US Consulate partners Know Your Rights mobile app in Lagos

ITREALMS:

The United States Consulate in Nigeria has partnered Know Your Rights mobile application for strengthening respect and support for the protection of human rights in the country, reports ITRealms.

Speaking at the unveiling in Lagos, Tuesday, the US Consul General, Mr. F. John Bray noted that his office has been working with Mr. Adeoloa Austin Oyinlade, who leads Constitutional Rights Awareness and Liberty Initiative (CRALI) and acknowledged his work in this regards.

“Over the years we have turned to Mr. Oyinlade for his insights on the status of human rights in Nigeria. As long ago as 2012 he spoke at our election night event,” he said.

Hence, it was a pleasure for his office to provide Mr. Oyinlade with a second small Public Affairs grant in 2017 so that he could continue his work in bringing his “know your rights” app to a wider Nigerian audience.

ITRealms gathered that in 2016 Mr. Oyinlade launched his first “know your rights” app.

Mr. Bray stressed that the app, which was accessible in English and Pidgin on android phones, simplified human rights law, explained the safeguards available, and gave the user access to more than 50 human rights lawyers who provided advice free of charge.

“Since it was launched that app has attracted more than 50,000 users,” he said.

The Consulate’s support of Mr. Oyinlade’s app is an example of what the U.S. government is doing to support the protection of human rights.

In the new app, people will now be able to access it in Pidgin, English, Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba.

As in the past the purpose of the app is to simplify and raise awareness among all Nigerians of their human rights. I particularly appreciate that not only are people educated about their rights but they have access to free legal advice as well.

“The United States government will continue to support those around the world struggling for human dignity and liberty,” he declared.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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ETELM makes shortlist @ICCA 2018

ITREALMS:

Manufacturer of advanced Mission Critical communications systems, ETELM, has been shortlisted for the Best Evolution to Future Broadband at the International Critical Communications Awards (ICCAs) for its 4GLinked solution, reports ITRealms.

ETELM’s 4GLinked solution connects TETRA with LTE directly without any gateway. It offers outstanding performance and operability as demanded by all mission critical users now and in the future. 4GLinked overcomes traditional issues associated with legacy systems and their evolution to LTE, by bringing to market a fully interoperable and harmonized mission critical communications solution based on industry standards.

The ICCAs are held annually in association with The Critical Communications Association (TCCA) to celebrate the success and innovation of organisations and individuals who push the boundaries of technological capabilities. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony at Palais am Funkturm at the Messe, Berlin on 15 May 2018.

“Our 4GLinked solution is based on 3GPP telecommunications standards using an LTE Core network and provides a single platform for both legacy infrastructure and new and emerging technologies,” said Nicolas Hauswald, Sales and Marketing Director at ETELM. “This kind of interoperability reduces the long-term cost for users, as there is no need for upgrades each time a new standard, or product, comes to market. We believe we have a winning, future-proof solution and look forward to the judges’ final decision in May.”

ETELM is a pioneer in the critical communications sector and in early 2017, 4GLinked was the first Hybrid TETRA/LTE solution deployed with fully standardized MCPTT services, via its partnership with Nemergent. 4GLinked also successfully interfaced TETRA with several LTE vendors at the Plugtests organised by ETSI and The Critical Communications Association in June 2017.

Hauswald continued: “ETELM is a visionary company with a strong commitment to developing fully standardized solutions. We noticed a gap in the market for a product that allows a balance between cost, service, and coverage for mission critical users and therefore we developed 4GLinked. We are continuously investing in innovative solutions to meet the needs of mission critical users and are proud that 4GLinked is being recognised for its major advances in providing a single network solution for all communications technologies.”

ETELM’s 4GLinked solution is the most advanced Hybrid Integrated Network, providing the ideal platform for users to benefit from the best features of different technologies. 4GLinked is the only system in the world that allows TETRA (and other PMR technologies) to connect directly to the LTE Core, without any gateway interface – allowing direct connectivity between subscribers of different technologies over a single network, ensuring fast call-setup and seamless roaming between technologies.

