TOSIN OSEMEOBO'S BLOG: ...because i can

HARD FACTS ABOUT WRITING

2010-12-14T19:56:00.001-08:00

“Every study of young writers I’ve done for the last twenty years has underestimated what they can do. In fact, we know very little about the human potential for writing.”—Donald Graves, a Fresh Look at writing (p.99). Writing is a powerful asset and a gift from God, it is used to spread and preserve messages, mysteries and information so that generations to come will still be able to access them. Writing helps us to document our views, events, visions, and dreams. As we crave for depths in writing, I will be sharing with us seven hard facts about writing. This for sure will not only change your writing skills but will empower your intellectual reservoir to explode with wonderful ideas. Once again I welcome you to the University of Writing, a world of reflective and inspiring initiatives and the universal city of creative thoughts. Do enjoy this literary adventure.

Hard fact one: WRITE with a SHARP PEN

A. WRITE to: Reveal, Inspire, Transform, Enlighten and or Empower

v W-write (as a writer you must write)

v R-reveal (what does your write ups reveal, good, bad, satiric etc)

v I-inspire (can your write ups inspire, motivate, stir, and encourage people?)

v T-transform (change attitude, people, paradigm, or convert for God and Good?)

v E-enlighten /empower. (Is your piece an eye opener, add to understanding or empower the mind?)

B. Let your work be SHARP: i.e. let your write up speak, build and restore lost hope, be authentic, filled with appealing expressions (rhetoric) and passionate

Ø S-speak (pen speaks, what has your pen been saying?)

Ø H-hope (the language of your pen should be able to build and restore lost hope)

Ø A-authenticity (can people depend on what you are writing? Is it valid, convincing and suitable?)

Ø R-rhetoric (your expression, style) Attempts to develop and assert a personal writing style. Produces writing that includes memorable words and phrases, Uses rhythm, rhyme, alliteration and other "sound" effects appropriately and read extensively.

Ø P-passion (do you write with passion?) Craze or zeal

C. Your PEN: must be Precise, Enthusiastic and Novel (are you writing with a pen?)

ü P-precision (is your pen accurate, truthful: make research, read and pray before penning down any thing)

ü E-enthusiasm (do you write with interest, gusto, enjoyment)

ü N-novelty (be original, be new, be creative, be unique) Produces writing that shows evidence of originality and uniqueness. If you copy form one person that plagiarism but if you copy from two persons it’s called research

Hard fact two: Writers are leaders in print

Hard fact three: The voice of the pen sound louder than the use of microphone

Hard fact four: Don’t write to make impression, but write to engrave impact

Hard fact five: Leave a pedigree and not just with a degree

Hard fact six: Discover the soft spot of your audience

Hard fact seven: Solve problems with your pen and don’t create one

Stop the T.H.I.E.F

2010-12-14T19:49:00.001-08:00

An examination insight

Examinations are the test of knowledge or ability. It is a test designed to assess somebody's ability or knowledge in a particular subject or field. Examination times are critical period in the lives of students as every one falls back to their study room, to God or to brilliant students for aid. Tutorial and peer study are important at these times and seasons. According to Charles Colton (1780 - 1832) a British clergyman and writer, he said Examinations are formidable even to the best prepared, for the greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer. And these makes people go extra mile in there study. From a research conducted recently I have discovered five elements of the examination THIEF and I want to share this with you briefly.

T – TIME: Time when spent cannot be redeemed, have you planed your time for this season? There are several thieves of time, some of them are gossip; conversation about the personal details of other people's lives, whether rumor or fact, especially when malicious, others are watching of films, listening to music, reading of novels instead of your academic books, playing of games etc these in themselves seem good but are thieves of time in disguise.

H – HABITS: What are those habits you have been addicted to, to some it is sleep, some of you can sleep 12 hours a day “Sleep-maniac” you sleep your way through, some of you are glutton, you eat your way through, the fact is during examinations one have to cut down his or her meal, eat little quality food and sleep lees than 8 hours, you must learn to discipline your self. Try this for 21 days and it will become a habit.

