spur magazine nigeria march 2012 edition

CONTENTS

Education, ResearchShould Spur National Development

If You Have A Vision,Go for It... - Omotayo

We Should SeeUnemployment as aHuge Opportunity

Mai Nasara’s

- Gov. Fashola

Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SANat University ofLagos

- Dr. Akpata

Nigeria Prize forLiterature

36

34

26

Achievers at Achievers UniversityPioneer Students Graduate

72

Prof. Peter Lewis,Others X-rayLeadership in Nigeria

46

Accountingfor People’s Money WillStem the Tideof Corruption- Prof. Omolehinwa

43

Jim Ovia FoundationEmpowers250 Youths

28

52

Life After CampusA Blinker of Hope

80

...At LoyolaJesuit CollegeInter HouseSportEmotionsSway As ConnellyClinchesTrophy

10

MARCH 2012 03SPURMAG.COM

ducation is the beginning of learning experience throughout all thestages of human life and whenever one stage ends, knowledgeacquisition continues for the sustenance of the next stage. It is aE

permanent, unstoppable vehicle in the spectrum of humanity or human life. Itcontinues from one generation to the other. The more Nigeria SPUR Magazineexplores what is in education, the more we are enlightened that it is almostlimitless.Education is the key to national development which is brought about by tworesources: human and material. Even in the absence of natural materialresources, human capital, if well trained, can go on with modern technologicallicence to create products and services, leaving in its trail thousands ormillions of jobs. Human capital development involves training all strata ofhuman hands and brains in the production of goods and services. All it takes isintellectual energy refined by education to create things. Humans are smallcreators. It is not surprising that we are what we are because our Creator madeus so.

Education sustains creative activities in life. All we need first is thecreative strength acquired through education; every other thing falls into placeas we use our creative ability to convert materials into products. And do wehave the materials in Nigeria? Yes, in unimaginable, great quantum! Godwants humans to be small creators of things, that is why he gave us one of Hiscardinal qualities –power (mental power) He made us mentally more powerfulthan all the powerful animals on earth.

So God gave humans, yes Nigerians, abundant natural resources forconversion into products that will make the country prosperous. But we arestill poor because we are not producing. Our educational system culminatesinto the ivory towers as solution providers to our social, economic, securityand other needs through researches, but these institutions are not fully used because they are hindered by inadequate funding and out-dated curricula.

Governor Fashola in line with our cover story this month laments what islacking and enjoins: ‘Education and research should spur development.’

A lot of people also blame corruption and lack of patriotism on the part ofthe leaders and Nigerians in general. Again, we are just consumers, notproducers. Our industrial sector is already comatose; it is also hampered bylack of critical infrastructure. We produce hundreds of thousands of graduatesevery year without planning for their placements in the work place. Manyanalysts believe we can only change things with industrial and agriculturalrevolutions.

Meanwhile, Nigerian students also have to plan for the best academicresults, second class upper or first class, so as to compete effectively for thefew jobs available until the national change we are all waiting for arrives. Itmust arrive because Nigeria has all it takes to be among the most industrializednations on earth!

Our cover feature aptly entitled: ‘Life After Campus: A Blinker of Hope,’explains the journey of the Nigerian students right from the cradle and not justfrom matriculation to convocation, and what Nigeria must do towardscreating jobs for our teeming graduates.

Any student can be a genius. Geniuses are easily made through diligence.Akhigbe Iziren, Unilag’s overall best ever graduand in 2012, in this edition,said he made 4.98 GPA or 99.9% principally due to hard work and learning

“how to study.”He also said he would like to be part

of the change that is coming to Nigeria.Jim Ovia is not the richest man in

Nigeria, but he believes so much in soft-w a r e d e v e l o p m e n t a n d t h eopportunities therein for the youth inNigeria that he budgeted N50m for 10best soft-ware developers in 2012.

These and many other stories are inthis package to spur you on.

EDITOR’S NOTE

PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Faleye Davidson Olusesan

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS

Faleye Olubukola, Oluranti Agunloye,Ikpeekha Christopher,Alade Kayode,Owoeye Abimbola

MANAGING EDITOR

Starrys Obazei

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Agboga C. Pamela

STAFF WRITERS

Adeolu Charles Alupogun-IranPatience Omeruo Omolola Ojo

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Timothy OkwuDr. Faith Ekpekurede, Sunday Saanu

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT &

ADMINISTRATION

Deborah Oke, Oluwatoosin AdewuyiOluwakemi Amusan

SYSTEMS & TECHNOLOGY

Adedoyin Adedeji

INTEGRATED BUSINESS EXECUTIVE

Itiola Abiodun

FINANCE & ACCOUNTING

Akinbolusire Kehinde, ACA

CORPORATE BRANDING &

CREATIVE CONCEPT CONSULTANT

Olawale Olayiwola

CREATIVE/GRAPHIC CONSULTANT

freelART®[email protected]

ADVISORY

Bishop & Rev’d. (Mrs.) Felix ‘Kemi Adejumo

NIGERIA SPUR MAGAZINEEDUCATION LEARNING LEADERSHIP

MARCH 2012 www.spurmag.com

Copyright©2012 Royal Diadem Communications Ltd. All rightsreserved. Reproduction of this magazine in whole or part isprohibited. Any infringement is liable to prosecution.Spur™magazine and accompanying logos, designs and productmarks are the trademarks of Royal Diadem Communications Ltdand are for use exclusively with its product and services. OfficeAddress: 94 Yaya Abatan Street, Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos. Tel:017101826, 07090067741. Emails:[email protected]

Starrys Obazei, Managing Editor

Education: A permanent vehicle

in the spectrum of human life

04 SPURMAG.COM MARCH 2012

Spur Icon


rof. Yemi Osinbajo iscurrently an independentPdirector of CitiBank

Nigeria and an ethics adviser to theboard of the Africa DevelopmentBank.

He is the senior partner atSimmons Cooper Partners, aprofessor of law and a senioradvocate of Nigeria (SAN). He is aformer attorney-general of LagosState and Commissioner forJustice. As attorney general ofLagos State, he undertook far-reaching significant judicialreform in Lagos State, addressingc r i t i c a l a r e a s a s j u d g e s 'recrui tment , remunerat ion,training and discipline and alsoaccess to justice for the poor bye s t a b l i s h i n g a p p r o p r i a t einstitutions in the Office of thePublic Defender (OPD) and theCitizens Mediation Centre(CMC).

He obtained an LLB from theUniversity of Lagos, Nigeria in1978 and then an LLM from theLondon School of Economics in1980. He was admitted to practice

before the Supreme Court ofNigeria in 1979.

He has 31 years of litigationexperience including significanttrial and appellate work and isregarded as one of the finestadvocates in Nigeria havingconducted very impor tantconstitutional and precedentialcases before the NigerianSupreme Court. He has alsoadvised and represented clients ina broad range of commercial andcorporate issues. He has served in various capacities within theUnited Nations.

Prof. Osinbajo is a member of the International Bar Associationand the British Institute ofInternational and ComparativeLaw and has served in theNigerian Body of Benchers andthe Council for Legal Education ofNigeria.

He is actively involved in thepursuit of legal education reformin Nigeria.

This is our spur icon for themonth of March.

Prof. Yemi

OSINBAJO

face of

spur

SHOBOWALEDeborah Tosin


he is a high-

flying student

of the Sdepartment of

Computer Science,

Yaba College of

Technology, Yaba,

Lagos, with a CGPA

of 3.61. The last

child of four children,

she is young,

beautiful and very

intelligent. She

aspires to be a

famous computer

programmer and her

role model is Mark

Zuckerberg, the

founder of Facebook.

She loves to read

and dance.

Facts File

It took Leonardo Da Vinci 10 years to paint Mona Lisa

Word 'Goodbye' originated from the phrase 'God be with ye’

Your most active muscles are in your eye

Rarest type of diamond is green

Rain contains vitamin B12

A group of owls is called a parliament


Facts File

The tongue is the fastest healing part of your body

Humans are the only primates that don't have pigment in the palms of their hands

Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature

Hostile people are more likely to develop heart disease

Every second, 100000chemical reactions take place in our brains

Fire moves faster uphill than it does downhill

It took the radio 38 years, and the television 13 years but it took the World Wide Webonly 4 years to reach 50 million users


...AT LOYOLALOYOLA

Jesuit CollegeJesuit CollegeINTER-HOUSE SPORTS

Youth Centric


Emotions SwayEmotions Sway ASAS

ConnellyConnellyCLINCHESCLINCHES

TROPHYTROPHY

Y o u t h C e n t r i c


ByAdeolu C.Alupogun-Iran

oyola Jesuit College, Abuja is a known name amongLsecondary schools in Nigeria.

The school is not only respected foracademic excellence alone but alsofor sporting activities. The schoolwas established in 1996 by theSociety of Jesus and named after thefounder of the society, St. IgnatiusLoyola. LJC, as it is fondly called,occupies 70.4 acres of land on theoutskirts of the Federal CapitalTerritory, and it is carefully fenced toensure both students' safety andacademic convenience.

In a bid to provide all roundeducation to its students, themanagement of the school decided toexpose their pupils to sports and alsoassist them in attaining the best, notjust in their academics but also insport.

The 2012 Loyola Jesuit CollegeInter House Sport competitioncommenced with morning holymass, a perfect way of handing overthe proceedings to God Almighty.The mass lasted for about an hourand a half, after which thecompetition began.

Declaring the event open, thechairman of the occasion Hon.Benjamin Okoko, stressed theimportant role sports play in Nigeria,“...sports as we know, is one thingthat truly unites us as one country...”He urged parents to be generous insupporting their children who showtalents in sporting activities. He saidwith sports given the right of placeamong secondary schools in thecountry, Nigeria will have a future.



XAVIER HOUSE parading

Valeri holding placard for Loyola House

Chidubem Emelumadu holding the placard for Connelly house

REGIS HOUSE parade



REGIS house demonstration

Oyindamola (R) parade master for XAVIER House

Cutting the cake for the interhouse sport

Grace Chineyemba (connelly house) after presenting flower to the chairman



Chukwuneye lighting the torch

Chiaza, Chukwuneye (Games Prefect) and the Sport Director (Mr Paul) lighting the torch

REGIS HOUSE saluting the president, chairman and principal

Loyola House Parade and Anukam Chinaza (parade master)

Connelly house demonstration and Kamila (Parade master)LOYOLA JESUIT COLLEGE Boys Band



Mr. Paul Uke, Sport Director during an interview with Spur magazine crew

Hon. Benjamin Okoko (Chairman and Chief Launcher)

Mr Ikechukwu (Host)

Fr. Ugo Nwekwe, SJ (Principal) giviing his welcome address

Mr Feese (member of the board of governors) (L), Fr. Egbe (Rep. of Arc Bishop of Abuja), Fr. Ehi Omoragbon (President Loyola Jesuit)

He congratulated the managementteam of Loyola Jesuit College forbeing a forerunner of vision andhope for the nation.

L J C h a s f o u r h o u s e s :Connelly, Regis, Loyola andXavier, which keenly competed forthe ultimate prize. This year'sedition was particularly stunningbecause o f the he igh t o fdetermination every studentinvested into all the activities.Speaking at the ceremony, themother of the day, Hon. FideliaNjeze commended the students fortheir determination on the track andadmonished them not to relent at alltimes.

As with all competitions, awinner must emerge. At end of the race Connelly House topped thetable with 29 gold medals, 26 silvermedals and 23 bronze medals, withRegis following closely andLoyola House in the third positionwhile Xavier clinched the lastposition. Speaking with SPURmagazine, the Sports Director ofLJC, Mr. Paul Okey expressed hissatisfaction on the performances ofthe students at the competition. “Ithas been wonderful! From this



Connelly House, winner of 2012 interhouse sport

REGIS House matching

Oyindamola (R) parade master for XAVIER House



Kenechukwu (REGIS house) receiving gold medal (1500m race) from Amb. Martin

Egbuna Chukwuma (XAVIER house)receiving gold medal



Judges

Mrs Fidelia Njeze (former Minister of Aviation)

Connelly House during their house parade



Male parents during the novelty race

Female parents during novelty race

inter house sport we have produced students whorepresented the Federal Capital Territory [FCT] in thelast Athletes of Hope and we had a girl who came first inlong jump...” And on the secret behind his students'motivation, he says, “Most of them are competing for theaward of a sport scholarship abroad, of which about fourof the alumni of Loyola Jesuit College are currentlybenefactors.”

Responding to questions from SPUR magazine, thehead boy of Loyola Jesuit College, Omer, talked aboutthe high level of discipline obtainable at the school. He said: “We all came from different backgrounds; there arestudents who are well disciplined and those who are not,but adequate punishment awaits anyone who does notalign with the rules and regulations of the school. Wehave disciplinarians here.”

Commenting on the reading culture at LoyolaCollege as compared with the reality of things amongNigerian youth, the principal, Rev. Father Ugo Nweke,said, “...a student who does not read can never survivehere... In fact, our challenge has been that our studentsstudy too much...” He urged government to established new libraries in all communities because by so doing thereading culture among Nigerian youth will be revived.

Cherry field College (invited school)

ByAdedoyinAdedeji

t was a Tuesday morning and the pressure to get to work early was Imuch on me. I had woken up quite

late and this morning I had to do everything possible to reach the officeon time. As I popped into the bus, waiting impatiently for it to move, my attention was drawn to the conversation of a teacher and a student in the back seat. The teacher said, “Bola, you scored the highest in the biology exams, how did you do it?” The shy student smiled and said, “Ma, I can’t really say.” Then the teacher replied, “I’m sure it took you quite a long time to memorize your biology notes because your answers were exactly the same as the one I gave you in class, if you continue to memorise the other subjects this way, you will end up becoming first in your class this term, so keep it up.”

As the bus began to move, my mind dwelt on this short conversation between a teacher and her student. ThenI said to myself: “So this teacher does not teach her student to learn biology,she teaches the students to cram biology.” Nigeria is full of students and youths that have been sub-consciously programmed to cram their way through school right from primary school. Toomany youths have crammed their way to a first class or second class university degree and are totally clueless of what to do with themselves after school. While growing up, we were told that all you need to do to get a good life after school was to get good grades, so whether you cram or learn in school it is no one’s problem. Getting good grades is very important, but we all need to ask ourselves what we have learnt while aiming for those good grades? What is the essence of good grades when you don’t have the capacity to be a solution provider to the pressing issues confronting the human existence?

Personally, I had always chosen the

path of rebellion to this “cramming” ideology right from secondary school. I don’t get good academic grades like others not because I don’t listen in class or read my books but because I always choose to write my examination answers the way I understand what the teacher taught us rather than “crammed” textbook answers. My results could be painful but when the pain fades away,there is always this sense of fulfilment that I have learnt something worthwhile during my study of this subject. This“cramming” ideology is probably one of the biggest issues confronting a multitude of Nigerian youth because it makes us a slave to the Nigerian system. We graduated from school and expect the system to provide everything for us. We seriously depend on our “crammed” grades to provide a great job and the good life we want for us.

During a recent official visit to the American University of Nigeria (AUN) in Yola, Adamawa State, I had a great privilege to engage Mr. Abubakar Tahir,a veteran journalist and AUN’s assistant vice-president (PR and communication) in an intellectual discussion where he rightly pointed out, that because of Nigeria’s colonial history, virtually all universities in the country are fashioned

along the British tradition. According to him, the British system is good but with 150million people in Nigeria, we need other options to choose from. Also this system of education places more emphasis on your field of study but today there is great need for more broadly educated graduates. Graduates that will leave the university with first hand training, and experience a good sense of their future. The direction of the world is the convergence of knowledge not divergence of knowledge. Interdisciplinary approach of learning is necessary among students and lecturers. We also have to place more attention on critical thinking rather than the papers; we have to train university graduates to be independently minded.

To save the future of our country,one of the biggest favours we can do for ourselves is to take a deeper look at our educational system and start implementing genuine reforms. Wehave too many first-class and second-class graduates yet very few are innovative, very few of them can create something based on their courses of study. We have to upgrade our educational system to focus more on innovation and self-development.

SO YOU TEACH HER TO

cram!Youth Centric


Youth Centric

t is natural to love children and one gets deeply pained to see

them suffer. Globally, there are several programmes put inIplace to cater for the special needs of children and GTBank’sSupport for Health Initiative is noteworthy.GTBank has shown special interest at helping Autistic childrenthrough its Health Initiative. Autism is a social health challengeaffecting the behaviour, language and communication skills ofchildren. It is not a disease per se but a challenge and is on theincrease in Nigeria with over 1.2 million already affected andafflicting one out of every 110 newborns worldwide.

Guaranty Trust Bank has been in the forefront ofchampioning social causes related to Autism through its supportfor Autism initiatives and a host of other health and child carerelated interventions. It is doing so with support for Autismrelated interventions and initiatives in Nigeria. The bank is readyto partner with national and international individuals orcorporate entities, who can help promote Autism awareness. Thebank uses several publicity campaigns among other initiatives, togarner support.

The major challenge facing Nigeria for the management of

Autism is the widespread ignorance. The bank's readiness tomake accessibility to invaluable information and enthronementof enabling environment for efficient management of Autism is tremendous and Nigerians are increasingly overwhelmed by thiswonderful CSR gesture.

In this regard, the bank is organizing a two-day seminar on March 13 and 14 for only invited participants, who can also get invited through online registration.

Strides so far made by GTBank include their support for thefirst ever Autism information handbook for Nigeria.Also at a conference sponsored by the Bank in the past variousstakeholders representing policy makers, development bodiesand non-governmental organizations met to chart a path for thedevelopment of the first National Autism strategy and one of theoutcomes of that meeting was the commitment of the MDGoffice to support theNational Society forA u t i s m u p o n t h edevelopment of thenational strategy.

Instead of sufferingfrom Autism, GTBank,just like any lovingparent, wants children tobe bubbly all the timeand enjoying manygood things includingS m a r t K i d s S a v eAccount.

What is a Smart Kids

SaveAccount?

