At the 2nd Presidential Youth Forum which held at the banquet hall, State House, yesterday, the Nigerian President, H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo while responding to calls from Youth leaders for the establishment of a ministry of youth, promised that his government will plan it into the 2007 budget and it will take effect from january 1 2007.

This is a clear victory for Nigerian Youths all over the country and in the diaspora because youth leaders have called for the establishment of such a ministry for over 7 years.

The youth portfolio is currently bundled together with the ministry of inter-governmental affairs and special duties. In the past, it has been bundled together with the sport ministry or the ministry of women affairs.

Watch out for snippets of what went on at the presidential forum on youth on this blog!

The meeting was televised live to over 50million viewers on the Nigerian Television Authority Network.

Cheers

I dont need to bore you about the telecommunication feats achieved by Nigeria in the past 5 years. Telephone lines have moved from less than 400,000 in 2000 to a record 16million by end of 2005.

However, i am deeply worried about the trend i am seeing in recent times.

Telecommincation companies are raising against time to network the entire country (huge nigeria) with a fibre optics network thereby driving a speedy deployment of fixed mobile lines and broadban internet throughout the country. Good news you might say!

But the road network in Nigeri was not designed to accomodate such things, so the telecommunication compainies and their team of contractors are busy digging Nigerian roads in their efforts to lay the fibre optics.

This has far worsened the state of the roads, as the roadas are dug using manual labour with no supervision from regulatory or supervisory bodies.

As much as we long for access to telecommunication and the internet which we hope would spur development in the interland and rural areas, i think the cost of damage to our roads is a too big sacrifice to make.

i implore the Government, relevant stakeholders to please act on this.

Cheers

The Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre (ARSRC) in collaboration with
The International Islamic Centre for Population Studies and Research, Al Azhar
University, Cairo Egypt, is pleased to announce the third edition of
its annual Sexuality Institute and to invite suitably qualified professionals
to apply.

Egypt - 17-24 November 2006

Theme: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Within Marriage

Goal

To strengthen African intellectual resources and reshape sexuality
research, discourse and action on the continent towards healthy, pleasurable,
responsible and respectful sexuality.

Objectives:

The objectives of the programme are to:

1.Provide a forum for sexuality professionals in Africa to share ideas, update
their knowledge, set the agenda and devise strategies for dealing with
sexual and reproductive health and rights in marriage on the continent

2.Contribute to policy, programme and research actions in healthy and responsible
sexuality in marriage.

3.Build beneficial professional networks and constituencies among sexuality
professionals in Africa

Course Methodology:

Incorporating both rigorous intellectual work and social activities, the
Sexuality Institute promotes sharing of ideas, team building and collaborative
work amongst participants in order to nurture relationships that last beyond
the institute.

Through experience-sharing with distinguished sexuality professionals drawn
across Africa, participants are exposed to the most current trends, thinking,
concepts and programming in sexuality. They work in integrated country-level
and cross-country teams on simulated plans as the vehicle for generating
strategic plans for their future work.

Eligibility:

To be eligible, applicants need to meet the following conditions:

- Have a minimum of five years work experience in the area of sexuality,
sexual health and rights; reproductive health and right;
- Must be Africans working in Africa
- Must be at upper middle/senior level in their organisations
- Have a postgraduate qualification or demonstrated substantial work experience

Sponsorships: The ARSRC offers a few highly competitive, fully-funded sponsorship
that are open to qualified citizens of Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria or South Africa,
who are resident in the continent. ARSRC sponsorships cover registration fees,
roundtrip travel expenses, as well as, accommodation, meals and incidental
expenses.

Interested citizens of other African countries are encouraged to apply but
will need to seek funding from other donors to cover their travel, accommodation
and living expenses and registration fee.

Requirements for Application: Applicants are requested to submit the following:

1.Fully completed applications forms (free copies available for download from
www.iicpsr-alazhar.org or www.arsrc.org

2.Reference Letters: Two (2) reference letters are to be submitted with
each application, completed by referees who must be familiar with the
applicant's work in the area of sexuality.