4GLinked has now successfully been deployed and tested on the field for several customers in the defence and transport sectors.

Ayo Midele/GEE

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Girls ICT day 2018: Systemspecs, Vodacom, others join eBusiness Life sign-up

ITREALMS:

Leading sectorial ICT firms Systemspecs, Vodacom  Business Nigeria, New Horizons  and VDT Communications have signed up to be part of the forthcoming 7^th Edition of the International Girls in ICT Day Celebration being organised by eBusiness Life Communication Limited, publishers of eBusiness Life Magazine in Lagos, Nigeria, reports ITRealms.

The event which is scheduled to hold on May 3, 2018 in the Ballroom of the Oriental Hotel in Lekki, is part of a global campaign to encourage young girls to delve into ICT as a profession and contribute their quota to the growth of the industry in Nigeria while also actualising self-development.

International Girls’ in ICT Day is an initiative launched through ITU Resolution 70 with the idea of creating a global environment that will empower and encourage girls and young women to consider careers in the field of information and communication technologies.

In the past six years, eBusiness Life had organised the event annually in Nigeria, gathering young girls from different schools, to educate and sensitize them on the opportunities inherent in a profession in ICT. Also the girls had been made to go through hands-on training on various aspects of ICT and facility visits to ICT companies to get a firsthand experience of the intricacies of the ICT firms.

Systemspecs, with its flagship solution, Remita has been able to transform the epayment arena in Nigeria, becoming a top choice for remittance of funds both in the private and public sectors of the economy. The company’s support for the campaign is stemmed on its belief in global competitiveness through manpower development.

Vodacom Business Nigeria is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Vodacom Group and leading pan-African corporate connectivity and telecommunications provider that has brought affordable and reliable connectivity to Africa since 1992.

A statement from VDT Communications, which operates a Modular Trainee Engineering Program through which it trains engineering graduates annually, notes that the quest to train young Nigerians is to increase their employability in the industry, especially young girls.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of eBusiness Life Communication and convener of the event, Mrs. Ufuoma Emuophedaro, , the need to sensitise young girls is premised on the fact that the society has unconsciously relegated the female gender and delegated careers in technical fields, especially in ICT, to their male counterparts.

She noted that efforts should be made to introduce young girls to career opportunities in technical fields in both the public and private sectors to help them have a wide range of options and contribute their quota in the industry.

Mrs Emuophedaro further stated that the International Girls in ICT Day celebration and subsequent campaign will further open up opportunities for girls in the ICT sector.

A statement from the ITU indicates that ICTs drive growth and innovation worldwide, infiltrating all aspects of human lives. The statement goes on to harp on the need the dire need to groom young people to plug a deficient ICT future: “These ongoing advances in ICTs effectively make digital literacy a prerequisite for employment and entrepreneurship opportunities and are leading to a projected shortage of at least 2 million ICT employees worldwide by 2020. Studies show that not enough young people are choosing careers in ICT - especially not enough young women. Expanding the global technology talent pool to include more women with ICT skills can help fill this gap. This means investing in girls and young women today.“

Speaking further, Mrs. Emuophedaro noted that supporting the global Girls in ICT movement empowers girls and young women, giving them the confidence to pursue ICT studies and careers. “Girls and young women have the potential not only to become ICT users, but also to become ICT creators.“

As part of the 2018 event, there will be Coding training at New Horizons, Nigeria and competitions among students from select secondary schools, roundtable discussion, interactive and motivational talk from renowned women ICT professionals, among others.

The campaign will see young girls take part in facility tours to ICT facilities; participate in seminars that promote ICT development and undergo trainings in ICT.

At the end of the event, it is expected that young girls and students should be able to introspect and pursue any desired career path in ICT without bias, or gender consciousness.

Awards will also be given to deserving female ICT practitioners will form part of the celebration.

Partnership for the event had also been drawn from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Ministry of Communications Technology and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Ministry of Communications.

e-Business Life Magazine is a monthly Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Magazine incorporated to bring better information that would link users and service providers as well as enable Nigeria take its pride of place among the comity of nations in the new global economy.

