http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/652681 http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=cmd0SGdnT2RLLUc2Qkx1Y3JpZHJiSlE6MA..

]]> Thu, 30 Apr 2009 05:37:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/652681 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/498755
Arise, O compatriots,
Nigeria's call obey
To serve our Fatherland
With love and strength and faith.
The labour of our heroes past
Shall never be in vain,
To serve with heart and might
One nation bound in freedom, peace and unity.

O God of creation,
Direct our noble cause;
Guide our Leaders right:
Help our Youth the truth to know,
In love and honesty to grow,
And living just and true,
Great lofty heights attain,
To build a nation where peace and justice reign.


"Nigeria We Hail Thee" (1960-1978)

Nigeria we hail thee,
Our own dear native land,
Though tribe and tongue may differ,
In brotherhood we stand,
Nigerians all are proud to serve
Our sovereign Motherland.

Our flag shall be a symbol
That truth and justice reign,
In peace or battle honour'd,
And this we count as gain,
To hand on to our children
A banner without stain.

O God of all creation,
Grant this our one request,
Help us to build a nation
Where no man is oppressed,
And so with peace and plenty
Nigeria may be blessed. ]]> Thu, 09 Oct 2008 08:20:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/498755 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/498173
More than 6500 members in less the 2 weeks from launch

This is incredible, inspiring and uplifting. New members are joining us every day. And they are filling the iPeace space with hundreds of blogs, new groups, their poetry, songs and videos.

We are now more than 6500 Peace People from over 160 countries, and we start to look like a peace force.

Please visit iPeace to see what's new http://ipeace.ning.com/


But if you are one of those who don't believe that there is life outside facebook, please join our facebook cause:

http://apps.new.facebook.com/causes/113444?m=91e6brecruiter_id=11735356]]> Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:40:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/498173 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/487383

Gbenga Sesn deserves an OON or more, what do you think ? Lets celebrate ourself today and hold us responsible for the future...celebrating Gbenga Sesan !!!

http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=27383757828

]]> Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:04:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/487383 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/481357
It is not only unwise, but FRAUDULENT. Have we achieved SIM Identification ? Is it not through some of their customers that we get fraudulent calls ? Some even allow the numbers look foreign ? Same with text messages from a fake INTERSWITCH.

The last promo of loading free credit had a message from MTN directing people to call a Celtel number for enquiries. Some scratch Cards still carry expired promo adverts that misled the general public. Why ? NCC had to correct them mildly to correct the supposed bonus to a directive. They should have been fined. MTN Nigeria is fast becoming a nightmare.

Thus, i have decided that except the tarffis drop and adverts are not misdirecting the customers, except thier system that ensures you press "0" to speak to customer care stops dropping your call, except the begin to think of a stress free connection, MTN Nigerian staffs would know no-peace.

If we claim we have a satellite in orbit, how much would it take you to assist the Government make it work ? If the fall or failure is not on your side, spit it out.

NCC Should also start spitting fire...don't worry the media will be soothed with flame deflectors. Just fire up the ommunication section to help the average honest Nigerian.
]]> Fri, 19 Sep 2008 05:42:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/481357 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/358989
In Nigeria, youths account for about 48 percent of the population and because they comprise the most virile and articulate members of the populace the Federal government promulgated the 1983 National youth policy with a revised edition in 1989 with the aim of developing and empowering the Nigerian youth. Four years after the General Assembly adopted a World Programme of Action for Youth to the year 2000 and beyond in 1995 and exactly 10 years after it revised the National youth policy in 1983, Nigerian Government through its Ministry of Inter-Governmental Affairs, Youth and Special Duties launched its National policy on youth Development in the year 1999 which was developed in participatory for a with youth across the country.

2.0 Based on the Proposals for action under paragraphs 104-107 of the World program of Action for youth to the year 2000 and beyond, the Nigerian government, Civil Societies, youth NGOs etc have over the last 10 years contributed to seeing that youth voices are streamlined into decision making processes. While there was little done in the early part of the decade due to political instability, the advent of Democracy in the last 5 years has brought about tremendous changes in the system.

This report will try to identify the various contributions of various Government agencies, Civil Society and Youth Focused NGOs while finally will measure progress against the proposals for Action to ascertain , what has be done and what still needs to be improved upon.

Focus Review of various Government agencies, Civil Society and Youth Focused NGOs initiative in the areas of Youth and participation in the Decision making processes.This focus review includes a description of the programmes of these Government agencies, Civil Societies and Youth Focused NGOs. Although different in their approach, all have shown a significant interest on this theme.

Focus 1: Nassarawa State in Nigeria is a sprawling state situated in the North Central part of the country. Like all other infant states when compared to other states in Nigeria, Nassarawa government attention has always being towards the development of an economically strong and sound state.

The effort of the government to enable youths to contribute immensely to its development is reflected highly in the education sector where atleast 28 percent of its total budget over the years has been committed to the sector. This is in addition to the three skills acquisition center available in the state in partnership with a German organization.

Quoting the words of the State Governor, he said “The centers will train young school leavers to acquire basic skills to support our economic development efforts”.

In 2003, the state further included young people into its rank and files of decision making bodies by employing a total of One thousand seven hundred and Forty Youths (based on 60 youths from each of the 29 local Governments).
The Governor in his words added that “we believe the best way we can equip our youth for National Development and self fulfillment is through the provision of adequate opportunities for sound education”.

Focus 2: In the South – South part of Nigeria is situated Akwa Ibom state. It is of the States in Nigeria blessed with Natural resources in abundance. Since inception of Democratic governance in the state, youth inclusion in decision making structures of the state have been reinforced where new opportunities are also being created.

In 2003, the state government upgraded the existing Bureau of youth and culture to a full fledged Ministry of Youth and Sports.
Consequent upon this, the state government facilitated the establishment of a vibrant Youth Council in the state which has a consultative status with the State Government on issues relating to youth development.

The government also holds an interactive forum with representatives of youth groups in Uyo (the state capital) to further fashion out issues relating to youth development in the state. The Ministry of Youths and Sports realizing the enthusiasm of youths about sporting activities is encouraging sporting activities in the state and its contingent to major events excel at such outings.

The government understands that youths abilities have been under-utilized, under developed and marginalized in a way but Akwa Ibom State is taking the issue of youth empowerment seriously having realized the need to integrate youth in the affairs of the state and make him relevant in its development.


Reviewing the activities of the Federal Government.

Target Ministry: Ministry of Inter-Governmental Affairs, Youth and Special Duties and other Line Ministries.

The Federal government in its bid to streamline youth voices into decision making processes saw the emergence of youthful Frank Nweke Jnr. has the Minister in the Ministry of Inter-Governmental Affairs, Youth and Special Duties.

In his capacity as Minister, the Federal government launched the National policy on Youth development, a document developed in consultation with youths in the country through different fora. The government went further to strengthen the National Youth Council of Nigeria while also offering support to the increasing Youth Focused and Youth led Non-Governmental Organisations.

Corpers under the National Youth Service Corps scheme are currently going through series of training on issues relating to entrepreneurial abilities, Wealth creation and Self Reliance. The training is also built on the premise to further increase the faith of youths in the country and contributing to its development as major stakeholders.

The government further encourages youth employment through its National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) which has seen to the employment of over 5,000 youths into the different sectors of the economy and private organizations. Furthermore the government is planning to launch its Youth Development Fund which is under the youth empowerment programme. This fund is to provide financing for the young people who have bright entrepreneurial ideas and initiative so that their involvement in both the public and private sector will further boost the economic development of the country.

The Ministry of Inter-Governmental Affairs, Youth and Special Duties is furthermore becoming more youth friendly and responsive to the needs of young people. The support of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is also ensuring that youths are consulted in issues that affect them. This could further be seen when he held an interactive session with leaders of the Niger Delta Youth on how to further bring peace to the incessant restiveness in the area. It is worthy of month to say here that the interactive session was a major impetus for the peaceful atmosphere existing in the Niger Delta presently. The President furthermore encourages other line ministries to involve youths in planning and implementation of their programmes that affect them. Manifestation of this call can be seen in the Ministry of Communications which would be hosting the Africa Regional Conference of the World Telecoms Development Conference in 2005.Youths were consulted to come up with the proposals for the youth forum of the conference. In addition to this the Government has also shown support to funding a number of youths to the conference in full in other to translate their words into actions. The ministry also maintains a discussion rapport with youths on an online forum with officials of the ministry also as members.


Progress Measurement.

Paragraphs 107 of the World program of Action for youth to the year 2000 and beyond states clearly the following Proposals for Action in respective member states,

(a) Improving access to information in order to enable young people to
make better use of their opportunities to participate in decision-making;
(b) Developing and/or strengthening opportunities for young people to
learn their rights and responsibilities, promoting their social, political,
developmental and environmental participation, removing obstacles that affect their full contribution to society and respecting, inter alia, freedom of
association;
(c) Encouraging and promoting youth associations through financial Educational and technical support and promotion of their activities;
(d) Taking into account the contribution of youth in designing,
implementing and evaluating national policies and plans affecting their
concerns;
(e) Encouraging increased national, regional and international
cooperation and exchange between youth organizations;
(f) Inviting Governments to strengthen the involvement of young people
in international forums, inter alia, by considering the inclusion of youth
representatives in their national delegations to the General Assembly.

The Nigerian Government can be said to have achieved 25 percent of these proposals while another 15 percent is being worked on.


Achievement

1.0 The Nigerian Government has been able to achieve a greater success in the areas of: Taking into account the contribution of youth in designing, implementing and evaluating national policies and plans affecting their concerns; and it is hoped that this will be improved upon to further include out-of-school youths. The existing structures are not perfect, but it can still be improved upon. Youth Community Associations should also be integrated into the system to further increase access and better understanding of rural youth.
2.0 The proposed Youth Development Fund is a welcome idea by youths as it will further encourage and promote youth organizations fitting into SS(C) of the Proposals for Action : Encouraging and promoting youth associations through financial, Educational and technical support and promotion of their activities.