I – IMAGINATIONS: To some you have built certain Walls based on certain things you have heard about your department or faculty, to some you have heard that no one graduates in your department, to some failing is now a norm and so you are trying very hard to adjust to that thinking system. You must not allow those thieves steal away your success. Develop a positive thinking system, create the success your want to feature in and live it. Some one said you are success on

E – ENVIRONMENT: Control your environment or else your environment will control you, our body system naturally loves pleasure and luxury. Create an environment conducive for learning, and involve all the necessary reading stimulating factors. Some enjoy reading while viewing the nature, discover yours and eliminate all the undesirables

F – FRIENDS: You have to be careful and choosy on the kind of friends you keep and go about with this season. Disregard counsels of unnecessary fun, don’t attend all the programs you can, don’t visit all the friends you can, keep few focused friend who are success and academically inclined. Eliminate the thieves, some friend are thieves in disguise. You can succeed if you want to, according to Henry Ford (1863 - 1947) U.S. car manufacturer, he said if you think you can or think you can't you're probably right.

* Eliminate the thieves and make fear, failure and frustration an illusion. Don’t say you were not told. Stop the T.H.I.E.F now!

This piece was contributed by

TOSIN OSEMEOBO

You can book him

FOR SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT

BE-YONDER

2010-12-14T19:29:00.000-08:00

Beyonder is a coinage I formed which means the ability to: 1. go beyond your limits 2, Go beyond the yonder, and 3, Become limitless even in the face of impending impossibilities, odds absurdity and depression, or go beyond yonder or the ability to astonish human expectations…

How impressionable and vulnerable in the face of stories we can be when we are only exposed to one sided reality of our changing paradigm, values and capacity for developments. I went through a mental shift in my perception of the mind, and how deep and rich in potentials we can be, when I realize people like me could transform their imaginative worlds of possibilities into realities and live in it. I came from a conventional middle class Nigerian family and my positive default position towards life as an African scholar gave me an edge in research and inspiring rhetoric. With the capacity for oratory regeneration constantly in my sub consciousness, I realized that influence is the ability not just to create mere impressions in the mind of people, but to make definitive impact in the existence of that person. Recently, I discovered a problem with many people and it’s called the “one eyed reasoning”. People who see things from only one point of view and build their whole existence on that view or perception, My inclination towards this myopic or pigeonhole thinkers is not belligerent. The problem with stereotypic minds is not that they are not true, but that they are incomplete, they make one view become the only face of reasoning this I call “mental pabulum”. We are building incredible resilience in people who will thrive despite the odds rather than because of it. Join our team today and become a BEYONDER: go beyond your limits..., become limitless

Watch out for “ALL IT TAKES” a monthly mental empowerment seminal geared towards changing paradigms and attitudes that will launch you into the realms of creativity and transformation. BE-YONDER: beyond limits. Join us today +2348065611550

UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANCE OF FEMALE EMPOWERMENT IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

2010-12-14T19:20:00.000-08:00

Women who are described as the most important but neglected agents of change are now being given prominence in development issues in the world and also in many sectors in Nigeria. According to Boender (2002), the concept of empowerment is related to gender equality but distinct from it. The core of empowerment lies in the ability of a woman to control her own destiny This implies that to be empowered, women must not only have equal capabilities (such as education and health) and equal access to resources and opportunities (such as land and employment), but they must also have the kind of society that allows them to use those rights, capabilities, resources, and opportunities to make strategic choices and decisions (such as is provided through leadership opportunities and participation in political, economic and social institutions).

In Nigeria today the birth of a male child is greeted with more pomp and pageantry than that of a female child and one need to observe the half heated congratulations given to a woman at the birth of a female child particularly when the women in question has no male issue. There are still issues of withdrawing female students for marriage, for example in several communities in Nigeria especially in the northern parts, early marriages of girls between the ages of 9 and 13 is still the norm; the preference of wanting to educate the boy child instead of the girl child is still a problem. Also there has been little, encouragement for more girls to aspire for carries in medicine, engineers and technology

The role of women in the society cannot be over emphasized. They play critical roles in almost every economic and social sphere of life. And for them to exercise their potentials, they must live without the fear of intimidation and violence. Because of the historical legacy of disadvantage women have faced, they are still all too often referred to as a vulnerable minority. In most countries, however, women are a majority, with the potential to catalyze enormous power and progress. The resilience and the contributions women make to their families, communities, and economies despite the constraints can not be emphasized. Although empowerment and equality should be enjoyed by all women and men, the believe is that three subpopulations of women must receive

• Poor women in the developing country like Nigeria and in countries that have achieved increases in national income but where poverty remains signiﬁcant

• Adolescents, who constitute two-thirds of the population in the poorest countries and the largest cohort of adolescents in the world’s history. For Nigeria over 60 million of her populations are youth and one third of those populations are women.

