MY WORLD BY 2015

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have made a huge impact on the lives of billions, but there is still much more to be done to address extreme poverty, diseases and environmental crises thus, the global development agenda for the period after 2015 will build on the progress made on the MDGs while confronting persistent inequalities and new challenges facing people and planet. The new development agenda must result from a truly open and inclusive process that engages people from all parts of the world and all sections of society.

MY World is an options survey asking individuals which six of sixteen possible issues they think would make the most difference to their lives. These issues are Better job opportunities, Support for people who can´t work, A good education, Better healthcare, Affordable and nutritious food, Phone and internet access, Better transport and roads, Access to clean water and sanitation, Reliable energy at home, Action taken on climate change, Protecting forests, rivers and oceans, Equality between men and women, Protection against crime and violence, Political freedom, An honest and responsive government and Freedom from discrimination and persecution

The issues cover the existing MDGs, plus issues of sustainability, security, governance and transparency.  The results of MY World will be delivered to members of the High-level Panel, who will submit their recommendations to the Secretary-General in May 2013. From now until 2015, MY WORLD want many people in as many countries as possible to be involved: citizens of all ages, genders and backgrounds, particularly the world’s poor and marginalized communities.

Join the crusade to create MY WORLD BY 2015 by participating in the survey on http://www.myworld2015.org/

PREMIÈRE OF "YAWS N MYN"

Lagos is set to witness the most anticipated première of 2012. The sitcom – “Yaws n Myn” which will première in Lagos, Silverbird Galleria and it would be shown to viewing audience.

Date: 16th, December, 2012.

Venue: Silverbird Galleria, Ahmadu Bello Way, V.I

Time: 5pm.

Strictly by Invitation.

Yaws ‘n’ Myn, is basically a 30-minute weekly sitcom that follows the dysfunctional life of a Radio presenter Yaw who is shackled in the same house with his brother Raluchukwu and sister Chetachukwu. 

As for Yaw, life was all normal till his parents left to work in America and leave him to take care of his grown siblings. Ral who thinks he is a great music talent but rather not and Cheta who spends more time in the mirror and can’t cook at all. Thrown into the mix is their weird tenant who they sublet one of their rooms to, their grandmother who speaks just Igbo language, their Hausa gateman (retired soldier) and a troublesome aunt. With an unending drama and a life time laughs. The sitcom follows the dynamics of five different people living together.

The sitcom features some of Nigeria’s most talented actors – Yaw, Stanley “FunnyBone” Chibunna, Lilian Esoro, Ngozi Nwosu, Tina Mba, Ufuoma Ejenobor, is the latest from Yawnaija Entertainment; a leading brand in the entertainment industry  headed by Yaw. Steve Onu (YAW) is an On-Air Personality on 95.1 Wazobia FM, an Actor, Producer, Presenter, Philanthropist and Master of Ceremony. Steve Onu is the first and only On Air Personality/Comedian chosen alongside other notable Nigerians as Olympic Torch bearers for the London 2012 Olympics. He is a United Nations Young Ambassador for Peace and the UN Face of Peace (2012).

Yawnaija Entertainment is working on an application for the sitcom to be played on mobile phone as mobile game. A radio drama version would also be aired on various radio stations in Nigeria and across the globe.

Yaws n Myn intend to show on VOX Africa, DSTV, Oh TV(UK), Nollywood Films (UK), Klear TV (UK), The African Channel TV (UK), STV, LTV8, SABC South Africa.

It will be showing from January, 2013.

For more information, Visit the Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/yawsnmyn Also follow on twitter @yawsnmyn and Visit www.yawsnmyn.tv Call YAW on 08065293138, 08055588852, Subscribe to www.youtube.com/user/yawnaija

African Youth - fulfilling the potential

We came from different backgrounds, from different parts of Africa, but all with one goal - to change the continent, to improve our society, and for our voices to be heard! We are the restless youth. 

I was delighted to be chosen as a youth communicator at the above event by Restless Development, a youth based agency in the United Kingdom. It was an eye-opening experience in which I met 15 dynamic youth delegates and 3 youth communicators, all with our own stories on how we strived to be heard in our respective society, all passionate about Youth development, all working in our own little space to create the change needed. 