Improvement
3.0 The Government should also try to reinforce the existing National Youth Congress to further accommodate youths in under privileged areas to be able to achieve a greater measure of: Developing and/or strengthening opportunities for young people to learn their rights and responsibilities, promoting their social, political, developmental and environmental participation, removing obstacles that affect their full contribution to society and respecting, inter alia, freedom of association.
4.0 The government needs to fashion out in consultation with youths how information can be more disseminated to get youths all across the country informed on initiatives, projects and opportunities. While the effort of the government is commended, the present structure has to be improved upon.
This will fall inline with: Improving access to information in order to enable young people to make better use of their opportunities to participate in decision-making.
Defect Areas
5.0 The government needs to evolve a plan of action to encourage Nigerian youth interaction with other youths from all other world as this will help to bring about more interaction and appreciation of culture thereby achieving SS (E) of the proposal for Action. Encouraging increased national, regional and international cooperation and exchange between youth organizations. This we believe if rightly pursued will even bring about Tourism patronage for the country and also boost the Nigeria: Heart of Africa project.
6.0 The Nigerian Government finally needs to involve youths in its delegation to UN meetings as this we identify as a major reason why most youths don’t have access to information firsthand like their counterpart in the rest of the World. Youths who intend to participate on their own most time are always cut short due to financial and Visa constraint they go through most times.If this is done we are sure will have achieved SS (F) of the Proposals for Action: Inviting Governments to strengthen the involvement of young people in international forums, inter alia, by considering the inclusion of youth representatives in their national delegations to the General Assembly.


Conclusion
Finally the Nigerian Government has tried and has to be commended but needs to do better to further secure the future after the present crop of Leaders.
]]> Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:12:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/358989 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/357395

Youth Works project is a unique youth focused and youth owned project specifically designed to equip young people with basic skills to be able to implement change projects in their local communities and to also celebrate and showcase the 12 most impacting community youth led activities / projects in Nigeria; Supported by the British Council Nigeria and Youngstars Foundation


Expectations
Afterwards, each participant is expected to develop a project based on an idea you have in order to address a community or social problem you feel strongly about. It could be a project on HIV/AIDS, conflict, drug abuse, school dropout, poverty reduction, democracy, leadership, maternal health, ICT, recreation, music, sports, or even construction of a space shuttle! Just ensure that your project would meet a pressing need in your community or State.

Participants would develop their personal leadership development
· Build your self worth in your community and state
· Earn a reputation for contributing positively to your community and nation building
· Become member of a wide network of young change makers within and outside Nigeria
· Test your capacity as an emerging leader ready to impact the world of the next generation!

This project is a Step Down after the Youth Works and hopes to attract 60 Selected Youths all over the Lagos State that meet this Criteria’s


* Young Person with the Passion for Community Development
* Young Creative person that can use his/her Creativity to make a Change.
* Young person that have Dynamic Leadership Spirit
* Young person that can Use Idea to make things happen
* Young person that is a truly a Niaja for Sure
* Young person with High distinct Profile of community development.


Sessions at this Event.

· Act of Leadership
· The Power of Creative Ideas
· Spirit of Volunteerism among Youths
· Peace and Conflict Management
· Peace Work
· MDGs
· Youth and Social Media, Blogging, Online Freelance Journalism

· Group Works
· Trainings
· Break Out session
· Media Roundtable

Featuring Live Projection View of THE SECRET

This Sessions would be handled by Young Facilitators with Great Records in Developmental.

Where? Universal Centre for Children and Youth Development: 3 Montgomery Road Yaba Lagos State Nigeria

Time? 9 am -3pm Daily

Date? May 5th to 7th 2008

Note: pls note that we have a limited Seat for participants, pls call or Mail or either Text to confirm your participation
Mr.Dolapo -07025356112 or 08026614028
Or Mail: consultdolapo@ yahoo.com

Powered by:

British Council
Young Stars Foundation Jos ]]> Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:49:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/357395 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/356827
Last week, I promised to discuss another source of advantage in decay. We're going to zoom out instead, in response to a flurry of announcements from Apple, Google, and would-be competitors – to have a richer discussion in the weeks going forward.

It's funny how flatfooted - how almost inept - everyone else in media, marketing, consumer electronics, mobile, a long and dangerously growing list of industries, seems compared to Apple and Google.

What gives? Why is that everyone that Google and Apple decide to take to the cleaners, well, gets taken to the cleaners?

After all, Apple and Google are radically different companies. Who, it appears, have already divided the next-gen media pie very neatly between them. Google, software. Apple, hardware. Google, search. Apple, conduit. Google, algorithm. Apple, human. Google, geeky, self-effacing ad-quants. Apple, a reality distortion field wearing jeans and a turtleneck.

That's a product market level view - the view from the core. When we invert our traditional vision, and look at them from the edge, Google and Apple are strikingly similar: less like a power couple for whom opposites attract, and more like long-lost siblings.

Much of their DNA is - at least superficially - different. Jobs runs a totalitarian state with equal amounts of fear and love. Sergey and Larry tune - not manage - an organization poised forever on the edge of chaos and anarchy, while Eric Schmidt (who does sit on Apple's board) keeps the gears of the business grinding away.

But many of the most vital components of their DNA are strikingly similar, and that's where the lines between them begin to blur.

The ends they're working towards are similar: Goople aspires to - with laserlike intensity - change the world for the better. And where most of their competitors will sell out everything they believe in for a few bucks and a latte, Goople is deeply, radically purposive: they won't compromise much, if anything, to achieve the goal of changing the world for the better. (One can argue that Google's policy of following local content-filtering policies in China is a notable exception.) You'll never see an ad on Google's homepage, or a Mac that's not a joy to use, even if Bill Gates, Gordon Gekko, and Lucifer held a fire sale, and mortgaged the world to Goople.

And that DNA opens new paths to strategy and advantage. Goople finds value chains and industries in deep strategy decay - where innovation and choice are stale, and consumers are besieged by lameness - like marketing, consumer electronics, TV, and perhaps the most troubled of all, mobile and music. Then Goople utterly eviscerates them: it reconstructs radical new ones - where friction has been vaporized, where complexity and variety explode - and so everyone really is better off. When Steve Jobs makes the iPhone carrier-neutral, kiss the traditional mobile value chain goodbye.

On the flipside, where would-be competitors release a handful of predictable, often crippled products and services a few times a year - hi Nokia, bye Yahoo - Goople floods market space with radical new value propositions, overloading the very circuitry of the industry - still driven by fear of cannibalization - and so short-circuiting the traditional dynamics of competition.

Think the Macbook Air's a crippled, compromised pile of junk? If the early numbers are anything to go by, Apple listened hard enough to understand exactly those features road warriors really need and use, ditched the rest - letting it craft a radical new value proposition, just like that. Funny - that's exactly the story of Google Search, AdWords, and increasingly, Google ads across media; a story competitors just can't seem to get right.

Media isn't just "content" and "pipes". Media is the stuff that stitches together the fabric of production and consumption: it's how producers and consumers interact. So it's likely, that as newspapers, radio stations, and TV networks did yesterday, whoever holds sway over media tomorrow will enjoy supernormal profits for decades, and be able to shape and influence the course of the rest of the economy.

What will that influence look like?

The key components of DNA Google and Apple share let them overthrow yesterday's stale approaches to strategy and advantage, and pursue entirely new ones with a vengeance. Goople does exactly the opposite of what orthodox strategy counsels: it makes peace where there was war, conquers through love instead of hate, listens to instead of shouts at consumers, perhaps most critically, takes huge risks to make the world better instead of avoiding risk to make it worse.

Goople is rewriting the rules of a very stale game: industrial-era strategy itself, which is really the prime mover behind the gathering economic storm on the horizon – but that’s another post.

That was a dense post – so let's kick-start some discussion.

Do you see some of the differences between core and edge more clearly? Can you see some of the similarities between Apple and Google’s DNA? The way the global economy is going, which do you think makes more sense -- core strategy, or edge strategy? How do you think the rest of the media industry can respond to Goople?]]> Sat, 12 Apr 2008 15:40:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/356827 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/321233
The IFIP World IT Forum (WITFOR) contributes to taking the World Summit on the Information Society's (WSIS) Plan of Action a step forward and to helping developing countries to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

WITFOR investigates successful, sustainable ICT strategies in developing countries and examines different initiatives and projects on effective, context sensitive development and use of ICT applications. This work is conducted in eight thematic commissions and the result of this preparatory work is presented as policies, initiatives and best practices every second year in the WITFOR conference, organized by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) in co-operation with its member societies and local governments in developing countries.

For more information on WITFOR, go to: http://www.witfor. org/

++++++++++++ +++++++++ ++
African Regional Youth Initiative
www.africaninitiati ve.org/af
E-mail: info@africaninitiat ive.org]]> Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:46:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/321233 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/312705 Public Link http://www.digitaldivide.net/community/ddng]]> Mon, 17 Dec 2007 09:01:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/312705 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/279771
Topic: Comment on Education Initiatives

It is sad that our quality of education on the African is on the decline largely due to influences beyond the specific educational systems themselves. Partly it is because of the advice by the Bretton Wood institutions to lessen spending on public education in African schools. The University of Malawi where I was has kept on struggling year after year as lower and lower funding is coming through because government can no longer support it as it used to be. So the university was challenged to generate incomes by itself to educate citizens for the good of the country. Fewer resources are a burden to academic and administrative staff and while they do their best, most of them decide to go elsewhere for greener pasture. After all, they think, their children will certainly have better education with their support from new places of work.

