TIGblogs - EwaJesu's TIGBlog http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us Busy weekend http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/699477 During the last week i pursued a couple of highly desired initiatives that I would love to work on and i put into practice two very great laws that guide human achievement and success.
1. Determination- this makes it possible to pursue something one considers vey important and pertinent. i have always been of the school of thought that your skills and talents would speak for you especially when it is so obvious but i developed a strong urge this month to work and lobby towards achieving my goal.
2. People- the way you treat people would determine how far you go in life.., so if your people skill is not good then you might as well forget about going far in life. As i walk through the ministry..... i started to see people i had met four year before, worked with under a very different capacity and fortunately whose capacities have now changed to positions that are key to my achieving my goal. it is important to note that four years ago this people were not in positions that could directly affect my life, but now they do.

it is imperative to live a life of reference to the importance of time and people as these two are the gifts of God to the earth...and the links to achieving and fulfilling one's vision.

this week is going to be a lovely and favored one.
EwaJesu Asala
Partner/E-cube Consulting Limited
Program Officer/African Women and Youth Organization
]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2009 05:06:00 EDT http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/699477 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 Bi-Annual Review of '09 http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/696113 It seems as though it was yesterday when we entered into the year 2009,I feel as though January 1 was a click away, yet I look and realise that we have spent almost half of the year already and for me a lot is yet to be done and a lot has been left undone. A few minutes ago myself and a friend of mine went to the Ministry of Youth Development in Nigeria to see the special adviser to the minister to discuss some crucial youth development issues in the country and I realize that in life you create the situation you desire, though your expected result might not be exactly what you want but a lot of times the natural challenges of nature that face the objectives and goals of humans give way in the face of determination and courage..., boldness seem to have become an essential ingredient in the achievement of victories or should I say development. So my question to most people has been how do you see the past 5months and a few days of the year 2009? Do you have a measuring yard stick to which you can measure yourself against? This year I found out also that not everything is about planning..., I love to plan so much so that the changes that has occurred to my life in the past three months has thrown me off balance so much that at one point i began to ask myself and those close to me to define who they think I am so that I can get a sense of direction as to who I am. Some of us will walk through this year as though we have been shocked by electricity...,especially financially..., this is evident in Nigeria with the drop in youth development initiative around the country and the cry of a lot of young people is how government policy is putting Eba (a cassava meal) on their dining table (if you happen to own one!) So shall we then say that the year is all gloomy and depressing, NO!..., definately not..., however it is time to look through, pray through if you are person of faith, re-strategize and factor in the dynamic situations happening around the world..., I caught a glimpse of the news a few minutes ago on CNN and they were outlining the increase in unemployment in European countries and my thought was..., Oh GOD! more people are leaving this side of the world for the same places where unemployment is on the rise..., Nigeria and its dynamic government and the cry of the masses on the street about the dormant nature of the government makes one wonder if there would ever be acceleration in growth rate of the country...,I believe true national growth rate is constituted by individual growth rate of its people...,how well are we growing as Nigerians?....,Now thats a million naira question. So I say to the brave hearted ones...,'take the bull by the horn' a lot of people are waiting for your brain child. That talent lying dormant within you might be what will save your household, community, state, country and just maybe the world.
EwaJesu Asala
Partner/E-cube Consulting Limited
Program Officer/African Women and Youth Organization
]]> Thu, 11 Jun 2009 09:06:00 EDT http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/696113 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 Bi annual Review http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/695971
A few minutes ago myself and a friend of mine went to the Ministry of Youth Development in Nigeria to see the special adviser to the minister to discuss some crucial youth development issues in the country and I realize that in life you create the situation you desire, though your expected result might not be exactly what you want but a lot of times the natural challenges of nature that face the objectives and goals of humans give way in the face of determination and courage..., boldness seem to have become an essential ingredient in the achievement of victories or should I say development.

So my question to most people has been how do you see the past 5months and a few days of the year 2009? Do you have a measuring yard stick to which you can measure yourself against?

This year I found out also that not everything is about planning..., I love to plan so much so that the changes that has occurred to my life in the past three months has thrown me off balance so much that at one point i began to ask myself and those close to me to define who they think I am so that I can get a sense of direction as to who I am. Some of us will walk through this year as though we have been shocked by electricity...,especially financially..., this is evident in Nigeria with the drop in youth development initiative around the country and the cry of a lot of young people is how government policy is putting Eba (a cassava meal) on their dining table (if you happen to own one!)