Children generally likebuying things, that is,c o n s u m i n g , b u tGTBank wants them tohave a culture of thebetter opposite –saving.Children imbibe savingculture through bankingawareness from an earlyage.

The attraction hereis the minimum openingamount of N1,000 withthe tiered interest rate of0.5 per cent, 0.75 percent and one per centa b o v e p r e v a i l i n gGuaranty Trust Bank interest rate on savings account.

There are also transition stages. SKS account is migrated toan SKS Teen account (which comes with a trendy ATM card)when the saver attains the age of 13 years.

SKS can be converted into a cheque account, with the youngsaver as an authorized signatory. This is, however, only after thesmart kid saver has attained the age of 18 and the child can beginto operate the account with standing order payments or directdebit through electronic payment modes for easy periodiclodgments.

And if the account is opened with N10, 000 the child willreceive a branded gift. The kid is further entitled to win fantasticprizes at the annual raffle draw.

What a great way to achieve future financial goals!

GTBank's

unhidden love

for children


J. K. Olusegun Agbaje, Managing Director, GTBank Plc

Event

By Patience Omeruo

he higher education curriculum can no longer be relevant if all it does is focustheoretically on what technology is and how it impacts society, but mostTespecially, it must as a matter of urgency begin to focus more on how to prepare

students and produce graduates who will live an innovative and entrepreneurially-oriented way of life in all endeavours, for our rapid industrialization, through creative thinking.

This formed part of the lecture delivered by Prof. Olugbenga AkinbajoOgunmoyela , Dean of College of Food Sciences, Bells University of Technology, Ota,entitled: “The Impact of Technology on Economic Growth: Implementation ofAcademic Curricular'' at the School of Technology, Yaba College of Technology's 3rd annual lecture series.

P r o f . O g u n m o y e l a s p o k eextensively on the impact of technologyon economic growth of a nation and theplace of academic curriculum. He beganby explaining how technology hadimpacted human life and narrowed itdown to how technological innovationsfrom outside the shores of this countryhave impacted us. He said “Nigeria hasbecome a consuming nation alwayswaiting for new technologies fromanywhere in the world for our adoptionrather than adopting or evolving policies

which will free and develop the creativeminds of our people over time.”

He went further to espouseinnovation and economic growth as key;“…technology has become the chiefdriver of economic growth as all sectorsof the economy are driven bytechnological-related mechanism and assuch there is a need to educate the publicon both the nature of technology and itsimpact on society and economicdevelopment.” This, he said, requiresformulating models for education

Nigeria Needs Innovative & Entrepreneurially Oriented Graduates - Prof. Ogunmoyela


Prof. Olugbenga Ogunmoyela

E v e n t


Dr. [Mrs] Kudirat Ladipo, Rector Yaba College of Technology during the 3rd annual lecture series of school of technology Yaba

Engr. Olawunmi Gasper at the 3rd Annual Lecture series of School of Technology, Yaba College of Technology

Mr. Gbenga Odubaba, Bursar Yaba College of Technology Dr. Olaseni Mobolaj, Deputy Rector Yaba College of technology

Prof. Olugbenga Ogunmoyela receiving a gift from Dr. Olaseni Mobolaji Prof. Olugbenga Ogunmoyela during his lecture


Mr. J.O. Adigun, Dean, School of Technology Yabatec

Hon. [Mrs] Olayinka Olsdunjoye

Dr. Malomo, Head of Dept Food sciences and Mrs. Folasade Ayinde

Engr. Olawunmi Gasper, Director of NABTEC

Hon. Kayode Opeifa, Commissioner of Transport Lagos State during the lecture

Mr. Bolaji Adebiyi, Special Assistant to the President on Media Matters at the 3rd Annual Lecture series of School of Technology, Yaba College of Technology

E v e n t

represented in the curriculum so thattechnology and the language generatedfrom it will have a deep impact on thecurriculum itself, both in terms of a newlanguage use and in calculating how touse such technology in the curriculum.

He stressed the need for oureducational curricula to constantlyrespond to new societal changes that willnot only examine what technology is andhow it impacts on society, but will also berelevant in preparing students to liveeffectively in this global village as 'doers,'so the world does not pass us by. Headded that, “higher education will nolonger be relevant if all it does is focustheoretically on what technology is andh o w i t i m p a c t s s o c i e t y. ” H erecommended: “Higher education mustbegin to focus more on how to preparestudents and produce graduates who will

live an innovative and entrepreneurially-oriented way of life, for our rapidindustrialization, through creativethinking.”

He urged lecturers to challenge thenatural tendency of students towardslaziness and complacency, but encouragetheir inquisitiveness to questioninterpretations by thinking outside thebox.

He further said that, a new approachis required if our economy is to betransformed and with the political will,c o m m i t m e n t a n d g e n u i n etransformational spirit to pursue the righteducational curricula, policies, strategiesand partnerships, we will unleash thecreative potentials of our people.

He concluded by calling forvisionary and selfless leadership at alllevels to spearhead a national technology

revolution via better funding such as israpidly transforming the south Africaneconomy , if we are to shift from a'consuming' to a 'productive' mode.

The event which took place at theYusuf Grillo auditorium on February 22, 2012 had a host of dignitaries inattendance. They include the honourable Commissioner for Education, LagosState, Mrs. Oladunjoye Olayinka;Special Assistant to the President onMedia Matters, Mr. Bolaji Adebiyi;Commissioner for Transport, LagosState; Mr. Kayode Opeifa; Director,NABTEC; Engr. Olawunmi Gasper;Rector, Yaba College of Technology,Mrs. Margaret Kudirat Ladipo; DeputyRector, Academic, Dr. Olaseni Mobolaji;Bursar,Yabatech, Mr. Gbenga Odubaba.


Prof. Rufus, Dr. Malomo at the 3rd Annual Lecture series of School of Technology, Yaba College of Technology

Hon. [Mrs] Olayinka Oladunjuoye, Commissional for Education Lagos State at the lecture

E v e n t

Crosss section of students at the lecture

Interview

You are one of the foremost Nigerians advocatinga change within the country. So how has it been, going around the country and the globe trying toadvocate this change?It has been fantastic. I represent Nigeria at the worldeconomic forum on emerging economies. I havecome to realize that most of the European and Asiannations have a strategy towards Africa, especiallyNigeria, but we don't have a strategy for them and itis affecting the way we get results and grow as anation. We have a country that boasts of a huge youthpopulation but it is unfortunate that this huge youth population is highly unemployed and that presents ahuge challenge and an opportunity. That is the way Isee things, from a creative, problem solvingperspective; not just talking about the problem butalso coming up with strategic solution to solving theproblem. So I think we have a huge opportunity inthe unemployed sector of the Nigerian economy ifonly we can go back to the drawing board andactually think up of series of ideas. We can actually run through a strategic process that we can actuallyengage in to produce a result.

China and India are leveraging on theirpopulations to cause changes in the globallandscape. Brazil just overtook United Kingdom as

ththe 6 largest economy of the world. How are theydoing this? Brazil is the largest exporter of beef andorange juice to the world and this is creating jobs forthe Brazilians, employing their unemployed who are

predominantly youth. We need to begin thinkingalong this line. I tell youth I meet that we have oneelected president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,but we have a population of 167 million people. Ibelieve and say that we have 167 million non-executive presidents of the federal Republic ofNigeria.

Every Nigerian needs to start seeing himself as the elected president of this country, even if it is on the non-executive basis. We need to see ourselves asleaders who have skills and abilities that can turn ourresources around, producing results that caninfluence the communities, local governments, stategovernments and the entire nation. I just told peopleat this forum that the president, state governors arejust slices of the big cake called the Nigerianpopulation. The average Nigerian youth would wantto dupe you of as little as N20,now if they haveaccess to a billion naira, how much would they steal?So this people we criticize are being criticizedbecause they are in the lime-light. When some of usget into the lime-light, we would probably do worse.We need to begin to see that Nigeria is as strong as itsweakest link; we need to see ourselves as potentialchange agents. We need to begin to see ourselves asleaders that can effect changes in areas no matterhow small. By the time we do this the weak linksbecome stronger and the nation in turn wouldbecome stronger.

We should seeunemployment as ahuge opportunity

-Dr. Akpatar. Noel Akpata is a management consultant andone of the speakers at the recently held youthDempowerment programme organized by the Jim

Ovia Foundation in partnership with global information andcommunication technology brands.

Dr. Akpata spoke with SPUR magazine's ADEDEJI

ADEDOYIN and bared his mind on the roles Nigeria youthshould play in the development of our economic sector.


I n t e r v i e w

Due to the current Nigerian system of the 'godfather' mentality, few youth believethey can’t do things for themselves. What is your message to young Nigeriagraduates on how they can harness what is within them despite the system?

First, we need to realize that the entire world is going through a phase right now.This phase presents a scenario where you don't have loose finances anywhere anymore. Top global brands as we know them have crumbled. Companies are layingpeople off. It is no longer business as usual, so we need to begin to think outside the box, looking inwards in Nigeria. Every Nigerian youth needs to ask himself, what am Ipassionate or driven about? Because when you find out what you are passionate aboutthat is where it starts, then there is nothing that can stop you. You will create iron fromplastic when you are passionate about something because there is an inner drive. It isnot about the timing of when the resources come to you, it is about how prepared youare because the world awaits a prepared man. When the world sees a well preparedman, people will be willing to give the resources to make it work because they wouldsee how it will benefit them as well.

The youth need to start to build ourselves. We have the Internet, we shouldn'tcomplain that we don't have the money to go to Harvard, go to Youtube and downloadlectures and listen to them each day until you begin to speak better than the Harvard graduate. Build skills into yourself, get on the Internet and connect with people outsidethis country. Learn what they know, ask questions, build yourself and articulate that

dream around the information that youhave already built and begin to see how todevelop a strategy around it and how tomarket that strategy to begin to gatherpeople who would invest into yourstrategy. But you can't do that if you don'thave the necessary information becausethe people you are going to be asking forhelp have the information and know thetrends. we need to build ourselves and youdon't need to go to Harvard to do that; the Internet has come so you can get online.Instead of wasting your time telling yourfriends how you went to the market, usethose platforms to build yourself andpropagate your visions so people willbegin to buy into it. This is the way weneed to start going as far as the youths areconcerned in Nigeria.

You are a medical practitioner turnedconsultant and business developer, doyou feel we need to stay at one positionor we need to cut across? What is yourview about the trend of profession in ournation?We need to re-evaluate why we take oncertain professions for ourselves. Most ofthe time, the youths when making keydecisions on the courses they would studydo not have enough information aboutthemselves, they don't study themselves.Most of the decisions are likely madeunder duress, maybe there is no othercourse to study or they don't like aparticular subject or their family is poor sothey have to do a professional course thatwould guarantee a lifetime of income. Wemake a lot of decisions based on certainfactors that are not in line with who we arewe, and then we end up with jobs that donot activate the passion centres in ourbrains. As such you are not creative,seeking to set records or take it to the nextlevel, all you are interested in is to get asalary. We need to re-evaluate all that to a stage where what we do as a profession is in line with who we are. When we get tothat level we are going to see phenomenalchanges because we will begin to seepeople who are passionate about what theydo, find fulfilment in it and still earn fromit. They are setting one record after theother as a result.

Who is Dr. NoelAkpata?I am a management consultant and anAfrican representative to world economic forum for emerging economies and alsoconsulting with theAfrican business roundtable. I also run my own businessorganization called 'take the lead', weconsult with several top level companieswithin and outside the country.


Dr. Noel Akpata

JimOviaFoundationempowers 250 Youths...gives N50m to best 10

Event


ByAdedoyinAdedeji

nformation and CommunicationTechnology (ICT) is increasinglyIbecoming a viable tool for youth

empowerment across the world. Leadingeconomies of the world are also usingICT innovations to drive positive nationaldevelopment in their countries. Driven bythe passion to empower Nigerian youths,the Jim Ovia Foundation in partnershipw i t h G l o b a l I n f o r m a t i o n a n dCommunication Technology brandswhich include Google, IBM, Visafone,Qt and TLC Solutions sponsored theYo u t h E m p o w e r m e n t a n d I C TFoundation to provide world classsoftware training for over 250 Nigerianyouths. The empowerment programmeheld from January 30 to February 3, 2012at the prestigious Civic Centre, VictoriaIsland, Lagos.

Jim Ovia, initiator of the Jim OviaF o u n d a t i o n a n d t h e Yo u t hEmpowerment/ICT Foundation, is alsothe founder of Zenith Bank Plc andVisafone Communications Limited. He isthe Chairman of the Nigerian SoftwareDevelopment Initiative (NSDI) and alsoChairman, National InformationTechnology Advisory Council (NITAC).He is a member of the HonoraryInternational Investor Council as well as the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI). JimOvia is a philanthropist and has headedn u m e r o u s N o n - G o v e r n m e n t a lOrganisations [NGOs] at various times. Itis important to state that he was the first

President of the Nigeria Internet Group(2001-2003). He is the founder andChairman of Mankind United to SupportTo t a l E d u c a t i o n ( M U S T E ) , aphilanthropic organization focused onproviding scholarship for the lessprivileged. Some of the beneficiaries are now qualified professionals in diversefields.

The five- day free trainingprogramme tagged: “DevelopingNigeria's Next Generation of ICTEntrepreneurs” focused on developingmobile programming skills using theGoogle Android platform. According to a statement from the Jim OviaFoundation, the training is focused onproviding practical mobile web software training in hardware, Androids mobileapps, Java, QT, CSS3 and HTML5training. The Android applicationtraining workshop for youths in Nigeriawas divided into phases. The first stage ofthe programme embraced 250 youths,who were required to undertake ascreening test on the foundation's websiteas part of the selection process. Theultimate objective of this project was tocreate an eco-system of advancedprofessional Android mobile applicationdevelopers that will take advantage of theemerging Android-based mobile marketin Nigeria and across Africa. The trainingfocused on mobile marketing application,gaming application, e-Reader and e-Book application, gaming advertisingapplication, video on demand applicationand sales force application.


E v e n t

The Minister of CommunicationsTechnology, Mrs. Omobola Johnsonwhile declaring the training open, assuredNigerians, especially stakeholders of theInformation and CommunicationsTechnology (ICT) sector, that the dreamof having a converged ICT regulator isstill alive.According to her, the world is aglobal village and the world oftechnology is converging with theintroduction of communication toolsdesigned to do both broadcasting andcommunications from a single device.Commending Jim Ovia Foundation forits initiative on youth empowerment,Johnson said: "With the right training andcapacity building, youth in Nigeria willnot only be able to develop the necessaryskills that will enable them innovate andcreate software applications to bereckoned with, but it will also enablethem establish Information Technology(IT) businesses that can thrive and make adifference.”

Accord ing to the min i s t e r,

developing skills and empowering youngNigerians to be software entrepreneurs isan important part of building a vibrant,commercially successful and sociallyuseful software industry, there are stillmany other factors that are required tomake the aspiration a reality.

One of the facilitators at the training,Mr. Chike, speaking with Spur magazinecommended the foundation and said this was the first time a private sector driveninitiative of this magnitude wouldhappen; reaching out to young people,creating awareness and providing themthe necessary capacity that will elicitsome level of interest and motivation tothose who can actually self-develop andperhaps take it forward.

Teddy Omotade Aitan, an ICTentrepreneur who was a participant at thetraining, commended the animators andthe organizers of the event. He added that“it 's been very awesome, greatfacilitators, great exposition, goodlearning tools, everything's been good.”

A major highlight of the training wasthe th i rd day when J im Oviademonstrated his support for youthentrepreneurs by providing N5m for atleast 10 entrepreneurs who have viablebusiness ideas with potential for growthand market dominance. Questioned byjournalists on his ability to sustain theN50m given to the best promising youthentrepreneurs, Mr. Ovia said hisfoundation will take care of that. And forthose who go beyond expectations, hisbank, Zenith Bank Plc, would come in tosupport. “So Jim Ovia Foundation issolidly behind us young entrepreneursand all gaps have been taken care of,” oneof the participants enthused. The eventended on Friday, February 3, with aclosing ceremony and issuing ofcertificates to the participants. Thecertificates were issued by Jim Ovia; Mr.Eugene Juwah, Execut ive ViceChairman, NCC and Prof. Akin IbidapoObe.


Founder of the Jim Ovia Foundation Mr Jim Ovia

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Founder of the Jim Ovia Foundation Mr Jim Ovia discussing with the Executive Vice Chairman NCC Eugene Juwah

Mr. Jim Ovia during the event

Executive Vice Chairman NCC Eugene Juwah presenting Certificate to one of the participants

Executive Vice Chairman NCC Eugene Juwah and Prof Akin Ibidapo Obe

Founder, Jim Ovia Foundation, Mr. Jim Ovia presenting certificate to one of theparticipants

Prof Akin Ibidapo Obe presenting Certificate to one of the participants


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Basket Mouth, master of ceremony

Jim Ovia Foundation ICT training Participants


E v e n t

Mr Chike Maduegbuna, one of Training Facilitators

Member of the Group F Members of Group B


E v e n t

Why did you decide to return toNigeria given the fact that mostNigerians who go abroad to studywould rather work there?I believe if you are brought up in a familywhere you are away from home butnever really away from home, movingback to Nigeria would never really be anissue. I grew up in a traditional family; Idon't have a father because my fatherdied when I was three years old but I hada very 'handsome' mother and one of thethings she tried to instill in her kids is notto forget where you are from. TheYorubas have this saying, 'ma gbagbeomo eni ti o se,' meaning 'never forgetwhose son you are irrespective ofwherever you are.'

How do you combine work as a publicrelations practitioner and creativewriting?It is very difficult; as I speak to you, Ihave about 20 different places I need tobe. PR is what I do; writing is what Ilove. What you have to do is balance thetwo of them. I think with the book, it isgood that I am in PR because I have beenable to make some noise about the bookwithout too much hassle and I haven'thad to pay someone to orchestrate it butthen I enjoy PR. I understand the media,I have respect for what you do and so therest is history.