Then comes the lack of political will towards education. In countries where education is not linked to politics, there is danger. I mean, whose voice matters? That of an academician or a politician? With due respect, many politicians don't seem to enter the game to change things but to serve themselves. And if it comes to politics like in Malawi, then all you see is that children to politicians go to private schools in and outside the country and the dilapidated educational system does not really affect them. It is even worse where the same politician looks down on advice from experts on education.

While the educational situation in Africa is sickening, I think it has a very strong heart. European nations for instance are inundated with many applications for place of study and scholarships from Africans. I am just encouraged by the resolve of many Africans who are determined to study even if it costs heavily and the results though slowly coming, are many.


--
Victor Kaonga]]> Sun, 11 Nov 2007 19:13:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/279771 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/279571 Posted by: "Oyebisi Babatunde Oluseyi" oyebisius@gmail.com
Fri Nov 9, 2007 5:29 am (PST)
2008 Budget Speech

By

His Excellency, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, GCFR

At the Joint Session of the National Assembly

Abuja, Thursday, November 8, 2007

PROTOCOL

The dawn of a new millennium is a once in a lifetime experience. The
conventional resolve that accompanies the fleeting of each New Year
and the emanation of another one is amplified by the momentous feeling
that we are witnessing a spectacle of history in the making. The dawn
of a new centenary also reflects on the past.

Undoubtedly, Nigeria has experienced tremendous progress since the
turn of the century. This was made possible by our commitment and
resolve for progress, sound macroeconomic policies, a plethora of
reforms within the context of the National Economic Empowerment and
Development Strategic Initiative (NEEDS), the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs), the Seven-Point Agenda and the implementation of the
Policy Support Instrument (PSI) framework.

The sustained rise in international oil prices was also a significant
contributory factor.

In delivering our Administration' s first budget to this august
Assembly, I am delighted to report that our economy has been one of
the fastest growing, not only in Africa but also in the world. This
growth rate is forecast to continue into 2008 and 2009. In particular,
the last five years have indicated even brighter prospects for
sustained growth. Based on current trends, real GDP growth for 2007 –
2008 is set to average 7.0% per annum, much better than the
performance of the previous two decades when GDP growth averaged 3.0%
per annum. Significantly, this rate of growth has been much higher
than our population growth rate. This has resulted in a sharp increase
in GDP per capita after a prolonged period of stagnation, from about
US$400 at the turn of the century to well over US$1000 by the end of
2007. However, in order to meet our growth and development targets by
the year 2020 it is imperative that our economy grows at an even
faster rate.

Our collective challenge today is to translate these macro-economic
gains into tangible improvements in the living standards of our
people. Despite the rapid growth of the economy, about 50% of our
population still live below the poverty line. Oil still accounts for
about 40% of GDP, 90% of exports and 80% of government revenue. The
challenge therefore is to reverse these ratios.

It is against this backdrop that I consider it a great honour to
present to this Joint Session of the National Assembly, the 2008
Budget proposal of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

In our continued efforts at fiscal reforms, this budget has been
prepared within the context of a Medium-Term Fiscal Framework, which
takes account of the forecast revenue and expenditure for the period
2008 - 2010.

Mr. Senate President,

Mr. Speaker,

Distinguished Members of the National Assembly,

The preparation of this budget has been informed by the need to be
disciplined, focussed and strategic. We placed emphasis on containing
costs so as to enhance value for money. We followed a well-defined
participatory process aimed at ensuring that spending proposals are
properly linked to our Seven-Point Agenda. All the major line
Ministries were requested to reappraise in detail their initial
proposals, keeping in view the need to strengthen public expenditure
management and ensure transparency, accountability and value for
money, with emphasis on completing on-going projects. This has helped
us to make significant spending efficiency gains. It is our intention
that this level of attention to detail will continue to underlie all
future Budget preparation and implementation.

The 2008 budget builds upon and consolidates past macroeconomic and
budgetary reforms. It gives priority to, and makes ample provision for
improving physical infrastructure, particularly power and
transportation, human capital development, the Niger Delta, and social
safety nets. These are all encapsulated in the Seven-Point Agenda of
this Administration.

Broadly, the 2008 budget provides:

• N444.6 billion for Security and the Niger Delta, which is 20% of the
total Federal Government Budget, up 6.5% from 2007 allocation;

• N210 billion for Education or 13% of the total MDA spending;

• N139.78 billion for the Energy sector, excluding National Integrated
Power Projects which will be implemented through alternative funding;
and

• N121.1 billion, that is 7% of total budget, for Agriculture and
Water Resources.

Consistent with our commitments under the Paris Club Debt settlement,
and in pursuit of the attainment of the MDGs, the 2008 budget will
devote the entire debt relief gains, amounting to N110 billion, to
carefully selected poverty reduction initiatives and programmes in
Education, Agriculture, Water Resources, Power and Social Safety Nets.

The Budget is basically about the ordinary Nigerian. It is about
accelerating the provision of basic infrastructure to improve the
quality of life of our people. It is about creating jobs and the
enabling environment for the private sector to thrive.

REVIEW OF BUDGET 2007

The 2007 Budget was predicated on a production volume of 2.5 million
barrels per day and a benchmark price of US$40 per barrel. Based on
these assumptions and a projected N100 billion from Independent
revenue sources, projected total revenue available to fund the federal
budget was N1.73 trillion. This represented a 20% growth relative to
2006. The 2007 Appropriation Act authorised aggregate spending of N2.3
trillion, made up of Statutory Transfers of N102 billion, Debt Service
of N326 billion and N1.88 trillion for MDAs. The projected deficit was
therefore N570 billion or 2.5% of GDP.

The performance of the 2007 Budget in the first half of 2007 has been
mixed. While oil prices remained well above the benchmark price of
$US40 per barrel on which the 2007 Budget was predicated, adverse
production variances, due principally to disruptions in the Niger
Delta, resulted in weak revenue performance.

The projected revenue for 2007 was estimated to be about N796 billion
short of budget expectations, of which N 339 billion would be the
impact on the Federal Budget. The implementation of the expenditure
plans for 2007 was however insulated from the effects of the revenue
underperformance through monthly releases, totalling N454 billion
which were drawn from the Excess Crude Account in the first half of
the year.

To further enhance the implementation of the 2007 Budget, we sought
your approval, after a review of the 2007 Appropriation, to redirect
available funds to the implementation of a number of key public
service reforms, including the implementation of the Consolidated
Salary Structure, on-going right-sizing of the MDAs and clearance of
local debt arrears. A sum of N170 billion in efficiency savings was
identified from within the existing Appropriation to fund these
reforms. An additional N86 billion, principally made up of independent
revenue already received was also appropriated.

At this juncture, I must put on record my appreciation and that of the
nation as a whole for the efficient and timely manner in which the
National Assembly approved the 2007 Revised Budget proposals. This has
encouraged me to believe that the budget I am presenting to you today
will be considered with similar sense patriotism. I would like to
seize this opportunity to confirm to you that, in the same spirit, I
have signed the 2007 Supplementary Appropriation Bill passed to me
after approval by the National Assembly.

THE 2008 BUDGET

We are inexorably committed to pursuing the goal of making our economy
one of the twenty biggest economies in the world by the year 2020. To
this end, we will endeavour to fast track the key parameters of our
development paradigm as outlined in our Seven-Point Agenda.

Key to our developmental aspirations is the need to maintain
macroeconomic stability and fiscal responsibility.

While our overall strategy is to focus on the completion of on-going
projects, we have also taken onboard a few new projects targeted at
improving infrastructural deficiencies.

KEY ASSUMPTIONS AND TARGETS

The 2008 Budget is based on a number of assumptions and it is driven
by the need to meet certain targets. These are:

• Oil price of $53.83 per barrel

• Crude oil production of 2.45 million barrels per day

• Joint Venture Cash Calls of US$4.97billlion

• GDP growth rate of 11%

• Inflation rate of 8.5% and

• Exchange rate of N 117 to US$1

The budget is based on a prudent benchmark price US$53.83 per barrel
to ensure that we fund the budget with predictable revenues, whilst
ensuring that the benchmark price remains realistic.

REVENUE PROJECTIONS:

Federation Account

Based on these assumptions, we expect the sum of N4.539 trillion to
accrue to the Federation Account. This represents an increase of 5.5%
over 2007. Oil Revenue is estimated at N3.629 trillion after taking
account of existing commitments to Joint Venture Cash Calls of N0.581
trillion, while Non-Oil Revenue is estimated at N0.91 trillion. Oil
Revenue represents 80% of the total estimated revenue, while Non-Oil
Revenue represents 20%.

We will continue to diversify our revenue base by further development
of the non-oil sectors of our economy which are estimated to grow by
10% in 2008.

Oil Revenue

Of the total N4.210 trillion that we estimate will accrue from Oil
Revenue, Crude Oil Sales are expected to contribute N2.345 trillion,
as against N1.6 trillion in 2007; Petroleum Profits Tax is estimated
at N1.282 trillion compared to N1.78 trillion in 2007; while Royalties
and Rents should account for N 0.583 billion as against N0.532 billion
in 2007.

Non-Oil Revenue

This is made up of Companies' Income Tax, Value Added Tax and Customs
Excise Duties. Of the sum of N0.91 trillion expected to accrue to
the Federation Account from Non-Oil Revenue; Companies' Income Tax is
expected to account for N349 billion, as against N299 billion in 2007;
Value Added Tax should contribute N310 billion, as against N265
billion in 2007; while Customs Excise Duties should account for N251
billion, as against N230 billion in 2007.

Federal Government Revenue

The revenue accruable to the Federal Government from the Federation
Account for 2008 is estimated at N2.026 trillion. Of this sum, the
actual amount accruable to the Federal Budget will be N1.866 trillion
as against N1.7 trillion in 2007. This is arrived at after deducting
amounts that should go to the Derivation and Ecology Fund (
N38billion), Stabilization Fund (N19billion) , Development of Natural
Resources ( N63billion), and the FCT (N41billion) .