Prior to the Forum a training session was held on why we were here, the problems we faced in our countries and what we hoped to achieve at the Forum. The theme of the event: African Youth- fulfilling the potential, focussed on the three main challenges to the economic and social development of Africa's youth - Education, Employment and Civil participation. After deliberation we came up with a summary of what we wanted in the near future for African Youth - Youth empowerment, entrepreneurship development, quality and quantitative education and Youth participation in governance. We were of one voice, that youth be part and parcel of the decision-making policies meant for youths. 

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation award/Forum was attended by over four hundred high profile guests from civil society, government, business enterprises and multi-lateral institutions from across Africa. It was also an avenue to bestow honour on Archbishop Desmond Tutu for "speaking truth to power". Lots of programmes were lined up to discuss how African Youth can fulfill their potential.

The first programme, an Intergenerational Dialogue connecting the TUTU fellows, elders and youth, was on how Youth can be involved in governance in Africa, ensuring Gender equality in youth leadership, on how education systems contribute to developing youth leadership, and on how elders can support transitions and cultural shifts in society and the role of the state, civil society and media. The Elders believe that African Youth have potential but they have to develop themselves as "Self confidence comes with the opportunity of expressing yourself". The Tutu Fellows asked what development can African Youth offer? James Mwangi said that the challenge is on youth to determine what they want, find the space and strive for excellence. Ibrahim Niang of The Youth was of the opinion that we need to visit our school programmes in Africa. The key problem is that we don't know the model of personality we want to build. Isaac Mwapipo said that the young should be perceived as core players in governance and that power and decision-making resides in the youth. We all agreed that the 'Elders, youth, and the media are important tools in developing Africa and we must look for ways to harness them together.' 

The next programme was panel discussions on the event theme, divided into three sessions to cover the three core elements. The former President of Nigeria, President Olusegun Obasanjo, introduced the first Panel session saying that African Youth should not be seen as liabilities but assets to the continent. He said that in his own generation they had opportunities but no facilities but in this generation, we have facilities but no opportunities thus, African Youth should look for ways to create these opportunities by making good use of the facilities that they have.

The second panel session on Ensuring African Youth competitiveness developing the right skills and providing adequate tools was headed by Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. He said 'there are many economic opportunities in Africa but they are hindered by corruption.' The consensus among the panellists was that African Governments should unite and create employment by developing their own continent instead of exporting and importing to western countries. Also that, when the government listen to the youth, they can be mobilized for peace, stability & economic growth of the continent.

The Final panel session, 'Acquiring Social and Political Responsibility', headed by former President of Botswana Festus Mogae, we agreed that Youth should hold government more accountable.....even more so, that youth should take part in active governance and development and take the revolution to the street.

African Leaders are aware of the problems facing African Youth - according to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 'young people should never stop dreaming because they are the Hope of Africa.' In addition, Mo Ibrahim said that Africa has gone through a lot of challenges but we are still standing strong and the youth have to stand up for themselves and not wait for the government. We should identify the potential Labour market as a youth BY creating one. The Prime Minister of Senegal, Abdoul Mbaye, said that the future of the continent is tantamount to the future of the youth.

At the end of the forum my horizon has being broadened and I see myself as a person who must not be limited by background and society. I see that African youth are great and we can create a world we want if we define our goals and work in unity to achieve them. We need innovative, risk taking young leaders who can start the change in their own little space. 

So what are you doing to change your society? Are you a liability or an asset to this generation?

Youths were represented from Morocco (Iman Benjelloun), Tunisia (Fedi Bahri), Egypt (Hend Sallam), South Sudan(James Ochan), Ghana (Lily Mensah), the Gambia(Kaddijatuo Manneh), Tanzania (Adam Abraham), Uganda (Joel Bamwise), Ethiopia (Yeabisra Bogale),DRC (Prince Wilondja), Cameroun (Zoneziwoh Mbonduglo), South Africa (Aviwe Motsoane), Zambia (Christabel Machila and Isaac Mwaipopo), Zimbabwe (Mthulisi Moyo), Kenya(Alfred Mdumo), Also, part of the youth delegate were two disable people, Fedi and James from Africa Youth With Disabilities Network(AYWDN). 

http://inspire.nayd.org/2012/11/african-youth-fulfilling-potential.html

Nigeria rated as worst country to be born in while Switzerland is the best-EIU

The advanced world conducts all manners of research, most times to confirm a pre-determined belief or mindset. Worse still, there are hardly global monitors to validate either the process or the outcome of such researches. One of such researches has been conducted with Nigeria as one of the countries focused on. And the result, expectedly, is a damning verdict on Nigeria.  