What inspired the book 'London Life,Lagos Living'?To be honest, I can't stress it enoughwhen I say my book is a labour of love. Ithink very much that often in Lagos, it isa case of you either sink or you swim andI chose to swim and very often I find a lotof people around me who are sinkingand perhaps haven't realized it. Iembraced all of the good and bad thingsthat are available today in the world and Ithink a lot of people never thought Iwould be able to cope in Nigeria, sowhen I got back, it was such a big dealand people used to ask me if I wanted togo back or remain here. Any way, whathappened is that I used to do this writingcalled the Friday Track and through thismedium I would talk about everythingand anything, be it love, relationship,family and I would vent about it and itbecame a therapeutic exercise. I gotthings off my chest and when peopleread it and began giving commentsabout it; it was comforting and made mewant to write more. The whole ideaabout 'London Life, Lagos Living' was, Ididn't want to sound like a juke box,telling people how to live their lives, butI wanted to raise some serious societalissues through my writing.

My writing style is conversational, meaning I write the way I talk. I actuallyread a lot and I find the literatureavailable in the world just dull, over

If you have a vision,go for it… - Omotayo

Interview

e is a public relations consultant

and writer; known in mostHquarters as the Renaissance

Man. He recently published his first book

'London Life, Lagos Living', a collection

of his observations that has become

short stories. His name is Adeoye Bobo

Omotayo and in this interview with

Patience Omeruo and Adedoyin Adedeji,

he talks about his life, why he returned to

the country after so many years and his

book.


descriptive, over use of imagery, metaphorsand so I thought a way to combat it is to writehow people speak and it will help this wholeidea that Nigerians don't read. I don't believethat Nigerians don't read, but we don't readenough; so it is a case of Nigerians only read what they need to read.

What I wanted to do with the book wascreate something that is really good to look atand at the same time, create something that iseasy to read and something that will make youthink. I was also inspired by the movie,'Jenifa'by Olasco Film Productions and it is purelybecause I believe that the movie is importantin letting people realize that you shouldn't loseyourself using humour.

Who is your target audience for this work?In my mind-set, a boy or girl, who is into popculture and entertainment between the ages of18 and 27 was like the core audience; those arethe people I felt would rush to the shop the daythe book came, I felt other people might buy itif they came across it; but that is the coreaudience. The second audience are peoplewho like design, strong graphics, illustrationsbecause the book is really beautiful and it is sobecause I worked with the best photographer,graphic designers, illustrators and I knew thatif you were interested in that sort of art, youmight look at it, even if you don't want to readthe book, the graphic is enough to provokeyour thought, that was my secondary targetaudience. The primary target audience wasyoung people between the ages of 18 and 27, people who spend their time going through thedifferent blogs.

Why did you choose the style of writing youused - the use of conversational style,infusion of humour and satire?I think it is because it is a style that has gottenthe most response. It was when I startedwriting that way that I started gettingreactions. I found a formula and I stuck to it. Ihave tried all sorts of writing styles but Iremember that it was the first time that Irealized that I was striking a cord with peopleand I have just stuck to it…

You seem very familiar with the Yorubalanguage considering you made use of it in your work. How is that possibleconsidering the number of years you spentabroad?We spoke Yoruba in my household all throughmy younger years. English was not the firstlanguage in my house and till date it is still not.My mom will speak to me in Yoruba and Iwould reply in Yoruba or English but my mumspeaks to me predominantly in Yoruba; so thefirst language in my home is Yoruba and Ithink that helped. Until the age of 10 when Iwent to England, we used to speak Yoruba...Yoruba is a very big part of my languagebecause I honestly feel that it is beautiful forexpressing certain things.

You are known as the Renaissance Man,how did you come about the name? In my whole writing life, I used to write for

some magazines abroad, but the moment Irealized that I enjoyed writing was when I setup my blog called Renaissance Man in 2007 inEngland and basically it was a blog that had allsorts of nonsense. I am a big music fan so I hadmusic, film, celebrity, fashion. It was just adumping yard. It was actually the blog thatThe Guardian Newspapers saw and decided towork with me.

The Renaissance Man came because I satdown one day and thought and said I needed aname that would incorporate everything that Iembody. I am a bowl of contradictions. I likewearing suits and at the same time I love myagbada; the same way I would listen to anywine house, I would listen to Pasuma andOsupa. I found out there is a lot ofcontradictions in me and I think very often,people can't pin point me. You would find mein an art gallery, I would talk about artworksand you take me to a normal guy doingsculpture on the street and we can talk about it,so I felt the Renaissance Man was a name thatcould incorporate all of the differentextremities.

What were the challenges you faced whiletrying to publish the book, especially withpublishing houses?The work could have been a hit or a miss, so Idon't blame the publishing house. It is abusiness, not an NGO, if it were one then theycould say, 'bring your book,' but they had got to make money. In a way I couldn't blame thepublishing house; they were there to makemoney and as far as they were concerned theycouldn't rise above a certain mind-set. If thiswas any other part of the world, they wouldfind a genre to put my book in, but in this part

of the world, there was no genre; as far as thepublishers were concerned the book won't fly,it wont sell, they couldn't see it.I decided to call their bluff and publish it myself. Of course, it was tough to create the book,finding money was expensive, that was theonly challenge. But do I regret it? Absolutelynot, sometimes you have to take a risk and Itook a risk and it paid off.

In that light, what would you say toupcoming writers?If you have a vision, go for it. It is really verysimple. I am actually going to give a talk in a few days to a class on publishing and Iremember the woman saying to me, ‘what isyour presentation going to be about?Presentation! There is no formula, if you wantto do something, go and do it. The first thingevery one has to realize is that if you feelstrongly about something, you have to believein it and do it; I know it sounds like a cliché butsomehow, things fall into line. The amount offavour I received through this book is not mydoing, but God's doing and that's just because Iwas dogged and said I wanted to do somethingand I knew the gods and the universeconspired. I honestly believe that if you aretruly passionate about something, thingswould work in your favour and I got a lot offavour off this book.There are some people that I called and askedfor help and they helped me. So to anyone whowants to do something like this, go for it, don'taccept no and my story is not the first whenyou talk about people in the music and fashionbusiness. Half of them got no. it is not the mosttalented people in the world who get bookdeals. There is a lot of talented people outthere and it is not always the best that gets thebargain, but if you believe in something youcan push it.

What is your take on the writers using thedigital medium as a channel to showcasetheir work or express themselves?I believe in citizen journalism, I think it haschanged the media landscape and you cannever underestimate how powerful it is untilyou realize that the likes of CNN and BBCrely on citizen journalism for information andwhen major cable networks like that startmaking use of citizen journalism then yourealize that we have a real platform here. Idon't think a lot of people know the power or how to really use this medium. It was sopowerful when I would write something frommy loo and post it and I would get a responsefrom Japan within five minutes. That ispowerful so I think if you can crack it the sky isthe limit. I know we have some very popularguys like Tolu who are masters over thismedia and I think other people can use it totheir advantage. Good. I am not computerilliterate because I can post things on line butin terms of drawing traffic to my site and allthat, I don't know. But the bottom line is that itis a powerful tool and if young people can sitin their rooms and go round the world usingthe Internet, then I'm all for it because we canonly increase the stakes.

I n t e r v i e w


Omotayo

he School of Post Graduate Studies(SPGS), University of Lagos isrenowned for its standard ofT

inviting intellectual individuals to deliverits traditional annual lecture.

stThis year, on the 31 of January 2012

at the school's main auditorium, SPGShad the privilege of hosting the ExecutiveGovernor of Lagos State, Mr. BabatundeRaji Fashola (SAN) and the theme was'Education, Research and NationalDevelopment.’

He started out by identifying thereasons why Nigeria needs efficientresearch institutions. In his view, thecommon features of underdevelopment,while too numerous to recount, arepointers to the probability that Nigerianeeds research to understand phenomenaas they exist now and make sense of them.He also said the nation needs constantreview of existing structures and models in order to better predict and cope with itsfuture within the global context.

Having identified this, he discussedthe history of the relationship of the

Education & ResearchShould Spur National Development

- Fashola

Event


By Adeolu C. Alupogun-Iran

academia with civilization. He further acknowledgedtheir notable contributions to the developments in arts,sciences, politics and other spheres of life which clearlyowe their origins to intellectuals. He stated thatintellectuals since the dawn of civilization weresponsored and courted by kings for their ability toanalyze human beings and their habitats, foretell eventsand provide solutions to societal situations. However,this was no longer the case in Nigeria.

The governor identified the various challengeswhich faced education, research and nationaldevelopment and proffered some solutions. His focuswas on the relationship between education, researchand national development. He brought to the fore thedisparity between the academia and the society,reminding them of the roles played by universitiespioneered by our forefathers. He expressed that thebulk of research and education that has changed theconditions of man and extended the boundaries ofcivilization has given us a better idea of ourselves and the world we live in, emanated from universitieswhether directly or indirectly.

Also, another role played by universities wasbridging or equalizing knowledge across civilizations. He therefore suggested that new discoveries in researchefforts should be simplified for popular medium ortranslated into something very handy andsystematically disseminated through a nation'seducational system, and then such learning should beapplied in the society towards the ultimate goal ofnational development which must of course,encompass the personal development of individualcitizens.

Again, he encouraged public officers likepresidents, governors, and permanent secretaries to

help prepare students by returning to the universities toteach undergraduates what they had learned in thecourse of their working lives, as that is what obtains inother developed nations of the world.

The second challenge, he identified, was that ofpolicy formulation and what informs such policies. Thegovernor urged government at all levels to engage withthe heads of departments and heads of faculties at thevarious universities; lecturers would be able toformulate papers to get the pulse of the student bodies on policies and the students, via their reports, will alsobe contributing to the development of the nation. Headded that policies of government should be informed by research from the universities as that decision hashelped his government grow tremendously, citing theexample of the contribution of Professor Olusanya ofdepartment of architecture at the University of Lagos tothe management of traffic in Lagos State. He saidnational developmental and economic objectives mustbe the bedrock and the drivers of the country'seducational policies.

Again, Governor Fashola identified the challengeof universities operating with outdated and non-practical curricula, which make graduates unequippedas prospective employees in the society. He claimedthat the universities’ curricula had become so outdatedthat most employers were compelled to retrain graduateemployees to meet the demands of the work place. He suggested that the universities should therefore developpractical, fresh and up-to-date curricula that recognize the needs of today's economy.

In addition, he suggested that government at alllevels should recognize and actively promote educationas the key to survival and economic development. Thisinvolves the evolution of a consistent policy, devotion


Barr. Olwuwarotimi Shodimu, Hon. Justice George Oguntade Rtd, Gov. Babatunde Fashola, Prof. Babatunde Shofoluwe and Prof Obinnah L. Chukwu

of more funds to the sector and ensuring that its leadership is always placed in the right hands. Placing education on such a highpedestal will further motivate an inflow of funds from the private sector by way of donations and endowment. He also suggested thatthere should be an institutionalized system of staff exchange between universities and industries. For instance, the Lagos Stategovernment's institutionalized collaborative efforts of involving local students and lecturers in large and novel projects.

The governor in the concluding part of his lecture urged the academia to immediately chart a course through research on what canbe done immediately to ensure better security and restore Nigeria to its preeminent role of peace keeper in Africa and to restore its reputation as a land where law and order reign.

Secondly, the academia should identify the areas in which Nigeria is best placed to lead the world and find a unique pathway thatwill lead this country to glory.

Oba Ajibade, one of the royal fathers who attended the lecture said he was impressed with the lecture adding that “… what he (Fashola) has said today, if put in proper use, will benefit Nigeria, and there will be a change in all spheres of the Nigerian economy.”


Prof. Obinnah L. Chukwu, Dean School of Postgraduate Studies

Vice-Chancellor University of Lagos, Prof. Babatunde Shofoluwe

Dr. Emmanuel Adedun, Sub-Dean School of Postgraduate Studies University of


Dr. Muiz Banire, Chief Molade Okoya and Mrs Olayinka Oladunjoye

Dean Faculty of Law Unilag, Prof Oyelowo Oyewo exchanging pleasantry with Gov. Cross section of Royal Fathers

Prof. Yetunde Ogunlewe Hon. Justice George Oguntade Rtd, Chairman University of Lagos School of Postgraduate Studies 8th Annual Lecture during his opening remarks

Prof. and Mrs Folasade Olumide, the first female registrar of University of Lagos Barr. Oluwarotimi Shodimu, Registrar University of Lagos, Hon Justice George


Prof. Ojusaju Prof. Mende and a colleague during the lecture

Prof. Bidmus, Dean Faculty of Education Prof. Akinsanya


Prof. Oyelowo Oyewo taking the closing prayer

Prof. Rosemary Eghowon responding to questions shortly after the annual lecture


HRH Oba Ajibade Bakara, Randu of Imota during the University of Lagos School of


n February 8, 2012, while ladieswere calculating how much theirOdates were going to spend on

them on Valentine's day, and the menwere seeking ways to cut the cost,Professor Eddy Olajide Omolehinwagave his inaugural lecture on 'Accountingfor People's Money' at the MainAuditorium of the University of Lagos.Incidentally, this lecture comes more thannine years after his professorship.

Addressing the guests in the hall, heexplained his reason for his choice oflecture topic with an insight into howthings had been far better in his collegedays.According to him, while a student atKing's College, the only time the powerhad gone out was for security reasonsduring the Civil War. He showed howover the years, accountability has becomea constant source of concern to theNigerian citizens and how Nigeria hashad a consistently low ranking on theTransparency International Corruption

Perception Index 1996-2010. The highestscore the country has received to date is2.7 out of a possible score of 10 in 2008.

It was against this background thathe decided to focus his seven-part lectureon accounting for people's money,because without proper accounting, therewould be no accountability, and withoutaccountability, the tide of corruptioncannot be turned back.

He then defined people's money asthe money that ought to be collected byall government agencies and parastatals

Accounting for people's moneywill stem the tide of corruption

– Prof. Omolehinwa

Event


Distinguished Professor Eddy Omolehinwa

Event

from all legitimate sources and whichshould be paid into the appropriateaccounts for subsequent authorisedspecific utilization for the benefit of allNigerians by the relevant governmentofficials after meeting all the conditionsfor the withdrawal of money from suchaccounts.

In his seven-part lecture, he firstgave an overview of research in publicsector accounting along with some of theproblems associated with doing research in the area (public sector accounting) inNigeria. Next, he identified the

environmental peculiarities of publicsector institutions that lead to differencesin accounting between the public andprivate sectors. Following that he studiedthe reasons why the country has receivedlittle dividends from her oil wealth. Thesereasons included poor costing of projectsand abuse of payment of mobilizationfees, among others.

Then he delved into what publicaccounting is all about, the conditions tofacilitate its effective practice and anoverview of its evolution in the westernworld, particularly in the US and UK.

After that, government accounting inNigeria between 1960 and 1999 wasconsidered, as well as the differentaspects of government accounting inNigeria from 1999 to 2012 which wererelevant to the topic.

In the final part, he gave hissuggestions on the things that need to be done to change the situation, as well asthe role enhanced public accountabilitycan play in resolving the oil subsidycontroversy in Nigeria. In his words: “Inmy opinion, the best option is for thegovernment to leave efficient oil refining

Prof. Babatunde Shofoluwe, Vice Chancellor University of Lagos Prof. Babatunde Shofoluwe welcoming the distinguished Prof. Eddy Omolehinwa to the comity of professors

Prof. Fajemirokun at the Inaugural lecture

Chief Lugard Osanobua, former President Unilag Alumni Associationat the Iaugural lecture


in Nigeria to those who can do it at competitive prices similar towhat we have in the telecommunications industry.”

In closing, he thanked God, his late father, his collegeprincipal and various family members, friends and colleagueswho had in one way or the other contributed to his career, and heexpressed his hopes for the future in a prayer that an acceleratedsolution would be found to the elongating problems of Nigeria.

Event

Mrs. Ronke Lanipekun, Ms Chidinma Ekugbah and Chief Lugard Osanobua at the Iaugural lecture

Mr. Akin Ambode, Acountant General of Lagos State Mr. Oladele Oyelola [R] Mr. Sam Falayi

Mrs Omolabake Omolehinwa, Mr. Segun Ayadi and Dr. Kunle Oyeyemi [L] Prof. Funsho Akere at the Inaugural lecture

The Omoleyinwas


PROF. PETER LEWIS,

…as CVL honours Pat Utomi


By Omolola Ojo

he Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) is a non-profitorganization sponsored by the Pat Utomi Foundation. TheTcentre aims at re-orientation by focusing on those values

that can make people great leaders. In view of this, the centreholds lectures annually. The CVL annual lecture series is one ofthe important programmes of the centre and is a key instrumentfor constructively contributing to nation building and economicdevelopment.

This year's CVL annual lecture held at the Nigerianth

Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island on the 7 ofFebruary, 2012 with the theme 'Leadership and Nigeria'sPerformance.' This lecture being the 9th in the CVL AnnualLecture Series was also used to mark the birthday of the founder

of CVL, Prof. Pat Utomi. The keynote speaker for lecture wasPeter M. Lewis, a professor and director ofAfrican Studies at theJohn Hopkins University USA, who spends most of his timestudying the political and economic development of countries inAsia andAfrica.

The lecture delivered by Prof. Lewis was a comparativeone; he compared the Nigerian economy with Indonesia's sincetheir histories and structures were quite similar. But he showedhow over the years, good leadership in Indonesia has made thepositive difference in their economy. He explained with figuresand illustrations how the economy of Indonesia was transformedover a 40 year period (1965- 2005). Having identified the rootproblems of economic performance in Nigeria, he also profferedsuggestions on how developmental leadership can be achieved.They include improving the selection process of leaders which

may involve a debate in order for people to assess the leadershipqualities of proposed candidates. He also said that leaders shoulddelegate authority to technocrats who can focus on giving theleaders the right policies and helping them make the rightchoices since the technocrats are not politically minded.

