Guest columnist: Youth forum still in progress!

When Lady Jenny, a good, patriotic YOUNG Nigerian sent me a text to ask of my interest to be guest columnist on her page for 2 weeks. I was like waoh! What a privilege to write about the progress of Nigerian Youth E-Forum on the pages of newspaper known for truth in defense of freedom. “The Nation... the Nigerian youth newspaper.”

Last week on this page you read about the introduction of NYF (Nigerian Youth E – Forum) initiated by Youngstars Foundation, since the E-Forum started, to date over 500 Nigerian youth have registered contributed to 6 out of point agent to transform Nigeria and 460 total post as at (February 18) on Topics for discussion.

We shall examine week 1 & 2 report of contributions. NYF began in earnest with the 2 core topics for week 1 which was power & Energy and Food security both received a total 101 contributions and week 2 Transport and wealth creation with 160 contributions respectively. Nigerian youths raised concerns over power & Energy which includes Misappropriation of fund in the sector and increases the rate of unemployment among youth due to power instability. Their suggestions ranging from improved accountability and transparency management to progressive technocrats.

On Food security, the concern was by global definition, Nigeria is yet to attain food sufficiency despite availability of large available land. Their main suggestion that if considering agriculture will bring opportunities to young people, in Nigeria, then why not translate the NYSC scheme into an agricultural and entrepreneurship program for young graduates wholly the land is green!

On transport and wealth creation, youth argued that an educational curriculum that promotes “white collar” job should be discouraged while on transport youths concerns was absence of civil society organization, vandalization of road networks by communication companies and over dependences on road transportation against other transport system.

Their suggestions respectively on transport and wealth creation were; general reform in the transport sector on monitoring and evaluation on road construction vis-à-vis standard organization of Nigeria, while on wealth creation, a youth bank or fund for building entrepreneurs with collateral free. NAPEP and SMEDAN among other wealth creation agencies should introduce a quality standard curriculum and conduct intergenerational catalogues for young people.

Indeed young citizens of Nigeria understand how best to contribute to national issues and effective youth development. At the end of the youth E-forum a stakeholder meeting involving youth from all states of Nigeria will convene in Abuja to continue the process of engagement.

Nigeria Youth Forum is situating young people in policy and good governance. Someone has to listen to us!

Mayowa Adeniran
Guest Columnist
AYTV,Nigeria.
aytvbroadcast@yahoo.com

The 7-point Agenda to Transform Nigeria…

“Are you young? Are you Nigerian? Do Government policies affect you? Everyday provides ample opportunities to add value to our lives and the society for development and positive change”, this is one of the values which Youngstars Foundation thrives on to continually initiate programmes to engage young Nigerians positively. One of such programme is The Nigerian Youth E-forum which is designed to provide a nationwide platform for young people to understand government policies and articulate youths to engage effectively in policy making processes and good governance.

When I first got an online invitation to participate in the on-going debate on the 7-point agenda of President Yar’Adua, I literarily deleted it from my inbox because I mistook it for one of those “talk and waka pass” discussion forum (there are too many of them I must confess!). The E-forum has indeed proven to be different overtime, with about 100 members registering at the end of the first day (January 28th). The forum hopefully will run for 4 weeks to popularize the 7-point agenda of the present administration among young citizens who need to understand how best to influence policy makers towards more effective youth development.

The Agenda points:
1. Power and Energy.

2. Food Security and Agriculture

3. Wealth Creation and Employment

4. Mass Transportation

5. Land Reform

6. Security

7. Qualitative and Functional Education

Indeed, the 7-point agenda is not another acronym for political mediocrity, it is a set blue print of what the present government hopes to achieve during its tenure and beyond. It is their believe that the implementation of this 7-point agenda will help catapult Nigeria to become one of the 20 biggest economies by the year 2020. Do you support this Vision or do you believe it is a mere fallacy? How are young people being integrated into the process of its achievement? Since it is all about the future, is the “future” being carried along?

Whether you are a youth activist looking for an intellectual exercise, a policy maker or a young person just being but seeking to belong and make a change, a pedestal has been created on the E-forum for like-minded youths passionately strategizing to protect the future of Nigerian Youths! www.youngstarsfoundation.org is the website that will give you a more elaborate account of how you can participate- find your space, take a stand, speak out and be heard- they are listening!

You too can Discount Nigeria!

Why do people often insinuate that students are one of the richest group of people in the society, when in actual fact most students suffer acute panic attack while putting one and one together to get an eleven, in a country where inflation is a norm? “Na students dey get money now o” a sales-woman once exclaimed to my chagrin when I tried bargaining/asking for a discount on the basis of being a student.

