17-YEAR OLD GHANAIAN ACCEPTED IN ALL 8 IVY LEAGUE COLLEGES IN THE US

In the next month, Kwasi Enin must make a tough decision: Which of the eight Ivy League universities should he attend this fall?

A first-generation American from Shirley, N.Y., the 17-year-old violist and aspiring physician applied to all eight, from Brown to Yale.

The responses began rolling in over the past few months, and by late last week when he opened an e-mail from Harvard, he found he'd been accepted to every one. School district officials provided scanned copies of acceptance letters from all eight Monday. Yale confirmed that it was holding a spot for Enin.

The feat is extremely rare, say college counselors — few students even apply to all eight, because each seeks different qualities in their freshman class. Almost none are invited to attend them all. The Ivy League colleges are among the nation's most elite.

"My heart skipped a beat when he told me he was applying to all eight," says Nancy Winkler, a guidance counselor at William Floyd High School, where Enin attends class. In 29 years as a counselor, she says, she's never seen anything like this. "It's a big deal when we have students apply to one or two Ivies. To get into one or two is huge. It was extraordinary."

For most of the eight schools, acceptance comes rarely, even among the USA's top students. At the top end, Cornell University admitted only 14% of applicants. Harvard accepted just 5.9%.

But Enin has "a lot of things in his favor," says college admissions expert Katherine Cohen, CEO and founder of IvyWise, a New York-based consulting firm.

For one thing, he's a young man. "Colleges are looking for great boys," Cohen says. Application pools these days skew heavily toward girls: The U.S. Department of Education estimates that females comprised 57% of college students in degree-granting institutions last year. Colleges — especially elite ones — are struggling to keep male/female ratios even, so admitting academically gifted young men like Enin gives them an advantage.

He ranks No. 11 in a class of 647 at William Floyd, a large public school on Long Island's south shore. That puts him in the top 2% of his class. His SAT score, at 2,250 out of 2,400 points, puts him in the 99th percentile for African-American students.

He will also have taken 11 Advanced Placement courses by the time he graduates this spring. He's a musician who sings in the school's a capella group and volunteers at Stony Brook University Hospital's radiology department. Enin plans to study medicine, as did both of his parents. They immigrated to New York from Ghana in the 1980s and studied at public colleges nearby. Both are nurses.

Being a first-generation American from Ghana also helps him stand out, Cohen says.

Enin says he got the idea to apply to all eight in 10th or 11th grade, discovering that each has "their own sense of school spirit" and other qualities he liked. He also applied to three State University of New York campuses and Duke — and yes, they have all accepted him.

In a phone interview, Enin said Princeton so far has offered the most generous aid package. But he has yet to get offers from Columbia, Cornell or Harvard. Either way, he'll need to accept a place in the class of 2018 somewhere by May 1. He wants to pursue both music and medicine.

Cohen says he's "sitting in a very good place right now — I think he can negotiate the very best financial aid package he can get" at his top-choice school. "Almost any of them would do anything for this type of candidate," Cohen says.

She advises that Enin call or write each of the eight and let them know that he's got a slot in each other's freshman class. They'll compete to get him to show up in the fall.

Once he decides, she says, he should write letters to the seven runners-up saying he's "honored to have been admitted." After all, he's got to keep his options open for graduate school.

Proprietor collects N26.6m, fails to register pupils for WASSCE

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arraigned a school proprietor, Oshi Luke, before Justice A. O. Onovo of the Enugu State High Court, Nsukka, Enugu State, on 10 counts of stealing.

EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, said the accused allegedly connived with three employees of his school, OBFO International Academy, and collected N46, 000 each from 580 candidates as the registration fee for the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination, May/June 2012 examination, but failed to register the pupils for the said examination.

The commission said the action was contrary to Section 342 of the revised Criminal Code of Enugu State and punishable under Section 353(g) of the same Act.

One of the charges reads, “That you, Oshi Joel Luke and OBFO international Academy sometime between the months of September and November, 2012, with intent to defraud, stole N30,000, property of one Agba Susan, by fraudulently converting the said sum which was paid to you through Ajah Ndidiamaka into OBFO International Academy First Bank account No:2008346092 as registration fees for the 2012 May/June West African Examination Council/National Examination Council examination to your use and thereby committed an offence.”

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted bail in the sum of N500, 000 with a surety in like sum.

Onovo said the surety must show evidence of tax clearance for the past three years and must submit two passport photographs for verification.

The case was adjourned to April 29, 2014 for trial.

In a related development, the accused was also arraigned before Justice N. Ageshi of the Federal High Court, Enugu, Enugu State.

He was arraigned on11counts that bordered on obtaining money under false pretences.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Attempt by the defence counsel, J. O. Mba, to request bail for his client was opposed by prosecuting counsel, A. Moses.

Ageshi adjourned the case till April 4, 2014 for hearing on the bail application and ordered that the accused be remanded in EFCC custody.

-PUNCH

If all fails, get handiwork –Juliet Okolie

The events industry in Nigeria have grown enormously in the past decade and Juliet Okolie is among the creative youth that is cashing in on the booming industry. She is the manager of Liet Nigeria, a fledgling event planning and marketing service provider in Surulere, Lagos. In this encounter with HENRY OKONKWO, she shares some of the tips on how to start an event-planning firm, the challenges and what the business is all about. Excerpts…

Tell us a little about your firm Liet Nigeria                                                                                      Liet Nigeria is a registered company and we are basically into event management and electronic marketing service.

Educational background:                                                                                                                        I was born and bred in Jos, Plateau State; so I did my early schooling there. Later, I started my first degree in Adamawa State. But I had to stop my education when I lost my dad in 2006.