The mission at e-Business Life Magazine is to inform and educate ICT users on trends and developments both locally and internationally; to provide a platform on which to build ICTs in a Nigeria and also to be a voice for ICT consumers in the country. In addition we are poised to create a world where Nigerian youths have a better understanding of modern technologies and can easily deploy these technologies in developing their communities.

Uj. N. Dominic/ED, Ops

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Overhauling IT prepares firms to leapfrog competition

ITREALMS:

Dell EMC has said that the results of new research conducted by Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) into the benefits of information Technology (IT) Transformation results in bottom-line benefits that drive business differentiation, innovation and growth, reports ITRealms.

According to the research, today’s business landscape is rife with disruption, much of it driven by organizations using technology in new or innovative ways. In order to survive and thrive in today’s digital world, businesses are implementing new technologies, processes and skillsets to best address changing customer needs. A fundamental first step to this change is transforming IT, to help organizations bring products to market faster, remain competitive and drive innovation.

“Data is the new competitive edge – yet it’s become highly distributed across the edge, the core data center and cloud.  Organizations realize they have to move quickly to turn that data into business intelligence – requiring an end-to-end IT infrastructure that can manage, analyze, store and protect data everywhere it lives,” said Jeff Clarke, Vice Chairman, Products and Operations, Dell Technologies. “We’re in the business of better business outcomes, giving our customers the ability make that end-to-end strategy a reality, driving disruptive innovation without the fear of being disrupted themselves.”

ESG employed a research-based, data-driven maturity model to identify different stages of IT Transformation progress and determine the degree to which global organizations have achieved those different stages, based on their responses to questions about their organizations’ adoption of modernized data center technologies, automated IT processes and transformed organizational dynamics.

“Companies today need to be agile to stay competitive and drive growth, and IT Transformation can be a major enabler of that,” said John McKnight, Vice President of Research, Enterprise Strategy Group. “It’s clear that IT Transformation is increasingly resonating with companies and that senior executives recognize how IT Transformation is pivotal to overall business strategy and competitiveness. While achieving transformation can be a major endeavor, our research shows ‘Transformed’ companies experience real business results, including being more likely to be ahead of the competition in bringing new products and services to market, making better, faster data-driven decisions than their competition, and exceeding their revenue goals.”

At Dell Technologies World, April 30 – May 3, 2018, experts from Dell EMC will discuss these results and demonstrate how IT Transformation creates a digital advantage that can help businesses become more valuable to customers and more competitive in their respective markets.

Nenye Dom/GEE

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13m calls, 25m spam SMES blocked in Nigeria - Truecaller

ITREALMS:

Over 13 million calls and some 25 million spam Short Messaging Services (SMSes) per month, have been blocked in Nigeria, ITRealms authoritatively reports.

According to the Truecaller application, these are mainly from people predominantly using Nokia and BlackBerry phones, to a wide array of Androids and Apples.

With over 20 per cent of its user-base in Africa, Truecaller app service identifies over half a billion calls a month in the region, and 50 per cent of SMS received were spam.

Confirming this, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and co-founder of Truecaller, Alan Mamedi, noted that the cost of both mobile phones and data continues to nose-dive, people all around are now armed with connected devices.

“There is an increased importance placed on smartphones in peoples’ daily lives. It’s their primary gateway to the internet, their connection with family and friends, people abroad, and increasingly their main banking and finance tool,” he said.

In addition, Truecaller, he said, is pleased and excited to announce that it now has over 100 million daily active users, using the app for their daily communication.

“There are only a handful of mobile-only services that impact as many users each and every day and we are humbled to be able to join this exclusive group,” Mamedi said.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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Accenture Innovation Index 2018 entry opens

ITREALMS:

The call for entries into the Accenture Innovation Index for the year 2018 is now open, reports ITRealms.

Resources close to Accenture in Lagos, informed ITRealms that the rapid changes in the world are increasingly rewarding those who are innovating. 