Since when has students who rely solely on their parents for survival become money-making machines? Well that is what most traders claim especially when they do not want to give a discount! Yes! Getting a good bargain on the premises of being a student use to be so difficult until International Student Identity Card (ISIC) stormed Nigeria!

If you have never heard about ISIC, it is with great pleasure that I announce the introduction of a world-wide recognized student identity card that officially allows students get a guilt-free, embarrassment-free and stress-free discount in Nigeria. Phew! Why did it take us so long to learn about ISIC's existence in Nigeria?

Well, the international student card is a unique identity card that has been in existence with the aim of rescuing us from exorbitant prices of goods! It allows students all over the world enjoy certain benefits both locally and internationally. Doesn't that sound very cool? The card allows students get good discounts on travel tickets, fast-food, stores, boutiques etc. It is a win-win deal for both parties. For instance, a store that recognizes ISIC holders will definitely attract their friends and parents who are not ISIC holders, thus increasing their patronage and loyalty.

Since the card is just gaining ground in Nigeria, do not be surprise if it sounds alien to some people. Thus, there is need for all students (awoof lovers or not) to maximize the opportunity by embracing the culture so as to make the trend more popular. However, some organizations already giving discount in Nigeria includes Virgin Nigeria Airways, British Airways, Emirate Airlines, Bellview Airlines, Silverbird Cinema, City Mall Cinema, Ground Air Travel, Alpha Christian bookshop and many others who are equally committed to make life easy and less expensive for students! Indeed we can now agree that “na students dey enjoy now o!” for more details, visit your nearest student travel center or click on www.stcnigeria.net.

The Goof

Being young strengthens you and causes the energy to burst forth in you but being young also makes you feel invisible especially when you flunk or do not meet up to a certain set standard. Every now and then, we all get a bit of that failure in big or small packages at different levels of our lives. Failure does not respect anyone, irrespective of how intelligent one is, if you are not conscientious and fail to apply yourself appropriately, failure is inevitable.

Barrack Obama , US senator, who is passionately flagging the Democratic Presidential hopeful, during one of his campaign visits to Manchester Central High School, revealed that some aspect of his life as a youngster did not actually turn out to be a straight “T” as most people will like to think. “You know, I made some bad decisions that I’ve actually written about…I got into drinking, I experimented with drugs” he said. “There was a whole stretch of time that I didn’t really apply myself a lot!” Even though he did well in school, it was not until he got out that he realized he has wasted a lot of time on frivolities.

Well, that was the youth in Senator Obama in retrospect. How about you? Are you ready to give up on the “Goofer dust” (Cocaine) or will you rather give up your dreams? Maybe, the drug thing is not an issue for you but other weaknesses in academics, relationship with parents/peers or achieving your set goals, it does not matter how far you have failed, learning from that experience and focusing on your strengths is a positive way of expressing yourself. It is easy to sometimes think there is still time because we are young, however, goofing around now will only fill us with later regrets.

Many adults look at today’s young person with admiration/envy because we have a lot of things at our disposal that they never had at our age- technology advancement, good education etc. However, they also cringe in disgust each time they see a youth wasting such opportunities that would have improved their lives in many ways than one! At this juncture, I will like to implore every adult out there not to write-off any young person for goofing around, perhaps it is because he or she does not know better. It will be great if there is a better youth-adult relationship in our society to facilitate an effective mentoring structure that will guide us youths from wasting away and make positive contributions now and in the future- after all, Sen. Obama turned out better than some expected.

It has been one Year and over!

Hurray! Dis generation column is one! Lets make a toast to the emergence of a generation of youths with a voice for change! I thank God for the opportunity given to me to be a part of it! WOW! It has been a time of learning, thinking, writing and reading to ensure I'm well informed enough to speak out and tell. I hope in these past months, Dis Generation has successfully projected issues affecting youths through a strong light?

I would like to shout-out a big thank you to all ardent readers of this column, both young and old, especially those who have kept in touch via email, sharing their thoughts around issues raised and giving ideas of what more they will like to read. It is very exciting when I bump into some of them live sometimes and they exclaim “I read your column...” and a long conversation proceed! Overtime, I have learnt never to take credit for it, at least it is for you I write, in as much as I write for myself. I have also learnt never to take anyone for granted. We need to develop genuine interest in every acquaintance God sends our way and ensure we leave them better than we met them. Life is too important to be spent on grudges and raising malicious voice.