So shall we then say that the year is all gloomy and depressing, NO!..., definately not..., however it is time to look through, pray through if you are person of faith, re-strategize and factor in the dynamic situations happening around the world..., I caught a glimpse of the news a few minutes ago on CNN and they were outlining the increase in unemployment in European countries and my thought was..., Oh GOD! more people are leaving this side of the world for the same places where unemployment is on the rise...,

Nigeria and its dynamic government and the cry of the masses on the street about the dormant nature of the government makes one wonder if there would ever be acceleration in growth rate of the country...,I believe true national growth
rate is constituted by individual growth rate of its people...,how well are we growing as Nigerians?....,Now thats a million naira question.

So I say to the brave hearted ones...,'take the bull by the horn' a lot of people are waiting for your brain child. That talent lying dormant within you might be what will save your household, community, state, country and just maybe the world.]]> Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:59:00 EDT http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/695971 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 Uganda and the Common Wealth youth Forum http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/281255
Nigeria Has two offcial delegates at the forum in the person of Dabesaki the Nigerian Youth Rep and Myself but at the forum l discovered a sweet Nigerisn who is part of the International Planning Committee for the forum Mo Adefeso and another Nigerian living in Diaspora by Miss Soweton, so as always you find Nigeria having a very reasonable representation and this time aroound the representation is of high content and not political at all.

The forum is showing me alot of things about culture and the way of life.The way other people around the world are living their lives and believes are so different yet the needs and the meeting point for young people is so alike.
Today, at the opening ceremony, the UN representative talked about poverty in Urban settlement that l felt so bad that our governments are not planning for the disaster that might happen if we donot work at contrlling urbanization.


Of the presentation the president of Uganda's spech captivated me the most...he really held the audience in his opening speech and l hope that has he would be cheering the CHOGM meeting, he would help in pushing the dlibrations of the youth forum to the heads of states to conider well.

Kampala was SWEET!]]> Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:37:00 EST http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/281255 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 PICTURES AND COMMUNICATION http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/278893 Today, young people are redefining the means of communication in a way that probably the human race has never seen before.
It said that the current generation would rather surf the internet for information than read the newspaper and the trend that we are taking as young people is beginning to threaten and force new initiative on the old methods of communication.
It’s possible for a mother not to be able to get the attention of her 13year old child even when she is screaming his/her name a few yards from the teenager because there is an iPod glued to the ear of the teenager playing the latest hit on the top ten chat.
Does this mean that the only thing that sells for young people is entertainment and fun? My answer is NO. However young people of today are constantly looking for an easier and a “cool” means of passing across information and one of it is the camera phone or camera enabled gadget.
Due to our constantly active and creative minds, young people’s flare for visual pictures has a means of speaking without talking is on the increase.
Pictures of events, travels , fun filled moments, great works and staggering information on the condition of life are passed across to other young people, friends, relatives and appropriate higher authorities through pictures posted on social sites, blogs and even through multimedia messages.
Newspaper establishments are now taking comments from readers on event and happenings in their environment through messaging with visual images of pictures on phone.
This trend and fashion as used today was usually not the case in the time past, now you don’t have to be a professional photographer to pass across a good picture image to the next person.
How will this trend affect the future of media? Hmm! First and foremost it would determine a lot about what people think of a story and how fast it reaches them. Imagine that the picture of a riot in a town in Nigeria has been passed across to over 1000 young people within the hour it happened and one of the chooses to post in on his/her blog of 10,000 viewers and the next day a media report watering down the riot is placed in a newspaper, which one do you think people would believe?
It would definitely ensure transparency in reporting and reduce the number of unethical doctored reports that media houses report about young people in various countries because it means that our media is right in our hands and we are already using it!
It would change the perspective the society has about young people and create the image that we want to project and not the one sod to us on TV and in the magazines.
More importantly, it will be fun way of reaching across to ourselves and building new bridges across old boundaries and that is ‘COOL’
]]> Fri, 09 Nov 2007 07:12:00 EST http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/278893 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 World and Opposite http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/245195 The International Youth Forum in Sham el Sheikh organized by Susan Mubarak’s Women’s International Peace Movement, brought together young people from over 100 countries around the world and certain things became obvious.

In Africa, root problems of leadership and poverty has eaten deep into our lives that l wonder if the hope of bridging the North and South divide is possible.

My reasons for feeling this way can easily be traced to the fact that in Zambia almost 85 percent of Zambians live below the World Bank poverty threshold of a dollar a day.
Darfur region of Sudan more than 3.5 million affected and 2 million people displaced by the war.

Yet in this same world in which we exist, two countries have spent 450 Billion Dollars on the war in Iraq but l ask. But l wonder what would have happened if this money was spent on development in Iraq, Sudan and Liberia.

Why we create new problems in the world when we have not solved the root problems that exist in South America, in Africa and Asia.

