21ST CENTURY MOST WANTED: A mentor!
Do you think today’s youth trust today’s adult? Do you think having more adult mentors can help close this yawning gap in youth and adult relationship for a better tomorrow? Yahoo generation, GSM generation, to mention but a few are appalling terms that is being use to describe our generation, the youths of today. We are faced with increasing challenges at all levels with influence of the society.
Trapped in the flashes of moving with the flow with limited power to break free, we settle and squat in the position of “pity me” and watch ourselves waste our today wrapped in yesterday’s juvenile delinquent, unsure of what tomorrow holds. On the verge of falling off, we are tired of being tagged with fancy and flattering slogans like wares on market stall. We want to live and not just exist, but to know the road ahead; we must ask those who have gone ahead or those coming back. This is the path only few youths are exploring and taking advantage of- Mentoring!
The word "mentor" comes from the Greek word for "steadfast" and "enduring. Mentoring is the one-to-one or group relationship that one or more adults develop with one or more young people to help them develop and succeed in life. A mentor is an experienced person who advises and helps somebody with less experience over a period of time, considered as an excellent example of what one aspire to be in future. In choosing a mentor, there are certain qualities you must lookout for by asking these questions: is the person a knowledgeable epitome of how you see yourself in future? Is the person real or make believe? Does the person have a good moral standard? Is the person humane and sensitive towards others? Your chosen mentor can be an achiever in your immediate family or circle of friends or s/he could be someone you admire from a distance whom you would have to then build a relationship with.
Mentoring comes with a lot of benefits which includes: Leading young people to resources they might not find on their own, building a more youth and adult friendly society and enhancing relationship, raising goals and expectations of youths, building a generation of confident youths that trust adults, building a generation of adults that understand youths, Providing support for new behaviors, attitudes and ambitions of young people and improving skills by giving them access to valuable experience and knowledge of adults, providing advice to help youths with aspirations evaluate options and make better decisions and even help motivate youths that have no sense of belonging or aspiration.
Assisting our youths require appropriate mentoring. If a youth sees an individual s/he admires, s/he should feel comfortable in developing a mentor-mentees relationship with the person (quoting Folakemi T. Odedina). So go for it! Seek out a mentor, build relationship, build trust, and build future! We are youths, we are the posterity of our Nation, adults should make themselves better role models and impart in us your valuable experience and knowledge to equip us for the future. They should teach us the different stages in life to learn how to turn over, to sit up, to crawl and then to walk and run to become relevant and useful for the good of our society.

Gentle wind in Abuja

One more thing to be thankful for this blessed day! It is July 1st, a very joyous month indeed. Not only is it the first day of the week, it is also the first day of the seventh month and the first day of the second half of the year. How time flies you will say! Now is yet another opportunity for us to reflect and evaluate these past months and re-organise all that need to be adjusted in our lives.

A change of environment can also help you in achieving this… Travel to get a bit of fresh air into your lungs. Well, that was what I did. It is not that there is no fresh air in Lagos but I am one of those that got depressed by the aftermath of the strike. To put it in more practical words, I didn’t like the angry faces I saw around me each time I tried boarding public transport.

The uncompassionate way the ‘Danfo’ drivers and conductors flared up the already expensive local transport fare was one thing I could not condone. But since I was just an ordinary commuter myself, there was nothing I could do than to watch on in silence and listen quietly to others scream about the injustice. That didn’t help though; listening to the complaints of others without being able to do anything to change things can be as depressing as being in the helpless situation yourself.

So, here I am in Abuja . Spending the rest of my holiday and recuperating for the days ahead in Lagos . The interesting thing about this is having the chance to experience the effect of the strike on two extremely different part of Nigeria . So I asked around, looked around and came to a conclusion: Abuja was certainly not as shaken as Lagos was by the strike. What did you expect? The town dey kampe. After all, it is our capital city!

Don’t get me wrong, there are long queues in fuel stations, things are expensive, including transportation but on a sensible note. While Lagos seems to be on fire (not literarily), Abuja is all calm…a good feel of gentle breeze blowing through the town. If Lagos gets as calm as Abuja is, then Lagos will stop being Lagos , the chaos is part of its beauty but it is a smiling chaos.

The most regrettable thing about the strike was days of wasted opportunities that turned out to be a big blow on our educational, political, social and economic sector at all levels. The religious sector was affected, but positively, at least, more people turned out to pray for Nigeria and for the strike to happen never again. Righteousness should be a lifestyle for all Nigerians and we will have fewer things to worry about.

Like always, life must go on. Like they say, Nigerians have got a good surviving spirit. It does not matter which way the world turns this remaining half of the year, we must keep our vision clear and stay focus to achieve the goals we set out at the beginning. Explore opportunities, leave your comfort zone if you must but stay on the right path and see your value appreciated. We are survivals and we will eat the good of this land called Nigeria .

EARLY MORNING ICE CREAM RUSH

“Ice cream, Ice cream” the old woman called out as young school children scrambled one after the other in a rush to buy one or two. I checked my time to be sure I was not imagining. “8.10.am” I recoiled in shock. It was a cold Monday morning, the cloud still cloudy with a promise of rainfall.

The rate at which the secondary students struggled to buy this Ice cream this early morning was appalling. Right in front of the school gate, no teacher or security guard to chase the woman away or at least caution the children from the risk which they exposed themselves to.

If the Ice cream they so much were rushing after was the normal healthy Yogurt produced by recognized and approved company, then my concern would have been about the timing of the sales of the Ice Cream. But this Ice cream was a locally made one; even an illiterate would know that the contents/ingredients composed of water, color and sugar, sold cheaply at the rate of N10 per one.

Parents give their children pocket money to spend in school every morning, but little do they know what these kids spend the money on. I must confess that as a child I also suffered from the aftermath of buying “unhealthy” food in school which led to constant stomach ache and mild food poisoning. I would have acted differently if I knew better then.

Those who do not spend their money on purgative snacks, make countless visits to video game centers, or the hard ones among them even experiment on alcohol or weed with pressure from their peers who count it as part of growing up.

If I could change one thing about this, I would have parents become more interested in knowing what their kids spend their pocket money on or at least be interested in their leisure activities. Secondly, the school authorities can also help by monitoring the food vendors that come around the school. Thirdly, is there any way NAFDAC can set up local monitoring team to act as watch dogs on these locally made snacks?

A healthy Nation is a wealthy nation. This young generation certainly needs more enlightenment on eating healthy to keep healthy.

If I make my way through the public secondary school I saw these kids hustling for the Ice Cream tomorrow, I wonder if I would see any change, probably not I guess. It has always been there and it may always be there…