The country is known for many things, some good and admittedly, some bad. In recent times, there have been a number of research reports completed by international organisations and the results have not been favourable to Nigeria.

In October 2012, the African Insurance Organisation ranked Nigeria as the “Kidnap-for-Ransom Capital of the World,” accounting for 25 per cent of global kidnappings. Somalia, which had been in the business of sea piracy and kidnappings long before Nigeria joined the 'league', has long been overtaken by Nigeria according to the rating.  In June 2012, the Global Peace Index ranked Nigeria as the sixth most dangerous African country to live in. Each time such results are released, it is usually followed by debates on various online platforms with many questioning the authenticity of the results.

Yesterday, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a sister company of The Economist magazine, released results of its 2013 Where-to-be-born Index. This time, Nigeria is ranked as No. 80 out of the 80 countries assessed,  making it the worst country to be born in among the countries analysed. Put differently, Nigeria is the least or even the last place the sampled respondents would want to be born.

In the “Where-To-Be-Born Index” 2013, Nigeria has the lowest score of 4.74 points, placing her at the 80th position.  Nigeria is the worst place for a baby to enter the world in 2013, says the survey.

Despite their strong economies, none of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) scores impressively. Among the African countries on the list, South Africa, which was ranked 53 on the list, comes first with 5.89 points followed by Algeria in the 54th position and with 5.86 points.

According to the EIU, the research “earnestly attempts to measure which country will provide the best opportunities for a healthy, safe and prosperous life in the years ahead”. Its quality-of-life index links the results of subjective life-satisfaction surveys—how happy people say they are—to objective determinants of the quality of life across countries. Being rich helps more than anything else, but it is not all that counts; things like crime, trust in public institutions and the health of family life matter too.

In all, the index takes 11 statistically significant indicators into account. They are a mixed bunch: some are fixed factors, such as geography; others change only very slowly over time (demography, many social and cultural characteristics); and some factors depend on policies and the state of the world economy. All things considered, the socio-economic condition of a country helps to determine how satisfied or hopeful a people can be.

In a related development, Switzerland takes top spot, followed by Australia at No.2 and Norway at No. 3.The index ranks Switzerland as the best country to be born in with 8.22 points.

Small economies dominate the top ten, with Hong Kong the only other Asian economy to appear at number 10 in the list. Singapore was listed at the sixth position in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Where-to-be-born index, 2013.

The United States came in at No.16 while the United Kingdom came in at No. 27. The Netherlands came in at No. 8 and is the only country from the Euro zone. Susan Evans, an analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit said both Hong Kong and Singapore are well-known for their wealth, stability and relatively low levels of corruption.

"One determining factor of future life satisfaction for their residents, which is less easy to predict, will be the trajectory of civic freedoms," she said.

Germany and France came in at No.16 and No. 26 respectively.

While the validity of the research may be a subject of intense debate among stakeholders, many believe they should serve as wake-up calls for the nation's leaders. Those who so believe argue that while the ratings may not be accurate readings of the Nigerian polity, they indeed serve as rough projections of the feelings of the Nigerians.

source-
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/eiu-rates-nigeria-worst-country-to-be-born-in/131476/
http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20121123-385297.html

Only Primary Schools Can Save Our Varsities - NUC

Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission, NUC, Prof. Julius Okojie, said yesterday that little or nothing could be done to effect positive changes in the country's university education system, unless there was urgent improvement in primary and post-primary school systems.

Okojie, who spoke at the 1st anniversary of celebration/decoration of Patron of National Anti-Corruption Volunteer Corps, NAVC, in Abuja, noted that emphasis should be laid on primary and secondary schools, which are the basic foundation of any education system.

Represented by Prof. Akaneren Essien, the NUC boss maintained that issue of corruption should be looked into right from the appointment of political office holders. He said the appointment should be based on antecedents and not a political patronage.

source-http://allafrica.com/stories/201211210725.html

Many Disabled Kids Not in School in South Africa

At least 467,000 disabled children are not attending school, Deputy Minister for Children Hendriette Bagopane-Zulu said on Wednesday. "This year alone, we have 467,000 children of school going age who are not getting an education," she said in Johannesburg.

"We have a mandate to reduce that and we are working with the department of basic education on that." She was speaking at the hand-over of an equality report to the department by the SA Human Rights Commission. Bagopane-Zulu said special schools were not the only solution to ensuring that disabled children had access to a quality education. Children with certain disabilities should be attending the same schools as able children. "You don't need disabled kids [being] subjected to special schools."