My focus: SOLVE ROOT PROBLEMS BEFORE FOCUSING ON ITS FRUITS.

I feel we are in a lost world and am sure that this is not about me but about that child in Darfur who has not eaten today and would have a better health if given half the subsidy that is allocated of American or European cows. The young lady in Iraq who is not sure that she would be alive by the end of today, the child solder turn civilian in Liberia who is lost and confused about what would happen to him next and millions of children who die of malaria and HIV/AIDS every year. The view should move from me to us(the whole world at large)

The world today has a lot of suffering as a result of conflict, lack of dialogue, terrorism, wisdom of weapon as compared to wisdom of peace.

It’s time to mobilize the youths, the celebrities, the politicians, the private sector and the public sector to realize that it is becoming ‘cool’ to promote peace and development.
The Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) has failed us all it’s time to adopt the Wisdom of Peace (WP).

There is a beauty and uniqueness about being a young person and it creates magic, even when the system does not work, even when the challenges are great.

Don’t be a penguin whose life depends solely on eating fish and being with other penguins only. Do something today. Be the magic of your country


Thank You
EwaJesu Asala





]]> Mon, 03 Sep 2007 05:28:00 EDT http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/245195 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 My desert Experience http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/245097
Right from the crew members of Egypt air in Nigeria to the ones in cairo it was a beautiful encounter all through which is quite contrary to what l use to believ about arab countries.


The passion and desert experience shows the beauty and the natural force associated with the desert and its people which shares a similar attribute with young people around the world.

l was extremly glad when it was announced that l was the prize winner for the Cyber Peace Contest Theme: Youth Dialogue. I owe the Susan Mubarak International Women's Peace Movement my beautiful wide screen Laptop which was the 1st prize.l felt like Alice in Wonderland yesterday...so many pictures and interviews by various media oganisation at the conference.

Today's experience at the youth and media session where we examined the topic 'Is the Media Youth Friendly' showed very clearly that young people have a lot of work to do to change and reverse the current distructive trend around the world

Young people can create majic and l hope that when I represent Africa at teh plenary closing ceremony I would be able to shed that enthusiastic light on the majic that young people have.

I love everything I have seen of Egypt]]> Sun, 02 Sep 2007 11:24:00 EDT http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/245097 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 Discovery mail on blogs http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/244507 Surprisingly the data l worked on during registration showed very clearly that the camp had 50% percent male and female participant.
What l enjoy most about this discovery is that Digital Peers International did not have to give incentives to females to apply and attend the event."it was a willing development'

The expressions of the different sexes in designing and presenting their website is different but equally innovative and intelligent.
Let me share the mail l got today with you..please find below

Women Are Half of All Bloggers - But Media Aren't Noticing
By Jennifer L. Pozner
The Women's Media Center
Wednesday 01 August 2007

If you get your news from, well, the news media, you can be forgiven if you didn't know that nearly 800 women gathered in Chicago last weekend for the third annual convention of BlogHer, an online community of more than 13,000 blogging women diverse in age, ethnicity and political persuasion. According to a search of the Nexis news database, only three Chicago newspapers covered the conference, as if this national assemblage of women writers and videographers were simply a local story. Not one national network or cable news broadcast deigned to mention it.

Compare that to the glut of coverage bestowed on YearlyKos, a conference for left-leaning bloggers made popular by the blustering A-list boys of the "netroots." In the month leading up to Kos's gathering this coming weekend, also in Chicago, the conference's perceived political power has been discussed in print and broadcast outlets from regional newspapers such as the Chattanooga Times Free Press and the Austin American Statesman to major dailies such as the Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle, and debated on MSNBC, ABC, Fox News, PBS and, for the satirically inclined, The Colbert Report on Comedy Central.

Despite Pew research reporting that women are actually 50% of all people who blog, corporate journalists and independent bloggers alike often prefer to fall back on the hand-wringing question, "Where are the women bloggers?" They'd know the answer if they took the time to seek us out as news sources, read our commentaries or cover events such as BlogHer.

If many believe that blogging is a primarily male sport, it is partially because old-school gender disparities in resource allocation, power and popularity long entrenched in traditional news media are replicating themselves online. In the blogosphere, young men - mostly white and mostly economically comfortable - link to, write about, promote and fund their buddies' blogs; and corporate media play star-makers, quoting, profiling and featuring the punditry of this New Boys Network. As is hardly surprising to those of us who monitor media representations of women, women who blog (especially those who write about feminist issues) are off the radar.

Yet, in massive numbers, women are using new media tools including blogs, podcasts, vlogs (video blogs), and other information communication technologies (ICTs) as a means of self-expression (craft bloggers), connection to community (mommy bloggers), political organizing (the "netroots"), and citizen journalism. They're also going online to monitor the media, as dozens of women do every day on WIMN's Voices, the group blog of Women In Media News, the media analysis, education and advocacy organization I direct.