Developmental government policy ought to rest oneffective institutions, which can place a restraint on the arbitrarychoices of the government in order to create credibility and helptransfer incentives to small, medium and large business owners,Prof. Lewis explained. He added: “Coalition building is centralto development; therefore government must build a life line anda line of communication with investors and producers even ineconomic crises. Leadership from across the society can beequally important and this should come from the civil societies or the popular sector and not necessarily from the hall of power.”

The second speaker, Pastor Sam Adeyemi, founder of the

Daystar Leadership Academy identified Nigeria's culturalbackground as a major influence on the nation's concept ofleadership. He further identified measures of improvingleadership and he traced it back to early childhood. Leadership training should be included in Nigeria's school curriculum, asthis will help mould the kind of leaders citizens want to see, hesaid and urged Nigerians to embrace leadership at all levels inthe society and also create a paradigm shift.

Alhaji Ibrahim Usman and Alhaji Muhammed Ayatudeenwere supporting speakers and both emphasized inculcatingvalues in children and diversifying the economy.

The spotlight of the lecture was the cutting of the cake bythe 'birthday boy' as Pat Utomi on that day was fondly called byHonourable Deji Falaye, Commissioner of Culture and Tourism,who anchored the cake -cutting session.Dignitaries from different walks of life attended the lecture.


They include: Ayoola Oba Otudeko, Chairman, Airtel Nigeria;he was ably represented by Dr. Ebun Bolodeoku, director,special projects, Honeywell Group; Governor Segun Mimiko,Executive Governor of Ondo State, he was represented by Hon.Deji Falaye, Commissioner for Culture and Tourism; PrinceBarrister Segun Aregbesola; Mr. Deepak Sirvastava, Executive Director & COO atAirtel Networks; Emeka Okpara, Director of

Communications, Airtel Network; Igwe Prof. Green Nwankwo,fmr. CBN Chairman; Mrs. Stella Okoli, MD/CEO, EmzorPharmaceuticals; Jimi Agbaje, fmr. Lagos State gubernatorialcandidate; Mrs. Gloria Essien, ED, Exxon Mobil; GbengaSesan, CEO, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, and Toyosi Akerele, CEO, RISE Networks, amongst others.

Prof. Peter Lewis, Prof. Pat Utomi, D. [Mrs] Ifeoma Utomi Pastor Sam Adeyemi, Mrs Nike Adeyemi and Alhj. Ibrahim Usman during the cutting of Prof. Pat Utomi’s birthday cake

Prof Peter Lewis delivering the 9th annual lecture of Centre for Values in Leadership Pastor Sam Adeyemi deliverying his lecture at 9th CVL annual lecture


Alhaji Ibrahim Usman, one of the discussants during the CVL 9th annual lecture

Dr. Ebunoluwa Bolodeoku delivering an address on behalf of Chief Oba Otudeko

Barr. Ayodeji Falae giving a remark on behalf of the Ondo State Governor

Mr. Deepak Srivastava, Executive Director Airtel delivering his speech

Soni Irabor during the Centre for Vaues in Leadership annual lecture

Prof. Pat Utomi giving the welcome address


E v e n t

L-R: Dr. Stella Okoli, Dr. Ije Jidenma and Mrs Oluseyi Ifaturoti

Alhaji Muhammed Ayatodeen, Mr. Emeka Okpara, and Linus Okorie

Barr. [Mrs] Ifeoma Obi and Barr. Ayodeji Falae

Lady Nkechi Onuigbo during the CVL 9th annual lecture

Chief Segun Aregbesola asking question


E v e n t

Chief Opeyemi Agbaje

Ms Toyosi Akerele, CEO, Rise Networks

Igwe Prof. Green Nwankwo, former CBN Chairman

Lagos Business School team [R] Mr. Peter Bankole


Mr. Chukwudi with one of the participants Mr. Rufai Ladipo, President, AAAN(r)

Nigeria Prize for Literature

MaiNasara’sBy Adeolu C. Alupogun-Iran

Event


ajority of Nigeriansget celebrated interms of their pursesM

and not what they have beenable to achieve through dint ofhard work, intellectual wit andmany other acts of ingenuity.This culture is graduallyescaping into the past, ascorporate organizations andpublic spirited individuals arerising to tame this millstone inour society. It is in this light

that the Nigeria Prize forLiterature, which comprisesthe Nigerian science andliterary awards, was instituted in 2004. The aim of the awardis to bring Nigerian scientistsand authors to public attentionand celebrating excellence inscientific breakthroughs andliterary craftsmanship in thenation.

The Prize for Literaturerotates among four genres -

Fiction, Poetry, Drama andChildren's literature. Thisyear's entries were taken from writers of children's literaturewhich was considered basedon “Language, edi t ing,c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n , p l o t ,relevance, core values, andillustrations”

T h e a w a r d s s i n c einception have had sixAuthorsand five Scientists on itswinning list respectively

including the 2011 prizewinner. The 2011 NigeriaPrize for Literature winnerAdeleke Adeyemi under thenom de plume 'Mai Nasara'interestingly won with his firstpublication -'THE MISSINGCLOCK.' Speaking to Spurmagazine during his publicpresentation, Adeyemi said hesubmitted his work hoping forthe best, ''...hope things eternalin a human heart... you have to

E v e n t


L - R, Ayo Olofintuade, a runner-up for the literature prize, Prof. Wole Soyinka, NobelLaureate for Literature, Prof Ayo Banjo, Chairman, Advisory Board for Literature, BabsOmotowa, MD, NLNG, Mai Nasara, winner The Nigeria Prize for Literature 2011 at thepublic presentation of Mai Nasara and his book The Missing Clock, at the Nigeria Instituteof InternationalAffairs.

E v e n t


Awardee, others with students of Vivian Fowler School

E v e n t


be hopeful but certainly youcannot live on it!” To himpreparation has met withopportunity. He decried thenon-availability of wellequipped libraries in oursociety. This he described asalmost non-existing, he called on stakeholders to build morepublic libraries and help stockthe existing ones to be morefunctional.

One of the runners-upChinyere Obi-Obasi, while

responding to questions fromSpur magazine, appraised thereading habit in the country.She pointed accusing fingersto parents who prefer to buysnacks instead of books fortheir children; she urgedparents to make booksavailable to their children asthis will help in developingthem mentally.

The Prize which wasinitially $20,000 each inLiterature and Science has

increased over the years. This year's winner went home with$100.000which made theNigeria Prize for Literature therichest literary prize in theworld. Nigeria Prize forLiterature is sponsored byNigeria NLG Limited inpartnership with NigeriaAcademy of Science andNigeriaAcademy of Letters.

Guests at the publicpresentation of 2011 NigeriaPrize for Literature include:

E v e n t

Prof. Wole Soyinka, Prof.Gabriel Okpara, Prof. Banjo,Chairman,Advisory Board forNigeria Prize for Literature,Prof.AkachiAdimora-Ezeigb;Chairman, Panel of Judges for2011 Award, ManagingDirector, Niger ia NLGLimited, Babs Omotowa;school children, amongothers.


By Adedoyin Adedeji

andmark College is a day and boarding international secondary school located in Lthe Ikorodu Local Government Area of

Lagos State. The school is committed to harnessing the potentials in each student and also provides a secure, supportive and challenging environment for the young ones to attain academic and personal excellence.

As part of its objective to develop an all round student, the school holds an annual inter house sport competition for its students and also invites students from other schools to participate in the invited school games. This year's inter-house sports competition, the third in the series, took place at the University of Lagos sports complex on the 17th of February, 2012.

The sporting activities for the day kicked off with a match past by members of the school's four houses which are Ixora (blue house), Lily (green house), Viola (red house), and Zinnia (yellow house). Representatives of each house competed in the various categories of track events that took place and they are the 100 metre race, 200 metre race, 800 metre race, relay races and the egg and spoon game.

Parents and staff were not left out of the fun as there was also the 100 metre staff race for both parents and staff.

In the invited school category, Homat Comprehensive College, Ikorodu came third, Supreme Educational foundation School, Magodo second, while the International School,

University of Lagos, Akoka emerged as winners in the female relay race category. In the male category, Baptist Academy came third, YabaTech Secondary School, Yaba came second and International School, University of Lagos, Akoka, emerged winner.

The principal of Landmark College in an interview with SPUR magazine said Landmark College encourages sporting activities and as such students are involved in sports three times a week and on Saturdays for students in the boarding house, adding that the school has introduced inter-primary school collective sports as part of its sporting package for the year.

He further said that sport is important as there is a lot of people who through participating in sports have gotten scholarships to study abroad.

SPUR magazine also spoke to Joel Onuelu, a sport teacher in Land Mark College, who expressed joy at seeing students participate in sporting activities, adding that it was all in a bid to ensure the development of a complete student.

Present at the occasion were chairman, Board of Governors, Mr. Isiaka Idowu Oyebamiji; CEO, CAAL shipping line, Mr.Tony Nwabunike; CEO De-Columbus Nigeria Limited, Lady N.C Okonkwo; School Administrator, Mrs. Tinuola Oyebamiji; Principal of Landmark College, Mr. S.B Agboke; parents, staff, and students, among others.

LANDMARK

COLLEGE

INTER-HOUSE

SPORTS

Celebrating Students' Physical Excellence



MARCH 2012 SPURMAG.COM 59



Landmark School Principal - Mr S.B Agboke

Mr. Tony Iju Nwabunike, CEO, CAAL Shipping Line Zinnia House Students

Ixora House Students

Students of Viola House

The Egg and Spoon Race

Red Cross Students

Cross Section of Lily House students

Zinnia House students with their house master




Female athletes on the track



200M race (girls) about to start

Girls relay race for invited schools

Mr & Mrs Lily House


Parents (female) race

Mr. I. I Oyebamiji - Chairman Board of Governors, Landmark College with Mr. Tony Iju Nwabunike, CEO, CAAL Shipping Line presenting the champions, Lily House the Cup

Mr. Tony Iju Nwabunike, CEO, CAAL Shipping Line presenting Zinnia House with second place cup

Mr. Tony Iju Nwabunike, CEO, CAAL Shipping Line presentation Viola HOuse with third place cup

Health

Avoid Obesity, Diabeteswith Plant-based Diets

of becoming a vegan. Today, the trend ofone surgery after the other is no longerthere for him and on CNN he sang aloud the benefits of using vegetables and fruitsto cure or prevent diseases that can clogthe blood vessels. Clinton confessed:

" So I did all this research and it saysthat 82 per cent of the people since 1986who have gone on a plant-based, nodairy, no meat of any kind - I eat very littlefish – 82 per cent of the people who havedone that have begun to heal themselves.Their arterial blockage cleans up, thecalcium deposit around their heartbreaks up.

“This movement has been led byDoctor Caldwell B. Esselstyn at theCleveland, Dean Ornish out inCalifornia, the doctors Campbell, fatherand son who wrote The China Study, anda handful of others. But we now have 25years of evidence. So I thought... I'llbecome part of this experiment. I'll see if Ican become one of those who can have aself-clearing mechanism.”

You may not suffer from Clinton'sown particular ailment. What is common

is obesity which is a signal that you aregoing down the road of becomingdiabetic and suffering from diabetes'family of other diseases like stroke, heartattack, blindness, diabetic sores that canlead to amputation.

You can avoid this calamity just byconcentrating more on more minerals inyour meals by eating more of vegetables and fruits instead of carbohydrates andproteins. Balanced diet is silently allabout balancing acidic foods with akalineones, they are supposed to be equallybalanced. Over-acidity is the cause of all diseases and unfortunately, all the staplefoods in Nigeria are purely acidic. Andthis is the cause of obesity and diabetes inchildren.

If you are already obese, gulping anyorthodox or herbal drug for slimmingdown is a complete waste of time. Whatyou need is just eating fruits andvegetables, cut down on meat andcarbohydrate; you'll feel the differenceand your body and health will 'tell' youthat you are on the right track to fullrecovery.

By Starrys Obazei

he benefits of plant-based dietshave been undermined over theTcenturies. And when it is

discussed, young ones do not seem toshow any interest whatsoever becausetheir health is still very vibrant.

It has been found out that vibrancy ofone's health begins to decline after the ageof 25 and to show that healthy children orteenagers can be affected by dietaryrecklessness, such young ones are thesedays beginning to suffer from ailmentsotherwise meant for adults above age 25.The greatest health culprit is Type 2diabetes known for affecting adultsthrough over-eating, over-drinking andsubsequently obesity. Type 1 diabetes isgenetic and may affect children as earlyas possible.

However, the prevention andtreatment for both Types 1 and 2 diabetesare handy in dietary control. Basically,diets –mainly fruits and vegetable- arereally 'magical' for treating young oneswho suffer from obesity and diabetes;they can also be avoided all together.

The truth about plant-based diets hadbeen politicized by big pharmaceuticalcompanies in Europe and America. If thetruth about plant-based diets is known theslump it would cause in pharmaceuticalbusiness will be alarming. It is like, 'it'sbetter people keep suffering and dyinginstead of slumping pharmaceuticalbusiness by telling people to eat right tostay healthy or restore good health.'

Bill Clinton, former US president,might not have opened up in 2009 abouthis decision to become a vegan –anextreme vegetarian - one who eats onlybeans with vegetables, and fruits andavoids red and white meat, eggs, evenfish, if he was not out of office, somepeople have reasoned. Clinton had been alover of hamburger and hamburger isloaded with bad cholesterol. Clogging ofhis blood vessels caused his medicalproblem. And if you are a pre-teenager, ateenager, just any age and you eatrecklessly, what happened to Clinton at58 can happen to you. After four bypasssurgeries in 2004, he gave in to the advice



have taken considerable time to ponder on the many issues thatgrossly affect my beloved nation. This self-sojourn has been aIvery traumatic experience laced with bloated mental burden

and unthinkable depression. Though depressive, it offered aprofound insight into many areas of anomaly and equally profferedappealing solutions to them. After considering the many facets of the Nigerian system infected with the ineptitude virus causingdysfunction and unfathomable damage to the nation's economy, Ichose to break my long silence with the transport sector.

Long before the advent of civilised society, we have heardtales from history of how man moved from one end of the earth tothe other on foot without the mechanical aid of cars, buses, trains,aeroplanes, even bicycles! This is a pointer to how crucial mobilityis to mankind. Listening to those tales would make you feel thatthere is a modicum of hyperbole in them because you cannotreconcile then and now, but the bitter part of it is that, it is all true!They embarked on such journeys and returned with few hazards.However, it usually took months before they could undertake thenext trip.

A great relief came with Blaise Pascal's invention of the first

horse-drawn public bus in 1662 and with this breakthrough, otherbetter inventions followed. The post-world war II era changed theface and lot of transportation in history, consequent upon the heightof technological advancement displayed during the war. A lot ofeffort was now diverted to making transportation of people, goodsand materials easier and faster during the industrial revolutionperiod.

This diminutive history lesson is pertinent to providing anunderstanding of the points to be raised here. It is crystal clear thatthe compelling drive for all inventions championed by man is tobring ease, convenience, improvement and efficiency in doingthings. The colonial period is an important phase in the life ofNigeria; apart from the many evils perpetrated by the task masters,they were also responsible for quite a number of astuteachievements, which we will see as we proceed.

Prior to Nigeria's independence in 1960, there were manyoptions readily available to commuters, air, road or rail; the choicewas yours to make. But today, the questions agitating the mind of several Nigerians are; what happened to Nigeria's rail service?Why is our road too congested today? Why is the air flight toocostly for average Nigerians? What is the effect of this on Nigeriaas an emerging world economy? These questions beg for answers.

20-2020 Without

Locomotives!

Discourse


It is on record that Nigeria is one of the first African countriesto use rail system as a means of transportation in Africa. Way backin 1895, considerate effort and resources were committed tobuilding the rail system in Nigeria. This effort paid off in 1901when the first railway line was commissioned to connect Lagoswith Ibadan. Bauchi Light Railway had its own route: Zaria-Jos-Bukuru which opened in sections between 1912 to 1914; Jos-Bukuru in 1927, and Wushishi Tramway, Zungeru-Wushishi-BariJuko, in 1902. It is quite shameful to note here that more than acentury after this superlative feat was achieved in Nigeria, what wehave left are the remains of several locomotives and coachespreserved close to the zoo at Jos for school children duringexcursion and tourists to behold.

The absence of a functional rail system in Nigeria as availablein mostAfrican countries has spelt doom on the country's economyand quite opprobrious is the recent World Health Organisation

thstatistics on traffic-related death rate which placed Nigeria 13 inthe world. The moribund rail system in the country has put toomuch burden on the poorly maintained road networks available.This unnecessary burden has resulted in a huge carnage on ourroads as many families' bread winners have either met with suddendeath or the entire families have lost their lives. This is absolutelyunacceptable for a country with such great potentials and enormouswealth. The passive state of Nigerian rail system spurred the needto transport goods and services by road. The presence of heavy dutytrucks on the nation's highway brought numerous hazards to lives and the poorly constructed roads; most painfully, it is an utterwastage of tax payers' money on renovations that are mere respite.

It is a known fact today that an average Nigerian family cannotconveniently afford a flight ticket if they choose not to travel byroad. The absence of more alternative options to road or airtransportation in Nigeria removes healthy competition which isone of the intrinsic factors that drives a nation's economy towardsquantifiable growth and development.

Half a century after freedom from the task masters, nophenomenal achievements have been scored; in fact, we havefailed to sustain what they left behind as a footprint for posterity tojudge them appropriately. The dearth of rail system in Nigeria hasleft many jobless because of outright laxity and high levels ofcorruption that took place in Nigerian Railway Corporation [NRC].There is an endless list of what Nigeria has failed to do as a nationbut that is not the crux of this work. There have been conscientiousefforts channelled towards the nation's transition from emergingeconomy to one of the leading world economies, Vision 20-2020 ifyou care. The reckless act of lip service and public propaganda willnot take us anywhere. Our leaders have been chasing shadowsleaving unattended more critical aspects of the economy whichneed salvaging.