I left in my second year and came to Lagos. I got a job in a shipping company in 2007 as an accountant. But at a point I felt the urge to go back to school to round off my education, and my love for business made me study Business Administration at OND and HND levels.

 journey into entrepreneurship                                                                                                              I have been into entrepreneurship right from when I was a little girl. My dad had a flourishing importation business back then in Jos. He deals in poly bags and assorted kinds of polythene bags. I love business; so normally I go to his shop after school and from there we all leave for home. When he became seriously ill, nobody was on ground to take over the business. So, as the first child in the family of seven, I had to take charge. I was in SS 2 when I took over the business.

I have tried my hands in so many businesses. I first floated an interior decoration company that dealt in office and house fittings. But the market was so competitive for small scale enterprise to thrive. After a while, I closed shop.

Then I delved into publishing and floated my magazine, Golden City which focused on impacting morals among youths, entertainment, education, motivation and interviews with inspiring celebrities. It did relatively well in the market but we couldn't overcome the challenges of the print media, maybe because we didn’t have a good business plan from the beginning.

 My turning point                                                                                                                                 Our turning point came in 2011 when we set up Liet Nigeria, launched our first project tagged, ‘the chef of the mainland’, a project we conceptualised for cooking schools to compete among one another. We partnered sponsors like Ajino-moto, Crown Floors Plc and some pharmaceutical companies that supported us then. In 2012, we held the Season 2, partnering sponsors 7-Up, Ajino-moto, Gas-Express and so many other big brands that threw their weight behind us. In 2011, we had about 1,500 participants and in 2012 we had about 2,500 participants.

We could not organise the Season 3 in 2013 because of some logistic problems, but we are really planning big for it by September this year.

 Handling men, material and money                                                                                                      A tree cannot make a forest. So, Liet Nigeria boasts of a team of four vibrant youths. And I keep them motivated by verbally inspiring confidence in the team, occasionally exposing the team training and retraining and ensuring that their salaries are promptly paid, because delaying their salaries diminishes your status before them as their leader.

 Starting up an event planning company                                                                                         The first and the most important is that you must learn the rudiments and get the basic knowledge about event planning services. Experience is very important towards setting up any firm. You must garner enough planning and organisational skills, and be creative. For me, I had to humble myself to learn from many friends that have flourishing event-planning company to get practical experience after reading so much from books and internet.

 Advice to youths                                                                                                                                     I hear a lot of fellow youths say that there is no money to start up a business, but I don’t think that money is an issue in terms of starting up a business. The challenge I think they’ve got is lack of determination, because when I’m determined to do anything, I see myself moving forward. I tell my friends and anybody that care to listen that no matter how small you start up a business, it all depends on how strongly determined you are and how focused you are in handling the venture.

It doesn't make sense to brag that you are a graduate, or beautiful or handsome when you don’t have knowledge and know your potentials. I say this because God has created everyone with talents and has given us two hands. So, what can you do? That is why I advise people to go and get trained. If you have problems not knowing what you want to do with your life, then go and learn handiwork. We have lots of them that are surviving with it these days in Nigeria. We young ladies going into make-up artists, some are going into fashion designing, instead of waiting for a white-collar job that may never come.

-The SUN.

Eat these foods, beat diabetes

Have the disease, or simply want to lose weight? The following foods can help:

• Whole grains: Not all carbohydrates are bad. Foods made with whole grains, such as whole-wheat bread and brown rice, are sources of filling fibre (aiding weight loss, which can reduce your diabetes risk) and nutrients such as potassium, which helps the pancreas release insulin, the hormone that helps your cells use glucose for energy.

• Fish, eggs, poultry: These foods (poultry without the skin) are fair game in a diabetes-friendly diet. Why? Because they’re high in protein (result: full stomach); but typically low in fat (result: better weight management). Fatty fish also contains omega-3 fatty acids, which cut down on cardiovascular problems that can accompany diabetes.

• Fruits: Although they do contain sugar, the rate at which it enters the bloodstream is slowed by fibre. Fruits with a red, blue or purple hue might be particularly beneficial, because they’re loaded with anthocyanins, compounds that heighten your body’s sensitivity to insulin.

• Nuts and seeds: Craving a snack? Grab a handful of nuts. Even though they’re high in calories, they’re also packed with filling protein and healthy fat that can help keep your weight in check. If you’re a fan of walnuts, you’re especially in luck, because their high level of polyunsaturated fatty acids improves the body’s sensitivity to insulin.

• Green leafy vegetables: Pretty much everyone, with or without diabetes, should eat a lot of veggies, ideally at least three servings per day; and green leafy types, including spinach, kale and romaine should top the list. They have high fibre and water content that satiates your appetite on fewer calories, and they’re an important source of magnesium, which improves the body’s ability to turn glucose into energy and keep your metabolism humming (a process that is impaired in people with diabetes).

Source: All You Magazine(Punch)

Ejigbo: Injustice Prowls, Justice Crawls

A YEAR after they were tortured – one of them died – and their suspected attackers were strutting the streets in sheer defiance of the law; justice may come to three women assaulted in Ejigbo Central Market. The Lagos suburb gained a place in the map when about 1,000 people perished in its canals while fleeing the Ikeja bomb blast 12 years ago.

Ejigbo is 16km from Ikeja, the state capital. It is not to be confused with Ejigbo in Oyo State, 177km from Lagos. Ejigbo, Lagos, has a local council area authority, almost its own local government area, a police station, a traditional ruler, representatives in the state and national parliaments.