At BlogHer 2007, young anti-corporate activists and suburban grandmothers, GOP operatives and Democratic pollsters, DIY purse-makers and tenured academics learned new tech skills, built professional and social networks and, of course, partied together. By the end of the weekend, they chose Global Health as a focal point for collective organizing as part of the BlogHers Act initiative, designed to leverage the power of women's blogs to make a positive impact on one major issue each year.

As a speaker in a workshop about strategies to make politicians and the press address women voters' questions throughout Election '08, I offered the recent CNN/YouTube Democratic Presidential Debate as a case study of the possibilities - and the pitfalls - of using new media to alter standard corporate media scripts. The partnership, hyped as a revolutionary collaboration between traditional and citizen journalism, offered a unique opportunity for individual Americans to shape media dialog, but also exemplified the limitations of such engagement as corporate media remain the gatekeepers of public debate.

One telling difference between this "real people ask the questions" debate and the usually cozy confabs between politicians and Beltway journalists was illustrated in a question on energy policy recorded by independent documentarian Stephanie Mackley. She addressed the candidates from her bathroom, pointing to the compact fluorescent light bulbs she uses there to "decrease my personal energy use ... But my question for you is, how is the United States going to decrease its energy consumption in the first place? In other words, how will your policies influence Americans rather than just using special light bulbs?"

It was a brilliant moment. By asking about broad policy proposals rather than superficial band-aid approaches to environmental crises, Mackley pierced through the usual government - and media - spin that attempts to frame collective problems as if they are caused, and can be solved, by individuals rather than by wide scale societal responses. Yet when she finished speaking, CNN's Anderson Cooper watered down Mackley's very clear emphasis on policy by rephrasing her question, asking the candidates, "How do you get Americans to conserve?" Then, when Senator Chris Dodd talked about levying a corporate carbon tax on polluters, demanding energy efficient auto standards and moving away from fossil fuels as steps to quell global warming, Cooper rebutted with, "The question was about personal sacrifice."

No, actually, it wasn't - not by a long shot. The issue of collective, societal responsibility was obfuscated, and this time the politicians didn't have to bury political policy and corporate responsibility under the sheen of personal choice; CNN's silver-haired golden boy did it for them.

Worse yet, during a campaign in which a woman is for the first time considered the front-runner for a major party's presidential nomination, only 11 of the 39 questions CNN selected were asked by women. Not surprisingly, issues affecting women's economic, social, sexual, reproductive and political rights were ignored or given short shrift. The fact that YouTube and CNN would bill their debate as a bold new step for participatory democracy yet would choose not to balance the participation of women and men indicates the need for media accountability in this brave new world of online communication, despite the much-ballyhooed gender equity it was supposed to bring.

As Cooper's reframing of Mackley's question - and CNN's choice to allow men to ask 70% of all questions - demonstrates, the Internet will not "liberate us" from sexist, racist or otherwise commercially compromised media. After all, the top 10 most popular news websites include most of the same corporate outlets that have marginalized and misrepresented women for decades: NYTimes.com, CNN.com, FoxNews.com, and their competitors. This is why, as I told BlogHer conference participants, we still need to invest time, energy and resources into long-term strategies for improving mainstream media content, production and policy. There is no simple, "five minutes a day" way, no Improving Election Coverage for Dummies booklet, to transforming the media. But as bloggers and as activists, we can use the Internet and ICTs as key components of a larger, multi-layered strategy for media justice.

To preserve our democracy and to advance women's rights, our agenda must include critical content analysis, media literacy, strategic communications, support of independent, community and ethnic media and - as blogger Elizabeth Edwards declared during her closing keynote for the conference - media policy reforms such as reversing the anti-democratic effects of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and fighting for Net Neutrality.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For more information, see Stephanie Mackley's follow-up video blog critiquing her experience as part of the CNN/YOUTube debate; and WIMN asks Elizabeth Edwards about media policy reform.
Source:http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080107WB.shtml


]]> Wed, 29 Aug 2007 12:50:00 EDT http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/244507 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 NIja of Today http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/243407 In the Camp where l happen to be one of the cordinators... We decidedto share certin things and at this point l have to commend the children at the camp but it became clear that when children misbehave there is the unseen hand of the adults behind it.

the children (620 in number at the camp) had nothing to lie abouut when collecting their T-shirts (DIGITEST branded Tshirts) but one of the teachers accompanying his students who was not part of the volunteering team tried to pass off a 16 pack T-shirt for 15 and was discovered in the process.
The whole thing happened les than 3mins but it struck home that something is fundamentally wrong when the thosexepected to teach values are the ones breaking social values, how then would they be ableto teach it.

interesting, l interviewed Dr. Nike Osofisan yesterday for the TV magazine DIGITEST LOGON and it was quite interesting talking to the first woman to get a P.HD in Computer science in Nigeria...l begin to think that though we are not perfect but we are going somwhere great.