There is gross unemployment rate in a land with manypotential areas for creating more gainful employments thanimagined. According to a UN statistics more than 75 per cent ofNigeria's population is unemployed and out of this about 51 percent are youth. Nigeria is the only country world over with thehighest percentage of man-power redundancy. You can hardlyimagine the impact this has on the economy. A functional railsystem will engage the service of so many Nigerians, apart from theemployment opportunities, it will reduce to a great extent the rate ofaccident on highways as goods and services that ordinarily couldhave been moved by road will be transported by rail in a costeffective manner.

An effective rail system possesses a high tendency of luringpotential investors into the economy. The benefit of functional andeffective rail service on the economy is beyond imagination. Wecannot be projecting to be one of the 20 leading world nationaleconomies without this essential part of economic developmentbeing resuscitated. Besides, the government seems to haveforgotten that an improved standard of living of its citizenry is also

a yardstick for transition into the world industrialized economies'club, and a nation whose citizens live below $2 per day is certainlynot a candidate to be considered. A virile rail service is one of the many areas capable of achieving that for the government.

For many decades in the history of this nation, statisticalrecords of massive rural to urban migration is appalling, of course,every man wants the best for himself! Why should I stay in a placewhere my dreams and aspirations cannot be met? The rural pasturecould be made greener, if government implements policies gearedat providing better living conditions. Government generatedrevenue from agriculture will greatly increase. Research has shownthat rail service lures more people to the rural community, therebyincreasing their productivity in agriculture. Functional rail sectorhas been recognised to bringing a huge turn around in the economiclife of the rural community and also curb the rate at which labourrequired in agriculture moves out. This will in return, boost theentire nation's economy significantly. If a farmer could get thesame value for his product at the point of production, what is theneed relocating?

A definite alternative to road and air transportation has beenargued by pundits to be an essential factor for an improved way oflife. The fact that rail service affords travellers additional optionson how to get to their destination, notwithstanding, it is most cost effective, it will also reduce the cost of transportation by roaddrastically. With rail service in place, you may live in Osun Stateand work at the Lagos Island without necessarily residing in LagosState; this is what an active and effective rail service can do. One ofthe reasons traffic gridlock has become intractable in Nigeria apartfrom the ones caused by accident and bad road is basically due to non-availability of affordable and effective means of mobility apartfrom road and air.

Taking a cue from Prof. Bamiro during the recent University of Lagos convocation lecture where he said that “...in the last two decades, higher education worldwide has moved from theperiphery to the centre of governmental agenda in most countries.Universities are now seen as crucial national asset in addressingmany policy priorities..., sources of knowledge and innovativethinking; provider of skilled personnel and credible credentials;contributors to innovation...'' Nigerian government must change itsattitude toward university funding in the country and this sectorwould revolutionise as prescribed by the distinguished professor.

As essential as mobility is to the survival of mankind, the re-introduction of rail transportation is long overdue in this country.Countries like United Kingdom, United States of America havebenefitted immensely from this critical infrastructure. Throughthis, a proper planning can be engineered not only with people ofgreat skills in this area; the rail development will certainly be

stsustainable. The 21 century economy works better throughsynergy. Our civil engineers collaborating with transport experts inrail system development, the nation's roads will have a respite andbe better for it. The benefit of this is better experienced thanimagined.

In this tumultuous phase of economic hardship no country willsolely survive its hazardous impact without synergizing with itsivory towers, this fact, the western countries had learned earlier.Just at our back yard here, South Africa, tasked all her tertiaryinstitutions and also gave all the necessary support, this worthysacrifice is being reaped now; South African economy is just likethe proverbial beautiful bride for foreign investors. This feat, I amoptimistic, is achievable here in Nigeria if we align withtransformation necessities and deviate from quick fix approach.

Stop Press! Our honourable Minister of Finance, Dr. NgoziOkonjo-Iweala and her delegation returned recently from Chinawith the good news that the Chinese are ready to assist Nigeria in the development of light rail, industry and infrastructure. Goodnews indeed!

D i s c o u r s e


Prodigy

I'm aGenius

- Unilag's with 4.98 GPA or 99.9%

Best Ever Graduand

There is a saying that someare born geniuses and someare made such, which do youthink is truly your case?I am not even a genius in thefirst place. I don't think agenius would read or study asmuch as I did. Well, I think Ilearnt; in my case I learnt howto read like I said in myvaledictory speech. I am not a genius; I don't think I am evennow, because I can say thatwhat I have now is bookknowledge until I go to thef i e ld and say I knoweverything, then I begin to

think along that line. Untilthen, I'm just a reader and astudent.

And actual ly in yourconvocation speech, you saidyou know that much isexpected from you havingmade 4.98 out of five points. In percentage that is 99.9.That is an act of a genius.Like you said that day, youwant to work harder in thefield. I know that if you workhard you are also going tosucceed. That means thatdiligence can make one a

genius. Do you agree?Well, you can say that. But likeI said I am not a genius.

It's okay. When you werereading you valedictoryspeech, you said you learnthow to study from a studenta t Ya b a C o l l e g e o fTechnology, whose noteeverybody was reading. Tellus more; how did you learnhow to study?This is the way it was. Youknow that in secondary school,it is what you are taught inclass that will most likely

come out in the examination.You don't have to necessarilyread so much or study beyondwhat you are taught. Just listenin the class, copy a few notes,read little and you'd pass. Butin higher institution you haveto do a lot more reading, a lotmore studying, a lot moregroup discussion with fellowstudents and lecturers. So thereason out I said that in Yaba Ifound that I understand betterwhen I read and write. Mosttimes I have notes. So, writingmy notes like my first reading,then I read it again, second and

he CEO of Encomium magazine, Kunle Bakare, once told

this reporter in mid-90s: “I prefer diligent people to

intelligent people. Intelligent people are proud andTsometimes lazy that they get beaten by diligent people with

lower intelligence quotient. I prefer diligent people because

they ultimately become intelligent…” The above actually

came true for Iziren who thrice tried to enter Unilag through

JAMB but could not make it. After his ND at Yaba College of

Technology, he had upper credit, Unilag wanted a distinction.

He went for his HND and came out with distinction, got

admitted in his “university of first choice and the nation's

pride.” At Yaba he learnt how to study and through diligence

based on self-motivation, he became the overall best ever

graduand in the history of Unilag with a GPA of 4.98 in

mechanical engineering. In other words, he scored 99.9%, a

record meant for the Guinness Book of Records.

While the university, friends, relatives and well wishers are still

celebrating the 26-year-old graduate, he maintains that he is

not a genius. He spoke to STARRYS OBAZEI at the Anglican

Church of Ascension, Opebi, Ikeja, where he is a mass servant

(on Sunday, February 19, 2012).


third time depending on howmuch time I have. By doingthat I read it and I understandwhat I am reading. I think Iunderstand my own writingmore, that's why I probablywrite notes. I have notes, forevery course I always have anote.

That is interesting. You alsosaid in your speech that theway you study does not meanthat you don't play. Youmentioned you play withyour phone a lot, chat withfriends, watch movies. Youalso said you study or readfor five hours daily. Howwere you able to keep to thattimetable of reading fivehours a day, is it a high senseof responsibility.First of all I wake up early. Afriend of mine called it beingdisciplined. But I wake early, Ihave so much time on myhands that I can either use it toplay or use it to work.Sometimes I use it to work.Most times I use it to work.

A university don disparaged first class graduates ofNigerian universities, thatthey are incompetent. Notmany subscribe to it, butwhat do you think aboutthis?Well, to me even if you finishfrom a school abroad, if youdon't apply yourself or youdon't improve yourself, you'reas good as finishing from aNigerian university. But Ithink Nigerian universities dotheir bit, it's left for thes t u d e n t s t o i m p r o v ethemselves, to go further,school abroad, have workexperience and all that. I think,I don't know, that in schoolsabroad also they would pushyou to the field to go dosomething. They can't teachyou everything in school. Thatone is for sure, no matter theschool.

It's like you believe stronglyin hard work.Yes, I do. Hard work pays now,doesn't it?

Everybody is afraid. All myfriends said you're likely notgoing to be a Nigerian anylonger; that Europe orAmerica would snatchyou…It depends on what they mean by snatch. I personally, I'llactually prefer to go do mymaster's and Ph.D abroad, butthe idea of snatching, no. Ithink I like living in Nigeria.Even if I go for school abroad,I'll come back and work here.

What about if you have a lotof enticements that canmake you change yournationality?Change my nationality? No,once a Nigerian, always aNigerian! There's a couple ofthings that a friend of minesaid, but I'm not going to sayhere. But there is a couple ofthings that he said that Ithought about and I said, 'ah,that's true.' He said that there'sa couple of things you can doand get away with them here,but not abroad. That is the wayhe put it. For me, I’m aNigerian always!

Are saying from your heartof hearts that you loveNigeria?I am actually looking to asituation where Nigeria wouldbe one of the great nations inthe world. It may not be 2020.I'm really looking forward to itand being a part of the changeor improvement.

We also learnt that the resultyou made has never beenmade before in Unilag?Yes.

Why are you still denying thefact that you are a geniuswhether through hard workor through birth?It's through hard work!

In your speech you alsotalked about self-motivationand that your mother sat youdown and said you mustmake first class. You saidyou wanted to make yourmother happy. Is it true thathaving a goal or self-

motivation can really makesomebody to be studious?Yes, having a goal or a visionhelps. I think if you decidewhere you want to be or whereyou want to go, and you worktowards it you'll get there or ifyou don't get there, you'll getvery close to it.

Academically, you're a star;don't you think that a lot ofgirls are going to admire youso much, how are you goingto cope with advances fromladies?I am old now. At this point intime, I don't think thatanything I don't want candistract me. It's only what Iwant to distract me that canreally distract me. It's onlythings I allow that can distractme.

Akhigbe, it's nice speakingto you. I have your phonenumber and your emailaddress. Even if you are inEurope or America, I'll keepin touch with you.And I wishyou all the best. But are yougoing for your master's andPhD right away?Right now, if I want to goabroad to do a master's and Ph.D, I think for most schools theentries and registrations haveended for 2011/2012. It willprobably be next year, unless Icheck online and see a schoolthat is yet to conclude for thisyear and I'll probably try that.But I'm looking at going backto school next year starting inSeptember/October, 2012, a

new session.

Meanwhile, who do you liketo work for?It depends… I have not hadany offer.

But you told me during theconvocation that you arealready a graduate trainee.So who will you like to workfor?Who will I like to work for?Who'll any engineer like towork for?

GTB will snatch you; theydon't care whether youstudied religious knowledgeor any other course, as longas you have a first class. It'sreally true; they'll take youfor a job.GTB? Eh!

You told SPUR during yourconvocation that you are agraduate trainee with GTB.Yeah. But…

And there are some otheroffers.I have not really had any otheroffer. But I have to keep myoptions open.

I wish you all the best and Ipray you repeat what youdid in the academia in theworkplace!Yes, I look forward to doingthat and that is why I want todo a little and have a workexperience; that is why I wantto leave reading or studyingfor a while.

P r o d i g y


Akhigbe Iziren with fellow graduands.

Achievers at

…pioneer studentsgraduate

STORY BY ADEOLU C. ALUPOGUN-IRAN

Event


he rain clouds rolled back the balance of their watery storage as the morning sunwarmed up the ancient city of Owo in Ondo State. Nature itself recognized this wasa day for light and laughter as Achievers University presented to the world its firstT

set of graduates.Achievers University was established in 2007 by Dr. BodeAyorinde. Theschool, which took off with two colleges and 133 students in 2008, is saddled with thenoble responsibility of producing well educated and entrepreneurially orientedindividuals, who will not only be useful to themselves but also to the society.

The convocation, the first of its kind at the premier private university in Ondo State,will never be forgotten in the history of the school. The university during the convocationceremony officially installed Dr. Bode Olajumoke as the first chancellor of the school.The Chancellor during his address reiterated that ''Achievers University's mission to bethe best inAfrica and one of the best in the world is achievable.'' He strongly expressed hisconcern for the low funding of tertiary institutions in Nigeria, and he used the platform toappeal to well meaning individuals to help fund university education in the country, as isthe case in more advanced and civilised societies.

Charging the university to always shy away from frivolous awards of honourarydegrees which are capable of impairing the university's integrity and reputation, he said''...we must avoid and guard against this mistake by not compromising the integrity... nomatter the lure; otherwise, it will taint our repute.''Admonishing the graduands, Dr. BodeOlajumoke urged them to be worthy reference points in their chosen fields. ''Achievers is alaudable and good name which you must proudly protect wherever you go! ...people'sperception of your alma mater can open or close doors for those coming after you.'’

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Congratulating the graduands, theVice-Chancellor, Achievers University,Prof. Adebayo Odebiyi urged the pioneergraduates to apply their knowledgeappropriately to every life situation withthe fear of God; he encouraged them to''put on the cloak of integrity as this willpave way for them before kings...''Speaking further, Prof. Odebiyidescribed the graduands as the ''...torchbearers. Something has been infused intoyour consciousness... there is somethingin a name and that it is not without a causethat you find yourself in AchieversU n i v e r s i t y. . . . t o d a y i s y o u rcommencement day, the beginning ofyour ascent into your destiny...'’

The Pro-Chancellor, Dr. 'BodeAyorinde, was full of praises andadoration to GodAlmighty. T he dream ofAchievers University could have beenimpossible without his help, he said.While charging the graduands, he urged

them to be worthy ambassadors and tolead by example as they have beentutored.

Achievers University graduated 104students, with seven in first classcategory, 37 in second class uppercategory, 42 in second class lowercategory and 8 in third class category. Theover all best graduating student, MissOladuni Ahmed became the cynosure ofall eyes as she carted away loads of gifts.

The university honoured threeeminent Nigerians who over the yearshave remained symbols of distinction intheir chosen careers. They include: ElderSimeon Olakunri, SAN, he is a LifeBencher and former chairman of theBody of Benchers in Nigeria; Dr.Olusegun Mimiko, Executive Governorof Ondo State and Engr. RaufAregbesola,Executive Governor of Osun State withDoctor of Law and Doctor of Science inPublic Policy and Management

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CAPTIONS

1. Dr. Bode Ayorinde, Founder Achievers University.2. Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Governor Osun State.3. HRM Oba Victor Olateru Olagbegi. 4. Ms Bisi Olateru Olagbegi, representative of Ondo State Governor.5.Chancellor Achievers University, Dr. Bode Olajumoke. 6. Prof. Adebayo Odebiyi. 7.Chief [Mrs] Toyin Olakunri, OFR. 8. Dr. Bode Olajumoke, Prof. Adebayo Odebiyi dressing Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.9. Prof. Odebiyi dressing the Chancellor during the conferment of Honourary Doctor of Law. 10. Prof. Adebayo Odebiyi and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola during the conferment of Honourary Doctor of Science in Public Policy and Management on him. 11. Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Osun State Governor delivering his acceptance speech. 12. Chief [Mrs] Toyin Olakunri, OFR, Prof. S.O Oyewole and Dr. [Mrs] T.E Ojo. 13. Achievers University Dons. 14. Dignitaries from other universities. 15. Chancellor Achievers University, Dr.Bode Olajumoke congratulating Elder Simeon Olakunri,SAN before his conferment as Honourary Doctor of Law. 16. Elder Simeon Olakunri with Olowo of Owo After his conferment ceremony. 17. A guest and Mr.Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN (l). 18. Otunba Titi Laoye-Tomori,Deputy Governor Osun State, Alhaja Sherifat Aregbesola, First Lady Osun State and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Governor Osun State. 19. Senator AjayiBoroffice. 20. Pro-Chancellor Achievers University, Dr.Bode Ayorinde during his convocation address. 21. Dr. Olu Agunloye(r) at the convocation ceremony.22. Dr. T.E Ojo and Sen. T.O Olupitan. 23. Deputy Governor Ekiti State, Mrs Olufunmilayo Olayinka and her Osun counterpart Otunba Titi Laoye-Tomori.24. Arc Bola Balogun with Prof. Omotosho. 25. Chief of Staff Osun State Government, Mr. Gboyega Oyetola. 26. Ondo State Chairman of Action Congress of Nigeria [ACN], Mrs Jumoke Anifowose on arrival. 27. Master Olumide and her sister Oladuni Ahmed both First Class students. 35. Vice-Chancellor Oduduwa University, Prof. J. Adeleke Ogunwale. 36. Vice-Chancellor Al-Hikmah,Prof. Suliaman Abdul Karim. 37. Vice-ChancellorBenson Idahosa University, Professor Gideon Omuta. 38. Achievers University Chancellor, Dr. Bode Olajumoke and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola waiting to be conferred. 39. Achievers procession. 40. Achievers'Principal Officers. 41. Vice-Chancellor WesleyUniversity, Prof. Tola Badejo. 42. Prof. Zacharaih Adeyewa with a colleague at the convocation ceremony.

respectively.While congratulating the Pro-

Chancellor for the vision to establish the university, Governor Olusegun Mimikostressed the intrinsic role privateuniversities are playing in both theeconomy and society. “...I wish to notethat the role and benefit of privateunivers i t ies in the educat ionaldevelopment of the country cannot beover emphasized. We are all aware of theincreasing number of our youth cravingfor university education and it is a factgovernment established institutionscannot absorb them all. Privateuniversities have come to fill this gap...'’

In the same vein, Ogbeni RaufAregbesola in his acceptance speechentitled, 'Ideas must rule the world,'

charged private universities in thecountry and intending ones toconcentrate on specific fields ofscholarship rather than focusing attentionon all '' ...they must be wary of the pitfallof generalization that has become thealbatross of 45 or so private universitiesin the full time and destructivecompetition between federal and stateuniversities. Private universities have tobe focused and concentrate their limitedresources on specific areas of scholarship...for excellence.'’