Yet the authorities had no interest in the incident, which was on social media since February 2013. The women were tortured; pepper and other foreign objects were stuffed into their genitals. They allegedly stole pepper from the market.

Section 34 of the 1999 Constitution states that, “Every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person and accordingly, no person should be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment”.

Worse than this violation is the connivance and indolence of the police. It took pressure from Arise, a human rights group, and conversations on the social media for the Lagos State House of Assembly to stir. The police only acted after Inspector General of\ Police, in Abuja, 555km from Ejigbo, sent a special team.

Suspects have been arrested, but when and how would justice get to the victims and their families? The lawlessness and impunities that abound in Nigeria thrive on fear the authorities create by abandoning the people to hoodlums who with their own laws fill the vacuum official indifference generates. Assuming the women stole, under what laws were they punished? What are the powers of vigilante groups? The concerns are nationwide.

In Makurdi, eight farmers were charged to court for allegedly stripping a widow, Mrs. Ann Adikwu, and parading her at a market square in Orokam, Ogbadibo Local Government Area of Benue State. They  took her pictures, which, like in the Ejigbo case, they circulated. The men were her late husband’s relations who had issues with her. She said they also stole her clothes, money and jewellery.

It was the social media again that brought attention to the plight of Mrs. Alexandra Ossai, who lost her seven-month pregnancy after her Lebanese boss Kaveh Noine reportedly kicked her on the stomach. The police in Lagos ignored the case until the President ordered“investigation for sanctions and remedial action.” We cannot run a country where hoodlums are the law. Local authorities, as well as Abuja, share in making Nigeria governable.

-Vanguard.

E-commerce: Konga to sue Rocket Internet over domain name .

Nigeria’s online retailer, Konga.com, has said it is set to drag German based Internet conglomerate, Rocket Internet to court over domain name ownership.

Rocket Internet is the parent company of Nigeria’s popular online retailer, jumia.com.

Konga has alleged that Rocket Internet registered Konga related domain names in ten different countries, areas that it would possibly establish should it decide on expansion outside of Nigeria.

According to a document made available to Vanguard, the list of the domain names and the countries they are registered include: Konga.cd for Cote D’Ivoire, Konga.cm for Cameroun, Konga.ly for Libya, Konga.mu for Mauritius and Konga.ma for Morocco. Others include: Konga.mw for Malawi, Konga.sc for Seychelles, Konga.sh for Saint Helena, Konga.co.ke for Kenya and Konga.co.za for South Africa.

Speaking on the development, Konga’s Public Relations Strategist, Ifeanyi Abraham told Vanguard that Rocket Internet intentionally registered the domain names in order to effectively ensure that Konga does not come effectively into the orbit of their competition.

He  said that Konga having exhausted all options to retrieve the names would engage Rocket Internet in litigation. He noted that Konga would follow all legal procedures and alternatives there are in all the jurisdictions that those domain names have been registered. According to him, “We are going ahead with legal actions in the different jurisdictions where these domain names were registered.”

Vanguard obtained a letter by Konga’s founder and Chief Executive Officer, Sim Shagaya to his Lawyer, Opeyemi Agbaje.

According to the letter entitled: “Destructive foreign competition in the internet industry,” Shagaya wrote: “I hope you can take this up fairly because I think it is necessary that people understand what’s happening in the internet industry. Jumia is wholly owned by Rocket Internet GmbH. It is not indigenous.

“Rocket owns a range of businesses including Camido, Jovago, Kaymu, Vamido, EasyTaxi and HelloFood. Each of these operations is seriously hurting a local operation with the same business model including Cheki, Private Property, BuyAm, Tranzit and CityChops respectively.

These local companies will die if not supported. It is that simple. Konga has at least been able to withstand the onslaught and even beat them back.
“In addition, Rocket Internet, the parent company of Jumia, has proceeded to buy and sit on the domain names of Konga across the continent. This action speaks to an intention to drown out indigenous innovation and frankly our government does not know any better.”

- vanguard

Menace of nude ‘selfie’ pictures, videos

Deola Kayode

Titi has a smashing body and she knows it. So, every time her boyfriend told her to send her nude picture to him, she always felt a sense of self worship and always obliged. However, the ‘wan-tin-tin’ love didn’t last forever. She caught him cheating, the love turned bitter, she broke up with him even after a lot of pressure and pleading by her boyfriend.

But what happened to her pictures? Well, it later appeared online as revenge porn. Nude ‘selfies’ — pictures and videos — are on the rise.

Err… what is a selfie?

Ewww… ok, I’ll help you. Every time you attempt to take a video or picture of yourself, you are taking a ‘selfie.’ It was named the Oxford Dictionary’s most popular new English word for 2013. It reached a new popularity height when a high profile trio — the Danish Prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt; British Prime minister, David Cameron; and U.S. President Barack Obama were photographed taking a ‘group selfie’ during the funeral of former South African President, Nelson Mandela. However, the underworld of pornography has its own popular trends — revenge porn, sexting, cyber-luring, with some men and women unknowingly participating in live porn shows. The list and the victims are becoming endless.

 You just wondered what ‘sexting’ means again. You may be seriously old school. If your child, friend, or colleague are protecting their phones, they may be more exposed than you think.  Sexting is the act of sending sexually explicit messages, photographs and videos between mobile phones — either between two people or one too many broadcasts.

Rising amateur pornography

With the emergence of camera phones, it is now easy to create and share texts, media messages, photos and videos and at the click of a button, you can share it with the world. It is happening in private sexting messages between couples — married and unmarried; and sexual predators are luring teens to share personal and intimate sexual images and videos. Many gullible youths succumb, without imagining possible future consequences.