My fear is that we would not wait for eternity to get to the required place we aught to be
]]> Fri, 24 Aug 2007 06:08:00 EDT http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/243407 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 Experience sharing on DIGITEST http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/243169 Sometimes it is said that it is very good to olunteer and help develop people...however, l ask my self alot of times that why am l at DIGITEST for th 4th time.

Since 2004 l have been volunteering for Digital Peers International (www.digitalpeers.org) o the annual IT camp for children DIGITEST.

Volunteers sleep by 2am alot of times and are up by 5am and l really have to tell you that DIGITEST cannot pay one for uch eeforts....but l appreciate it alot of times when one of the children walks up to me to tell how wonderful l have been.


Talk of different opion...l wish this kind of camping would b more than DIGTEST is.


Personally..., m beging to believe that volunteers is far frm money as the sky is form the earth.

Cheers
EJ]]> Thu, 23 Aug 2007 07:57:00 EDT http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/243169 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 Observation on New Government http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/220629
Ogbomosho is one of the biggest culturally sound towns in Oyo state...,infact it is believed that the town is right after Ibadan (the largest city in Nigeria) in terms of development.

The way the people ofthe town reactedto Governor Akala's behaviour in the Ladoja Adedibu (the Oyo state Godfather) saga was quite interesting. Alot of the the town's people were willing to ignore their principle for the guy and now that he is a governor....the story is begining to bore the people whowereready to defend 'their child' though his part in the problems of the state is obvious

Everyone is running back to the religious circle because strange happenings are now occuring....salaries of workers are tobe slashed to 50% of their original salary and somany unions have gone on strike.

The recent occurrence of armedrobbery attack is a shocking event as theconfidencethe 'GUY' had was astounding. Banks were attacked, policitians killedm and innocent drivers also.

The feeling ofgooing back to God has returned...,l just wondered if we allthought about God when we werebreaking our principle for what l call a "Do mo wa syndrome" ( l wrote about it a few days back but as usual in Ogbomosho there was no light because rain felland hence no access to internet facility'.

Simple put,l would say the syndrome makes us cover the sins of our 'children' and expose that of other.

Now only God can save...and lpray he hears cause we definately didn't consult him on alot of things in this country called Nigeria.
Would this government live up to expectations l am sceptical' lfeel the last government is on annual leave! hmmmm..,l hope l am wrong...but then that is my pesonalopinion.

The air does not just feel right....

Would things change?
Big question]]> Tue, 19 Jun 2007 09:13:00 EDT http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/220629 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 Update on one laptop per child in Nigeria http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/213293
Francis Cardinal, the Global Coordinator of TakingITGlobal’s Creating Local Connections West Africa (CLCWA) project will discuss the CLCWA and share insights on Youth and ICTs. Creating Local Connections West Africa (CLC WA) aims to realize the potential of youth and engage them as development actors in the improvement of their communities, countries, and region. CLC WA will achieve this through peer-led trainings, networking, national youth meetings, media creation, award processes, research and development of strategic use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) during its implementation in: Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, and Liberia. The project is supported by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and was designed by TakingITGlobal while Paradigm Initiative Nigeria is the Nigerian partner for the project. The project focuses on the Niger Delta region – seeking to provide qualitative alternatives for youth in the region.

The event holds as follows:

Date: June 4, 2007
Time: 10am prompt
Venue: NIG Secretariat, 7 Olayinka Bamgbose Street, Off Toyin Street, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria

To attend, you are expected to express your interest by eMail to me@ayokunnuojeniyi.com or SMS (only) to 08053983516. All notifications must be tendered on or before June 2, 2007.

]]> Fri, 01 Jun 2007 12:52:00 EDT http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/213293 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 trials http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/213301 Fri, 01 Jun 2007 12:06:00 EDT http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/213301 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 wifi and its challenges in lautech http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/213209
Certain areas in the campus have now been WIFI enabled hence students with laptops have turned a 50 seater lecture hall into a browsing centre.

To maket hings very hilarious,some security agents in the school claimed that they heard students were commiting cyber crime in the lecture hall!

The funniest thing is that they had no idea what YAHOO YAHOO is all about....their believe is that any student browsing is committing cyber crime

Wonders shall never end.