Also, they noted that adoption of new ways of doing things is driving growth in companies, expanding opportunities in economies and increasing the quality of life in nations that embrace it.

The outliers in innovation and those who are improving their position have some things common - they bolster their innovation capacities through positive-sum policies such as investments in Research & Development, Education, Tax incentives for innovation that contribute positively to the global body of knowledge and stock of innovation.

The Accenture Nigeria’s Managing Director Financial services, Toluleke Adenmosun, told ITRealms that in partnership with The Lagos Business School and select C-Suites from tier one companies who are judges in the process, Accenture applies best practice research approaches to provide a confidential customized innovation diagnostic report that identifies each participant's innovation strengths and weaknesses; benchmarks their innovation within their industries; and presents strategies that may help them gain competitive advantage.

“The banking industry is evolving right now, requiring banks to navigate through significant challenges to not only maintain their profitability but to also increase their revenue and meet the customers dynamic demands.  The topic of “Innovation” is a critical discussion among the Banking C-Suites right now, as Banks are being pushed to think about innovation in new ways that were unimaginable just a decade ago,” said Adenmosun.

in addition, Accenture, he said, believes the biggest challenge banking in Nigeria is facing is keeping up with the changes in digital technology, consumer expectations and governmental regulations. Accenture has received a significant number of requests from banks asking for greater insight and assistance on Innovation in the first few months of 2016. And with a rapidly evolving ecosystem, banks must make innovation a part of their culture and rotate to the new.”

"The Accenture Innovation Index 2018 will survey nearly 100 companies in banking and Fintech space – this will include interactions with these executives. This year’s index will focus on banking and the fintech industry that is driving an increasing number of solutions to customers in the financial services space. As companies in this space are pressured to innovative and create new products and services, their impact is shaping people’s lives and contributing to the improvement of living standards in the country. In subsequent editions other industries and their impact will be indexed to give an even broader view of the various industries strengths and the nation’s most advantageous attributes.

"Collaborating with us on this journey to document and highlight the topic of innovation, we are partnering with The Guardian newspapers and Techcabal to share the insights with you. This Index is designed to provide a national benchmark for innovation, providing businesses and policymakers with an authoritative and objective snapshot of the state of innovation within their organisations and in Nigeria," Adenmosun said.

Stressing, "We look forward to sharing the report and its findings with you once the process is completed. We are excited to see how our industry leaders compare with peers in other countries where we have conducted the survey."

Nenye Dom/GEE

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ITF says NCC is best contributing employer 2017

ITREALMS:

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been honoured with the Best Contributing Employer in Human Resource Development award by the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), reports ITRealms.

According to the Director-General of the Industrial Training Fund, Mr Joseph Ntung Ari who was represented by Deputy Director/Area Manager ITF Abuja area Office, Usman M.Sani in his opening remarks, during a presentation ceremony, said the award is for 2017.

ITF said they were very selective in their choice and described the Human Capital of NCC as a parameter outlined by ITF that captured the Human Capital analysis of training programme, seminars and workshops among all the organizations considered for this award.

The EVC, who was represented by Director Human Capital and Infrastructure Department, Maryam Bayi said the Commission was honoured to be recognised by the Industrial Training Fund for its efforts in Human Capital Development.

Maryam Bayi added that the industry that we regulate is very dynamic and demands steady and comprehensive development of the workforce to be able to meet our vision and mission statements, core values and principles.

She also said, one of the components of the 8-Points Agenda of the Management of the Commission is to ensure Regulatory Excellence and Operational Efficiency. All this cannot be achieved without adequately building the capacity of the individuals that drive the Commission’s work processes.

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Bayi, further stated that the Human Capital is the best asset of an Organization, coupled with the fact that NCC is a knowledge based agency; learning and development must be a top priority for the NCC to succeed in the ever dynamic and evolving technologies industry.

She expressed appreciation to ITF for the award and promised to convey to the EVC/ CEO NCC this recognition of excellence.