Remember, a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that a young girl asked me if she could send her nude pix to her Facebook ‘boyfriend’ in the U.S. She was a JSS3 student.

This has become rampant for a number of reasons: technology has made everyone an amateur cameraman; worse still, young people are more likely to act impulsively, especially when deceived into taking actions that might have future consequences. Some have sent sexting selfies to someone they trusted, only for the person to pass them round until they end up on the internet.

Never share or record what you can’t publish

Especially with teens and young people generally, harmless fun can translate into eternal regret. If photos and videos you share get online, it will still be searchable by the time you are looking for your first job, when you become a star, governor or CEO. If you hope to achieve any of these significant achievements, be careful what you record for posterity. Don’t share photos that could embarrass you, your partner or your children, even in 10 or 20 years’ time. If you will be embarrassed if your sex scene, naked bath or toilet photos are out, then don’t share them.

By sharing a picture with someone, you are essentially telling them that you completely trust them with your most intimate secrets. If you cannot look into the eyes of your partner and tell him/her about it, then I suggest you keep the pictures in your memories. If you must film anything — and I don’t want to spoil your fun — have a device dedicated for it. If you must share anything, please delete immediately.

You are never 100% in control of the contents

 You may think the person you are sharing it with will not betray you and that you are 100 per cent in control of the images and videos you record. But then, what happens if your phone gets stolen? What if you took the laptop for repairs and forgot to remove the photos? What if you wanted to share the picture on Twitter, Facebook and Blackberry and a glitch in the system made it a broadcast?  Impossible? It’s happened before.

The Internet is replete with stories of several people who made the headlines as a result of this development. Imagine if social media and its tools are one huge cocktail event. Never share the things you do not want to be published.

No secret arrangement with someone you met online

I have heard and celebrated stories of people who met online and eventually got married. However, there are thousands of others whose sad stories never made it into the news. Silent and unreported cases of rape, robbery and kidnaps abound and the people involved are suffering for it. Some people you chat with may have a sexy picture of a 16-year-old lady while they are actually 40-year-old smart dudes hoping to exploit your body and money.

Even if you are to arrange a meeting, let someone know about it or, better still, don’t go alone. You can be there earlier or later than the agreed time and keep your eyes peeled to spot mischief.

Those videos and pictures can haunt you

Experienced predators can easily track where you live. This is because most smart phone users are unaware that their devices use GPS location services to upload pictures, power maps, driving directions, phone locators, and other handy apps, but not everyone is aware that the same technology may pose a risk to their safety and privacy by recording precise geographical information of where and when the pictures were taken. This feature is called ‘geotagging.’

A Burger King employee was arrested last year for taking a ‘selfie’ showing himself standing with shoes on a container of shredded lettuce, with the comment, “This is the lettuce you eat at Burger King.” The picture located him. So, if you are a young, single or married person and you think you are out of reach when seducing someone secretly online, you may be wrong. Those pictures can be fed into a map and voila, the picture of your house, office or school is in the hand of that individual.

When uploading pictures, you can check their document properties and geo-tagging settings as well as the privacy settings on Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest and Instagram; especially at a time when most of these platforms are having challenges with security.

Social media and technology are shifting business and social culture. It is a new ‘country’ and we must be aware of the advantages and implications of abusing the freedom to publish.

Copyright PUNCH

FG approves N20.4b arrears to striking ASUP lecturers

The Federal Government on Tuesday agreed to pay N20.4 billion arrears of new salary structure to the striking polytechnic lecturers, Supervising Minister for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, has said.

Wike made this known at a meeting with the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics and the National Association of Polytechnic Students in Abuja.

He said what was delaying the payment was an agreement by both parties on the modalities for the payment.

According to him, the CONTISS salary structure being agitated for by the union had been approved and also included in the 2014 budget.

The minister said with the CONTISS issue, three out of four issues raised by the lecturers had been resolved.

Wike, however, said the only outstanding issue was the release of the white paper on visitation panel to polytechnics, saying that that the Federal Government was working on that.

The union and government met in 2013 at the commencement of the strike where ASUP tabled 13 demands to the Federal Government.

Both parties, however, agreed on tackling four issues which could be resolved in the short term.

These include setting up a Needs Assessment Committee for the polytechnics; implementation of the CONTISS salary structure; constitution of governing councils for the schools; and the release of the white paper.

The minister advised the union to state the facts, especially when addressing the public as government was making concerted efforts to strengthen its educational system at all levels.

Wike noted that the aim of Tuesday’s meeting was to identify grey areas that could be addressed for all to move forward.

He, therefore, appealed to the union to call off the industrial action in the interest of the country and the future of the students.

Earlier, ASUP National President, Dr Chibuzo Asomugha, said the union was not on strike for its own selfish interest.

Asomugha said the lecturers were fighting to strengthen the polytechnics, improve on the quality of students and give them the place they deserved.

-PUNCH

IG directs Force HQ to probe Ejigbo women torture

The  Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, has ordered an immediate takeover of investigation into the torture of two women in a market in Ejigbo, Lagos State, by a crack team of detectives from the Force Criminal Investigation Department.

He directed the team to take over the  suspects  and all exhibits related to the matter from the Lagos State Police Command.

The women were said to have been thoroughly beaten and their private parts daubed with ground pepper  for allegedly stealing pepper at the Ejigbo market.

The gory incident was uploaded on the Internet, drawing public outrage and condemnation.

One of the victims is reported to have died.

About nine suspects were said to have been arrested in connection with the crime.

A Non-Governmental Organisation, Women Arise for Change, led by Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, led the members on a protest to the Lagos State House of Assembly.

