I read with total disgust the lynching of a female teacher in Gombe state by teenagers in a school. Apparently to stop cheating during an Islamic Religious Knowledge examination, the woman siezed a copy of the Quran sneaked into the hall by the students and the students turned into something else because they calimed she has defiled the Quran.

Then, She was beaten to death!

I still cannot understand how that could have happened in a school that has proper administration. The students were not harmed with guns or machetes so i am sure it must have taken them more than a minute to perpetrate such an act, and it beats my imagination that male teachers in the school could not have rallied themselves together to protect a female teacher or even threaten, cajole or do whatever is neccessary to ensure that the student stop their insanity.

It will become increasingly dangerous if we allow Nigerian youth to divide themselves based on religious sentiments moreso when the aim is to escape with a slap on the back with such crime.

It is a shame if the full course of the law is not allowed to take its course in this case, young people or not. We can laready see the handwriting on the wall by the response of the Gombe State Governor to the whole case.

Nigerian Youth where is thy sanity

Professor Dora Akunyili needs no introduction. She is the amazing woman who has helped to combat the very delicate evil of fake drugs in Nigeria through the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). She has done her job so diligently that she has won as much as 350 awards but locally and on the international scene.

Sometimes ago, there was a movement of women that stood up to urge Dora Akunyili to contest as the President of Nigeria in the 2007 elections. It started like a joke, but the movement went as far as picking up a nomination form on her behalf. Her kinsmen added their voice to the 'Dora Akunyili song' by informing her that she has all their support if she decided to contest for the presidency.

Somewhere along the line, she dropped all her ambitions and the song died down.

Very recently, Dora Akunyili has crawled back into public space. Few weeks back at the Private sector dinner organised by the PDP presidential flagbearers, Yaradua and Goodluck Jonathan, Dora was visibly present and sat at the front of the hall. Also at the media launch of the PDP presidential campaign, Dora was present.

Three dys agoat the launch of the PDP presidential campaign for the south south region in Yenogoa, Dora was not oly present, she was intied to the stage where she gave a short remark and remained on the stage with the flagbearers, the party vice chairman and a few other PDP bigwigs.

I can only imagine a scenario when Dora will be compensated with a ministerial position if PDP retains the presidency in Nigeria because the party machinery is trying to benefit from her goodwill.

I would however advise that the wel respected Professor and Director General of NAFDAC should take caution in her romance with politics and politicians.

Last year I attended a symposium in Ibadan organized for young people around the theme of youth development in South West Nigeria. The speaker, a university don, engaged the audience and lamented on the slow pace of development in the ancient city. He called my attention to the fact that Ibadan hosted the first University in Nigeria if not West Africa, the popular Premier University now University of Ibadan. Ibadan also played host to the first TV station in Nigeria amongst several other things.

I have been to Ibadan, mostly on my way to Lagos, and recently to participate in Electoral Voter education workshops in preparation for the April elections and I am dismayed that despite the potentials of Ibadan as the biggest city in West Africa, the city is still laid back as far as development is concerned. Ibadan which is the centre and capital of Oyo state has been gripped by confusion. For months the city grabbed deadlines with violence impeachments masterminded by the famous Adedibu and Akala, the Governor’s deputy. The impeachment was squashed by the Supreme Court after months of legal bickering.

The government appears to be confused. Road expansion and construction in the heart of the city is moving at a slow pace. Transportation is at its worst compared to other big cities like Kano, Abuja, Porthacourt and Lagos all in Nigeria. Ibadan has the largest fleet of rickety danfo and taxis which serve the transportation needs of the populous city.

Ibadan is one of the dirtiest state Capital in Nigeria and there is hardly any new private sector development in the last 5 years except the British American Tobacco company.

Ibadan needs to get it right. It has the necessary Human capital, a generous feed of young vibrant labor from 2 universities and a polytechnic located in the city and a rich history. Ibadan has a huge expanse of land that can accommodate rapid industrial development. Ibadan needs a fresh start.

I hope something really drastic will happen soon. I hope someone with a similar vision to Governor Donald Duke’s vision of Calabar will win the coming election in the state.

Ibadan. Business as usual needs to stop!

While attending a 2 day youth expert meeting in Abuja Nigeria to draft guidelines for the countries youth advisory panel, I stumbled on CNN’s Global Edition interview with Ishmael Bael whom I met some months ago!