Uboshe Uboshe/ED, Ops

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Attack @Adoration ground Uke, leaves 1 dead, many injured

ITREALMS:

The Uke town in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra state, was at the weekend reported tensious as masquerades celebrating Uzo Iyi annual festival, Friday, invaded Holy Ghost Adoration Ministry Uke, leaving one person dead and injuring a score, reports ITRealms.

According to reports by www.odogwublog.com, the Priests were attacked including the Spiritual Director who was shielded by his congregation to escape lynching by the youths even as other priests, Brothers and Sisters escaped lynching by whiskers.

The deceased whose name could not be ascertained as at the time of filling this report allegedly died this morning at an undisclosed hospital.

The masquerades also allegedly confronted Special Anti-Robbery Squared (SARS) attached to Neni in Anaocha council area and attempted preventing them from going with three suspects arrested during the imbroglio.

When our reporter visited the Adoration ground, the Spiritual Director of the Holy Ghost Adoration Ministry, Uke, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Obimma, popularly known as Ebube Muonso was not in sight to comment of the cause of the youth and masquerade invasion of his Adoration ground but his Personal Assistant, Mr. Francis Okoye revealed that a catholic priest, Rev Father Henry Nnajiofor, a seminarian and 28 others were injured during the attack on the worshippers.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Anambra State, ASP Nkiru Nwode confirmed the incident but denied that the masquerades also attacked the police officers from SARS, but said that the command arrested three of the suspects and is currently investigating the cause of the commotion at the Adoration ground.

According to Ebube Muonso’s PA, over 100 worshipers were thrashed when they invaded the Adoration ground, describing the incident as a planned and deliberate act to intimidate Christians coming to worship God at the ground.

He said: “The normal masquerade activities in Uke, to the best of my knowledge, ends by 6pm but as at 8pm on Friday, the masquerades were still parading at the entrance route of Uke Adoration ground, extorting money from the adorers and robbing others on the guise of masquerade.

“As at 8:30 pm, we started receiving information that group of masquerades were attacking our members, inflicting bodily injuries on them as a result of severe thrashing. They flogged some of them, stabbed some with their weapons including machete, while others were snatched of their mobile phones and other valuables.

He continued: “We quickly contacted the SARS office to assist our Adoration security that could not handle the situation at that point in time. When SARS arrived in an hour later, they arrested two masquerades but on their way back, the youths blocked the road and insisted that the masquerades must be released. That was when SARS officials fired shots on the air to disperse them.

“When SARS left, they regrouped again and this time came in their numbers to the Adoration premises, beating everybody including the elderly, the sick and pregnant women. Our Adoration youths, in defense, pursued them and arrested one other masquerade who stayed in the Adoration ground with us until this morning when we handed him over the official of the Nigerian Army that came for our rescue” he narrated.

Mr Francis further disclosed that the youths occasionally attack the worshippers especially on Fridays, robbing them of their valuables. He added that one of Ebube Muonso’s aides, Mr. Onyeka Collins Chimezie (COCHIMAX) was recently attacked after being flogged mercilessly, they made away with his phone when he was coming for Adoration.

“Father Ebube Muonso instituted a case against the youths but the traditional ruler of the community and other stakeholders came on bended knees, begging our spiritual director to tamper justice with mercy, which he heeded to.

“This time, we shall not take it lightly; we shall take this matter to the highest level. They were agitating that Ebube Muonso did not see them before holding Adoration in Uke and I wonder when it has become a norm to see the youths before worshiping God in a land that was fully paid. So, what happened is a planned deal to intimidate us but they have failed” he said.

The traditional ruler of Uke, His Royal Highness, Igwe Charles Chuma Agbala regretted the action of the youths and described such action as unfortunate and an avoidable confrontation. He said he has been guiding against such misbehaviour from the youths hence an announcement was made that nobody should go near the Adoration ground.

Igwe Agbala informed that Uke sounded a note of warning to youths not to take the masquerade near the Adoration ground but some youths defied that order. He regretted the wanton destruction saying that the community was already in emergency security meeting for a solution.  