Cheers]]> Fri, 01 Jun 2007 07:48:00 EDT http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/213209 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 Youth and NEEDS 2 in Nigeria http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/195469
Dear All,

As part of the process of developing NEEDS 2, the second stage of the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), Development Partnership International and the Nigerian Youth Network on MDGs (NYNM) invites youth experts, youth leaders and youth organizations to a youth consultation process to coincide with the NEEDS 2 consultative forum planned by the National Planning Commission.

The consultative forum which is planned by the NPC will hold in all the geo-political zones of the country, is being convened to allow stakeholders make input into the development of NEEDS 2. The complete draft document can be downloaded from www.nigerianeconomy.com

Details of the events are as follows:

LAGOS

Date: May 3, 2007
Venue: Oranmiyan Hall, Airport Hotel, Ikeja
Time: 10.00am prompt

OWERRI

Date; May 4, 2007
Venue: Sam Mbakwe Hall, Concorde Hotel, Owerri
Time: 10.00am prompt

ASABA

Date: May 5, 2007
Venue: Nnebisi Hall, Grand Hotel, Asaba
Time: 10.00am prompt

KADUNA

Date: May 7, 2007
Venue: New Hall, Amdala Hotel, kaduna
Time: 10.00am prompt

BAUCHI

Date: May 8, 2007
Venue: Maisango Hall, Awaila Hotel
Time: 9.00am prompt
MAKURDI

Date: May 10, 2007
Venue: Banquet hall, Benue Hotels
Time: 9.00am prompt

DPI and NYNM are developing a draft position paper for youth for each of the zones, a consultative meeting to adopt a youth position paper will hold 1 hour before the NPC meetings or a day before.

To participate in the NPC consultations and youth consultations nearest to you, please email or call Rotimi on Rotimi@youthaidscoalition.org 08057704111 OR Dabesaki on Dabesaki@developmentpartnership.org 08055182526
]]> Wed, 02 May 2007 14:32:00 EDT http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/195469 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 3RD AFRICAN CONFERENCE ON SEXUAL HEALTH AND RIGHTS http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/185411
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

T he Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre (ARSRC), a project of Action Health Incorporated (AHI), under t he auspices of t he African Federation for Sexual Health and Rights is pleased to call for abstracts for t he 3rd African Conference on Sexual Health and Rights to be he ld in February 2008 in Abuja Nigeria . T he t he me of this conference is “Sexuality, Poverty and Accountability in Africa .”



Individuals and institutions wishing to submit abstracts for oral and poster presentations at t he conference are invited to make t he ir submissions. As a requirement for acceptance, t he abstract must cover t he proposed t he matic areas; set out t he general interest for t he participants at t he conference; describe t he contents of t he presentation and its contributions to t he theme of Sexuality, Poverty and Accountability in Africa . The conference will focus especially on issues affecting women and youth. Any research undertaken must have pertinent arguments and show originality and innovation.



Relevant sub-themes and topics for t he conference include, but will not be limited to:

Law, Sexuality and Health
Laws and legal issues around sexuality and sexual he alth
Protection of sexual he alth and rights
Sexualities challenging legal boundaries
Sexuality, law and secularization
Poverty, Reproduction and Family
Political economy of reproduction
Access to reproductive services and technology
Social power, relationships, and reproductive choice
Youth and Sexualities
Youth sexual desire and expression
Young people’s sexual he alth
Participation and young people’s sexual well-being
Intergenerational relationships
Sexuality Education
Local discourses and politics of sexuality education
Cost and benefits of sexuality education
Sexual literacy
Media, technology and sexuality education
Vulnerabilities, Youth and Sexuality
Sexual he alth and rights of vulnerable youth
Social and economic exclusion and youth’s sexual well-being
Women’s Sexuality
Body, health and well-being
Women’s rights to pleasure and desire
Femininity and sexual expression
Gender Based Violence
Sexual violence
Forced marriage
Harmful practices and sexual well-being
HIV and AIDS, Rights and Accountability
Culture, pleasure and HIV prevention
Access to treatment and care
HIV and Sexual rights
HIV and Reproductive Health and rights
(Im)Mobility, Sexuality and well-being
Migration and sexual well-being
Forced migration, Trafficking and sexual he alth and rights
Sexuality and well-being in chronic illness
.

Abstract Format:

Abstract should be submitted for both poster and oral presentations.
Abstract should be submitted in English or French.
Content of abstract:
· Conference Sub-t he me under which t he abstract is submitted.

· Abstract Title

· Type of presentation (oral or poster presentation).

· The names of the authors (presenting author should appear first), institutions, city, and country.

· Abstracts should be no longer than 400 words.