Speaking with SPUR magazine,Ameachi Desmond, a graduating studentsaid, ''...Achievers University has helpedme achieve my goals and targets, now I'ma graduate.'' Also, Olumide Ahmed, oneof the first class graduands from

Microbiology department spokeglowingly about his alma mater: ''...one ofthe things I really cherished aboutAchievers is the quality of the academicstaff... I'm sure of this graduating set, we were properly baked. We can walkshoulders high with any graduate of otherschools because we studied under the bestlecturers in the business; for Achieversand their academic staff, I give kudos."

The overall graduating student, whoalso is a younger sister to Olumide, MsOladuni Ahmed, a first class graduate ofBiochemistry, minced no words indescribing how Achievers Universitymade her who she is today, ''...I have beennurtured and groomed intellectually inmany spheres of life and how to get thingsdone properly in a more organizedpattern... and I say 'thank you' toAchievers University.”

Eminent personalities from all walksof life graced the occasion. The ceremonyhad in attendance SenatorAjayi Borofice,Oba Victor Olateru Olagbegi, the Olowo of Owo; Barr. (Mrs.) Jumoke Anifowose,Ondo State Chairman, Action Congressof Nigeria [ACN]; Mr. RotimiAkeredolu, SAN; Mrs. OlufunmilayoAduni Olayinka, Deputy Governor ofEkiti State; Otunba Titi Laoye-Tomori,Deputy Governor of Osun State; Col.Rowland Omowa, rtd; Princess BisiOlateru Olagbegi, royal fathers, amongothers.

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Cover

A BLINKER OF HOPEampus

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thought about nothing, but his research.His devotion to a cause or research paid off. He discovered the law of gravity.

Another genius was Einstein. AlbertEinstein was reportedly a backwardchild, oddly shaped in the head, a poorstudent and a trouble maker at highschool, who failed exams and could notdo well in languages. But he ultimatelyturned out a genius. Einstein could alsohave been an “unrecognized childprod igy,” accord ing to on l ineencyclopedia, Wikipedia. At the end hediscovered the law of relativity, whichlaid the basis for the release of atomicenergy. He established the law of mass–energy equivalency through his famousEnergy = mc2.

Your success in life at a stage isprimarily your own responsibility to turnyourself to a genius. It was AlbertEinstein's. It was Isaac Newton's. So, it isyours too. But you must come to the stageof personal decision; what can yourparents, the society, the university andyou, the student do to make Newton orEinstein out of you?

We don't have to go far ingeographic distance and time to find sucha self-made genius, for example, inNigeria. University of Lagos (Unilag)had actually created one and handed himover to the world on February 16, 2012during the last part of their two-day

convocation. His name is Iziren,from Edo State. He was declared the bestgraduating student ever with the bestresult in the history of Unilag. He scoreda grade point average of 4.98 out of fivepoints. And the announcer 'hastily' addedthat it was like scoring “98 per cent” inall his papers. But the truth is: Akhigbescored 99.9 per cent! And he scored that in mechanical engineering! Take it orleave it, the predictions about him frommany anonymous interviewees are thatthis young man is 'no longer a Nigerianhenceforth; either America or Europewill definitely steal him' and like he saidin an exclusive interview with SPUR, heis pursuing his master's and doctoratedegrees right away.

But he has already got somedistractions, right now he is attendingGTBank's graduate trainee course.GTBank, founded by banking whizkids orgeniuses Fola Adeola and late TayoAderinokun, had already 'snatched' him.He is now caught between working andgoing for his post-graduate course whichultimately will be on scholarship.

Any student can be in Akhigbe'sstead, but what did he do to become somuch attractive for employment now andscholarship offers.

He did not start as a genius. He didhis university matriculation exams withJoint Matriculation Examination Board

Akhigbe thrice without success. In his first attempthe got 200 and the cut off then was 230;he tried again and scored 230 thefollowing year, but the cut off mark hadbeen upped to 270 for Unilag'smechanical engineering that year; so hegave up and opted for National Diplomaat Yaba College of Technology. Aftergetting his OND, the thought of Unilag as“the university of first choice,” made himattempt getting direct admission withOND, but he was turned down because hehad an upper credit and he was told to tryagain with Higher National Diploma(HND) with distinction. And he finishedwith distinction and actually got admittedinto Unilag. This first scale of successwas possible because he knew what hewanted, what was required, he went for itand got it. He called his driving force“self-motivation.” There was yet anothermotivation from the mother and thisbrings us to the role of parents in moldingstudents for life after campus.

All students cannot be Akhigbe; you can still succeed with even a third class aswe shall find out.

Akhigbe was trained by his parents,the society, the university, thegovernment and he also 'trained' himself.His journey was full of ups and downs,but at a point he found his secret ofkeeping his ups only (in academics).STARRYS OBAZEI reports...


C o v e r

…Parental motivation

ll the human segments that affect the training of children to complete adulthood start from the parents. Parents come under society, even as all other segments. This segmentation

and separation are necessary because of the grips they have on children right from infancy. Under society we have parents, societal values, basic schools and industrial sector. The government and the universities stand as independents.

Parental direction is needed to help geniuses to remain on the right track and to make anybody above or below average intelligence a genius. Parents are heads of families and families are the tiniest units of the society. Evidences abound that some geniuses are really made by motivation from parents, who make themselves “teachers, companions, communicators and friends” to their children as prescribed by the book, The Secrets of Family Happiness.

We don't know the role the parents played to make Einstein studious. In the case of Newton he lacked emotional support of parents. His father had died and when barely three his mother remarried and handed him over to her grand-mother.

However, parents play pivotal roles in carving the attitudinal lives of their children.

Some parents also catch their children young by testing them out in many fields. At this stage the parents (not in Nigeria, but in Europe and America; though Nigeria can also start doing so) employ private teachers/experts to inculcate the special knowledge in science, linguistics, mathematics, sports, vocations, among others; to their children. 'Knowledge is power,' the saying goes, so parents must know what to do to prepare their children with knowledge acquisition. This equips the students to live up to the saying that 'when the going gets tough, the tough gets going' (successfully)

As soon as a child is born, parents assume a great responsibility to nurture this child to adulthood. They should therefore monitor their children so as to guide them aright especially in their choice of careers. They should also teach their children to love reading and studying. One pregnant mother, an avid reader herself, has already started reading to her baby in the womb.” She told SPUR: “I love reading and I want my child to love reading and studying. In my almost three decades of life, I have seen that diligence (in reading and studying) is much better than intelligence. Every diligent student ultimately turns out intelligent. From early stage, I am going to teach my child how to read from as early as between two and three years and I'll buy many books of interest for my baby.”

Parents may be blamed for certain failures in their children's upbringing. Most parents do not instill in their wards a sense of hard work and entrepreneurship; as such most of these young ones grow up without basic training. They go through school with the mind-set that as long as they have a degree then they are made for life. Parents are the guardians of youth but most parents have relented in their duties.

A parent points out the problem: “Parents are expected to guide these young ones on their career choices but what plays out in most homes is a case where the children decide on career paths with no real reason for choosing that path, except maybe their friend is taking the same path, or they are tired of sitting at home and they want to also be in school. Whereas the real situation should have been that the parents monitor their wards. They should

Abe able to identify the ward's strongest point and this can be traced from the basic academic foundation –primary school. At the secondary school level it will now be clear whether the child is a commercial, arts or science student, before the eventual choice of discipline in the university.

“Aside helping them choose a course that when they graduate, there is a market for them, they should also help these young ones imbibe skills –vocational skills -that would help them survive in the real world. Whatever vocational skill they parents have, the should transfer such to their children and they can never tell, the children may enhance that trade with their education. Most of these young ones do not know what is involved in the real world; they have been shielded all their lives and by the time they graduate from school and find out it is a different ball game, it may be too late. We, as parents, know the truth about life; we will be doing our children a disservice if we do not prepare them for this reality.

“For example, my second daughter is today a fashion designer and make-up artist. I caught her young. Right from primary school, she fell in love with drawing which she developed so much in secondary school. Her drawing took a tilt when she started drawing Cinderella designs. Cinderella film had a hold on her mentally. She began creating fashion styles even from styles she observed in nature. She once saw a flower that resembled a palm tree with steps on its trunk. She designed her skirt like that and a tailor made it for her. When I heard about this, I made her to learn tailoring after secondary school while waiting for admission into the university.

“When I also noticed she was good in mixing colours (which she learnt from fine art in secondary school) for her personal facial treatment, I sent her to learn make-up and she bought a make-up kit from Forever Living Products. Today, she is happy living on those two professions. She has her shop now and her clients are always increasing. Though now at Nigerian Open University studying

mass communication, she is looking forward to remaining self-employed.”

Like one Dr. Akpata said, “Most of the time, the youth when they are making key decisions on the courses they would study do not have enough information about themselves; they don't study themselves. Most of the decisions are likely made under ‘duress'. The fact remains that when parents fail in this role; you find young ones going into the higher institutions to study courses they have no interest whatsoever in, or cannot cope with and the result is naturally disastrous.”

Another parents added: There are courses and there are courses. Some courses in themselves are already professional. Medicine, accounting, pharmacy, engineering, education, among others, are professional. My child wanted to study B .A. English, but after listening to my analysis she went to the university to study B. Ed. English, which is simply B. A. plus education, in English. She could apply for jobs requiring graduates in English and if it is a teaching job, she is now better qualified than a B. A. English graduate. However, a B. A. English graduate is not indefinitely disadvantaged. One can still go for post-graduate diploma in education, journalism, among others.”

One graduate who spent years looking for jobs, suddenly

Most of these young ones do not know what is involvedin the real world; they have been shielded all their livesand by the time they graduate from school and find out itis a different ball game, it may be too late.


C o v e r

realized that working with his hands could be just all that he needed. He went to Wale Adenuga film production and photography school and after his training he is now no longer able to cope with video and photo coverage jobs he gets. Sometimes he gives out jobs to fellow video and photography professionals. Within six months he bought a very good car as a necessity for carrying his equipment and quickly getting to his assignment venues; and he is now happy working with his hand.

It is also easier for professionals to acquire their degrees and become job creators instead seekers. With a varsity education such people will do better in quality production and marketing. Theywill do better than their ‘illiterate’ counterparts. So, in the alternative, those who studied unprofessional courses, can learn one trade/occupation or the other. Plying such trades always leads to greater success as their education will be brought to bear on their practice as well.

One University of Ibadan 25 year old male graduate told SPUR that he regrets studying an unprofessional course. “Now I want to go to the United States of America for a technical education in a vocational institution. My father, who is U.S. based, is organizing that for me. Afterwards, I shall come back to establish my own business in Nigeria, according to my dad.”

“I am particularly concerned about the grade my child will pass out with,” Mr. Stephen Azu said. “I had to educate him about the university environment, that he should start firing from the first day in school with the goal of obtaining nothing less than second class upper, even a first class. He made a first class and he has a culture of reading just anything. He enjoys it. Just to keep his aptitude high all the time! Just look at it now; acquired banks' workers are being sacked in their thousands and fresh graduates are on line for recruitment; what cadres of graduates are sought? Of course, second class upper and first class only. So if you are going to the university to play and fail to get either second class upper or first class, you are simply wasting your time as far as Nigeria is concerned these days. As a parent, I had made these facts clear to my son. Today, he is happy to be positioned as a graduate with first class.”

Another set of graduates are also having a swell time with passions turned to professions.

Let us start with TY Bello, graduate, musician and photographer. TY, as she is popularly called, is both a singer and a photographer. She sang among the musicians that ushered in President Goodluck Jonathan to Nigerians on May 29, 2011 and today she is still working with the Presidency as an officialphotographer. What multiplicity of talents outside one's academic training!

Christopher Okondo is a graduate of business administration from the University of Ibadan. Before his admission, he fell in love

with photography, not just for earning income, but for the pleasure of admiring and praising God for his creative works. Some of his photographic souvenirs to his alma mater are in the university's library. “During my convocation,” he told SPUR, “the ViceChancellor told me, 'You are already employed. Just go ahead and exploit your field.' So when I left school, I pitched my tent with Kelechi Amadi-Obi, one of Nigeria's foremost photographers. (Kelechi Amadi also veered into photography outside his course of study Law) I left him last year to set up my own office at Ogba, Lagos where I am doing photography and other related works.” SPUR visited his office and noticed that his works in photo-books are out of this world; and he is now an employer of labour.

ol’Victor Ojelabi is an electrical engineer, but he is now making millions every year doing graphic designs (specializing in magazine) for many companies.

One interesting fellow made a living out of his ‘mobile’passion –love for cars. He moved from being a mere lover of cars to becoming a 'mechanic.' He learnt it through knowledge of everything about cars. He also became a ‘journalist’ when he started writing 'MOTORING' for FAME Weekly in the 90s and later for ENCOMIUM magazine. Much later he became an OVATIONmagazine correspondent in the United States of America. His name is Tosan Aduaye. He was not a trained journalist, but a B. Sc. Accounting professional. While pursuing his ICAN qualification, he took his love for motoring into owning a workshop at the back of his house where he repaired all sorts of big cars for his friends who introduced more clients to him. He basically lived on this along with his pay in journalism. Right now in the United States, SPUR learnt, he now publishes a magazine. SPUR hopes to get in touch with him and publish his interview in the next edition.

You may know a neighbour next door who is doing the same. There can't be anything as gratifying and edifying as turning one's passion into a profession.

… The corporate organizations

ay back when our parents were kids, (like, ages ago) the fate of graduates was much more certain. There were not many of them in school, and once they graduated the

corporations came with job offer letters with cars and accommodations included. There was prestige in graduating and that was the ticket to the good life then.

Over the years, more students fought their way into the universities. The graduates doubled and tripled while the corporations struggled to stay afloat in a steadily declining economy. The corporations stopped coming to the students, and the large population of students had to start making the application letter trips to the corporate Nigeria.

When graduates who have never worked come out seeking new frontiers, they will most times have to attend interviews alongside veterans looking for better employments. While some companies do conduct separate interviews for fresh graduates, the bulk of them have to fight with applicants with years of experience.

So NGOs have now come to the rescue. Some Non-Governmental Organizations, like Fate Foundation in Lagos and Learning for Living in Delta State, have taken it upon themselves to close the gap between fresh graduates and their more experienced counterparts. These organizations set up training for graduates to help them get jobs with companies and also help them start up entrepreneurial activities. Some companies have now formed foundations that partner with NGOs to help the universities complete the 'baking' process of the graduates.

Mrs. Kaddy Obaseki who has worked with NGOs had this to say: “One way NGOs and corporate bodies can help fresh graduates is by helping them have confidence and focus, because when they come out of school and face unemployment, it is not very easy for them to focus. NGOs can help them to think outside the box. We have to present raw materials where students who are naturally gifted can benefit from.

W

Goodluck Jonathan, President, Federal Republic of Nigeria


C o v e r

However, the first challenge these NGOs face is getting the graduates to attend training and seminars. While some of these training might be a bit expensive, a lot of them are free. All the participants need is the transport fare. It is important to state that the drowning man who does not stretch out his hand cannot easily be helped out of the water. Graduates have to realize that learning does not end in the campus or at convocation. And no one has ever suffered allergic reactions to further study.

Mrs. Obaseki also appeals to companies to relax their rules on the GPA requirements for applicants, especially with the undeniable fact that quite a few of these points were not obtained through study.

“Companies that set questions and allow many graduates take their aptitude tests have a higher chance of gathering a healthy crop of employees than those who just put out a newspaper advert for 'first class or second class upper' graduates. Even better, companies that offer graduate trainee programmes with participation certificates, and make their selections based on the training, contribute even more to the society. The graduates who are not selected can use their certificates from the organization to enhance their curriculum vitae,” she says.

… The role of the industrial sector

angote Group of Companies has shown how much the industrial sector can contribute to the generation of employments for Nigeria's teeming youth with its staff

strength of more than 12, 000. This year will see Dangote employing more with Ibese Cement Plant commissioned. Small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) also contribute more than the giant private companies. SMEs are notably called “the engine room” of biggest economic activities in any country.

However, the real sector is not optimally contributing its quota to creating jobs for all classes of Nigerians because of the absence of enabling environment due principally to the lack of critical infrastructure. This situation had led to the exit of many multinationals to a better environment in Ghana. Notable companies like Michelin Nigeria Ltd and Dunlop Nigeria Ltd left Nigeria for Ghana principally because of the inclement climate of operation bordering on one major problem –lack of adequate power supply. It is now frighteningly rumoured that Patterson Zochonis (PZ), Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Unilever and International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and even Guinness are eyeing the Ghanaian soil for their operations. While these companies are in Ghana, employing Ghanaians and paying taxes to the government there, their major market destination for their products is ultimately Nigeria. This is so unfortunate and more so because there still

D

seems to be no hope of solving the endemic and perennial problems of inadequate power and other critical infrastructure.

Universities

he governor of Lagos, Raji Babatunde Fashola (SAN) got it right when he accurately narrowed graduate unemployment down on the actions and inactions of our citadels of higher

learning. He said at an annual lecture of Post-graduate studies, at the University of Lagos: “The real problem is our national underdevelopment. I think it is therefore pertinent to explore the question whether Nigeria poor showing on the development index can be attributed to our failure to use the instrumentality of education and research to improve social welfare.

He continued: “In the light of that assessment we can go on to consider the extent to which our research institutions typified by universities have been able to deliver on their statutory mandate to proffer possible steps which may be taken to strengthen them in that regard. I deal with what I call the research and report mandate of universities. According to the mandate of universities, one will expect them to be at the fore front of efforts to solve our perennial problems such as the design and construction of affordable housing with locally available materials, water purification, development of alternative and renewable energy sources, agricultural development, management of small businesses and cottage industries, crime investigation, corruption in public administration and religious and ethnic conflicts. However, events compel me to the conclusion in Nigeria we have allowed too wide a golf between our educational institutions and the demands of society at large. In other words, we take education and research and the award of degrees almost as an end and not as a means to an end. I ask the question how many of our public officers have come back to the university to share what they learned and this is what you see in other nations that we aspire to compete against.“

Pointing to outdated curriculum as a glaring culprit, Fashola said: “We must be practical about the curriculum that we apply in our schools today and it is only when the town and the gown meets that we can have very effective and efficient curriculum. Our curriculum has become so outdated that most employers are compelled to retrain and re-orientate fresh employees to meet the demands of the work place in many instances the employees are urged to forget the theories they learned in school and wake up to the realities of the outside world.” In other words, the governor is emphasizing here that Nigeria should imbibe what obtains in the developed countries; their curricula are revised from time to time to suit their nation's developmental needs and they vary from one country to another at various times; that is what makes them developed.