I met Ishmael Bael last year October in New York during the United Nations Global Youth Leadership summit where I was the Nigerian delegate together with Hauwa Umar. I also had a peace building training at Pine Bush just before the summit where selected summit delegates were trained on peace building. At one of the experience sharing session, Ishmael brought tears into the faces of other participants and in fact the faculty when he shared his experience as a child soldier during the more than 10 year civil war that rocked Sierra Leone.
At 10, Ishmael returned home one day to find his town almost deserted, bullet holes piercing the walls of his home, his parents dead and his siblings no where to be found. He joined the throng of mostly women and children that fled the village and walked for days without food to reach the nearest refugee camp.

He was at the refugee camp for months until he was forcefully recruited to join a band of child soldiers. He transformed from orphan to refugee to child soldier before he became a teenager.

Now rehabilitated and living in New York, Ishmael decided to pen down his moving story and experience during the difficult phase of his life and the atrocities of the civil war rocking many African countries. The book, A Long Way Gone was launched at the United Nations in January and is already for sale at major bookstores nationwide.

Though I haven’t read the book, I recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the difficulties and extreme harsh situations faced by young people and children during war situation and want to extend a hand of love to them or for anyone who is seeking broader knowledge, because as we know, learning never stops!

NOTE: I copied this from a friends blog, i thot i should allow it to spread to more young people

In support of social entrepreneurship, please see the announcement below. It’s for youth aged between 16 and 21, and I will be glad to exchange eMails with any young African who wishes to apply and may need some support. This doesn’t mean influencing the process, but helping to fill obvious gaps…

Dear Youth Educators, Community Leaders and Young People,

On behalf of the students of the University of Oxford, Saïd Business School, we are honoured to invite you to participate in the second international:

Youth Business Development (YBD) Competition YBD is based on the business plan course run on the world-renowned Oxford MBA programme, in which teams of MBA students develop original business ideas with the help of faculty and consultants. Inspired by the energy and excitement of this process, the Oxford MBA Class has committed to bring a similar experience to young people from across our diverse international home communities. The objectives of this are both to catalyze the development of new social enterprises, and to leverage the many skills and experiences of Oxford’s MBA students t owards helping young people from diverse backgrounds develop confidence, life skills and understanding of business enterprise and its potential for social change. It is open to ALL young people, irrespective of background or education.

For Round 1, we invite all teams to submit their ideas for enterprises with a social focus by 31st March 2007. Round 2 will provide a select number of teams the opportunity to further develop their ideas in a 7-10 page submission during the summer whilst being mentored by an Oxford MBA student. The YBD is a unique opportunity for young people around the world to gain business planning, team working and communications skills which will be vital to their future development prospects and selfesteem. In addition they will gain valuable insights into the world of social enterprise, with the Saïd Business School’s Skoll Centre & Oxford University being amongst the world’s leading centres for research and teaching on the subject. Our prize fund of £2,000 gives the chance for top applicants to start putting their ideas into practice. We also offer second round Finalists the unique opportunity of being mentored by MBA students, and thereby becoming part of our broad social and business network. Ongoing mentoring (after the competition ends) will also be provided to shortlisted finalists to continue their development and learning through a continued relationship with Oxford students.

Each team is required to have a Local Liaison Mentor. This provides the competition organisers with a neutral point of contact in each locality and for each team. If you are a Youth Educator or Community Leader, you have been identified through the Oxford University, Saïd Business School network as someone who might be interested in supporting the competition in your institution or area by acting as a Local Liaison Mentor. If so, we would heartily encourage you to support us in taking our competition and the opportunities it offers to young people wherever they may be and whatever their background. If you are a young person aged 16-21 and are interested in submitting an application in Round 1 of the competition then please identify in your application the details of a person in your local community who is willing to act as your Local Liaison Mentor.

Enclosed with this letter you will find further details on the entry requirements for the competition, answers to common queries and a flyer which you are welcome to print off and put up in your local area or institution. Please also be sure to look at our website which provides more information about the competition, social entrepreneurship and the Said Business School as well as other resources to help teams develop their ideas. The website can be found at: www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/OBA/se/ybd. We hope you are as excited about the potential of the YBD competition as we are and look forward to receiving entries from your locality before the first round deadline of 31st March 2007.

With thanks,
The YBD Management Committee

Requirements for Round 1 (which is due on March 31, 2007 and to be sent by eMail to ybd@oba.co.uk) include:

1 page idea summary

What is your idea?
What problem is it trying to solve?
Who benefits and how?
1 page application form (download here), including in less than 300 words a brief background of your team together with a summary of the benefit you would gain in being mentored by an Oxford MBA student if you reach the second round of the competition.
Additional information on the competition follows:

What are the Team and Age Restrictions?
All team members must be aged between 16 and 21 during the course of 2007. Each team must have 3 to 5 members.

