforcing the federal retirement requirement for public sector employees after 35 years of work.

“They should allow them to go to give room to the younger ones coming behind,” he says. “If they can do that, I think the issue of unemployment will not be too much.”

Meanwhile, state agencies and development organizations plan to expand their literacy and vocational trainings to promote education and employment in Nasarawa.

Although the Mother and Child Care Enhancement Foundation is based in Lafia, the organization plans to bring trainings to rural areas of the state, Sanni says.

“We want to scale up the program to the whole 13 local government areas and development areas,” he says, referring to the local administrations that constitute Nasarawa.

The governor continues to publicly prioritize improving literacy and employment through the state centers. Despite the state’s current unemployment rate, Nasarawa will soon lead Nigeria with its skilled workforce, he said during his speech on International Workers’ Day.

The governor said that his administration recently sponsored a pioneer team of trainers to travel to Singapore for skill-acquisition trainings. Upon its return, the team will provide trainings to the citizens of Nasarawa.

Although other states in Nigeria have similar skills-training programs, the governor said Nasarawa was leading the way.

“Very soon, you will see people from other states asking for graduates from Nasarawa state skill-acquisition centers to come and help in adding value to their own services,” he said.




About the reporter:
Jennifer Ehidiamen is a 2013 New Media Fellow for the International Reporting Project. This report was made possible by a grant she received from the project to report on global health and development in Nigeria.


First Published on GPI: http://globalpressinstitute.org/africa/nigeria/state-leaders-nigeria-offer-skills-trainings-combat-high-illiteracy-and-unemployment#ixzz2TsJGaQUH

Celebrating 100 years of collective struggle under an organized labour #MayDay #Nasarawa

"Let me start the speech with the observation by some people that the May Day celebration is a mere ritual where workers gather to lament over their conditions. Whoever thinks this way is sure far from being correct. We do not merely grieve over our misery on a day like this. We celebrate our successes as workers in spite of daunting challenges and renew our resolve to make the welfare of workers, the creators of our commonwealth, better." -- Comrade Asoloko Maku, Nasarawa State Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress in commemoration of 2013 Worker’s Day.    

"Celebrating 100 years of our collective struggles as workers under an organized labour"

"Workers have made a lot of sacrifices towards the development of the state" Maku

"Nasarawa state is barely 17 years old and the organized labour in the state is as old as the state itself. Indeed, the organized labour made significant contributions to the creation and development of the state." Maku

"I will advice my colleagues to pick courage and give the government a little time. In as  much as we are also crying for ourselves, we should also look at the plight of the government because the government is also faced with a lot of challenges. They cannot meet all the problems at the same time." Comrade Luka Zhekaba.

"I'm very happy particularly today because this is the day the civil servants will air their own problems to the government. And more importantly, those who are not opportune to go through formal education, by the time they grace today's occasion, they'll be encouraged to join the system." Comrade Abubakar Adamu, BESAN PRO

"Illiteracy is a sickness but when there is education, every body will know his left and right. If not because of education, I cannot even speak to you like this... " Victoria Yakubu.
"The thing that is disturbing me is that most of our elders or leaders don't care about teachers today. Without a teacher, nobody can open their mouth to say a word, without a teacher you cannot even know to read and write..."

"It is with appreciation and deep sense of respect that I salute all workers and labour union of Nasarawa state to say well done, keep up the good work." Al-Makura

"It is gratifying to state that within the past one year, our state witnessed immense industrial peace and harmony." Al-Makura

"I must commend NLC and TUC as well as affiliate unions in the state for the sustained understanding, co-operation... it is the prevalent cordial relationship in the state that has encouraged the government to sustain its implementation of the national minimum wage. Today, there is overwhelming evidence that Nasarawa state remains the only state to have implemented the policy 100% in spite of its lean financial resources"

"You will notice since our assumption in office, we have not made elaborate employment of our graduates. It is not that the government is callous or insensitive to the needs and desirability of employing...but you will agree with me that the resources available at our disposal might not make it possible for us to implement what is our mind desire." Al-Makura.