A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, in Abuja on Tuesday said the IG assured all Nigerians especially the family of the victims and other relevant stakeholders that the police would ensure that justice was done in the case.

Abubakar called on Nigerians to partner with the Nigeria Police particularly in the area of providing relevant information,and promised to respect the confidentiality of all informants and whistleblowers at all times.

The IG commended the media, members of the human rights community led by Okei-Odumakin and all members of the public “whose patriotism, advocacy and concern led to the exposure of this atrocious crime.”

” Their constructive partnership with the police has had a salutary effect on the ongoing investigation so far,” the statement added.

- PUNCH

Nigeria will start exporting cars soon —Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday expressed the belief that with the measures put in place by his administration, especially the new National Automotive Industry Policy; the country would soon be exporting cars to other countries.

Jonathan spoke at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, while granting audience to a delegation of the business community from Anambra State led by Governor Peter Obi.

In responding to an address by the delegation, the President said, “I will refer all the issues you raised to the various departments of government. We are totally committed to creating jobs. Nigeria is a country with huge population of youths. If jobs are not created, there will be crisis. The housing, agriculture and power sectors are also receiving attention.

“In the next few years, Nigeria will begin to export cars to other countries. We are encouraging the government to support local manufacturers.”

Jonathan promised that the industrialists’ basic needs such as roads, power and port facilities would be addressed appropriately.

He said if Nigeria must become great as expected by all, the Federal Government must industrialise the nation.

To this end, he said his administration would continue to encourage industrialists in the country.

“If any country will be great, we must industrialise. If Nigeria must be a great country, we must industrialise. To this end, we will continue to encourage industrialists in Anambra,” the President added.

He said his government was also devoting attention and resources to the power sector because of its critical role in industrialisation.

Vice-President Namadi Sambo told the delegation that Jonathan had recently approved $3.7bn to improve power transmission across the country.

Obi had earlier told the President that the enterprising and preserving nature of Anambra people made them well-positioned to assist Jonathan to achieve his administration’s transformation agenda.

While declaring the support of the people of the state for Jonathan, Obi said, “You have excess credit in your political account that these people (members of the delegation) are ready to pay you when you need it.”

The governor said he led the delegation to express their support for the President and bring to his attention some of the industrialists’ collective, which if addressed, would help in anchoring the growth and development of industry in the state.

Some of the needs, according to him, are the completion of the 330/132/33KV power substation at Nnewi; provision of uninterrupted power supply in the Onitsha Harbour Industrial Area and Ozubulu Industrial Hub; completion of the Nnamdi Azikwe Teaching Hospital, Nnewi; and the inclusion of Anambra State in the rail master plan.

Obi also made a case for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of federal roads within the state such as the Oba-Nnewi-Okigwe Section 1, Nnewi-Okija, start of Onitsha Second Niger Bridge, completion of the Onitsha-Enugu dual carriageway and completion of the Umueze-Anam Kogi road.

The governor also thanked the President for the inclusion of Nnewi in the National Automotive Industry Policy of the Federal Government.

This, he said, would attract many ancillary industries, especially with the coming on stream of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant, adding that the local content in vehicle manufacturing in no time would increase from 40 per cent to 60 per cent.         

- PUNCH

How nine-year-old girl braved the odds to pass WASSCE

AS long as the human race exists, wonders will never cease to occur. The latest wonder kid in the country is nine-year-old Miss Anjola Victoria Mautin Botoku, a pupil of Edidot School, Badore, Ajah and daughter of a Lagos Chief Magistrate, who took part of her pocket money to register for last year’s November/December WASSCE with Exam Number 5250802098.

   She registered for the examination at Eti-Osa centre with the assistance of her older siblings but without her parent’s knowledge. The young girl, who likes to experiment, decided to test what it is feels like to sit for an external exam, which came as a shock and surprise to her parents.    

   Like a gold fish without a hiding place, Anjola passed English and French languages at credit level in a first attempt with little or no coaching at the tender age of nine. Interestingly, thousands of candidates have failed English Language at various attempts even after series of intensive coaching.

   Anjolaoluwa registered as a private candidate for five subjects, namely English Language, Mathematics, French, Yoruba, Food and Nutrition, and Christian Religious Knowledge.

   She sat for only two subjects, English and French, after going through some past GCE question papers, but was absent for the others because she wasn’t prepared for them. When the results were released, she scored C6 in English and C5 in French. 

   The excitedly beautiful girl decided to gamble with the exam without informing her parents, because her parents would not have allowed her to write the exam. The decision also caught her teachers in school by surprise. “I was aware I was underage and it was illegal but determination and curiosity took the better part of me,” she told The Guardian.

   Recounting her experience, Anjola said: “I studied a lot preparing for the exam using old past question papers of GCE. Nobody was aware in my school what I was up to although what I learnt at school played a huge role, as well as the coaching from my parents. My mother was my English teacher while my father took me on French lessons.”    

   Her parents were only brought into the picture after her elder brothers, Babajide 17-year-old Telecommunication Engineering student in a private university and Olujuyin, 14-year-old SS 2 student of Edidot School, completed the registration for the exam.

   “When I told my parents about it, they were shock and felt it was a daring joke considering my age, but I begged them to coach me for the exam. They both had degrees in English and French respectively before studying Law. My dad is a bilingual lawyer and a former French teacher.”

   The Grade Six pupil, who clocked nine on September 17, 2013, said the GCE is a tough examination. But considering her level of preparation, especially in English, she was disappointed with her result, as she had expected a B2 or B3.