Who can be a Local Liaison Mentor?
Ideally this would be someone working in a position of responsibility with young people such as a teacher, University lecturer, social worker, youth group worker, religious leader or other community leader. The role will be to act as a contact point for the competition organizers, to assist teams in the production of their initial ideas, and if necessary to confirm status of team members and specific aspects of project ideas.

How should we present our idea?
Teams may use any combination of words, pictures and diagrams, but the Idea Summary is limited to 1 page ONLY. If you are able to structure your entry in line with the questions shown in the box above then it will make it easier for the judging panel to assess your ideas. In addition you should provide us with the Application Form enclosed, including your 300-word “background and benefits” section.

What if we need further guidance? Who should we contact?
In the first instance you should review the more detailed Frequently Asked Questions page on our website. In addition Regional Coordinators are available for you to contact with more specific queries. In Round 1 teams are also free to seek the advice of their Local Liaison Mentor to test their ideas. Teams are encouraged to have fun, take a chance, and just get their idea out there!

What language can we submit in?
We have limited capacity for assessing multiple entries in languages other than English. If possible, you should submit your ideas in English. If you cannot then you should contact your Regional Coordinator (see website for contact details) and ask them if assistance is available for translating submissions from a language other than English.

How will ideas be judged in Round 1?
Our key criteria for judging which teams will progress from Round 1 to be mentored in Round 2 are:

The quality of the idea proposed and its potential for further development
The benefit the team will gain in having an MBA student help develop their idea
The personal benefit team individuals will receive from the experience of a close ongoing interaction with an MBA mentor
Summaries will be judged on the quality of the idea, not the fanciness of the language. We favour simple, clear, plain talk. Remember, this is not about ideas which make lots of money (though that would be a bonus!) but those which have the potential to improve the lives of those in your community, or the environment in which you live.

Any other advice for Round 1 entries?
Do not try to think too big. Many of the most effective social enterprises work at the local level. See our website for Finalists from the 2006 competition as examples. Think about issues which you observe in the communities and world around you. Think about the tools you may be able to use to provide solutions to these problems. Remember that the objective is to deliver social value alongside, or in the place of, pure financial profit. Ideas may range from a new technology or product through to a new way of working in an old industry that delivers more social value than today. Social enterprise takes many forms and we do not intend to be too strict in our assessment, but we will certainly look for evidence that you have considered social outcomes in developing your idea. For more information on social enterprise/social entrepreneurship check out our website and that of the Skoll foundation (www.skoll.org) which supports Oxford’s Saïd Business School in this area.

What happens in Round 2?
More information will be provided once this stage is reached, but here is a summary of what you should expect. In Round 2, a select number of Finalist Teams chosen from all the entries submitted in Round 1 will be challenged by our YBD Judging Panel to develop the idea further into a 7-10 page formal business plan. At this point each team will be provided with a mentor from the Oxford MBA class who will support the team towards the goal of completing their business plan. Mentors will be allocated to teams on the basis of having appropriate background and expertise matching the team’s idea. Finally, a YBD Venture Capital Panel will review the business plan submitted by each Finalist to determine the 2007 YBD Winner or Winners, the distribution of the £2,000 prize fund and allocation of other awards (all by late September 2007).

Why YBD?
YBD builds on three of the core strengths of Oxford’s Saïd Business School:

Social Focus: Saïd Business School hosts the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship (with 9 teaching fellows, and five full scholarships annually for MBAs with impressive track records in social entrepreneurship), and the Oxford Business Network for Social Entrepreneurship (the highest attended student interest group). We view ‘business’ not as a route to personal wealth but as a powerful tool for solving social and economic issues around the globe.
Internationalism: 41 countries are represented on the 2006-07 program, making us proud to be one of the most diverse MBA classes in the world. This environment has instilled in us a deep belief in the power and value of international networks. YBD connects young people with others from around the world, in addition to a lifelong MBA global network.
Entrepreneurship: roughly 20% of Oxford MBA’s go on to pursue careers as entrepreneurs. We view entrepreneurship as an engine of change and progress in our world. Entrepreneurship is not simply about ‘profit.’ Entrepreneurs invent new solutions in all sectors, e.g. finding new ways to treat blindness among the poor (see www.Ashoka.org) or developing new types of banks and lending policies (see www.lemonbank.com). The leading social entrepreneur, Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank won the 2006 Nobel Prize for Economics. Young people will be ahead of the curve if they develop early entrepreneurial instincts. YBD is an invaluable first step.