Talking about voice, it is interesting to see that our society is gradually understanding the need to give youths a voice. No longer are young people seen as a shadow, a body to be seen and not heard. The government is gradually embracing youth relevance, at least the creation of youth ministry and the integration of youth council at grassroots level is a step to further realize this, even though some still complain that the people serving there are youths at heart and not really youths. As for how accessible they are, this is a story for another day. However, we all have a voice, finding a platform where we can use our voice positively will be less difficult once we identify the issues we are most passionate about and go about influencing decisions and projecting a positive change at all levels.

Since the creation of this column on January 21st, 2007 with its first published article “For our tomorrow”, the experience has contributed to our being better informed on youth issues. I have also gained a more mature sense of responsibility towards this generation and country. Indeed it has been a win-win process for change and the future, so keep on reading because the best is yet to come by God's grace!

MILLIONAIRE WANNA BE

It is no longer news that an average secondary school student’s mind is not filled with thoughts on how to pass WAEC, but more occupied with thoughts about how to “hit big”, buy a Hummer or make a trip to the Caribbean Island. Is there anything wrong with such thoughts in a society that measures a man’s importance or worth by the size of his wallet (bank account)? At least we all will once or more in our life time think about how to be a millionaire to buy the much admired car, build our dream house or feed the poor children in the world. To make such plans while in secondary school can be better termed “long term aspirations”.

If you are a fan of the “who wants to be a millionaire” TV game show, then perhaps you saw the phenomenal “children special” edition, the children took unique turns in displaying their intellectual capability of taking on the future and moving the New Nigeria to the next level! However, I must not fail to point out that even those children have a clear idea of what it means to a millionaire judging by the way their expression lit up each time they answered a question correctly and progressed towards the million naira prize.

Many people have reservations when the issue of money is raised at any level, but being a millionaire is not such a bad idea. Moreover, there are so many short-cuts of becoming one nowadays- through reality TV show, talent hunt, beauty pageant and other tax-free routes that most times require very little of your intellectual capability. Depending on the currency and the spender, a million cash can do a lot. Like Oprah Winfrey once said “What material success does is provide you with the ability to concentrate on other things that really matter. And that is being able to make a difference not only in your life, but in other people’s lives”.

However, being a millionaire comes with its own challenges and as young people, our major responsibility should be figuring out how to put the horse before the cart- that is concentrating more on developing skills and experience that will in future be more relevant than the millionaire status, let us forget the fame and let go of the overwhelming desire to get rich quick because it is this very nature of thinking that defeats us!

THE FUTURE OF NIGERIA!

I often reminisce about my experience living in England because it brings pleasurable memories that actually gets me optimistic about the future of Nigeria . The standard of living and organized system in that country is something that has always excited me. Almost everything I watched on television and read in magazines was exactly as they were spelt but better expressed in reality. But most eye-opening was getting to understand that young people there face almost the same challenges as us here in Nigeria ! However, it is easy to get carried away by such development and become oblivious of the fact that that country and other developed ones paid the price during their long process of development to become what they are today- a place so many young Nigerians will love to migrate to.

In Terry Wogan’s autobiography “Is it me”, the renowned broadcaster noted that there was a time his father made long walks barefooted to get to school, where they used slates and chalks due to lack of writing materials. Does that not sound like a scene that can be found somewhere in today’s Nigeria ? It seems a very long time ago when developed countries were at the level Nigeria is today. But is it possible that when we get to the level they are today, we would have achieved much more? After all, we are very ambitious and strong-willed people who are good at knowing better than our teachers or colonial masters! I believe with a good sense of togetherness and workable government structure, we can really get there!

By “there”, I mean a corruption-free country where others want to visit and live in, a level where things work right- good electricity, equal access to clean water, good road, standard healthcare, qualitative education, decent wages for services rendered etc., a level where there is a prompt and accurate response to enquiries by the right authority, a level where we are all active citizens of Nigeria working together for progress. But, we must be ready to pay the price too, we shouldn’t be afraid of change, as long as it is for good of everyone. So many people resisted and are still resisting Abuja’s master plan, we complained when slums in the city were demolished because many people we rendered homeless, so that means every change that comes must come in a correct form. For example, the Lagos state government’s plan to ban molue buses should be well structured so that the drivers won’t be left jobless.

With God, I believe nothing is impossible, even though our economy, government structure etc. seems to be struggling right now; a secure future is possible for Nigeria . We should all support the government, and we youths should be allowed to fearlessly dream it and work towards it for indeed the New Nigeria will come to stay!