   Anjola’s best wish is to secure scholarship into a good secondary school. “It would encourage me greatly to excel because I will feel fulfilled to have stepped into my mother’s shoes. My mum won a scholarship when she was my age. I am currently preparing for entrance examination into secondary school and would prefer Lagoon Secondary School or Atlantic Hall School.”

   Among the challenges she faced sitting for the exam was the peering eyes that stared at her at the exam hall. Nobody believed she was a candidate. “Several times, I was denied access into the hall by examiners. It was the biometric test, which matched my thumbprint with the one in their system that usually saves the situation.

   “Some candidates were mocking me and calling me names like ‘over-ambitious’, ‘wait for your time.’ Another challenge was when the computer rejected my original age. I burst into tears when my application was rejected. I had to falsify my age by adding five years before the application could be completed.”

   Despite her love for books, Anjola has a social life. “I love dancing and have won several dancing competition at most birthday parties and social functions I attend. I like listening to musicians like Wizkid, PSquare, 2Face, Beyonce, and Rihanna. I have lots of friends and I relax by playing games on my dad’s iPad, watching television or swimming.

   “In Edidot School, they usually organize French Day and Miss French pageant competition. I once won the Miss French competition. Currently, I am the Head-Girl of my school. My daddy said Paris is a beautiful city. I heard of the famous French proverb ‘See Paris and die’, and I wish to visit Paris some day.

   “My dream is to be a medical doctor in future. If possible, be the youngest medical doctor in the history of Nigeria. I will continue reading and preparing for my exams, and write the GCE again   when I officially attain the age of 13. This attempt was an experiment.”

   Anjola decried the age limit of 13 placed by the exam body, which she said is unfair since in developed countries, young people are admitted into the university at the age of nine.

   “I would like the concerned authorities to change the age limit to allow Nigerians break or set new world records. Recently, a 10-year-old Nigerian passed Microsoft professional exams; the youngest medical doctor in the world is aged 17. 

   “Also, the youngest professor ever, Alla Sabur, became a professor at age 18. She was an undergraduate at 10 and got her first degree at 14 from New York State University.

   “My message to children of my age is for them to cultivate the reading culture, be ready to learn and show seriousness in the studies because having the right attitude is better than hard-work and knowledge.” 

   In a chat with The Guardian, Anjola’s father, Mr. Desire Olufemi Botoku, urged parents to devote quality time to their wards despite their busy schedule. 

   “I spent time with my closely-knitted family of five, with no interference of domestic staff, except my dogs. I am also an advocate of one-year exclusive breastfeeding for children.”

   The girl’s mother, Mrs. Abosede Botoku, disclosed that she spent five years exclusively breastfeeding Anjola, which was possible due to the nature of her job at the time. She added that exclusive breastfeeding boosts children’s immune system and their intelligent quotient.

   She described Anjola, the baby of the house among two boys, as an extrovert, hardworking, inquisitive, and talkative. “She works with less supervision at her age, even with her school assignments. She is an early riser; she sleeps at 8pm and wakes at 6am daily.”

   Recalling what her teacher said about Anjola, Abosede said: “Her teacher described her as a blessing to her parents who is ahead of her peers in everything. She has a zeal and knack for everything she puts her heart into. In school, she is nicknamed Genius or Brain Box. She also possess an excellent leadership skills at her age.”
-The guardian.

7 ways Jonathan can lift economy with ICT

The Chief Executive of one of Nigeria’s frontline IT training Institutions, New Horizons, Mr Tim Akano, at the weekend set up a 7 point agenda for president Goodluck Jonathan to lift Nigeria’s economy using the powers of technology.

For Akano, the common belief that there are no jobs is all a lie.  The truth according to him is that there are jobs but most Nigerian graduates lack appropriate skills to add value to the global ecosystem.
He argued that the current university education curricula are mostly outdated and cannot help the graduate in job placement without extra industry-required skills.   He however, outlined seven steps government can take to do things differently and have the economy greatly lifted.

Digital Government: Government should use technology to achieve faster economic transformation by automating a lot of its activities that are currently done manually. This will bring down the cost of governance substantially. Also things like taxation, business registration should be digitized.

Setting up cyber security command centre: As at today Nigeria lives in a house with its doors and windows wide open for foreign hackers to come in and steal its information. There is no standing national cyber army warrior on the ground that can defend Nigeria interest at the speed of light. The time has come for the federal government of Nigeria to set up a cyber security command centre. Cyber war is more difficult to win than the conventional war because the enemies are faceless and virtual. They are everywhere without been seen!

Create a smart city: Federal government can make Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt and other sensitive cities in Nigeria smart cities. This will combat terrorism and make investors confidence to remain solid in the commercial axis of Nigeria.
Country-wide biometric registration of all citizens: Nigeria needs an all-in biometrics registration that can never be duplicated. It should be used for both identification and other services like election etc.

Sound e-Learning platform: NUC should free the e-learning space to accommodate the 80% of Nigerian youths that are yearly denied university admission due to lack of space in the traditional brick and mortal universities. With e-learning, these youths that will otherwise end up as touts or at best political-dogs or thugs of politicians can have some chance of success in life if they can study at home. The argument that the quality of graduates who study at online universities will be watered down in Virtual universities does not hold water because the market will determine at the end of the day which among the graduates are suitable for employment.

Virtual Alien: If government adopt this strategy and build a framework to make it happen we can get over 1million Nigerian unemployed graduates to work abroad without leaving the shores of Nigeria using the power of technology. This will reduce the graduate unemployment and social friction that leads to terrorisms and suicide bombing. Everything is possible …

- Vanguard.

