Re: Building your leadership capacity- An opportunity.

“Hi Jenny, my Name is Ambassador Auwalu from kano, I saw the Atlas corps Fellows Programme online and pick interest in it, can u please advice me on what to do?” This is an example of some of the feedback I have been receiving about the Atlas Corps Programme since the publication of the above article. While some ask for more information, others ask for a guide on how to apply. Then, there is the category of people who just respond by saying that they have the qualification but no experience in the nonprofit sector. To this last group of people, I’ll simply say, no hassle, your season will come. Meaning, don’t apply if you have no experience and interest in the nonprofit sector. There is no need to use such opportunity as a form of escapism as in the long run, you might look back and say to yourself “What a waste of time!”. For this race is not as easy as its spelling even though the setting is in Washington D.C., Baltimore and Maryland.

Meanwhile, if you are reading this column for the first time, or you missed the article “Building your leadership Capacity- An Opportunity” published November 8th, I will indulge you with the news in a minute. To all those who are avid readers, here is the exciting news- The application deadline has been extended from November 20th to the 3oth. Meaning, you have some additional days to go online and apply for a place as a fellow. And no, this is not a DV lottery. Like I said earlier on, please do not apply to be an Atlas Corps Fellow if you are not interested and committed to the development sector in Nigeria. And even if you are very involved in the non-profit sector, remember to ask yourself, “Why should I apply to be a fellow?” Do not jump at this opportunity because I say it is exciting and rewarding (of course it is!). Make sure your motives are in the right track to avoid any disappointment. And keep in mind that after applying, there are still other stages of screening through all applicants. And I tell you, this process is very thorough- so applying is just the first baby step.

Are you still keen about giving it a try? Go online to www.atlascorps.org and start with the eligibility survey form. If you are confident about the program, go to www.atlascorps.org/apply.html and apply. To cut the long story short, only apply for the fellowship programme if you: have 3 or more years of relevant experience in the nonprofit/NGO sector, have a degree or its equivalent, speak, read and write fluent English, and most importantly, are committed to returning to Nigeria after the one-year programme!

Did you watch Sesame Street as a kid?

(The Opening song)

Sunny Day
Sweepin' the clouds away
On my way to where the air is sweet

Can you tell me how to get,
How to get to Sesame Street

Come and play
Everything's A-OK
Friendly neighbors there
That's where we meet

Can you tell me how to get
How to get to Sesame Street

It's a magic carpet ride
Every door will open wide
To Happy people like you--
Happy people like
What a beautiful

Sunny Day
Sweepin' the clouds away
On my way to where the air is sweet

Can you tell me how to get,
How to get to Sesame street...
How to get to Sesame Street
How to get to...(Sesame Street).



When you get to Sesame Street, you’ll find Muppets interacting with humans! But Oh! feel free to call the Muppets by their first name- Cookie, Telly, Zoe, Bert, Elmo, Ernie, Kermit, Oscar, Rosita and of course the famous Big Bird. Sesame Street- an award winning kid-loving educational program on TV is celebrating its 40 years anniversary. Talk about the longevity of a children’s program that transcends culture and borders. Today, the rest of the world watch an interesting episode of the US first lady, Michelle Obama, visiting Sesame Street to show Elmo and some of the children how to plant their own vegetable gardens.

I was a Sesame Street fan as a kid. I remember watching the interesting interaction between the Muppets and the human characters. To me, it was simply entertaining and educational. Helping children learn basic life skills in a fun way. It was an elevated Cartoon program. The author of the book “Tipping Point”, Malcolm Gladwell once stated that Sesame Street was built around a single, breakthrough insight: that if you can hold the attention of children, you can educate them. And the program has maintained that stance over the years, from generations to generations, holding the attention of children around the world long enough to educate them.

As a kid who watched Sesame Street back in the day, I didn’t have to spend the whole day in front of the screen to enjoy TV. After each episode, aired during the kiddies’ program schedule on National Television Authority Channel 5 (NTA2), we all switch back to reality and play, as kids should play- in the company of one another. Watching old episodes of Sesame Street on Youtube (internet) brings a lot of nostalgic feeling, leaving us hoping that this generation of producers and TV content creators will understand that television is also an educational tool, and take a cue from Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett to create child-friendly contents that will shape the future.

Building your leadership capacity- An Opportunity

“How much are they paying you for telling people about this programme?” My friend asked, wanting to know why I was so keen on telling as many people as possible about this unique opportunity to enhance their knowledge. And by people, I mean young non-profit leaders in Nigeria who are interested in building their non-profit management skills in all ramifications.


What is this all about? A colleague forwarded to me an interesting opportunity created by Atlas Corps, which I’ll love to share with all young leaders out there, especially those working in the NGO sector, taking the lead to bring about a positive change in their community.