The students

s the popular maxim says, “life is a process, no one can manipulate it.” Every man seeks improvement, because he has been wired to do so. The process from conception

through infancy to adulthood is an evidence of self-improvement. However, this improvement comes in diverse forms, depending on what each person wants to accomplish.

Some young adults can also wake up any time and get devoted to their studies in and out of campus. Akhigbe’s speech after being announced the best student at Unilag, acknowledged those with lower grades as possible successes in their endeavours. Gani Fawehinmi was a first class lawyer in practice, but at the university he made a third class; Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, a literary giant or genius, did not make a first class; Keyamo is vibrant and brilliant, but at the university he did not make a first class. You are what you want to be!

People wake up from their cerebral ‘palsy’ any time and make use of their dormant mental capacity. Many human brain cells are empty, waiting to be used by you. It has been found out that the

T

A

Brig-Gen. Nnamdi Okorie-Affia, DG-NYSC

Prof. (Mrs) Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa'iMinister for Education


C o v e r

brain is like a library; some libraries get filled to the brim and no expansion is planned whatsoever for accommodating more books. But in the case of the human brain, it is almost indefinitely expandable in operation. It is ready to absorb and absorb its 'dietary' nutrients without feeling overfed or suffering from constipation. And its food is nothing but information, especially the ones obtained from reading and studying. Studying is the foundation of success in and out of campus for graduates. Studying made Einstein and Newton. It also made our own Iziren.

Studying though is not enough. What course is to be studied is important and its relevance to life after campus must be checked. This stage involves parents, students, primary and secondary school career counselors. Some careers are chosen much earlier, when the children begin to exhibit talents in sports, music and other professions.

The quest for improvement has translated into many discoveries and inventions of our time. In actual fact, it is a compelling factor that informs most individuals' decisions to be educated by going to school. In the pre-literate society this idea was conceived to be a process whereby individuals go to an experienced person to learn a vocation or craft; after certification they became free to set up their own establishments.

An undergraduate, who opted for anonymity, delved profoundly into graduate unemployment and possible solutions. He says: “In the early period of modern education, students were not being taught theoretical principles alone; they were also armed with necessary skills and knowledge to prepare them for the task ahead. But this noble practice has since stopped in the nation's varsities. In the last decade, the veracity of Nigerian graduates' abilities has constantly been questioned; the passiveness of the higher institutions to respond in time to this great challenge with appropriate measures has in part resulted in the huge unemployment rate we have in the country at present. Sometimes corporate employers look beyond the shores of Nigeria for their human capacity needs. It is unfortunate.

“Most graduates have also erroneously fallen victim of the one-way disposition of most institutions as they graduate with no other skill besides their academic certificate. As an undergraduateor aspiring one, endeavour to enlist in a vocational programme today.

Interestingly, this graduate's love for graduate entrepreneurship made him to search for cases of encouragement to others. “I wrote some time ago about a young man, an undergraduate student of one of Nigeria's leading state universities, who is an established hair stylist. Apprenticeship in any vocation for either graduate or undergraduate is no longer a reproach, no, those times have gone! If you are on semester break or during ASUU strike, use that time line to enlist for a vocation, a step in this direction saves a great deal,” he says.

“In the course of my job, I had met chemical engineers who are into tailoring, they sure have some advantages over other tailors

who did not see the walls of ivory towers; they are now job providers with a difference indeed! Most of them started while they were undergraduates. The economy in return rewards their labour because they dared to take proactive steps that contribute to its growth.

“Graphic designing is a goldmine in this present time, acquiring this skill requires a little financial investment, but it is very lucrative if you know your onions. Computer institutes are all over the place for you to learn from. As a student you stand a better chance of grasping stuff faster and better; sincerely, I tell you the best time you have to maximize opportunity is now, I have been through the process and now I wish I could have equipped myself earlier than I did.

“Decoration is one area undergraduates can invest time and seek expertise. You can start earning hundreds of thousands right from school, and after school you could decide to open a decorating outlet. Mind you, after the basic knowledge from school, enlist for professional training to sharpen your grasp of the trade. Let me quickly chip this in; while you learn to decorate also seek to acquire skills in bakery because the two go hand in hand. By doing so, you are expanding your scope of business and I know many Nigerian graduates who are into party decoration and baking of cakes.

“Often graduates leave school for the National Youth Service Corps unprepared, therefore many a time opportunities come but without a corresponding level of preparedness they are lost. At the three weeks compulsory orientation camp a lot of business training

…Societal values

ocietal values also affect students and if negativethey can cause a national malaise. Can you stand toSbe different? Success may trail those who are

actually different.We spoke to a Youth Corps member, who regretted

the ugly norm in Nigeria. “People like material acquisition without producing anything,” he says. “They achieve thisthrough corruption, frauds (419) and ritual killings. Also anenvironment where people tend to prefer consuminggoods imported to producing goods locally portendsnothing but poverty, industrial backwardness and virtualexport of labour now resulting into high unemployment.This is our worrisome state in Nigeria. We need a change.

Leaders must also stop embezzling public funds andstashing same to foreign accounts. Patriotism is lacking.Without patriotism tackling unemployment will be likeshadow chasing; nothing can be really achieved and this isreally unfortunate.

Late Gani Fawehinmi Wole Soyinka Festus Keyamo


C o v e r

and skill acquisition seminars are part of the programmes corps members are mandated to participate in. A short term loan facility with little or no interest rate is available for access. Opportunity meets with preparation for folks who have preparedness ahead of time. They seize it and before the service year winds up, they are job providers.

“Today it is somewhat easy to finger parents for most of the woes that befall their wards neglecting completely the fact that, it is not entirely their fault. There is a popular adage where I come from that says after you were given birth to by your parents, you have the sole responsibility to rebirth yourself. This implies that when your parents have done all they could by enlisting you for programmes whether in school or other means of transmitting knowledge, the onus lies on you to make something tangible out of such efforts. Of course, no parent will do your semester examinations and other crucial means of certification for you. Most often a time students allow youthful exuberance to be cloud their sense of purpose and in the process get involved in trivial activities. Diligence is key attribute no one can do without; therefore as you traverse this essential phase of life I sincerely implore you to imbibe these congruent elements.”

Governments

oth the Federal and state governments have roles to play to reduce the rising tide of unemployment in Nigeria. It is true that government has no business in business as regards

activities that produce real products and services except those necessary function of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

Statistics has shown that Nigeria's unemployed population is swelling in an unfortunate age bracket of 15 and 24 and 25 and 44. “This is time-bomb bracket. The government must do something

B

fast to detonate that bomb.”President Jonathan’s swift action was not surprising as he

announced programmes to cater for the more than 14 million unemployed in 2011.

Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria nicknamed YouWin!, and an estimated 110,000 jobs are being planned as part of government`s efforts to tackle unemployment in the next four years. The President disclosed that due to the age distribution of youths, “which makes them more in number”, it was imperative for them to take the driver's seat of the country's development and therefore need all the support his administration could offer. Under the YouWin! programme thriving enterprises would submit business plans for expansion which will take in other youths and build capacities through the financial assistance to 3,600 youths. Again,over 3,600 Nigerian youth are estimated to benefit from the programme. It is expected that the new scheme would create between 80,000 and 110,000 sustainable jobs over the next four years.

The Federal Government holds the view that working directly with young talented people or the gifted ones will help in solving the problem of employment. The President also reiterated that N50 billion will be set aside for employment generation. In this endeavour, partnership with the private sector is very critical.

It was the need for the Federal Government to create job opportunities that informed President Jonathan's Economic Advisory Committee to take Agriculture as a priority. Agriculture is the second biggest contributor to Nigeria's gross domestic product. But it has been neglected. Even being able to feed ourselves will make the much spent –N1.3 trillion spent in 2010– to be channeled to other areas of necessities. Government has to deliberately improve on agriculture and the economy generally so as to effectconsistent and sustained growth that can support employment. Some national economic growth reports had been chaffed by

Kelechi Amadi-Obi TY Bello


experts. Economic growth should definitely affect employment rate, reducing it. But Nigeria's increase in economic growth as claimed by CBN statistics was once taken to the cleaners by Pat Utomi. He called Nigeria's economy an act of God economy. He continued that the Almighty gave us oil and when there is less bombing of the oil pipelines, we would export more crude which translates to more money and if the rain supports agricultural yield, there would be increase in both national consumption and exportation. These mean more income and increase in GDP tagged increase in growth rate by the government, whereas everything is God-given. Indeed an act of God economy!

We practically produce nothing in Nigeria. A visit to Shopriteor any big department store would make you pity the state of the nation. Things sold in these stores are more than 90-something per cent imported. Even tooth-pick and handkerchiefs are not produced in Nigeria. China exports tooth-pick to Nigeria and right now they even have plastic tooth-pick. Handkerchiefs are not produced here because they cannot be sold for N50; the cost of production here is just too high.

Think about all the shoes and clothes worn in this country; virtually up to 90 per cent are imported. Our shores are just open for the importation of all kinds of shoes and clothes. And the more dehumanizing part of it all is the importation of second hand wears with the most dehumanizing being importation of pants, bras, towels and stockings. Just imagine what jobs would be created if 50 per cent of our clothing materials and wears are made in Nigeria. It is only the government that can show the way to reversing it.

Much had been said about agriculture. It is now like a jingle. In the time past, Oceanic Bank was much in the news as regards its stand on SMEs and this reporter had the privilege of investigating banks truly in support of SMEs, it was discovered that all the banks had SMEs department, but Oceanic Bank did not have one. Clear duplicity of the public! Nigeria has no 'department' for making agricultural revolution a success. What with the N1.3 trillion spent

in 2010 importing food. Nigeria has an overwhelming comparative advantage in agriculture than any other country in the world. Our cash crops: cotton, cocoa, rubber, groundnut and palm produce have been neglected over the years. And there is no sign of revival, even now –eight full years away from 2020. For example, Nigerian women like print and wax (cloths) which are products of cotton. But textile industry almost became non-existent and that had almost cost the country the loss of cotton production. Right now it is being reversed by an Indian company. An industrialist, who uses cotton for the production of cotton wool for hospitals, told SPURthat cotton farmers are becoming happy again as the Indian company is 'spoiling' them with cash encouragement to keep producing cotton. But unfortunately Nigerian users of cotton for production virtually beg this company for their industrial cotton consignments. This company is now a monopoly. They are also into rice production big time.

There seems to be virtually no area Nigerians are seriously devoted to production. “When I am on the road, I see differentkinds of cars. Cars, cars everywhere, but none is produced in Nigeria. We basically do not produce anything mechanical, electrical and electronic, but we are among the greatest users of

such things in the world. Why are we crying about rising unemployment when all we know is to consume the products of other nationals' industrial hard work? The saying that Nigeria does not produce bicycle spoke is nothing but true,” Wole Adenuga, told SPUR

“We do not need to have all the know-hows in the world before we can begin the production of things. All that the Federal Government has to do is to provide security physically and legally for foreign investors, provide reliable rail and road systems and above all, make uninterrupted supply of electricity possible in Nigeria. At this stage nothing stops the FG from encouraging big companies that sell cars like Toyota and Kia Motors, to manufacture or simply assemble these cars in Nigeria. Many other big product brands can also be encouraged to do so. China and South Korea went through this way to their industrialization. They'forced' American companies to do so in their countries and over time they 'stole' the technologies. China, in spite of its highest population, is even employing more of their people on foreign lands through state-sponsored capitalism while they practise communism at home. They do many things to make sure their citizens are employed. But Nigeria, before fuel subsidy removal, had the highest cost of production in the world. And yet the government, simply aiming to make money for its own purse, decided to make the cost of production much higher still when it could have opted to remove the cause of fuel subsidy in the first place, which is the government's inability to refine enough crude oil for local consumption. Sometimes, I want to cry. I know that future generations of Nigerians will blame our generation for failing to do what is right in order to grow our economy and employ generality of our people,” Mr. Adenuga told SPUR.

One analyst and publisher recently said that 'unitarism is the cause of unemployment because it destroys creativity. With a powerful central government simply sharing federal allocation from crude oil earnings, everybody is mainly focused on how to

share the national cake. “Nobody is thinking about what happens next

when the crude oil price falls to as low as 45 dollars per barrel. Nigeria is sitting on an economic time bomb. Even in the petroleum industry, our local content as regards exploration and exploitation know-how is very low. The only thing we do is just get what accrues from the sale of crude oil. Nothing more! The petro-chemical industry has not been developed and that holds in its bowel hundreds of thousands of jobs for Nigerians,” he said.

Whatever the government has done or it is trying to do, the problem of unemployment remains solidly untouched. AYouth Corps member told SPUR: “YouWin programme for empowering successful business plans of young entrepreneurs could have been highly successful if it is done in Ghana, where electricity supply is regular. The first thing first remains the first thing first. It cannot be circumvented. Lack of power is Nigeria’sNo. 1 hindrance of industrialization. Spending money on other things is simply laughable. Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was very right when he told President Yar'Adua to prune his Seven point agenda to “two or even one –electricity.” Nigeria may be shameless when it watches multinational employers of labours leaving our shores for Ghana. Putting N50billion aside for employment programme is still a misplacement of priorities if electricity deficiency remains unsolved.”

Additional reports by Pamela Okoro, Lola Ojo, Patience Omeruo, Adeolu C.Alupogun-Iran and DoyinAdedeji

“...Sometimes, I want to cry. I know that

future generations of Nigerians will blame

our generation for failing to do what is right

in order to grow our economy and employ

generality of our people”


C o v e r

Interview

Your experience leaving the bank after 13 years to start out on yourownI was in the bank for 13 years. I started out in the legal department as thecompany's secretary and legal adviser and I enjoyed it. It was a niceplace to work; it was a transnational bank, so we did a lot of traveling inWest Africa and all that. But after a few years I started feeling a bitrestless because doing legal work in a bank is quite restrictive. So Ithought maybe I am getting a bit bored with just the corporate law, so Iasked to be moved to banking because I was company secretary whichmeant I had dealt with the board of directors, the shareholders and so on.They thought, 'you will be a good person to head the private bankingarm,' so I went in there and found out that it was actually not what Iexpected and I no longer enjoyed my work.

It was easy because for me it is important to be fulfilled. It is alsoimportant for me to love what I was doing and at that time I hatedMonday mornings. I didn't want to go to work, I was bored, I was notenjoying it. I was very well paid, highly regarded, and I could reallyhave stayed there. But I knew that this was not life, there must be moreto life than just getting up in the morning, wearing your clothes, doingthe same old things and coming back home; I decided that I was justgoing to take that leap of faith. I did that by asking the people who werein their own businesses, 'what made you decide to go into that business?'and for everybody it was basically just what they loved doing, 'I justlove to design spaces,’ ‘I love to do clothes,' ‘I just love cooking.' Ibegan thinking, 'what it is that I really love to do?' And that was how Imade it. It is very difficult because there are so many benefits that go with being in a corporate job which is why everybody is afraid; you giveup the free medical, the free tickets, the free holidays, the free car and adriver. It was a tough decision to make, but I was totally frustrated.

The early days of Eventful LtdYou know, when you want to do something that is totallyunconventional, because 10 years ago, and it was exactly 2002 I startedEventful, you had to really have a lot of confidence in yourself and whatyou do because if you don't and it doesn't work you are going to beshaken up and you are going to give up. But I was just convinced that this gift could be harnessed into a business.Although at the beginning, itwas slow, that conviction just kept me going. While with Eco Bank Iwas already organizing events; I was responsible for the HR departmentas such if we had retreats and AGMs I would organize them because I was the company's secretary.

What I was more worried about was whether the personal eventswould take off. Whether a traditional Yoruba family will hand theirdaughter's wedding to a total stranger, but in terms of the corporateevents I was quite sure that people will really get into that. Though it was slow I had the backup, I didn't just start and go and take a fancifuloffice on Victoria Island and employ 10, 000 staff, no! I had my husbandgive me one room in his own office. I had just one personal assistant andit started out that way. I was like, 'well, if I do this for two years and it doesn't work out, I'll just become Madam Executive Director in Mr.Zaccheaus' office.' (laughs) So I had that as back up plan, but basicallybecause I had worked in the corporate world and I had the network; oncepeople realized this was what I was doing -it was just by word of mouthand many responded: 'Oh, Yewande is doing..., ah, ok, let's askYewande to do it!' And you do one, you do it well and somebody elsesees what you've done and asks you to do it again.And that was just howwe grew.

‘Don't give up on your dream’

ewande Zaccheaus is the CEO and

owner of Eventful Ltd, She began her Ycareer as a legal officer in the

Nigerian-American Merchant Bank and later

joined Ecobank Nigeria Plc, where she

worked for 13 years as the pioneer

Company Secretary and Legal Adviser

before resigning to set up Eventful Ltd in

2002.

She was the guest at this month's

edition of 90 Minutes Speaker Series, a

monthly forum where leading business

people and entrepreneurs are interviewed

as they share their business and life

experiences with young professionals. The

event which took place at the Bogobiri

House in Ikoyi was a platform for passionate

entrepreneurs to tap into the wealth of

experience of the Eventful Ltd boss. SPUR

magazine's Patience Omeruo and Adedoyin

Adedeji were present and bring you excerpts

from that event.


Yewande Zaccheaus

Vital ingredients for starting a businessPassion is key, because it has to be something you must love to do.And Ithink that when you have passion for what you are doing, when thechallenges come, because they will, it is never going to be a bed of roses,even now there are still some issues that happen, but because you lovewhat you are doing and you are fulfilled doing it, you'll press on.Therefore, I think that passion is key.