5 Steps to Becoming a More Empowered You in the New Year

Each year, people start off the New Year with a resolution that's probably similar to one made in previous years. And every January, there's a new commitment to making it really work this year.

Here's the problem: People who make these "renewed" resolutions aren’t really committed to changing who they are on the inside. So these resolutions -- whether it's getting in shape or growing a network or improving productivity -- become simply a test of willpower.

What needs to happen instead is a true change of perspective: Who you are, why you are here and what life really means to you.

The truth is, once you decide to look at yourself in the mirror every day and commit to holding yourself accountable to be the “best you” you can be, then all of your goals and resolutions become more easily attainable. That's because the real change is happening from within. The self-sabotaging habits begin to diminish and confidence, self-esteem and self-worth increases.

In life we have control of one thing only -- our perspective. No matter what happens, you can train yourself to see the good or lesson in everything that is happening around you. This can make your feel empowered instead of powerless in many circumstances.

As a serial entrepreneur, I've adopted these mantras in order to create a more positive perspective, both professionally and personally. By following them, you can take control of your life and get empowered to live the life you truly desire.

1. "Someday is Today." Stop procrastinating and creating excuses for why you can't have what you want. Take control. Announce to yourself "someday is today" every day, to seize the day and eradicate an excuse mentality.

2."Have More Fear of Regret Than Failure." Remind yourself that the feeling of regret is so much worse than trying something (even if it doesn't work out) and living with no regrets. Realize fear is an illusion that holds you back. By doing so, you will set yourself free to live to your fullest potential.

3. "I Only Have Good Days." Remember, the only thing in the world we have control over is our perspective. You can choose to adopt a consistently positive perspective and find the good in everything. Or you can be negative, and attract more negative things into your life. The mantra "I only have good days" reminds you to see the positive for a better outcome.

4. "Opportunities Lie Within Every Obstacle." It can be tough to dig deep and find the positive, especially when confronted by challenges. But if you choose the positive, you will find the opportunity and nuggets of wisdom in every obstacle that presents itself in your life.

5. "Live With Passion and Purpose." Stop asking "what should I be doing" and start understanding "who you want to be." What do you want your legacy to be? As you reflect, you will begin to understand your purpose. That will make it easier to live with more passion and stay further away from needless and draining distractions or drama. Identifying your purpose and living with passion is the most authentic way to be empowered all day, every day.

Keep these mantra’s handy. Perhaps post them on a mirror or wall so that you will be reminded how to “mentally reset” when you fall into old patterns and perspectives that can sabotage your best efforts. Empower yourself to have a happier, more fulfilling, successful life. Then this year really can be THE year to achieve your goals and live the life you desire.

-Jen Groover

How joblessness truncates dreams of Nigerian youths

If Jordanian monarch, King Abdullah 11 were a Nigerian, he wouldn’t have closed his eyes in sleep. He was quoted once as saying, “what keeps me up at night is poverty and unemployment.”
But in Nigeria, where over 40 million youths are jobless, there is absolute certainty that the likes of King Abdullah would never sleep, not even for a minute.

Surprisingly, King Abdullah is not the only one that would lose sleep when surrounded by ragtag armies of jobless youths. Even the federal government does not hide the fact that the nation’s unemployment rate has become a great source of concern.

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was quoted as saying recently that the spate of unemployment was giving her sleepless nights. Citing the National Bureau of Statistics, the minister admitted that “each year, about 1.8m young Nigerians enter into our labour market and we need to ensure that the economy provides jobs for them.”

There is no hiding the fact that the nation is presently sitting on a landmine laid by millions of Nigerian youths, who live in social distress for lack of sustainable means of livelihood. The timing for its destructive explosion may not be predictable but the danger inevitably looms largely over the landscape. These able-bodied young men and women have become like a rudderless ship hit by a turbulent storm, merely drifting on harsh economic conditions towards an imminent disaster.

Their fears of a hopeless future were confirmed by the recent report by the National Population Commission (NPC) stating that the rate of unemployment in Nigeria rose from 21.1 per cent in 2010 to 23.9 per cent in 2011. In the latest report on its website, the NPC said the nation’s economic growth had not translated into job creation. This revelation implies that millions of Nigerian youths, including graduates, have no means of daily bread.

In its Economic Report on Nigeria released earlier in May 2013, the World Bank noted that “job creation in Nigeria has been inadequate to keep pace with the expanding working age population. The official unemployment rate had steadily increased from 12 per cent of the working age population in 2006 to 24 per cent in 2011. Preliminary indications are that this upward trend continued in 2012.”

In the official website, the NPC concurred. “Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics clearly illustrated the deep challenges in Nigeria’s labour market, where the nation’s rapid economic growth has not translated into effective job creation. The NBS estimates that Nigeria’s population grew by 3.2 per cent in 2011, from 159.3 million people in 2010 to 164.4 million in 2011, reflecting the rapid population growth. In 2011, Nigeria’s unemployment rose to 23.9 per cent compared with 21.1 per cent in 2010.”

It said the labour force swelled by 2.1 million to 67, 256, 090 people, with just 51, 224,115 persons employed, leaving 16,074,205 people without work. The NPC said the lack of sufficient jobs resulted in additional 2.1 million unemployed persons in 2011, up from 1.5 million unemployed people produced in 2010.
It added: “Unemployment was higher in the rural areas, at 25.6 per cent, than in the urban areas, where it was 17 per cent on average.