Atlas Service Corps is an international non-profit organization that develop leaders, strengthen organizations and promote innovation through an international network of skilled professional. They train young professionals through an exchange programme designed to shape, enlighten and strengthen young visionary leaders. They are currently seeking nonprofit leaders from around the world to apply for their 2010-2011 fellowship positions in Washington, DC, Baltimore, MD and Bogota, Colombia. Expenses are paid in this prestigious fellowship program, including a living stipend, health insurance, and training.


Applicants must have 3 or more years of experience in the nonprofit sector, a college degree, fluency in English (and Spanish if applying to volunteer in Colombia), and a commitment to return to their home country after one year. Candidates from outside the U.S. are placed at outstanding host organizations in Washington, DC or Baltimore, MD including Ashoka, Asian American LEAD, CentroNía, Grameen Foundation, and Population Action International. Candidates from the U.S. are placed at organizations in Bogota like Global Humanitaria and Oxfam GB.


In addition to volunteering full time at their host organizations, Fellows are enrolled in a management development training program and join a growing network of nonprofit leaders from around the world. For more details about eligibility requirements and the application process, please visit: www.atlascorps.org . The deadline to apply is November 20, 2009. We shouldn’t wait to get paid before sharing some great links!

The Essayist Called Matthew

There are some experiences that do not come our way every day but bring joy and big opportunities whenever they show up. One of such is winning a national essay competition.

When I was invited to come down to Lagos from Jos as one of the finalists of the 2009 edition of Omololu Falobi Foundation Essay Competition, I had mixed feelings. Obviously, I was not sure if I would win, and if I didn’t, just going all the way to Lagos and returning empty-handed would not be funny.

But I remembered that attending the award ceremony was not just about receiving the award alone – I would also have the opportunity of meeting some of the dignitaries listed on the invitation letter. This appealed to me because a similar situation in 2005 had a life-transforming effect on me.

I had been invited for the second stage of the Mike Okonkwo Essay Competition for Secondary Schools. I went and eventually won the first prize. Some of the contacts I got from there have been of tremendous help, for example, the chief examiner of the competition, Prof. Akachi Ezeigbo’s encouragement has spurred me to achieve more.

The Falobi competition was no different. I went and was lucky to go home with the first prize. I went to the ceremony with my two brothers based in Lagos and they were no less happy than I was. "This is the third time he’s making us proud like this", one of them declared to the gathering on coming to the stage for snapshots with me. The third he referred to was the Nigerian Stock Exchange Essay award in 2006.

The occasion was particularly touching as the journalist in whose honour the essay was organized, Mr Omololu Falobi, was assassinated in 2006 by men suspected to be armed robbers. Though I had read about him from the internet, listening to people recount firsthand how he affected their lives was particularly poignant.

But, I asked myself, why does this country always consume her most passionately loyal children? As a eulogist puts it on the internet, "he was like a man in a hurry to do what he had to before he left". Mr Falobi was indeed passionate about fighting HIV/AIDS through the media, and he succeeded.

For me, writing essays is not just about winning but making my voice heard on a topical issue and proffering solutions to identified problems. However, I always write with the belief that I’m as good as other entrants, and so have a chance of winning.

My experiences should motivate Nigerian youths to believe in themselves, contribute to society positively, and never give up!

Guest writer: Matthew Adeiza, 2009 Essay winner

http://spicytruth.blogspot.com

Telling a Complete story

A couple of days ago, I received an email from my OWYP colleague and friend, Jeff, which simply read: Do you know this lady? Nigerian writer. Good speech. It also had a link to TED.com’s talk platform. I clicked on the link and was whizzed off to “The Dangers of a Single Story” a speech made by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

We all know the renowned author of Purple Hibiscus to be a good storyteller, except this time she was not telling us an imaginary tale. Drawing from her childhood memories and experience in Mexico, Adichie spoke on how a single story can ruin our world. She warned that a single story “...Show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again and that is what they become”. And most times, this single story always portrays the people through a negative perception.

“The single story creates stereotypes and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue but that they are incomplete, they make one story become the only story…it is impossible to engage properly with a place or a person without engaging with all of the stories of that place and that person”. With a dose of charisma and eloquence, she argued how impressionable and vulnerable we are in the face of a single story. “The consequence of a single story is this- it robs people of dignity, it makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult, it emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar”

“Stories matter…stories have been used to disposes and to malign. But stories can also be use to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people but stories can also repair that broken dignity… when we reject the single story, we regain a kind of paradise” Thus, we all can tell our stories right. How you start your story will determine how you’ll tell the story.