· All abstracts should include separate paragraphs describing :

o Background and objectives

o Issues/methods

o Findings

o Conclusions

· Abstracts reporting on scientific research should also include a description of methods and/ or materials immediately following t he introduction.

· Be sure to include 5 key words describing your presentation in t he designated box and up to 3 numbers from t he scientific topics chart that best reflect t he content of your proposed presentation.

· Indicate audio visual equipment required for your presentation. If you plan to use videotape, specify t he system and format.



Abstracts should be sent by July 31st 2007 to:

Conference Coordinator

3rd Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights

Tel: 234 1 774 3745 Fax: 234 342 5496

Email: Conference@actionhealthinc.org

Receipt of all abstracts will be promptly acknowledged.



]]> Thu, 19 Apr 2007 13:55:00 EDT http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/185411 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 DEUTSCH INTERGRATIONSKURS FÜR AUSLÄNDER - KOSTENLOS http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/166801 AFRICAN WOMEN AND YOUTH ORGANIZATION e.V. in conjuction with REMIX CLUB BERLIN e.V present:

DEUTSCH INTERGRATIONSKURS FÜR AUSLÄNDER - KOSTENLOS



This programme is aim at educating and intergrating African immigrant who speak little or no german language.
This course gives them a good knowledge of the language and also help them to intergrate into the society.

The criteria for registration for this course are as follows:

The participant must be:

Unemployed
Valid resident permit (Visa)
Copy of Anmeldung
Interested participant are urged to register by mail or online by info@awyo.de or by

Remix Club Berlin e.V
Jonas Strasse 29
12053 Berlin

Tel: 030/60977527
Mobil: 0163-5181064
remixafricanyouths@yahoo.com
www.remixbest.de
]]> Fri, 16 Mar 2007 09:50:00 EDT http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/166801 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 Civil Society versus activism http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/160935 There is this profound believe that if you arenot agaist the government's policy one way or the other then you are not practicing anything that could be called civil society.
How true is this?
Cheers]]> Tue, 06 Feb 2007 12:17:00 EST http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/160935 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 OYO State under new leadership http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/78145

As these young people argue l begin to wonder what will happen when Ladoja is reinstated...,will there be a riot?....,is there going to be a state of emergency in the state?
These questions l cannot answer but as the reinstated Governor of Oyo State- Chief Rasheed Ladoja addressed the people of Oyo state, in his maiden speech broadcasted at about 7.00pm today Senator Ladoja called for calm and support of the governance system in Oyo State.

In his speech, he said “the battle for justice can never be won by might, in years of my existence I have always held democracy, equity and the rule of law dearly, I stand to adopt best practice and decency in order to give the best to our people’’.

‘’ The whole problem of Oyo state stemmed out of a desire to appropriate what belongs to all by few people. I stand that the mandate I hold is not a personal one and I will not hesitate to step on toes if I put the people first I believe I will fulfill my duties to God’’- Ladoja stated.

“I sought to lay a solid foundation for good governance in Oyo state, policies that will add values to lives of people, putting necessary infrastructures in the hands of the people, we are returning to the same ideal now that the battle has been won’’

‘’I believe strongly that it is in the atmosphere of peace that we can do the best, as we return we will pick up from where we left, I will continue to take decisions in the overall interest of the people’’.

This broadcast was made live on the states owned Radio and TV station.

I really hope that things would change for the better in the state and that young people whose future are being toyed with by the political uproar in the state would be able to look forward to a brighter and an enabling environment for success
Cheers]]> Mon, 11 Dec 2006 14:08:00 EST http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/78145 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 BECKHAM’S TERRITORY http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/78143 England won their ticket to the quarterfinals of the ongoing FIFA World Cup thanks to David Beckham who has established himself as an expert in free kicks. The game was a normal one until a player was brought down in an area generally known as Beckham’s terriotory. The referee gave a free kick, which Beckham took and it resulted into the only goal of the match.


Beckham is at his turf when it comes to free kicks in this particular terrain he has created and branded has his own.

On the home front-

Bernard Longe’s territory is managing large companies. He rose through the ranks in First Bank to become the bank’s M.D. He made decisions for the bank to invest in telecomms. Some of the deal did not go through and he was fired. Afterwards, multinationals chased him about with juicy management positions. It was rumored that V-mobile offered him a high position, which he rejected. The papers announced later that he became the Chief Operating Officer of Dangote Group. Months afterwards, he was announced as the MD of Transcorp (Nigeria’s newest and biggest home grown multinational).

Suddenly, Bernard is the ‘Darling of the private sector.’