With November being identified as "disability month", the SAHRC launched the equality report, highlighting some of government's shortfalls in realising and attaining the rights of people with disabilities. "Children who are severely and profoundly disabled are denied access to education in both mainstream and special schools," said commissioner Bokankatla Malatji when delivering the report.

According to research by the commission, about 10 percent of children with disabilities were not attending school in South Africa. The commission also pointed out that government had failed to comply with the obligations of the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) and was yet to submit its report. The commissioner said despite some progress by the government, the commission was of the view that a lot more had to be done.

The deputy minister acknowledged some of the shortcomings, admitted that there were policies and programmes in place, but said putting them into practice was a problem. She said the report by the commission would assist the department in working through all its challenges.

"We accept the report and will process the contents thereof."

source-http://allafrica.com/stories/201211211239.html

UNN Introduces I-Transcript Service

The University of Nigeria Nsukka has introduced online portal for transcripts that enables her alumni to access their transcripts from anywhere in the world.  According to the The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof BarthoOkolo, the UNN i-transcript service draws from on-going work on digitizing academic records in the institution. The first part of the exercise, according to him, involves digitization of records of the last 30 years up to 1980. The school has digitized records of students' academic work for the last 20 years. In the second phase, the institution would compile records up to its inception in 1960.

The University disclosed that the introduction of the service was to ease the burden of students who often have to travel all the way down to the school for the sole purpose of getting a transcript of their academic records for graduate studies or employment.

The UNN "i-transcript", as it is branded, is accessible on the university website alumni.unn.edu.ng/itranscript.

Users are expected fill a form with their names, matriculation as well as email address after which they will provide details of the institution to which they want the University to send the transcript. 

"Every student can get his records from the transcript portal. They apply online, pay using any of the payment services and get a signed and authenticated e-transcript in a few days. "Hard copy records would be couriered either locally or internationally and take a few more days as well as cost additional sums." he explained.

Okolo said that the e-transcript service is one of several reforms aimed at fulfilling the transformation vision for the university. It builds on efforts in the last two academic sessions to ensure that graduands get their certificates immediately while semester examination results are compiled and approved by faculties and senate within 14 days of examinations ending.

Meanwhile, Prof BarthoOkolo, the 12th and current Vice Chancellor, has articulated a new vision of internationalizing the university by turning it into a world-class institution with the enabling environment of infrastructure, faculty and learning environment, funding and international linkages.

source-http://allafrica.com/stories/201211210331.html?aa_source=acrdn-f0

INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR TOLERANCE November 16th 2012

Breaking down the walls that divide our society today comes at a high price, one that we have to pay in order to fulfill the dream of a just and equal society for all. Respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world's cultures, our forms of expression and our ways of being human are fostered by knowledge, openness and communication, the freedom of thought, conscience and belief. 

Teachings of tolerance consider harmony and indifference not as a moral duty but a political and legal requirement. This is a virtue that replaces a culture of war with a culture of peace. By confronting prejudicial ignorance with knowledge, discord with tolerance, isolation with the outstretched hand of generosity, accepting one another in the same walk, we take a step towards achieving that dream of building a better world. It is evident that this cannot be accomplished overnight but it takes greater investments to strengthen commitment to it.

The World Assembly of Youth (WAY) joins the world today to commemorate tolerance. Our guiding principle of seeking peace and development through working with youth, teaching and promoting tolerance, increasing inter-ethnic and inter-cultural respect as well as international understanding further comes to light on such days. Young men and women get informed, inspired, and educated not only as the people of today but also as the generation of the future. We believe that education for tolerance should aim at countering influences that lead to fear and exclusion of others. This should help young people to develop capacities for independent judgment, critical thinking and ethical reasoning.

Tolerance is necessary between individuals and at the family and community levels. Tolerance promotion and the shaping of attitudes of openness, mutual listening and solidarity should take place in schools and universities and through non-formal education, at home and in the workplace. The
communication media are in a position to play a constructive role in facilitating free and open dialogue and discussion, disseminating the values of tolerance, and highlighting the dangers of indifference towards the rise in intolerant groups and ideologies. 

Let the world today, judge only by the content of our character, not by any distinction such as color, sex, language, religion, political, national,social or other status.

Press Release by World Assembly of Youth (WAY)