Independent Revenue

Independent Revenue, made up of revenues that accrue exclusively to
the Federal Government from the operating surpluses and dividends of
commercial enterprises, is expected to be N120 billion.

Our estimate of total revenue available to fund the 2008 Budget is
therefore N1.986 trillion.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE

The proposed aggregate expenditure is made up of the following:

• Statutory Transfers: N187.6 billion

• Debt Service: N372.2 billion

• Spending by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs): N1.89 trillion

Given the estimated total revenue available to fund the federal
budget, we plan a deficit of N0.56 trillion or 2.5% of GDP which will
be financed from the proceeds of the sale of government properties,
Oil Blocks Signature Bonus, privatization proceeds and domestic
borrowings.

The details of the expenditure heads are as follows.

STATUTORY TRANSFERS

In complying with the law, we will fully provide for the following
statutory transfers:

• National Judicial Council (NJC), N78 billion as against N43 billion in 2007.

• Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), N69.9 billion as against
N24 billion in 2007.

• Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), N39.7 billion as
against N35.3 billion in 2007.

DEBT SERVICE

We propose a Debt Service of N372.3 billion for 2008, representing an
increase of 25.3%, relative to 2007. This is made up of domestic,
long-term debt service of N306.2 billion and foreign debt service of
N66 billion.

DOMESTIC DEBT

The overall increase in debt service requirement for 2008 relative to
2007 is reflective of the increase in the domestic debt stock in 2006
– 2007.

These include N86 billion of pension arrears and N105 billion of
arrears owed to local contractors. In addition, N200 billion of
domestic borrowing was required to finance the 2007 Budget. The
domestic debt stock is expected to reach N1.9 trillion by the end of
this year. This figure represents an increase of N285 billion due
principally to the clearance of contractor and pension arrears,
amounting to N105 billion and N86 billion, respectively. The cost of
servicing domestic public debt is estimated at N306.2 billion in 2008.
Based on our strong fiscal position, government intends to remain
active in the debt market.

EXTERNAL DEBTS

Since our successful exit from the Paris Club debts, the structure of
our external debts has changed significantly. Our total foreign debt
stock now stands at US$3 billion, down from about US$32 billion in
2005.

I am glad to add that we have successfully exited the London Club debt
stock. Nigeria is now one of the few countries outside the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) with a
debt to GDP ratio below 20%.

This manageable debt level continues to allow us to redirect
expenditure away from debt service payments to capital spending.

Our intention is to continue to service multilateral debts as and when
due, until maturity. Our analysis indicates that there will be no
financial benefit from undertaking any restructuring or otherwise
prepaying these debts. We therefore have earmarked the sum of N66
billion for servicing our external debts in 2008.

SPENDING BY MINISTRIES, DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

We propose a total of N1.89 trillion for spending by Ministries,
Departments and Agencies. This represents a 0.1% increase relative to
2007 made up of –

• Payroll of N779.3 billion;

• Overheads of N267.6 billion

• Capital Expenditure of N634.2 billion

• Consolidated Revenue Fund Charges excluding Debt Charges of N212.5 billion

Payroll and Overheads, which together constitute Recurrent Non-Debt
Expenditure, account for 55.2% of total spending, while Capital
Expenditure accounts for 33%. Within recurrent expenditure, payroll
has increased minimally to N779.3 billion, following Government
reforms in that area. Overheads have been kept in check with a
proposal of N267.6 billion, a reduction from the 2007 level. The
relatively low utilization of the 2007 capital budget accounts for the
reduction to N634.2 billion in 2008.

I will now give highlights of some key projects.

Transportation

We propose capital expenditure of N94.36 billion for the
Transportation Sector. Specifically, we have set aside the sum of
N73.1billion for Highway Construction and Rehabilitation; N6.02
billion for Survey, Mapping and Geo-Information activities; N6 billion
for Water Transportation development, including the dredging of the
River Niger from Lokoja to Warri, (including the construction of
jetties); and N9 billion for the development of Air Transportation.

To augment government spending on the provision of roads we shall
invite private investments into the sector. We have already reached
agreements with interested private sector investors for the
construction of the second Niger Bridge at Onitsha/Asaba and a Bridge
across River Benue at Bagana on the basis of a public-private
partnership.

Agriculture and Water Resources

A total of N89.95 billion is proposed for the Agriculture and Water
Resources sector.

The sum of N 31.2 billion is proposed for the construction of dams and
irrigation projects nationwide. Other key projects and initiatives
include:

• N7.2 billion for the Gurara Water Transfer project, to supply water
to the FCT and its environs

• N3.4 billion for cooperative and community tractor service in 200
centers nationwide

• Procurement of tractors and implements supplied at subsidized rates

• N0.9 billion for Buyer of Last Resort Programmes

• N4 billion for Agricultural Credits and Subsidies, including the
Fertilizer Subsidy Programme

• N 0.3 billion for the Chinese South-South Cooperation Programme

Education

We propose an allocation of N210.45 billion for the education sector,
up 12% from the N188 billion allocated in 2007. The capital component
of the allocation is N47.8billion, targeted at human resource capacity
building, upgrading of facilities in our educational institutions and
reforms to improve the quality of, and access to education. This
excludes our intervention through the Universal Basic Education
Commission, through which we are providing additional resources of
N39.7 billion to the States and Local Governments to support basic
education.

These additional resources are to upgrade infrastructure and teaching
facilities in primary schools across the nation.

Health

For the Health Sector, we propose an allocation of N138.17 billion for
2008, a 12.57% increase over the 2007 allocation of N120.8 billion.
The capital component of this amount is N49.37 billion, out of which
funds have been provided for, among others, the following projects:

• Refurbishing and equipping all Federal Tertiary Health Institutions

• National AIDS/STI Control Programme, including the procurement and
distribution of ARVs and test kits

• Rollback Malaria Programme, including the procurement of new drugs
for malaria case management and insecticide treated nets

• National Programme on Immunisation for routine immunisation

• Capacity building and training for 5,000 health workers on
integrated management of childhood illnesses.

Energy

We have allocated N139.78 billion to the Energy sector. This
represents an increase of 15.6% over the 2007 allocation of N118
billion. The capital component of this is 114.4 billion, out of which
funds have been provided for the completion of 32 on-going Power
Transmission Projects and the rehabilitation of key power stations
nationwide.

Alternative funding will be sourced for ongoing work on the National
Integrated Power Project in the Niger Delta region with expected
output of 2,555MW.

Security

We intend to enhance the capacity and preparedness of our security
services. We have therefore proposed a total allocation of N444.60
billion for the military and the Police. We are providing our security
services with all requisite force enablers and multipliers, including
arms and ammunition, improved information and telecommunications
equipment and facilities, riot control equipment, training and
retraining, and sundry logistics support. We are also rehabilitating
the residential and office accommodation of the security services.

MDGs

Included in these allocations, as outlined earlier, are the debt
relief savings for 2008 totalling N110 billion. As earlier stated,
these savings will be used exclusively to support and scale up
spending on MDG-related initiatives and programmes. In this respect,
we shall increase investments in areas that performed well in the 2007
budget. Of the N110 billion debt relief savings, we propose to
allocate N59.3 billion to the States and FCT as Conditional Grants,
for targeted, result-oriented expenditures. This is a safety net
programme targeted at ensuring that the rural poor have access to
markets and credit, as MDGs are better attained through the States and
Local Governments. The role of the Federal Government is to ensure the
judicious application of these grants and to support the efforts of
the States and Local Governments that have demonstrated commitment to
reform, good governance and the socio-economic development of their
people.

The detailed budget contains a list of the priority projects earmarked
for completion this fiscal year in each sector.

Pensions

We are providing N99.7 billion for pensions under the Pay-As-You-Go
System for the 2008 fiscal year, to ensure that our pensioners are
paid as and when due.

Public Service Reforms

To ensure that our Public Service Reforms continue, we have set aside
the sum of N22.5billion in 2008 to support this programme. Our aim is
to continue to improve service delivery in the Public Service.

CONCLUSION

Mr. Senate President,

Mr. Speaker,

Distinguished Senators,

Honourable Members of the House of Representatives,

We have a historic opportunity to build a strong and resilient economy
which will result in tangible benefits for the generality of our
people. We do not under-estimate the challenge.

However, with your continuing support, I am confident that we can,
together, lay the solid foundation of a bright and prosperous future
for our nation.

We must have the courage to do all that is right, decent and
compassionate; all that needs to be done for our nation's restoration.
We must do this always with strict adherence to the rule of law and
due process, however inconvenient sometimes. We must not shy away from
the path of fiscal responsibility and prudence.

Before I end this address, it is apposite that I inform this august
Assembly that I have assented to the Fiscal Responsibility Bill after
due consultation with the State Governments whose support and
concurrence is critical to the successful nationwide implementation of
the provisions of the law. It is hoped that this will help to
institutionalise and formalise the observance of fiscal discipline.

I must restate our Administration' s appreciation of the thorough and
expeditious manner in which the National Assembly has consistently
considered matters brought before it by the Executive.

I am reassured by this very cooperative relationship, founded on
mutual respect and a mutual recognition of our shared responsibility
to rebuild our nation and reposition her for democratic good
governance, peace, security, sustained growth and development.

Mr. Senate President,

Mr. Speaker,

Distinguished Members of the National Assembly,

It is with utmost regard and respect that I lay before you the 2008
Budget of the Federal Government of Nigeria for your consideration. I
pray that God in his infinite grace and mercy will guide all of us to
provide selfless and sincere service to our people.

I thank you most sincerely for listening. May God bless the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.

