Cultivating the Right Attitude

Joy Ekeledo, a first year student of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism shares an interesting insight into the life of a young person struggling to gain admission into university.  Can you remember your attitude during this period of your life? What is your attitude towards any challenges you might be facing right now? Remember to keep adopting a positive attitude towards life! Enjoy Joy’s story:

 

By Joy Ekeledo (Guest Writer) joybecky57@yahoo.com

 

Attitude is the way one feels or thinks about something or somebody. It equally refers to how one acts or behaves towards someone or something. I can vividly recall the trauma I passed through during the four years I waited patiently at home for a university admission. It looked more like a nightmare than a preparatory ground to get me matured for the system. I saw everything and everyone as a hindrance because the urge to gain admission increased tremendously overtime, like a dry grass sprinkled with petrol and set ablaze.

 

However, the tune changed when I finally gained admission. And so did my lifestyle. I felt that I didn’t have any role to play at home. All I did was go to school, and receive lectures. I began mixing with the wrong people at school. We went clubbing a lot. My attitude changed generally (I knew it) and because I went to school from home daily, it created enmity between my family and I. It was like becoming a stranger in my home.

 

It was not like socializing  at school is bad but like they say, too much of everything is not good.  Keeping bad company at school got a greater part of me and I started going down academically.

 

The consciousnesses of my running down fast on wrong lane made me realize the need for me to sit down and take stock of my life. It dawned on me that if I don’t retrace my steps, I would end in ruin. The following semester was a huge battle.

 

Developing the right attitude leads to a successful realization of a right life. If you have the right attitude, you can improve your life and change your life for the better!

 

My experience has taught me that the worst nightmare of any man can be changed with the right attitude.  We can differentiate our right from wrong, like separating the wheat from the chaff.

Digital Natives: The New Media Generation

What does the New media mean to an average Nigerian youth?

We saw the way young people actively participated in the last election as informal observers, using their smart phones to tweet and re-tweet reports about the Election process in their communities. You can read full article about it here. Young people in Nigeria are also becoming proactive about social issues and are taking part in different movement aimed at creating a positive social reform. These movements have a huge presence on different social Networks! It is no surprise that the thenextweb.com published an article about how FACEBOOK is the most visited website in African countries, (with about 3.7million Nigerians registered on the platform). From a user perspective, I can testify to that :) Facebook, Twitter and other social network sites have become an important part of the life of an average youth- everywhere. Thanks to mobile internet/Smart phones, everyone is just a click away!

One of the most fascinating things about the New Media is how it has empowered most people to have a voice! For example, most young people who would normally be passive about issues are fast becoming "opinion leaders" on different networking sites. The voiceless are finding their voices through Twitter, Facebook, Blogs etc. No longer will young people allow themselves to just be seen and not be heard. Everyone has a voice now and they are using it. I am so excited about it! Lets worry about the other challenges this might bring later, or maybe "not too later-ish"!

Today- yeah in a couple of hours, at this year's World Press Freedom Day, on the theme of "Digital Natives: The New Media Generation," I will be speaking and sharing my perspective on the youth consumption of the New Media, its challenges and opportunities.

You can watch the livestream of the event on http://www.wpfd2011.org/

Here is a glimpse of the session and speakers:


Digital Natives: The New Media Generation

Young people, who constitute the majority of the population in many countries, are fueling media innovation. How do young people get and share their news in the digital age? Will growing up digitally change the way a new generation engages in the public debate?

• Moderator: Jason Rzepka, Vice President, Public Affairs, MTV Networks, United States
• Shiv Bhaskar Dravid, Founder, The Viewspaper, India
• Emin Milli, Founder, Alumni Network Youth Group, Azerbaijan (via Skype)
• Adnan Hajizada, Founder, OL! Azerbaijani Youth Movement, Azerbaijan (via Skype)
• Jennifer Ehidiamen, journalist, Celebrating Progress Africa and the Global Press Institute, Nigeria
• Maria Sadovskaya, Journalist, European Radio for Belarus, Belarus

Live streaming of this session available at: Livestream, Mashable and Facebook

POETICALLY SPEAKING
Free and fairy:
The drums of elections are heard again,
Muscles are flexed to display eligibility.
Boards of campaign feel every corner,
To portray portraits of eligibility.
Pictures of different colours and shapes,
Promises of different aroma of better life.
Qualified citizens trudge out in millions,
One by one they stagger on
To cast their votes into a leaking box?
Democracy has come to stay!
As April’s poll in Nigeria draws closer, I cannot help but reflect on the political campaigns that have stormed our media and street these past months. I must compliment all the politicians for their fancy sloganeering, attractive manifestos and remarkable speeches.
The ball is set rolling and obviously in a few days, we Nigerians will be carrying out one of our constitutional rights and have the privilege of choosing our leaders.
Should we cast our votes based on trust? That is, choosing to vote for leaders we believe are sincere, honest and who will not try to harm or deceive us after they have been elected.
Should we cast our votes based on the mouth watering manifesto that excites us the most? Or the name of the political party that thrill us the most? Or bitterly cast our votes against the politician we just don’t like?
The success of April's election does not only lie in the hands of God, INEC or the political parties and constituencies, but also on us all as individuals. Be optimistic, watchful and prayerful all through this period. Most importantly, let us think well before we cast our vote and hopefully, it is the vote we all cast that will be counted!

CHOP AND CLEAN MOUTH NGOs
Have you noticed the alarming rate at which youth-led Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are growing? It seems every youth these days are excited about starting up one activism group or the other. Well, is there anything wrong if young people are inspired to roll up their sleeves and take action to solve the numerous problems arising everyday in our beloved society? There are other unprintable things these youths can channel their exuberance, if starting up an NGO is a way for them to express themselves positively, why should they be discouraged? Well like the saying goes, there are two sides to every coin.
Just the other day, I read an interesting article written by a young Nigerian who thinks most youths have taken to running NGOs of all sorts as a way of making quick money. He also raised the issue of these NGOs run by unskilled CEOs sending appalling emails to international organizations to literarily beg for money to save humanity. No longer are these NGOs to actually motivated by compassion but aggressive ambition.
This aggressive ambition has led most of those NGOs to actually compromise themselves to “chop and clean mouth” activities that includes getting grants and funds and then channeling half of it, if not more, into private purse after which they write up fake reports of activities they never had. The CEOs attend all sorts of conferences and workshop but never make any effort to use the skills and ideas they gained during these programmes for the benefit of the community they claim to serve.
Maybe if the existing adult-led NGOs start working and leading by example, youth-led ones will follow suit. Organizations that train young people should direct its efforts towards equipping these youths to go into the field and take action instead of encouraging them to start up NGOs. I also recommend that networks of Non-Governmental Organizations and concerned government organizations should pay attention to this issue and set up a regulatory framework to separate the wolves from the sheep.
If young people really want to take action, they should be encouraged to join/volunteer in existing NGOs- collaboration not competition should be encouraged because it is through combined strengths that they can affect significant change.
I stumbled on a new teens magazine called “CURIOUS” published by a teenager, aside the fact that it needs a few professional touch here and there, I think it is a good idea for a change which I hope have come to stay. I trust other youths take a cue from this to discover their passion and start building up their entrepreneurial skills instead of starting up a chop and clean mouth NGO!