Like Chimamanda, I recently had a unique experience to tell our story during the recently co-sponsored Georgetown Africa Interest Network (GAIN) discussion with Georgetown University’s Center for Social Impact Communication (CSIC) themed “Communicating Africa: Transcending borders with digital media.” Participating as one of the Panelists alongside Howard French, senior writer for the New York Times, Associate Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and the author of “A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa”; Mr. Rohit Bhargava of 360 Digital Influence team at Ogilvy and author of “Personality Not Included”; and J.P. Singh, Associate Professor of Communication, Culture and Technology at Georgetown University, and author of “Negotiation and the Global Information Economy” exposed me to the raw yearning out there for this generation to take up the responsibility and tell a complete story! Read details on:
https://digitalcommons.georgetown.edu/blogs/csic/
and Digital Media:
http://www.one.org/blog/2009/09/29/africa-and-digital-media
http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html

SUSTAINING THE POSTAL SERVICE CULTURE…

All over the world today, people are celebrating the World Postal Day- October 9th. The postal service in Nigeria, also gives us more reasons to celebrate this day, at least, they have improved their standard of services over the years. Our letters/packages are delivered as speedily as they should (some intact, some tampered with!)- Okay, I admit we still have some cranky staff at the post office that make the postal sector less attractive.



There are those who are always ready to jump on customers at every slight opportunity. Most of the time I visit the post office to buy stamp, check for my mails or send letters, there is always a scene, between the customers and one of the post office staff. It is either the argument is over stamp prices, or the customer is complaining over the unfriendly and non-responsive attitude of the salesperson or the salesperson is blaming the end-users for being disrespectful etc. Perhaps this is a vital area the Nigerian Postal Union might want to address while making plans to ameliorate the sector.



Then, there is the high competition between the electronic mailing system and the snail mail (mail by post). While the email enables communication almost at a speed of light, the snail mail, just like the name implies crawls to its destination. Most people are thus forced to send their messages via email instead of the traditional system of letter writing. But what the postal system is doing quite well uphold the beauty of letter writing culture.



The relevance of the postal service in this 21st century, despite being dominated by technology, cannot be underestimated. However, there is also the valid argument that the postal service sector is contributing to global warming i.e. trees are cut down, to make paper and envelops that are used to post messages.



This year’s message from the Director General of the Universal Postal Union seems to make a lot of sense when he acknowledged that Environmental protection and climate change indeed present major challenges. “But, despite all the attention paid to these issues over the years, our planet and its inhabitants are still no nearer to achieving air that is fit to breath. It has now become crucial to rethink the way our businesses are run and to change our patterns of energy consumption. The world postal sector cannot stand aside and do nothing: delivering 430 billion letters and six billion parcels worldwide each year, and operating over 600,000 postal establishments and as many vehicles makes it a significant producer of greenhouse gas. Like other organizations, we must look seriously at ways of becoming climate neutral.”

THE ONLY EFFICIENT MINISTRY IN NIGERIA (as of October 1, 2009)

While eating in a Cafeteria with friends in Ebutte-metta, Lagos, someone asked: why do we always eat the meat last? We tried to decipher the “mystery” behind it. The only conclusion we reached was this: we eat our meat/fish last because in our society, eating it first will portray one as being greedy or uncultured. Or maybe the meat/fish serve the role of adding color to the food (status-wise) and leaves a sweet taste when eaten last. Well, that was when I was a child. Do people still save their meat/fish until the last crumb of their rice (or other) has been consumed?

We must not be drowned out by the sullenness that seems to befall Nigeria every time (almost) we celebrate our Independence Anniversary. The day brings into fore the only efficient ministry in our country- Public Complain Ministry, where everyone is a commissioner in their own right. If the chickens in my mum’s poultry could speak, I bet they’ll lodge complains against the government too, for not supplying electricity in their cage. Imagine!

The public complain ministry comes alive every October 1st. News flash, headlines, marketplace gossip, and every nook and cranny is filled with whining and nagging- all fingers pointing at the government leaders. This year, President Yar’adua bears a generous amount of the blame, along with the minister for Education, Sam Egwu; for all the failures and woes that has befallen the Nigerian education system, among others. After a long session of blame game, we end the discussion this default statement: “It is only God that can deliver us in this country… We must all keep praying for Nigeria.”

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicle 7:14. In all ramifications, we need to be humble enough to pray, seek God’s face, turn from our wicked ways and bad habit of always blaming the government leaders, and take up responsibility by playing our role. Arise o compatriots, Nigeria’s call obey!

When will we begin to learn that, to move this mountain of corruption and unproductive leadership pattern of our current government, we need more than an attitude of complaining and blaming? We need to begin to shift our paradigm from counting all the faults of our leaders (mind you, I don’t mean ignore or have a complacent attitude), into asking ourselves “What can I do to make things better?” How best can we respond to the state of the Nation, without allowing our irrational reactions flare up unnecessary committee of complainers?