--
Oyebisi Babatunde Oluseyi
Coordinator: Membership, Advocacy and Campaigns
Nigeria Network of NGOs
No 25 Ogunlana Drive, Surulere
Lagos
Tel: +234 802 836 7748, 703 968 6500
E: seyi@nnngo.org, oyebisius@gmail. com
U: www.nnngo.org]]> Sat, 10 Nov 2007 23:56:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/279571 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/275297 ]]> Sun, 04 Nov 2007 08:38:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/275297 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/272137 Tue Oct 23, 2007 2:31 am (PST)
Dear et al,

As you may be aware, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is holding its annual Infotech conference tagged "e-Nigeria 2007" from the 30th October to 1st November 2007 at the ECOWAS Commission, Asokoro, Abuja.

The conference fee is N30,000 per person and N50,000 for two persons from the same organization. Organizations are requested to sponsor at least two staff to the 2007 edition of e-Nigeria.

For further questions or clarifications please contact Mr. Olukoju Dele at the e-Nigeria Secretariat, NITDA, No. 28 Port Harcourt Crescent, Off Gimbiya Street, Area 11, Garki - Abuja. You can also reach him by phone no. 234 - 9 - 3142923 5 or 0803 701 9617, and by email: bolukoju@nitda. gov.ng or dele@olukoju. com or by fax: 234 - 9 - 3142924


e-Nigeria Youth Forum 2007

Date: 31st October 2007
Venue: ECOWAS Commission, Asokoro, Abuja
Time: 8:30am


Please note that the conference fee has been WAIVED for participants at the e-Nigeria Youth Forum and eligibility are young people age 18 - 30 years, also know that intending participants are responsible for their travel expenses and only tea break and lunch will be provided.

You need to confirm this before we can send you invitation letter because we have limited space.

You are hereby invited to participate in the Youth Forum by sending in your application which closes on the 26th October 2007 by 6:00pm.

S/N
TOPIC
SPEAKER
1.
Virtual Offices iTeams in Open Source Software and Open Space Technology
Raphael Chukwujekwu: Director Corporate Affairs, CHREDAC

2.
What Microsoft has for Youths
Hajiya Jummai Umar: Citizenship Program Manager, Microsoft Corporation Nigeria
3.
Bringing wireless Internet access
to Remote Location with Waste Materials Home Converted Tools, Building Free WI-FI Internet Network
Engr. Sven AERTS: Brussels , Belgium
4.
The need for developing domestic Cyber Security Software Tools
Abdulhakeem Ajijola: Chief Knowledge Officer Empowerer, Consulting Support Services
5.
Curbing the Menace of Cyber crime: Prospects Challenges
Chido Enomah: The Coordinator, Fix Nigeria Initiatives
6.
How to make Mesh – Internet Antennae
Engr. Sven AERTS: Brussels , Belgium
7.
OLPC Initiatives: The Foray for Childhood Computing
Tomi Davies: Chief Operating Officer, ALTEQ.ict

The forum is meant to showcase young people with innovative ideas and best practices. Do you have any presentation, software etc, this is a lifetime opportunity.

For further inquiries or clarification please contact the undersigned @ the e-Nigeria Secretariat, NITDA, No 28, Port Harcourt Crescent, Off Gimbiya Street, Area 11, Garki - Abuja. You can also reach him by phone on 080 30 90 84 00 or ralphgoldenace@ yahoo.com

Thank you,

Raphael
]]> Wed, 24 Oct 2007 23:53:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/272137 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/267367
The observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty can be traced back to 17 October 1987. On that day, over a hundred thousand people gathered at the Trocadero in Paris, where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948, to honour the victims of extreme poverty, violence and hunger. They proclaimed that poverty is a violation of human rights and affirmed the need to come together to ensure that these rights are respected. These convictions are inscribed in a commemorative stone unveiled on this day. Since then, people of all backgrounds, beliefs and social origins have gathered every year on October 17 th to renew their commitment and show their solidarity with the poor.

Through resolution 47/196 adopted on 22 December 1992, the General Assembly declared 17 October as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and invited all States to devote the Day to presenting and promoting, as appropriate in the national context, concrete activities with regard to the eradication of poverty and destitution. The resolution further invites intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to assist States, at their request, in organizing national activities for the observance of the Day, and requests the Secretary-General to take, within existing resources, the measures necessary to ensure the success of the Day's observance by the United Nations.

October 17th presents an opportunity to acknowledge the effort and struggle of people living in poverty, a chance for them to make their concerns heard, and a moment to recognize that poor people are the first ones to fight against poverty. Participation of the poor themselves has been at the center of the Day's celebration since its very beginning. The commemoration of October 17th also reflects the willingness of people living in poverty to use their expertise to contribute to the eradication of poverty.

Texts and Image: Courtesy of U.N. Web Site

Read this highlight at:
http://topics. developmentgatew ay.org/poverty/ highlights/ viewHighlight. do~activeHighlig htId=114318? intcmp=923



Neema Mgana
Founder
African Regional Youth Initiative
www.africaninitiati ve.org/af
E-mail: nmgana@africaniniti ative.org
]]> Fri, 12 Oct 2007 06:25:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/267367 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/250095 Deadline: 1 October 2007

The Staying Alive Foundation (SAF) is calling for entries from young people
aged from 12-24 working in the area of HIV/AIDS. Staying Alive Awards are
for young individuals who are focused on stopping the spread of HIV and AIDS
and have demonstrated the potential to become future leaders. The award
comes with a financial grant to assist them in the continuation of their
commitment and provides public recognition to inspire others to get
involved. The awards are for youth and youth-focused programmes affiliated
with community-based organisations, institutions, schools, or
internationally registered tax-exempt groups.

The grants will be made to young people or youth-led initiatives that:
educate and/or disseminate responsible and accurate information about HIV
and AIDS focused on youth.
identify, support, and mentor individual youth leaders responding to HIV and
AIDS in their communities.
eliminate or alleviate the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV and
AIDS.
encourage young people to take concrete action to protect themselves from
HIV infection.
demonstrate innovation and creativity.
reflect and honour the culture in which the project operates.
provide compelling stories that can be promoted and publicised.
In 3 pages or less typed in 12-point font, applicants must submit: name of
organisation (and contact person) or individual, address, telephone/fax,
email, website, type of programme, programme description and how it fits the
Staying Alive goals and guidelines, project objectives and its goal, how it
will be evaluated, and current and past donors and donation amounts
expressed in US$. As attachments to this application document, please send a
line item budget in US$, references or accreditation, and resumes or
biographies of the project leaders.

Contact Information:
Staying Alive Foundation
1515 Broadway, 47th Floor
New York, NY 10036
United States
Fax: 1 212 258 8515
foundation@staying- alive.org
Website:
http://www.staying- alive.org/ en/foundation/ foundation_ home

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

-www.youthaidscoali tion.org-
Overwhelmed by all the information? To receive the condensed version (instead of multiple individual emails), visit
www.groups.takingIT global.org/ GYCA and choose "Daily." You must be logged in. Posts go out Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

ADD YOUR ORGANIZATION AND YOUR MEMBER PROFILE TO OUR GLOBAL DIRECTORY! www.youthaidscoalit ion.org/join. html

]]> Sun, 16 Sep 2007 11:48:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/250095 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/244925

Once again we are soliciting for your support in nominating young people for the upcoming Youth Leadership Programme, coming up in Awka by October 5 th -9th 2007. We need 70 participants to benefit from ths programme in Awka.

Attached is an application form send to all your nominees to fill and submit back to this e-mail address aasuquo (at) leapafrica.org as attached document, but because of the time which is short, we will need you applicants to send in their/your details (Full name, correct emails and telephone numbers) to this e-mail address gozzle2002 (at) yahoo.com . This will enable us contact them before their application form gets to us. Individually contact your networks, mosque, churches, youth groups, friends, family etc.

We are aware the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka will be on session, so we have to think around it, reach out to your networks they may have to be students of the school or residents who can make themselves available for the programme.

About payment, application form is (N2, 000) and can be paid in installment over one year and they can put in for the programme even if they don't have the money now; all we need now is their commitment for change and Leadership. The money is flexible and can be discussed later. We believe you know the criteria for the programme; age, literacy, commitment for change and leadership etc. We will accept them based on your recommendations.

Completed form should be sent to,

Asuquo Asuquo
LEAP Africa Ltd/Gte
13 Omorinre Johnson Street
Off Admiralty Way Lekki Phase 1
P.O.Box 75247 Victoria Island
Lagos, Nigeria
Tel: 234 - 1 - 2706541/2
aasuquo (at) leapafrica.org
www.leapafrica.org ]]> Sat, 01 Sep 2007 06:02:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/244925 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/243663

NIGERIAN BY CHOICE (NBC) Conference

“…Young Nigerians in the United Kingdom Discuss the Nation’s Future”

The role of any nation’s Diaspora in its development does not need any debate. For Nigeria, the role of its citizens in other nations cannot be ignored, especially when consideration is given to their size and the inspiring roles that they play (or will eventually play) in those countries where they presently reside. The size of the Nigerian Diaspora in the United Kingdom — from students to professionals — places additional responsibility on the shoulders of both the Nigerian nation and her people in the United Kingdom. While the citizens can use their various platforms of influence to engage government (and contribute their own quota) towards improving living conditions, they can also benefit from the emerging opportunities that are increasingly available in Nigeria.

The Nigerian by Choice conference is an opportunity for young Nigerians in the United Kingdom to discuss the future of Nigeria. This conference does not seek to discuss the problems, but will serve as a forum where solutions, opportunities and networking will be the action guides. We believe that it is time for Nigerians living in the United Kingdom and are below the age of 40 (who can appreciate the need to take action in order to move from where we are to where we should be) to take action in order to create the nation we can be proud to call home. The September 2007 conference will focus on the following objectives:

* Encouraging the need to take advantage of ICT-enabled Entrepreneurship to help meet Nigeria’s employment needs;

* Organizing Socio-Economic Missions that will enable Nigerian professionals in Diaspora to use their expertise to support relevant efforts;

* Networking the expertise of the participants to influence policy and demonstrate how Nigeria can take practical steps towards development;

* Celebration of “What’s Great About Nigeria” because if we don’t, the world won’t have an example to follow!