When public policy is discussed, few names ring a bell. Obiangeli Ezekwesili has made outstanding achievement in her short romance with the public office.We only need to trail her footsteps from the Due Process office, which she helped conceptualize and establish, to the Ministry of Solid Minerals, which she reformed and rebranded in months, as if she worked with a magic wand. She also helped conceptualize and put into motion the National Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), which pushed for the auditing of Nigeria’s oil account for the first time since only God knows when!

These remarkable people-Beckham, Oby and Longe have established their success on finding that ‘area’ in which they are good at, concentrated on it, developed it well so that when it comes to that ‘niche of theirs’ they are experts.


The gist is simple- If only young people would take a leave from these kind of people and apply Paretto’s principle which l would simple put as follows:


“If young people can find the 20% of our talent which amounts to 80% of our success, concentrate, build and work on it towards perfection, then we would have successfully created a niche for ourselves that everyone would automatically use us as a reference point to describe our area of specialty”.


Some, would automatically reply me by saying that our country has not encouraged the firm establishment of its youths, my answer to that statement is in the words of George Bernard Shaw

“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. The people who get on in life are those are people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and if they can’t find them, they make them…”


I see in this generation of ours, the need to create our own terrain of success, its time to call the shots, its time for us to take our destiny in our hands by tapping into our talent and making difference.

Its time to create our own ‘Beckham’s Territory’
Thanks


Ewajesu Asala

July 2nd, 2006
]]> Mon, 11 Dec 2006 14:06:00 EST http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/78143 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 Some Thought http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/78141 Enjoy!
HIJACKED!!!

“President Olusegun Obasanjo is the best president from the south of Sahara to the north of limpopo”


Comment by youth at the presidential youth forum on agriculture.

Do you know that the presidency has allocated a sum of 1 billion Naira for the development of young people towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals? Furthermore, 50% of this allocation would be directed towards youths in agriculture-This is in accordance with presidential directives.In order to effectively reach youths in agriculture through this initiative, the Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs Youth Development and Special Duties, set-up a presidential youth forum, so that young people in Nigeria can meet with president to make recommendations to the government on how the allocated money can be gainfully employed.

Unfortunately ,some youths who are suppose to see this as a means of engaging the government turned it into a songspiration of President Olusegun Obasanjo and used it as a means of achieving their own selfish purpose.
Around the world, young people are seen as the highly affected but rarely considered group in decision making process. But how do we handle a Nija situation where young people are deliberately involved in decision making and youths under the name National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and National Youth Council and some other political youth platform hijacked the process to serve their selfish purpose of asking for buses, political nomination and request for money (which was given but was not used according to the impression given to the President)

As bad as the forum turned out to be. It made suggestions on unemployment, Nigerian Youth Village(to be named after the president as a means for youth council to collect money from him), nominations of young people to the presidential advisory council on youth and capacity building for youth officers.

The presidential reply to the comments was:
‘If you cannot feed yourself you would be slave to those who feed you’, He also went on to explain that NEEDS II will emphasize job creation, popular participation and value re-orientation and that he agrees with the fact that our educational sector needs reforms which he is working on. He also gave 2million naira for reimbursement of participants which was handled by National Youth Council and fixed 29th of July for a full day Presidential meeting with young people.
July 29th is another day for young people with positive intentions to engage the government, media, private sector and other stakeholders and ensure that our voices are heard at this forum in order to improve the condition and change the lives of youths in Nigeria.
Are we going to allow the sycophants to continue to win with their strategies of hijacking developmental process to achieve their selfish means? Is there a way to involve youths with technical expertise in decision making processes within our country? Are the youths with the know-how ready to drive this nation into a place where expertise and information if the greatest raw material?
These questions and many more filled my mind as l walked out of state house after settling the problem of impersonation by another youth!

One thing kept ringing in my head; l would rather work, talk and add my quota to changing and developing Nigeria NOW than allow such youths to rule over me when the time comes strongly feel it is time for young professionals out there to rise up to the challenge of developing strategies that would this nation forward…like the president said at the forum “The decision we are making today if for you…,we have very little time left”
Thanks

EwaJesu Asala
]]> Mon, 11 Dec 2006 14:02:00 EST http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/78141 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333 New dawn http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/76917 As l tried to post on my blog for the first time l discovered that l had actually posted a comment on someones blog.
l felt frustrated but went on and here l am now writing on my blog
lt just struck me that my confusion about next year might pass if only l could be a little more patient.
my advice to everyone planning next year is this simple "Dont be frustrated about your plans-nothing is easy"

Life is not a bed of roses and neither is it a garden of thorns
Cheers]]> Fri, 08 Dec 2006 08:47:00 EST http://ewajesu.tigblog.org/post/76917 6.4530556 3.39583336.45305563.3958333