3.Curriculum Vitae: Each applicant is expected to submit detailed curriculum
vitae showing clearly the applicant's research, publications, awards
or any other activities attesting to their competence and achievements in
their area of work.

Deadline for the Receipt of Applications: All duly completed application
forms and other documentary requirements should be sent to either of the
addresses below by 20th August 2006.

The 2006 Sexuality Institute
International Islamic Centre for Population Studies and Research
Al Darrassa,Cairo, Egypt
P.O.Box: 11651 - 1894 Cairo
Tel : (202)5122749
Fax : (202)5122749
Email: iicpsr@iicpsr-alazhar.org

Or

The 2006 Sexuality Institute
Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre
17 Lawal St., off Oweh St., Jibowu
PO Box 803, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria
Tel: 234-1-7919307
Fax No: 234-1-3425470
Email: opportunities@arsrc.org

Selection:

Notification of the result of the selection will be made by 30th September 2006.

Olusegun Sangowawa
Programme Officer, Information Services
Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre (ARSRC)
17 Lawal Str, Off Oweh Str,
Jibowu, Yaba
Lagos State, Nigeria
Email: o.sangowawa@arsrc.org
Website: www.arsrc.org

We are looking for around 50 people to take part in a film competition which will take place during the AIDS 2006 conference in Toronto.



You do not need any experience in film-making but just be passionate about all the things around HIV and AIDS.



Applicants must be registered youth delegates of the conference.



Once at the conference we will place the successful delegates into eight groups so they will be working together with other youth delegates from around the world. We will give each team a film title for which you will have to base your film about HIV and AIDS on. The teams will have 48 hours in which to write, shoot and edit their films. We will be providing training, equipment, travel and expenses throughout. At the end of the 48 hours we will hold a lavish awards ceremony at MTV Canada where we will screen all 8 films to a distinguished panel and live audience (including some celebrities!). All films will be screened on the MTV / Staying Alive website and we are making a programme for the global MTV networks about the fortyeightfest. The winning team will walk away with some fantastic prizes and MTV goody bags will be given to all other film makers.


For more details, visit www.staying-alive.org

HEy,

I got the email below in my box some days back, i instantly knew it was scam, i have done a little research on it, please find below and comments on it.

FROM: THE DIRECTOR
EUROPEAN PRIZE AWARD DEPT.
REF:EL3/9318/04
BATCH:8/163/EL.
We are pleased to inform you the result of Lottery Winners
International programs held on the 15th may,2006. Your e-mail
address attached to ticket number :EL-23133 with serial number:
EL-123542,batch number: EL-35,lottery ref number: EL-9318 and drew lucky numbers
7-1-8-36-4-22 which consequently won in the 1st category, you have
therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of €500,000.00(five hundred thousand euros).
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your
winning information confidential until your claims has been processed and your
money Remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double
claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants.
All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from
over 40,000 company and 20,000,000 individual email addresses and names
from all over the world.
This promotional program takes place every year. This lottery was promoted
and sponsored by a group of successful electronic dealers.we hope,with
part of your winning,you will take part in our next year ? 2 million
international lottery. To file for your claim, please contact our
paying Agent:
Contact Person:
Mr Antonio Lopez (Lottery Agent)
Tel:+34-664255137
Email:eurolotteryagent@whipmail.com
Remember, all winning must be claimed not later than 28th of Aug 2006.After
this date all unclaimed funds will be included in the next stake.
Please note in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications
please remember to quote your reference number and batch numbers in all
correspondence.
Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform our agent
as soon as possible.
Congratulations once more from our members of staff and thank you for
being part of our promotional program.
Note:Anybody under the age of 18 is automatically disqualified.
Yours Sincerely,
Mr NELSON LAWRENCE
LOTTERY CO--ORDINATOR
LOTTO INTERNATIONAL ES



+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1. A lottery variant of the 419 style of scam. Correspondance will simply result in requests for 'administration fees' to cover various costs, but you'll never actually get any money back!

2. 'EUROPEAN PRIZE AWARD DEPT.' very likely do not even exist and are just a fake company name used by the scammers.

3. Notice that the sender uses a free, web based email address. A real company would almost certainly use their own.

Be warned!