Featuring brief keynotes, break-out groups, panel discussions and quality question-and-answer time, the conference will deliver on its promise of kick-starting a process of networking ongoing efforts towards addressing the need to place Nigeria on its path of becoming one of the best places to call home during the first quarter of the 21st century!

Date: Saturday, September 15 2007

Time: 11am to 4pm

Venue: Women’s Library Centre, London Metropolitan University, 25 Old Castle Street London E1 7NT [See directions at www.pin.org.ng/nbc/logistics.php]

Entry: FREE [Register at www.pin.org.ng/nbc]

Programme of Events

1000 - 1114: Arrivals, Networking and Registration

1115 - 1120: National Anthem

1121 - 1130: Opening Remarks

1131 - 1150: Keynote 1 (”Investment Opportunities in Nigeria”)

1151 - 1210: Keynote 2 (”ICTs and Entrepreneurship”)

1211 - 1225: Tea Break

1231 - 1250: Keynote 3 (”Socio-Economic Missions”)

1251 - 1320: Break-out Groups

1321 - 1350: Report-back from Groups

1351 - 1410: Light Lunch Break

1411 - 1440: Panel Discussions

1441 - 1525: Interactive Session (Questions and Discussions)

1526 - 1545: Wrap Up

The conference will be delivered through the joint efforts of Netwox Limited, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, and other partners. Netwox Limited will serve as the coordinating institution for the conference, and Paradigm Initiative Nigeria will be responsible for the post-conference coordination — including the publication of conference proceedings and management of the post-conference process as decided by the participants.

Contact:

Kayode Afolabi

nbc[at]netwoxltd.com

+44 1 375 483 822

+44 78 779 03 05 6]]> Sat, 25 Aug 2007 10:59:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/243663 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/230587 ==============================================================

Today, the Internet in Africa has been growing steadily over the past several years and is beginning to play a significant role in Africa's development, creating employment, providing opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as acting as an enabler in the digital delivery of government services, education, radio, and healthcare, among others.



The new possibilities provided by Internet technologies present African countries with an opportunity to leapfrog phases of development and make use of the most recent innovations to establish a strong information society and increase the distribution of wealth among the populace, thereby addressing the poverty that has plagued the continent from time immemorial till date.



Unfortunately, the overall impact of the Internet as an enabler of development in Africa has been severely curtailed by a number of elements. Topping the list is the lack of efficient paths to carry growing local and regional traffic among Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Africa.



This problem occurs both on a national as well as regional or inter-country scale. For example, when an African Internet user sends a message to a friend in the same city or a nearby country, the data travels first to Europe or the United States before getting back to the African city or nearby country. It has been estimated that this use of international bandwidth for national or regional data costs Africa over US$400 million annually.



The vision of a connected Africa begins with the building blocks of the Internet. At the national level, Internet traffic between ISPs has been optimized in a number of countries with the introduction of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), which allow ISPs to interconnect and offload correspondent traffic.



Today, Nigeria is one of only 11 of the 53 countries in Africa that have IXPs. However, this marginal IXP connectivity results in an inefficient exchange of African inter-country traffic through hubs located overseas mainly in the US and Europe. This means that Africa is paying overseas carriers to exchange "local" (continental) traffic on its behalf. This is costly and inefficient.



It is in the interest of all countries in Africa to find ways of optimizing Internet traffic through building better and more robust networks to support intra-continental traffic flows. This will create opportunities for private sector investment.



All over the world, IXPs are deployed to leverage on cutting-edge technologies to optimize the information super-highway. In Europe, America and Asia the Internet exchange phenomenon has been around for quite a while, hence, we have the London Internet Exchange, the Amsterdam Internet Exchange, and the Hong Kong Internet Exchange, among others. Coming home to Africa, there are IXPs that have gone live in Egypt and South Africa and even in Kenya.



Following the conclusion of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis , the need for Internet Exchange Point/Gateway for Nigeria became clearer. Accordingly, Former President Olusegun Obasanjo issued a directive to Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) through the Ministry of Communications to urgently establish an Internet Exchange Point (IXP) for Nigeria.



The Federal Government through NCC registered a company by the name Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria Ltd (IXPN) by guarantee to handle the operations of the exchange. IXPN is a Public-Private Partnership where all ISPs and content providers are stakeholders while the company is a neutral, not-for-profit organization.



I would also acknowledge the immense support and encouragement we have received from the NCC under the leadership of its Executive Vice Chairman, Engr. Ernest Ndukwe in realizing the overall vision of promoting efficient delivery of Internet services to complement development in Nigeria.



To drive this innovation in Nigeria, NCC constituted an interim Board of Directors of IXPN comprising of selected individuals from the industry (stakeholders) in order to draw from their experience and expertise.

The board was inaugurated on the 13th May, 2007 at the NCC headquarters in Abuja, Mr. Chima Onyekwere, MD/CEO Linkserve Ltd was appointed the chairman of the board, while my humble self, Mr. Muhammed Rudman was appointed the MD/CEO.



I am happy to inform you today that the Lagos IXP branch is 100% complete with and has some ISPs already connected while the interim Board includes the following members:



Interim Board Members

Name Organisation

1. Mr. Chima Onyekwere Linkserve

2. Mrs. Zubaida M. Rasheed Transcorp

3. Dr. Sylvanus A. Ehikioya NCC

4. Engr Sam Adeleke Digitek Teevee Cunsulting

5. Prof. K.R. Adeboye FUT Minna

6. Mr. Aminu Tijjani Multilinks

7. Mr. Yen Choi Netcom

8. Mr. Chioke Ogugua Celtel

9. Mr. Sunday Folayan Skannet

10. Mr.Akinwale Goodluck MTN

11 Mr. Muhammed Rudman (MD/CEO)





You will recall that Internet transit cost is the major bottleneck for affordable Internet service in Nigeria. That is why NIXP has negotiated a landmark agreement with NITEL to provide SAT-3 transit traffic at the rate of $2,800 per Megabit duplex connection to all NIXP members marking a major reduction from the previous price of $6,300. We are also using this opportunity to invite all the major players in the industry to become transit providers for NIXP if they can provide same or lower rates than that provided by NITEL.



In an effort to lower the cost of internet service delivery in Nigeria, telecom operator, Starcomms, the latest entrant has joined other ISPs at the exchange point making it the first PTO to connect. By peering with other ISPs at the exchange point, it means all local internet traffic will remain local within those ISPs and Starcomms'.



Hitherto, all ISPs within Nigeria were connected at foreign countries which meant that the data of say a JAMB (Joint Admission and Matriculations Board) student within Lagos browsing the JAMB website located within an ISP in Lagos will travels first to Europe or the United States before getting back to the Nigeria.



The scenario is just like going to Ibadan from Lagos via U.K. and U.S.A. It has been estimated that this use of international bandwidth for national data costs Nigeria over US$100 million each year.



The management of Starcomms must be commended for joining the NIXP which proves their leadership in pioneering development in the ICT industry.



But we will not stop until all Nigerian ISPs, PTOs, telecom operators and content providers and allied providers are connected to the exchange point which will ensure that all local internet traffic remains local in Nigeria. We do not need to pay foreign countries huge sums of money just to communicate within ourselves here in Nigeria



I would like to call on all ICT providers to join the team of the already connected members like Tara Systems, Linkserve, Netcom Africa, Cyberspace, 21 Century, MTS First Wireless and Medallion Communications in catapulting national ICT to the next level.



NIXP reduces transit cost to all our members by keeping local traffic local. That means no need to have traffic to go overseas only to come back. Therefore each domestically-exchanged transaction effectively frees up an equal amount of international bandwidth.



Another benefit is that direct interconnection with peers lowers latency in traffic between peering ISPs. It also ensures high speed, low latency access to sites for end-users, in essence better quality of service to all.



Also, continued success of the Internet depends on increasing bandwidth. That is why the minimum bandwidth capacity for joining NIXP is 10/100 Mbps while 1000 Mbps is available. High bandwidth capacity will provide reliable web-enabled applications, ranging in scope from e-government, e-commerce and multicast services for Government and private sector.



I would also like to note that spam filtering, content filtering and IP tracking (fraud detection) can easily be implemented because all members will have their own ASN and IP address before they can connect to us. To this end NIXP will implement fast track desk for any member requiring ASN and IP from AfriNIC.



Our mission is to provide a reliable exchange in Nigeria. That is why NIX will be implementing IDS (Intrusion Detection Systems) with BGP filter community so that our members can have a safer exchange.



Traffic going overseas means transit charges paid to your upstream ISPs which are not located in Nigeria. By keeping local traffic local, we save foreign exchange for the country and money is saved for the local economy.



The NIXP also ensures cheaper Internet access for all consumers, which in turn provide wider access to the entire populace.







Contact Details

Mr. Muhammed Rudman

Phone: 234 -1-7625118

E-mail: info(a)nixp.net]]> Thu, 12 Jul 2007 08:16:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/230587 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/73417 Youths in Nation Building.

To this Regards CGWYF Is hosting a Youth Lucheon,a program to attract over 200 Youths allover Nigeria together to delibrate
about issues that confront them and how they can involve in the Change process.
the program hopes to be interactive and Educative.

Thematic Issues to be Delibrated-
Youth and Leadership Development
Career Development
Capacity Building
Role of Youths Towards Nation Building
HIV/AIDS

Date-2nd December 2006
Venue-SOS Children Village ,Ile-Iwe Metta Bus-Stop By Lagos State Polytechnic Isolo Lagos State
Time 12 Noon-4pm

Participant would given some Materails to Read and alot of Free Gifts.
Intending participant should pls send in a Text or Call to book a Seat -
Send as soon as possible
Name-
Organization -
Phone-
08022871326, 08026198139
Ms.Vanessa Thoseahead
08022871326
]]> Thu, 30 Nov 2006 13:13:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/73417 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/73337

The Nigerian Police in collaboration with Government / civil society partnership wishes to have you at the above workshop. Your attention is much needed to contribute to the Interactive Session in establishing a framework for partnership towards the 2007 General Election.