Another important ingredient is that you must have a clear visionof where you want to go. Not everybody has to build a multinationalbusiness, you may, but what is right for you at this time is to keep yourbusiness small, maybe because you have young children you are takingcare of or maybe because you don't want to be a highflying go-getter.

And then you must be very good with your finances. It's veryimportant. If you are reckless with your finances and you start abusiness and you are not keeping records; this is where a lot of us get itwrong especially women. It mustn't be just a hobby, it must besomething you want to do and do well so that you can leave a legacy. Atthe end of the day, you would have done this thing for five or ten yearsand the minute you leave it alone or you walk away, it won't die withyou.

Inspiring the next generation of leader in NigeriaWe need to acquire skills; I think it is actually quite important thatpeople acquire the skills that are necessary. And I am not talking aboutjust going to the university, I think if you know that these are peculiar areas that you want to go into, you need to understand that you mustequip yourself for whatever areas you are going into, so whether it is ashort course which are available and are very cheap in places like FateFoundation, I think it is important that we are continuously improvingourselves.

ChallengesThe key challenge in business in Nigeria for most entrepreneurs and forme has always been the issue of finding the right staff. I have found outthat people are always in a hurry, not ready to wait and really learn. Andwhen they do learn they are not ready to put their own time back into thecompany, everybody wants to leave before they are even ready to go offand do their own thing. And you find out that you are continuouslytraining and just when you've got them to that point where you can say,'yes, I can leave them to this thing,' they are off.

Also, that is another challenge for everybody in business.Electricity is such a problem that you need to have your generating set.

Your take on perseveranceAbsolutely, never give up. That is the other thing, never give up,because if you want something that badly you really put your might to it,don't give up on your dream.

Running your businessOnce you start your own business, especially the type of business that Ido, there is no time. Once you are doing an event, whether it's on aSaturday or in Maiduguri, wherever it is, and the people who for thethree weeks to six months that you are planning their events they areyour latest best friends because you are in and out of their office orhomes; they are in and out of yours too, you know everything aboutthem. It totally consumes you. So you have to really be very mindful anddon't let it overtake your life because you have to keep that balance. It's ahard thing to do, when you are in it and you are doing it well yourbusiness is you. It's not just about something you can keep separate; it'swho you are and what you do, so you are living and breathing it all thetime.

I find that people still say, 'Yewande, you have to be there.' They are not just going to allow anybody else because event management issuch a personalized thing I find that I'm still very much involved but notlike before.

I had a major event for a huge bank but I was able to go in there for acouple of hours and I was able to talk to them on the phone and ask howit was going before I got there and then once I finished that I'll go back tocheck them and be there. I think if it's something you are so concernedabout the quality and the standard you can't really take your eyes off thework.

Maintaining balanceI said it is very difficult, my vacations are sacred and nothing comesbetween my vacations especially my children. My son is grown up now,in the summer, he is in the university so he doesn't really need me for hisholidays anymore but I still have my young daughter who is just 12 andAugust is my month, it's one month that we go away because reallywhen you are here no matter what if there is an event then you are doingit, somebody is calling you; you are going to some meetings. I had an event, the president's daughter when Obasanjo was there, and also hisson was getting married I just let them know that I won't be there but mystaff will handle it, the same thing with Dangote's daughter. Just to let you know that it does not matter the level of the people and the worstthat can happen is to say, ‘if you are not there we will give it tosomebody else’and I'm ready to take that risk. Most times they'd say, ‘ifyou trust your staff, that's ok,’ then we'll trust them and it worked outwell. I go on vacation with a group of friends, my husbands and twoother couples, every year we do that. It started as a joke and we justrealized, my God, it is an amazing time out!' Especially, good timeswith the church brethren, but I love watching movies, I love theatre andI love trying new restaurants. I have not still been able to switch off myphone at night; everybody says that they switch off their phones. I justfeel that it's at that time I switch that phone off that something that needsto come to me will miss me.

Your definition of successMy life comprises of three major areas, my home -my husband andchildren, my family that is my parents and siblings because I come froma very close knit family, then my spiritual life, my walk with God, mywork in the church, and then my business. So for me if I have succeededin one and not in the others then I'm not a successful person. If you've been able to do reasonably well in the areas that count in your lifewithout compromising, I think for me that's success. I think if I havebeen an amazing business woman and I have a miserable marriage that'snot success, if my children don't have a relationship with me; for me it'sbeing a whole person, it's being content and having a reasonable degreeof happiness with every area of my life and that none is suffering,because at the end of the day you have to really like yourself, it doesn'treally matter what other people think of you as long as you know, 'theseare my values and these are the things that are important to me and Ihave done my best in each of these areas regardless of what other peoplethink.' It may not be somebody else's definition of success but if yourdefinition of success is how 'far I have done with these areas' and you'veachieved all that and you live a happy balanced life, then you are asuccessful person.

I n t e r v i e w


Zaccheaus

By Patience Omeruo

sthe 41 convocation of the University of Nigeria,Nsukka witnessed the conferment of variousTdiplomas, first and higher degree certificates, to a

total of 10,243 students.Ninety-four of the graduands received the first class

honours, 2,305 second class honours (upper division),4,958 second class honours (lower division), 1,593received the third class honours, while 858 personsgraduated with unclassified certificates and diplomas.Doctorate degrees were awarded to 170 individuals,master's degrees to 892 persons as well as 191 postgraduatedegrees.

The convocation ceremony kicked off on Monday,rd

January 23 , 2012 with a pre- convocation press briefingby the vice chancellor, Prof. Bartho Okolo at the Enugucampus of the university. A public lecture delivered by Dr.Joseph Shevel, Principal, Galilee Institute, followed onTuesday, January 24 at the Princess AlexandriaAuditorium.

thIt was all sports and fun on Wednesday 25 January, as

the convocation ceremony stepped down the formalitiesfor a day. First stop was at the Akanu Ibiam Stadium wherethe guests were thrilled to a football match, and later, thegaiety climaxed at the Music Night.

thOn Thursday, 26 January, the university played host

to former president of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who delivered the convocation lecture titled “Educationand development” at the Princess Alexandria Auditorium.Afterwards, guests were treated to a cocktail dinner hostedby the vice-chancellor. The day was crowned with thepresentation of awards by the university vice-chancellor tooutstanding graduating students.

The convocation proper took place on January 27th atthe Margaret Ekpo Convocation Arena, where degreeswere conferred on the graduating students.AJumat servicewas held afterwards at the university mosque. A filmpresentation by the Theatre and Film Studies departmentbrought to an end the day's activities.

The conferment of the postgraduate diplomas, higherdegrees and award of honorary degrees was done at theMargaret Ekpo ConvocationArena on the January 28, withthe Vice-chancellor's Lunch following immediately.

The highlight of this event was the award ofhonourary degrees to former president of the Nigerian BarAssociation, Olisa Agbakoba (SAN); co-founder; Lagosbusiness school, Prof. Pat Utomi; Chief Executive Officerand Managing Director of Fidelity Bank, Plc, Mr. ReginaldIhejiahi; TajudeenAfolabiAdeola and Patrick Uba.

The week-long ceremony rounded off with a churchservice at the university's Christ Church Chapel on the 29thof January, 2012.

...10,243 students graduateUNN CONVOCATION CEREMONY41st


E v e n t


Members of the Senate Ceremonials Committee outside the entrance of the Margaret Ekpo Convocation Arena

Guest lecturer, Dr. Shevel (right), Principal, Galilee Institute, in procession

Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Fidelity Bank Plc., Mr. Reginald Ihejiahi (centre), with Prof. Pat Utomi tagging along

Vice-chancellor, Prof. Bartho Okolo (left) with wife in procession

Former President of Nigerian Bar Association, Olisa Agbakogba (left) in a friendly chat with Professor Pat Utomi (centre)

E v e n t


Okoro Chinedu (right), best graduating student, department of Arts Education shaking hands with the VC

Eze Ogbonne (right), best graduating student, department of agricultural economics being congratulated by the VC

Graduands leading the procession Best graduating student, Computer Science, Nnabuko Uchenna (right), shaking hands with the VC

Ivonye Tochi, best graduating student, Archeology and Tourism

Overall best graduating student, Rev. Sis. Mary Onyido at the Class and Prize Night

Best graduating student, Mass Communication department, Mr. Nwachukwu Chidiebere, flanked by a

colleague

Fashion

By Patience Omeruo

our appearance speaks volume about your personality. In our last edition we talked abouthow a female should dress for an interview. This edition will focus on the males since themale folks also have to dress appropriately for an interview.Y

When you are invited for a job interview you are expected to dress right and it entailschoosing the right clothing, belt, tie, socks, jewelry, briefcase and even fragrance that will be wornto an interview.

In dressing for an interview, it starts with the choice of outfit. Choosing the right outfit for aninterview is very important! If you are not told to dress in a particular way, then a suit is your safebet. In choosing a suit you have to be mindful of the colour, fit, and style. Radom samplingrevealed that most interviewees believe black is the appropriate colour for formal suits, butfashion experts disagree. They say that dark grey and navy blue are the safe colours for formalinterviews as a black suit is too formal. Aside that, it allows for flexibility in the choice of a shirtand tie. In the fitting of your suit, it should be neither too tight nor loose; we don't want theinterview panel looking for you in your suit; besides, you would look ridiculous in such an outfit.

As for style, you need to be careful here and not be carried away by the wide array of styles inthe market. Aone or two buttoned two -piece matched suit is a safe bet with emphasis on matched;don't go trying to combine colours, and please, no double-breasted pocket suit. Choose a fabric

that is natural as it allows your skin to breathebetter but more important take the weatherinto consideration. Having decided on thesuit, the next thing is selecting the appropriateshirt to go with it. A white or blue solid shirtwith a straight collar and long sleeves is it.Avoid patterned shirts. You don't want to looktoo flashy. Your shirt should be 100 per cent cotton, no blend and most important, it shouldbe clean and well ironed.

Next stop is the tie; now most guys haveissues with selecting the appropriate tie for theright occasion and outfit. It is not wise toinvest in too many ties since tie styles changefrequently. In dressing up for an interview,stick to conservative colours that are solid.And if you must wear a patterned tie, don'toverdo it and make sure it goes with youroutfit. If possible use a red or blue tie, and it must be made of pure silk. No bow tie, I reallydon't know where people get the idea that theycan wear a bow tie to a formal interview.

Shoes are regarded as least important bypeople when dressing for an interview but it ishighly important. Remember the saying, 'putyour best foot first,' it comes to play here.Yourfootwear can make or mar whatever outfit youwear, so you need to pay attention to it. Wear ablack or brown leather shoe for an interview.Knowing that your shoes should go with yourbelt, a black pair of shoes would give you lesshassle and like I said in the last edition, don't forget to polish them.

Your socks are the bridge between yourtrousers and shoes. Your socks should be darkcoloured and long enough so that you do notshow any skin even when you are seated.

Now, most people have asked if the malecan accessorize. Well on a normal day, yes.When dressing for an interview, no. Limitjewelry to a simple wristwatch (nothingflashy, it is not a time to display your designercollections) and wedding band if you aremarried.

As for a brief case, do not carry anythinglarge, just a small briefcase or portfolio tokeep your curriculum vitae in.

When going for an interview, forget yourfavourite cologne or aftershave as a memberof the interview panel may be allergic to it.Use something not too strong, if you mustwear one. Make sure your nails are well keptand get a haircut.

Dressing right is the difference betweenyou and the next person. So the next time youstep out for an interview, dress to win yourdream job.

Dressing To Win Your

Dream Job II

MARCH 2012 3SPURMAG.COM 9

Event


UNIVERSITYOFLAGOS'

MOST MEMORABLE

CONVOCATION


he University of Lagos held itsconvocation ceremony on theT15th and 16th of February 2012

although activities lined up for theconvocation week started with a pre-convocation lecture on the 13th ofFebruary and a cocktail the followingday.

The convocation was earlier slated totake place in January but was postponeddue to the nationwide strike that tookplace in January.

University of Lagos, graduated3,224 students with 370 students from thefaculty of arts, 514 students from thefaculty of education, 313 from the facultyof environmental sciences, 583 studentsfrom the faculty of science, 504 studentsfrom the faculty of social science and 985students from the distant learninginstitute.

At the ceremony, the vice chancellorProf. Babatunde Shofoluwe presented tothe dignitaries and general public the firstclass students. The university had a totalof 118 first class graduates, thebreakdown is as follows: Faculty of Arts– 2, Faculty of Business Administration –20, Faculty of Education – 1, Faculty ofEng inee r ing – 37 , Facu l ty o fEnvironmental Sciences – 10, Faculty of Science – 25, Faculty of Medicine – 1,Faculty of Social Sciences – 14, DistanceLearning Institute – 8.

Prof. Shofoluwe informed theattendees at the convocation of theawards and scholarships received by thestudents of University of Lagos. Heattributed this feat to the conducive andenabling environment of the school. Theawards and scholarships were the 2011Roger Hatchuel Academy awards whichwas received by Mr. JesudemiladeO r e s a n y a , a 3 0 0 l e v e l m a s scommunication student; LG Electronicsscholarships which was awarded to tenoutstanding students from the Faculty of Eng ineer ing ; Google ' s S tuden ta m b a s s a d o r s h i p , E n d o w m e n tScholarship awards, Wetherheads NImillion prize in advertising, MartinLuther King Jr. quiz competition,Oluremi Tinubu's New Era Foundationscholarship and awards.

He also acknowledged the success oflecturers who were excelling nationallyand internationally. Mr. Sylvester FeyiAkunbuli, a lecturer in the distancelearning institute, won the outstandingresearch and best session awards in aglobal competition. In addition, the VCstated the newly approved courses whichcommenced in the 2011/ 2012 academicsession.


L-R; Barr. Oluwarotimi Shodimu, Deacon Gamaliel Onosode, Prof.Ruqayyatu Rufai, Dr. Adeyemi Temitope, Prof. Adetokunbo B. Sofoluwe,Prof. Rahmon Ade Bello and Prof. Obinnah L. Chukwu during theconvocation ceremony


Prof. Adetokunbo B. Sofoluwe during the convocation procession

Barr. Oluwarotimi Shodimu

Dr. Okanlawo Adedeji

Prof. Rahmon Ade Bello during the convocation procession

Mr. Lateef Odekunle, Bursar University of Lagos

Prof. Obinna L. Chukwu


Deacon Gamaliel Onosode, Pro-Chancellor, University of Lagos

Prof. O. B. Familoni, Dean, Faculty of Science

Prof. Omololu Soyombo, Dean Faculty of Social Sciences

Prof. U.E. Mendie, Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy

Prof. Musbau A. Salau, Dean Faculty of Engineering Prof. Leke Oduwaye, Dean Faculty of Environmental Science


Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufai, Prof. Babatunde Sofoluwe, during the conferment of Emeritus professor on Prof. Jones TaiwoProf. Akin Oyebode (L)

Prof. Babatunde Sofoluwe receiving the goodwill message from the Vice-Chancellor of University of Ilorin, Prof. OloyedeProf. Ralph Akinfeleye

This year's convocationwas anchored by the head ofd e p a r t m e n t o f M a s sCommunication, ProfessorRalph A. Akinfeleye and hadthe vice chancellor of theu n i v e r s i t y , P r o f e s s o rAdetokunbo BabatundeSofoluwe as the chairman oft h e c o n v o c a t i o n . T h econvocation was attended bys taff , d igni ta r ies f romdifferent walks of life. Theyinclude His Royal Majesty,Oba Rilwan Akiolu 1, the Obaof Lagos; Yemi Oshilaja, theexecutive director of New EraFoundation; Senator Mrs.Oluremi Tinubu, founder ofthe New Era Foundation,amongst others.

The second day wasreserved for doctorate andB a c h e l o r o f S c i e n c egraduates. And it was reallygrander with many post-graduate candidates clinchingtheir degrees and beinghonoured on that day. Some ofthe dignities that sat patientlyand watched the well timedevent were the HonourableMinister of Education,Professor Ruqayyatu Rufa'I;Senator Remi Tinubu; Prof.Gemaliel Onosode; Rev. (Dr.)Wilson Badejo; Prof. SuleAbass; HRH anthony WilliamOvrawah; Mr. Mar t insEwubareAreh, among others.

Everything went well asmany science departments'graduands were 'paraded' andhonoured. The more touching aspect was the professionaloath taken by medical sciencegraduates after which theywere p ronounced nowqualified to be Dr. This; Dr.That.

Then came the momenteverybody was looking for:The presentation of theoverall best student from thedepar tment of medicalengineering, who made 4.98,never made before at Unilag.This result is equivalent ofmaking 99.9%. He was laterca l led up to g ive h isvaledictory speech which wasv e r y i n s p i r i n g t o h i sc o l l e a g u e s a n d o t h e rattendees.


Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufai and Prof. Adetokunbo B. Sofoluwe

Deacon Gamaliel Onosode, Iziren Akhigbe, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufai, Prof. Adetokunbo B. Sofoluwe, Ms Damilare Akanni and Prof. Rahmon Ade Bello

Barr. Oluwarotimi Shodimu, Deacon Gamaliel Onosode, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufai, Prof. Adetokunbo Babatunde Sofoluwe


Prof. Tolu Ogunlesi, fmr Deputy Vice Chancellor (A&R)Senator Oluremi Tinubu at the University of Lagos convocation ceremony

MARCH 2012 3SPURMAG.COM 10


Prof. Sule Abass, President University of Lagos Alumni Association


Iziren Akhigbe and Ms Damilare Akanni, best graduating students from the Faculty Engineering and Business Administration

Dr. Wilson Badejo, former General Overseer of Four Square Int'l Church Mrs Shodimu and Mrs Sofoluwe


Mr. Dare Adebisi, University of Lagos PRO

Mr Debo Akinola with his wifeSenator Oluremi Tinubu with the New Era Foundation Executive Members

Mrs. Odekunle and Mrs Shodimu

spur magazine nigeria march 2012 edition

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