Divisional Crime Officer (DCO), Ogidi Police Division , SP Fidelis Eyisi led his men to restore normalcy but immediately they left , the youths re-grouped with brand new masquerades parading around the Adoration ground. 

Members of the Adoration Red Cross Society mobilized themselves to give first aide to the injured even as Unigwe Stanley , Mrs Nnaeze Josephine and Dominic Onyeneke regretted the actions of the youths and Masquerades for injuring them for attending a prayer session in Uke while Chianaka Ibeto had his Lexus smashed as well Dr Chinedu Okechukwu had his official buses smashed among others.

In a telephone interview , the Spiritual Director of the Holy Ghost Adoration Ministry, Uke, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Obimma, popularly known as Ebube Muonso said he was shocked beyond his imagination that Masquerades could unleash mayhem to his Adoration Center, appealing for calm from his members until the security agencies unravel the mystery behind the attack. 

Already Governor Willie Obiano has been briefed on the development as at press time but he has not made any special statement.

Courtesy: Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, www.odogwublog.com

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Internet: Re-Engineering broken dreams of Naija youth

Commentary@ITREALMS:

Where is and how can we unearth the hidden paradise in Nigeria Youth? Perhaps the Nigeria Youth is grossly misunderstood? What went wrong? Are they really lazy? Definitely not.

The broken dreams of the Naija Youth today translate into: perpetually queuing for Visas to anywhere far away from home at all costs; enslaved to street trading for life? Having water and food everywhere but none to drink nor eat; Crossing the ferocious Sahara desert accompanied by death as only hope; Captured and auctioned and sold as 21^st Century slaves in Libya; Crossing the Mediterranean sea of death to Europe without a life-jacket; Abandoned by JAMB after many result-less attempts; Arrested and forever awaiting trial for wandering by day and night for inability to trade-in with 20 Naira by the men in Black - flicking funny torchlight in their faces and  finally thrown to the Shark in the nation’s deepest ocean of corruption to be mercilessly devoid addicted by drugs in search of Yahoo-Yahoo! There is an urgent need to engage on a national project on recovery of the troubled mind-set of millions of Nigerian Youth who are predominantly hooked on the Internet Cybercrime as gateway to wealth through fraudulent means.

“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. Almost all painful feelings have their source in an incorrect way of looking at reality. When you uproot erroneous views, suffering ceases." John Milton, Paradise Lost. Are we loosing the hidden paradise in our youth? This write-up is initiated after purposeful analytics by concerned interest group - undertaking a surgical analysis of the subject-matter. It is an urgent call to embark on a national psycho-sociological project to re-engineer and save the eroding mind-set of many of our Youth who are currently addicted to Internet scrams as the only way to progress and indeed their last hope in life, in the face of the blatant neglect and abandonment of the fundamental responsibility of leadership for sustainable youth development, And by extension, the survivability of our collective future. Our position is that the core of the problem under discussion resides in human attitude and crass neglect of critical child-case by leadership.

Relevant studies have shown how unrestrained youth-centered negative thinking form chronic attitudes which cumulatively derail and destroy concepts of nation-building, patriotism and sustainable development – especially when psychological and sociological development dimensions are neglected overtime. Is this the case with the branded “Yahoo-Yahoo Boys” of Nigeria? How long has this been going on and how long will it take to recover and heal this mountainous army of our derailed youthful minds which are critical for national development? What will become of the children and grand-children of the Yahoo-Yahoo Boys and it’s cultish impact on the future of our nation? Are our current Youth development programmes responsive and strategic enough to attain the desired goals?

Conventional wisdom informs that attitude is everything. However, attitude in its structural dynamics consists of the acquired state of mind, consisting primarily of environmental state and space-of-things, feelings, love, thoughts and propensity to codify appropriate responses towards to challenges we are confronted with. Indeed, our responses are mostly dictated by our conditioned mindset.