The workshop will commemce by 0800hrs on December 1st, 2006. Please, attend to make immesurable contribution as youths. All the best.



Akinbo A. A. Cornerstone
President, CNY.]]> Tue, 28 Nov 2006 06:41:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/73337 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/68425

Join us to make it areality....and i will be here to say Eureka !


Akinbo A. A. Cornerstone]]> Sun, 19 Nov 2006 16:41:00 EST http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/68425 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/58017 • empowering youths through leadership training, workshops, seminars e.t.c

• identifying and affiliating bodies necessary for partnership and other purpose driven organization

• partnering with the media to bridge the information gap between the youth and the governance

• reaching out to the youth through ICT, public awareness’ campaign e.t.c

• engaging in an intensive research

FRAMEWORK
• Establishing CNY offices in every state of the federation;

• Reaching across and affecting every youth in the federation;

• Achievement of full interaction between government and the youth bodies;

• Participating and implementing the national youth policy.

Table:

Purpose Target Duration Subject
Workshop, seminar, leadership training youth(10-35)yrs of age 4 years primary, secondary and tertiary institutions
Affiliated, purpose driven organizations youth- led organization Occasionally NGO’s, CBO’s, FBO’s, etc.
Communication Government 4 years Ministries, NASS, Federal, State and Local Authorities
Expansion youth- led organization 4 years NGO’s, CBO’s, FBO’s, etc.
Research economic, political and social networks 4 years Partners





PLANS FOR ACTION
• CNY will have a dozier that will embed all partner organization names on it.

• CNY will build a website for every partner organization, which doesn’t have one.

• CNY will provide full sponsored internship program for partner individual and organization.

• The youth and MDGs appendix C (goal 8) as been adopted as the Article Of Action (AoA) towards phase 1 of the memorandum of understanding at the Nigeria Youth Summit held at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.

• There shall be joint council meetings on occasion based on Working Group’s proposal, as it may concern other sectors from time to time.


Signed this day, October 22nd, 2006.


Alfred N. V. (Miss)
For: Central Working Group.
]]> Thu, 26 Oct 2006 18:34:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/58017 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/58019
1. All registered bodies or non governmental organizations affiliated to CNY will act as Liaison Offices for CNY in their respective jurisdiction.

2. Promote the Nigerian dream by imbibing positive cultural traits, habits and customs to improve a National Identity, at home and in the Diaspora;

3. Improve the database and maintain a focus on all adopted, approved desirous projects, from to time;

4. Moderate, participate, collate, research and implement all delegated or democratically approved Action Plan for Implementation;

5. CNY will not act at anytime demand for an or accept funding from any of it’s affiliated bodies except when given voluntarily;

6. Identify means to sustain network and the onward transition to new leaderships as time begets it;

7. Carryout Monitoring and Evaluation Research from time to time to determine status of progress.

That I, …………………………………………………………………………………….……….., duly acknowledge this document on behalf of my organization,
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….., this day, ………………………………………...., ……….., ……………………..
To ally with the Council of Nigerian Youths (CNY) for the growth and development f the Youth, the Nation in particular.





Stamp and signature (Affiliating Body) Stamp and signature (Management)

]]> Thu, 26 Oct 2006 18:34:00 EDT http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/58019 7.15 3.357.153.35 http://www.tigblog.org/group/cny/post/58011 Through the years Nigeria has undergone a process of experimentation with several governmental systems, but “good governance” that would ensure a sustainable and desirable urban development have been elusive through the years. As a consequence Urban centers. They include environmental pollution, traffic disorder, and incessant building collapse, social and political problems. These problems are also attributable to lack of physical planning.

The paper advocates for a reappraisal of constitutional legislative and operational mechanisms of development control at all levels of governance particularly in urban centers. This, the paper argues will make them mover efficient in the performance of their social and political functions. It suggests a healthy balance between planning, politics and adequate involvement of citizens in the development and political process of urban centers.

THE NIGERIAN STATE.
The Nigerian state had a long history of transition to various types of governmental of transition from one form of governmental system to the other. Nigeria became a Federation of three regions and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations following her independence on October 1, 1960. In 1963, she became a republic with the first designated president, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe who was the Governor General between 1960 and 1963. The Federal structure in 1963 became four regions with Mid-West region having been created from the western region. The four regions were; Northern, Eastern, Western and Mid-Western regions.

From independence till today, Nigeria has experimented with deferent types of government. Beginning from October 1 1960 to September 30, 1963 Nigeria operated the parliamentary system, the Westminster type of government, with the British Monarch as constitutional Head of state. The Governor- General represented her majesty, the Queen. The Prime Minister presided over a council of ministers which comprised mainly members of the Federal House of Representatives. There was a senate, made up of selected representatives from the three regions at the time, with equal member of representation. The senate President was the Head of the Senate, while the speaker of the House of Representatives was the head of the body.

The Republican system (First Republic) was embraced between October 1, 1963 and January 15, 1966. In this system, the office of Governor-General was changed to that of president (a non-executive position). The President was not an elected official. He remained the Head of State, Commander in Chief of the Armed forces of the country as he was under the Parliamentary system. The Prime Minister remained the Head of Government, and members of the council of Ministers were still essentially members of the House of Representatives.

Two years after adopting the Republic system of government, on January 14 to 15, 1966, a section of the Nigerian Military struck. This marked the beginning of an era of Military dictatorship which lasted till September 30, 1979 in the first instance while General Olusegun Obasanjo as Head of State. He handed over power to Alhaji Shehu Shagari, a civilian President on October 1, 1979. After series of coups, attempted coups and counter coups, over a period of 13 years, elections were held to usher, in an American type, Presidential style of government, with an Executive President of the center and Executive Governors in the State. Three arms of government were operative: The Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary. Unfortunately however, through these years of transition till date “good governance” has been elusive but still a quest.

There has been laudable attempts under a democratic leadership since 1999, to reconstruct the social and political structures that should bring about urban development by addressing some fundamental problems such as: Human right abuses, Corruption and Poverty. However, the present political climate shows we still have a long way to go. Nigeria is still experiencing increased cases of human rights abuses, corruption in high places, poverty, insecurity of lives and property, ethnic and religions dashes, political violence and killings, environmental degradation, civil unrest and sustainable.

A desirable and sustainable urban development can be achieved through:
i. Effective physical planning and
ii. Good governance.


THE STATE OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
Nigeria is richly endowed with natural resources. However due to lack of good governance the resources have been mis-managed. Corruption has eaten deep into the fabric of the nation increasing the gap between the rich and the poor. Thus, making the poor, poorer and the rich richer. Urban development is important in the growth of the Nigerian state which planning is concerned with.

The Urban society is characterized by a sharp economic disparity between a small member of wealth families and a large member of poor families. This is making living conditions within cities so bad.

There is also increasing level of disparity between Urban and rural areas. The problems of the urban areas are as a result of the influx of people from the rural areas, traffic congestion, and pollution amongst others. Some problems arise due to the pressure of people using the facilities compared to the member of people it was designed for.
Nigeria’s urban infrastructure is crumbing. Water supply, sewage, sanitation, drainage, roads, electricity and waster disposal all suffer from years of serious neglect. Periodic and routine maintenance, by far the most cost-effective infrastructure spending, is almost zero.

It has become the norm in Nigeria to wait for a capital infusion to rehabilitate, replacing instead of maintaining the infrastructure. But declining financing resources is making this less feasible and deterioration is accelerating, compounding the situation is rapid urbanization caused by migration from rural areas. The number of people living in Nigeria’s towns and cities is expected to double to 80 million in the next 13 years and reach 100 million by 2010.
Urbanization is a positive force in development. Cities and towns are home to most industry, commerce, and services, all of which can be highly productive.

Nigeria’s urban population, over the period 1980-1993, grew at an astonishing 5.5 percent a year, compared with 2.9 percent nationwide. Many urban Nigerians, however, do not earn enough to cover even basic needs. An estimated 21 percent or so (8.5 million persons ) were below the poverty lines in 1992-93. They, more than anybody, suffer from the breakdown in urban infrastructure, especially through poor health. Most of the burden falls on women and children.

Urban pollution and poor management of municipal waste (sewage and refuse) add to the health hazards. Numerous industries dump untreated and often toxic liquids in open gutters, streams, rivers and lagoon. And, as elsewhere fumes from vehicles contaminate the air and water.
In recent years, Nigeria’s leadership, institutions, and policies have been subject to abrupt and unpredictable change, making any planning difficult. A starting point for action can be found in the National Urban Development Policy, prepared in 1992. This, however, has not been adopted officially.

Other government policies have hampered urban productivity and welfare. Fiscal deficits have fueled inflation. Big subsidies for fertilizer, petrol and loss-making state enterprises drain revenues away from more productive use. It has been observed that inadequate control on public spending, massive extra budgetary allocations, and lack of accountability and transparency hinder allocation of resources for infrastructure and social services.
The same situation obtains with urban real estate. The state owns much of the land that could be used for housing, factories, offices, or as collateral for credit. But bureaucratic procedure make it difficult, time-consuming, and expensive to acquire real estate. Moreover, the private sector is excluded from aspects of infrastructure and services (electricity, water and telecommunications, for instance).

With scarce financial resources and too few trained people, local governments (774 of them) are unable to carry out their assigned functions. As usual, the poor suffer most.
Reliving and reducing poverty must be the main aim of urban development. Even modest investment can make a big improvement in the lives of the urban poor. Better basic services in low-income urban areas can have a major impact on the welfare and productivity of the poor. But such investments must be part of broader programs fro primary healthcare, education, and employment.
Another problem transportation and traffic congestion due bad roads, lack of street lights and street signs and little or no building set backs.