In the light of the country’s fast-growing population, efforts to create a conducive environment for job creation must be redoubled, if the trend of rising unemployment is to be reversed.”
To avert the wrath of jobless youths, the founder, Empower Nigeria Initiative and President, Anabel group, Nicholas Okoye, hosted the second Nigeria Leadership Summit at the Oriental Hotel, Lagos, with over 5000 youths in attendance. The summit dwelt on the theme, Let’s get to Work and was chaired by the former Secretary of the Commonwealth and current Chairman, Presidential Advisory Council on International Relations, Chief Emeka Anyaoku.

Okoye said the Empower Nigeria was about creating one million new jobs for the Nigerian youths over the next three years. He said the alarming unemployment rate in the country can only be solved by creating a direct alternative to active work engagement in which the Nigerian youth can provide a livelihood for themselves.

“It is about taking on the major challenges of entrepreneurship in Nigeria which we have identified to include funding, training and access to the business opportunities and ideas. Empower Nigeria is also about entrepreneurship networks that give entrepreneurs the chance to be a part of something big, expand their collective buying power and even use the network as a market place. It is about building a network of partners that will support the process of entrepreneurship across Nigeria,” he said.

The three-day event also had in attendance the former Head of the Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan, Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Edem Duke, former Vice President, World Bank, Oby Ezekwesili, Managing Director, Bank of Industries, Evelyn Oputu, Managing Director, Heritage Bank, Ifie Sekibo, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa and a host of other dignitaries.

Also, the Director General, Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Frank Nweke, Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BoI), Evelyn Oputu, Prof Pat Utomi, Adenike Ogunlesi, Prof Barth Nnaji, Alex Otti, Director General, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Emeka Mba and lots of dignitaries were billed to make presentations at the summit.

Addressing the participants, Chief Anyaoku warned of the social consequences of unemployment among the teeming youths in the country. He said thousands of graduates are churned out annually into the overflowing pool of unemployed people, breeding frustration and restiveness among young people.

He recommended entrepreneurship as a viable solution to youth joblessness. He described the Empower Nigeria Initiative as a lifeline to youths, noting that its focus on entrepreneurship would address the nagging problem of youth unemployment and its associated vices. He urged the private sector to complement government’s effort in addressing critical areas.

While explaining the need for entrepreneurship, Anyaoku said youth unemployment has become one of the present challenges facing the country, with more graduates being churned out annually from the over 120 universities and tertiary institutions in the country.

Aside the social consequences of this high level of unemployment, Anyaoku said unemployment brought a debilitating frustration on the youthful population, breeding kidnappers, armed robbers and fraudsters. He described the summit as highly relevant to the country and expressed gladness that such a platform came at the right time to promote entrepreneurship among young people.

Anyaoku said the worrisome upsurge in crime in recent times could be blamed on the dearth of employment opportunities that would engage these young ones in rewarding ventures. He said although Nigeria faces lots of challenges, notably in security, infrastructure and tension in politics, youth unemployment remains a clog to economic development of the nation.

In her opening presentation entitled, Empowering the Nigerian Youth Population, Ezekwesili decried the failure of leadership, noting that the annals of Nigerian history have been blurred by a repeated cycle of failure.

Ezekwesili argued with facts that Nigeria was richer than China in the 60s, regretting that the reverse had become the case. She maintained that the noticeable poor quality outcomes in policies in the country were convincing signs of the absence of good governance.

“No nation is able to express its shared vision without leadership that understands sacrifice. As long as our political incentives are wrongly aligned, and the action of leadership is in itself a reward for work not done, to that extent, we do not have what everybody calls good governance,” she said.

Ezekwesili lamented poor policy choices and absence of strong institutions in Nigeria, saying they have robbed the country of the right platform to drive private investment and entrepreneurship.
While dissecting the numerous challenges facing economic development of the country, she said unemployment rate in Nigeria presently stood at 29 per cent, with 60 per cent of victims as youths. To worsen the situation, she lamented that an additional 2 million youths add to the pool of the unemployed population annually in African continent, spreading the tide of poverty to innumerable families.

Also speaking, the former Head of Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan, stressed the need to weed out corruption in order to win the confidence of foreign investors and create more employment opportunities for young people.

“Investors shun countries where there is corruption, more so because it increases the cost of doing business and also truncates the laws for doing business,”he said.

In his keynote address, Shokenan urged the government to harness the energies of existing entrepreneurs to fast track the development of the country. He further explained that political and economic stability are important for local and foreign investment.

Also speaking, Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Edem Duke, who participated throughout the three-days programme, described unemployment as the “most significant challenge facing youth development in the country. The numbers of unemployed youths in Nigeria are alarming, and the figures are growing by the day.”

Duke called for a holistic solution in addressing the challenge, noting that mutual collaboration was vital between the private and public sectors to get millions of youths off the unemployment list.

“We know that jobs are created primarily in the private sector. And the role of the federal government is to provide the enabling environment and to support from the back all the initiatives and structures that the private sector can develop that will create an atmosphere of productivity, growth and job creation. It is for this reason that my ministry, as part of the federal government, supports the Nigeria Leadership Summit and this year’s summit. We need to get to work because there are millions of youths who depend on us to provide them with a guide and a path to salvation,” he said.

Duke said his ministry would work closely with the Anabel Group to identify areas in entertainment industry, the culture industry and the tourism sector, where youths can build micro, small and medium businesses and create sustainable business opportunities for thousands and millions of people over the long run.

The task of creating one million jobs within three years obviously seem daunting, but the convener of the summit, Okoye, is not eating his words. He would soon hit the road running with the message of entrepreneurship. According to him, organizing road shows on entrepreneurship, visiting all corners of the country to sign up young people, get them trained, certified and engaged in a productive venture would surely awaken these sleeping giants in their millions.

The SUN