This conditioned mind-set ultimately drives us to attain either a positive or negative character in our relation with other objects and special set of things we come across. Therefore as we forge along, it is instructive that we explore the attitudinal value-chain and conditions-of-things within the Nigeria development environment – particularly our leadership, family values, inconsistent policy-construct, education, merit assessment, child care and fundamental human rights and above all youth development programmes within the context of globalization.

Great minds such as Professor Emeritus Wole Soyinka had many decades ago observed and warned us on the emerging decay of values in leadership, economy and development with great impact on the Youth, when he advanced the hypothesis of the ‘wasted generation’ of Nigeria. Also, Prof. Patrick Okedinachi Utomi  - founder of Centre for Values and leadership had delivered the same warning topped up with a proof-of-concept – validated through CVL.Programme/Projects.

These critical warnings were taken for granted and not heeded by the leadership who failed to advance proactive strategies and programmes for sustainable Youth development while the population growth surged dramatically in the last fifty (50) years after the civil war. This abandoned responsibility cumulated into the breakdown of the value-chains for equitable nation building and fuelled corruption-of-things like a wide fire in the Harmattan.

Globalization is often misunderstood, when we fail to translate it as another word for the internationalization of interests, trade and commerce in pursuit of sustainable development – guided by specific standards. However, empowered by the audacity of the Internet (ICT) as the new tool of life, the norms and values of the Internet have been grossly misinterpreted at the most basic levels. The Internet is here to stay and its mission and activities will be further tested and intensified by the demands for globalization-of-things and the critical adventure of each nation perching to controlling the human mind by harnessing life-activity data at all levels. That after all, is the purpose of Big-data, related algorithm and analytics!

For many decades, the Nigeria nation state has been dishing out mind-blowing figures of stolen money and wealth from our collective national resources and continues to display such outlandish data in the face of the swarming Youths who are angry and hungry for food, knowledge and visionary adventure but experience the mirage-of-things at almost all development stage. Does that not constitute a significant part of the formation of the mind-set of our Youth?

 Nigeria’s e-readiness index status is abysmal low (119 out of 134 in 2016) in terms of enabling Networked environment and national IT spend, while the Youth population growth continues to surge with alarming stampede for access to everything for survival – throwing ethics and values to the dogs.

Currently, the age of top leadership base of many nations of the world are getting younger between 30-50 while Nigeria’s is ballooning from 70-80 years – further disillusioning the youth and their dreams. With limited and/or non-existent enabling environment, fragile infrastructure, abandoned classrooms, zero Knowledge Park, the goal-post for trustworthiness and competitiveness continues to shift by the nano-second and the centre can no more hold. The resultant effect is that we cultivate, operate and live in a non-creative Ecosystem devoid of innovation and best described as Okada economy.

Pathetically, as the tape of the nation’s Youth apathy film continues to roll, politicized by blatant policies which remain blinded by capital and employment flight, conspicuous consumption with preference to third-class foreign goods, glorified squandermenia culture and insatiable consumption mentality – a product of who you know instead of what you know!   

All said, the activities of Yahoo-Yahoo Boys are nothing to be glorified. The YY syndrome is and should be seen as national scourge and the Youth Community must be called to order to dialogue and recover the hidden paradise of our youth. In other words the Youth of Nigeria must have a rethink about life and re-code their destiny. To achieve this, they must also be ready to pay a price for sustainable success and happiness – knowing that they can do a million times better that YY. The price is retooling the mind-set, consistency, endurance, humility, audacity of hope and rekindling the can-do positive attitude of the real Naija Pikin and ultimately shames the devil.

The long-term damage to Society is monumental, The Recovery Roadmap and Mechanism incorporates psychological and sociological healing incorporating: the critical application of the essential pillars for productive Youth Development: Policies, Strategies Legislations, Institutional Framework, Regulations and Fiscal Incentives on Child care, Education, Recreation, Entertainment and many more.

We are a nation of about 200million. So, what indeed does the Youth want form Nigeria. Tell me now now now!  Kilo sele gangan???

*Contributed by Chris Uwaje, former President of Institute of Software Practitioners (ISPON)

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