Statistics show that the increasing number of accidents is due to the inability of the government to function properly in the area of transportation among others. There is the problem of road bandits who parade long distance routes adding to the number of accidents that occur on Nigerian roads. Another problem I the issue of poor maintenance of road. It can scarcely be taken that Nigeria is enriched with oil resources but lacked the ability to use the bitumen obtained from petroleum to make her roads functional.

There has been the issue of night workers known as prostitutes, armed robbers and even pen thieves in offices especially at high places. In the country it is found that corrupt police officers who are meant to be defending the rights of the citizens abuse these citizens physically.
In the construction industry, corruption has eaten deep into the system that fake plans, building more than the number of floors approved, political influence of building plan approvals, encroaching on government land as a result of these issues there have been incessant building collapse and bridges in various states, with Lagos having the highest number, followed by Port Harcourt, River State capital.
Some of the challenges faced by the construction industry are listed below.
• Planlessness of towns and cities in the country
• Incessant collapse of buildings.
• Fire in buildings.
• Environmental abuse and other disasters.
• Dearth of referenced design standards for professionals.
• Use of non=professionals.
• Use of untested products and materials.
• Lack of adequate regulations and sanctions.
• Lack of maintenance culture.


GOOD GOVERNANCE
Governance can be defined as the science of government behavior and performance, including the exercise of economic, political and administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all levels (UNDP, 1997; Detheir, 1999). It provides the framework through which citizens and groups exercise their rights, meet their obligations and articulate their interests.

Governance is about people and the environment in which they live. It is about people as citizens of their respective states. It is about the relationship between the state and its citizens of their respective states. It is about the relationship between the state and its citizens. It is about the relationship between the state and its citizens, either in their individual capacity or as a group.

It is a process by which governments and people together identify shared values, needs and challenges and jointly manage the implementation of those programs and the available resources, through a transparent and accountable process with shared responsibility for outcomes that are responsive, gender-sensitive and broad-based. This requires a climate of respect for human rights, with the expressed objectives of maximizing benefits to men and women for the common good (Bardhan 1997).

A government encompasses
I. An effective state i.e. one that possesses an enabling political and legal environment for economic growth and equitable distribution of wealth and social welfare
II. Civil societies and communities that are represented in the policy making process, with the state facilitating political and social interaction, and fostering societal cohesion and stability.
III. A private sector that is allowed to pay an independent and productive e role in the economy (Hamdol, 2000).

All three elements singularly and in combination, together with sound economic management are essential for sustained development as emphasized in recent assessments by the African Development Bank (ADB, 1998 and 1999), to achieve many of the precepts of good governance, such as increased public sector efficiency or reduced poverty, necessarily implies a loss to some groups. For example, increased efficiency in public service delivery implies that the activities of rent seekers have to be minimized. On the other hand, reducing poverty might call for income redistribution measures, which could hurt the interests of richer groups.

UNDP identifies nine core characteristics covering eight key urban issues, which measure good governance.
a) Participation-all men and women should have a voice decision-making either directly or through legitimate intermediate institutions that represent their interest. Such broad participation is built on freedom of association and speech, as well as capacities to participate constructively
b) Rule of law – legal frameworks should be fair and enforced impartially, particularly the laws on human rights.
c) Transparency – this is built on the free flow of information. Processes, institution and information is provided to understand and monitor them.
d) Responsiveness –institutions and process try to serve all stakeholders.
e) Consensus orientation – good governance mediates differing interests to reach a broad consensus on what is in the best interest of the group and where possible, on policies and procedures.
f) Equity – all men and women have opportunities to improve or maintain their well-bring.
g) Effectiveness and efficiency – processes and institutions produce results that meet needs while making the best use of resources.
h) Accountability Decision – makers in government, the private sector and civil society organizations are accountable to the public, as well.
i) Strategic vision – leaders and public have a broad and long-term perspective on good governance and human development, along with a sense of what is needed for such development. There is also an understanding of the historical, cultural and social complexities in which that perspective is grounded (UNDP, 1997).


THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT
According to Davey (1993), the role of government in urban management and development can be summarized as follows:
i) Is concerned with the policies, plans programs and practices that seek to ensure that population growth is matched by access to basic infrastructure, shelter and employment. While such access will depend as much, if not more, on private initiatives and enterprise, they are critically affected by public sector policies and functions that only government can perform.
ii). The performance of government is critical to the effective management of urban growth. Government should partner with international agencies who show interest in improving the structure, process, and resources of urban government institutions. Policies of decentralization which delegates functional responsibilities and resources to lower levels of government and new financial flows should be created to stimulate public investment. Development project should include technical assistance to improve the planning and operational of processes of urban agencies
iii) The effectiveness of urban government is clearly dependent on a range of contextual factors: political stability, social cohesion and economic buoyancy, to name only the most obvious. It also depends on the skills and motivations of it’s policy makes and the staff who serve them. But the widespread concern to change and improve the management arrangements suggests a belief that the structures, processes and resources base are themselves factors that contribute to effectiveness. To illustrate, the performance of a car owes much both to it’s driver and to the driving conditions- that is, the state of the road, the traffic, the weather. But its inherent characteristics engine power, road hold, fuel efficiency, and soon constitute a third element to the equation. Just so, the institutional characteristics of urban government play a part in determining its effectiveness, along with the people who run it and the environment within which is operates.

THE ROLE OF THE CIVIL SOCIETY
Against the backdrop of the failure of centralized states in the developmental project, civil society was gradually conceived as alternative delivered of social services and welfare, thus providing solution to the in capacities of the state as well as the inequalities of the capitalist development (Olayode, 2005).
The United State Agency for International Development (USAID expresses this view thus: The components of civil society, the broad-based groups, the networks and communication among these groups, are at the heart of what USAID and may development agencies are trying to achieve (USAID, 1994) also Olayode (2005 reported that the liberation of civil society from the suffocating grip of the state has become the hegemonic ideological project of one time.
In democratic theory, civil society is expected to play a major representative role in the process of transition to democracy.
There are four main areas of civil society involvement in the democratization project:

i) Altering the balance of power between a state and society.
ii) Improving the accountability of both politicians and administrators;
iii) Legitimating the political systems by promoting the values of liberal democracy (Luckham and White 1997).


CONCLUSION
Good governance in Nigeria so far has been a dilemma. Infact it has become elusive despite the various systems of government operated from independence on October 1, 1960 till date. This had led to negative impacts on the social, political economic and physical environment of the country. Hence problems of corruption, poverty, insecurity of lives and property, human rights abuses, political thuggery, environmental degradation, inequitable distribution of resources and development lack of proper physical planning, improper management of urban growth to mention but a few ha made urban development in the country to meet with a brick wall.

In Nigeria, addressing the problem of urban development means addressing the issue of good governance. The solution should reach deep into the very fabric of the Nation where the problem lies. Therefore, a reappraisal of the mechanisms of development control at all levels of government, particularly in urban centers. The civil society also has a vital role in selecting complementary and checking the government.

WAY FORWARD
There are two basic strategies for achieving a sustainable or good urban development in Nigeria. They are good governance and an effective physical planning.

Should there be a reappraisal of the constitutional, legislative and operational mechanisms of development controls, at all levels of governance, particularly only in urban centers. This would make them more efficient in the performance of their social and political functions.

There should be participation of the civil society including communities and the private sector. The government should decentralize authority and the local government strengthened more precisely, their responsibility should be clearly defined; make revenue transfers to them more predictable, give assistance to increase their internal revenue and give them real involvement in planning and implementation.

Relieving and reducing poverty towards a pro-poor strategy must be the aim of urban development. Better basic services in low income urban areas can have a major impact on the welfare and productivity of the poor. But such investments must be part of broader programs for primary healthcare, education and employment. A new Nigeria is possible, when we begin to look and act with deep insight and decisive action.




REFERENCES
African Developing Bank (1998) African Developing Report, Oxford Univeristy Press.
African Development Bank (1999) Country Policy and Institutional Assessment 3. Unpublished Report, African Developing Bank Abidjan Akinnade, Sola and Amadu, Sesay (eds) Africa) in the Post Cold War International System (London Printer, 1998).
Ayeyemi, Dayo Nigerian Tribune (2005) ‘Mixed Reaction Tail building Stakeholders Registration ‘ August 8
Bardhan, P. (1997) ‘The Role of Governance in Economic Development: A Political Economy Approach’. Paper for the OECD Development Centre Paris.
Belleh, T.R (2006 ‘Nigerian Police force’, Belleh@yahoo.com, Tuesday August 8
Detheir, J.J. (1999) ‘Governance and Economic Performance: A Survey’, Discussion Papers on Developing Policy No5, Centre for Developing Research, university Bonn: Bonn.
Davey, K.J (1993). Elements of Urban Management. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development /World Bank, Washington USA pp ix-x
Hamso, A. (2000) ‘Good governance and the Police Challenge: The African Development Bank Perspective’, Presented at the workshop On Evaluation Capacity Development in Africa, Johannesburg.
Luckman R.and White, G. (1997) Democratization in the South: The Jagged Wave. Manchester University Press pp. 185-189.
Olayode, K.O (2005) Concern for Good Governance: the Role of Civil Society Leaven Club International pp. 10-27 Ile-Ife.
USAID, (1994) Civil Society, Democracy and Development in Africa. Proceeding of a workshop for Development practitioners, Washington D.C. pp20
United Nations Development Program (1997)’ governance for Sustainable human Development’. UNDP: governance Papers: New york.
World Bank (2006) A strategy for Restroring Urban Infrastructure and Services in Nigeria’
Nigeria, Federal Government (1992) National Urban Development Policy. Lagos Government Printer.
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