• Women and girls in conﬂict and post conﬂict settings.

Prioritizing these groups is not intended to minimize the vulnerability and needs of other groups of women, but to emphasize that investments in these subpopulations are a priority for achieving immediate and long-term results in reducing poverty and improving national development in the country.

Women have the greatest needs. Investments in them will produce the greatest beneﬁts. Gender inequalities tend to be greater among the poor than the rich, especially for inequalities in capabilities and opportunities World Bank (2001). Moreover, the well-being and survival of poor households depends disproportionately on the productive and reproductive contributions of their female members. Also, an increasing number of households are headed or maintained by women investing in the health, education, safety, and economic well-being of adolescents, especially adolescent girls, must also be a priority. Adolescence is a formative period, one of transition between childhood and adulthood. It is a time when interventions can dramatically alter subsequent life outcomes.

Proper avenue need to be created for female to contribute effectively in Nigeria, female should be helped to gain dignity as human in their own right, they must be educated so that they are not only aware of their right but also they can acquire the necessary skill and dignity to contribute effectively and efficiently to national development. The more women we have in key positions of decision making the greater will be the attention on women issues.

National development is the responsibility of all. it is only through ensuring the contribution of everyone that Nigeria can succeed in improving the quality of life for her citizens, women should be encourage to contribute their quota to the development of Nigeria as a nation

EDUCATION AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT

2010-12-14T19:10:00.000-08:00

Data from around the world show that increased education is associated with the empowerment of women (Grown 2003). Educated women are more effective at improving their own well-being and that of their family. They are better equipped to extract the most beneﬁt from existing services and opportunities and to generate alternative opportunities, roles, and support structures. These empowering effects of women’s education are manifested in a variety of ways, including increased income-earning potential, ability to bargain for resources within the household, decision making, autonomy, control over their own fertility, and participation in public life.
These are strongly conditioned by such factors as level of economic development, depth of the labor market, and degree of gender stratiﬁcation. The impact of women’s education is greater in settings that are already relatively egalitarian. Under such conditions even modestly educated women are more likely to participate in important family decisions, to work in nonfarm occupations, and to control economic resources.
However, the world is still far from achieving gender parity in enrollment and completion rates, particularly in secondary school. Worldwide, it is estimated that 54–57 percent of all out-of-school children are girls. In South Asia girls constitute two-thirds of all out of school children (UNESCO2004). There are two indicators for tracking progress toward gender parity in education: the ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary, and tertiary education and the ratio of literate females to males ages 15–24.
Writers have identified four approaches that increase girls’ participation in primary school that can also be applied to secondary school. These strategies have all been effective in a variety of countries:

• Making girls’ schooling more affordable by reducing fees and offering targeted scholarships.
• Building schools close to girls’ homes, involving the community in school management, and allowing ﬂexible scheduling.
• Making schools girl-friendly by improving the safety of schools, the design of facilities (such as latrines for girls), and instituting policies that promote girls’ attendance (such as permitting married adolescents to attend).
• Improving the quality of education by training more female teachers for the secondary level, providing gender-sensitive textbooks, and developing a curriculum for girls that is strong in math and sciences and that projects gender equality.

MAKING SCHOOLS AFFORDABLE
There are two ways to make school affordable for poor families:
By eliminating user fees and other school fees to reduce direct costs and by providing incentives to families to send their girls to school, for instance, through scholarships, take home rations programs, or other means.
Eliminating or substantially reducing school fees has resulted in increases in primary enrollment, particularly for girls. When free schooling was introduced in Uganda in 1997, primary school enrollment nearly doubled from 3.4 million to 5.7 million children, rising to 6.5 million by 1999. Total girls’ enrollment increased from 63 percent to 83 percent, while enrollment among the poorest ﬁfth of girls rose from 46 percent to 82 percent (World Bank 2002). In Tanzania the elimination of primary school fees in 2002 resulted in additional enrollment of 1.5 million students (Coalition for Health and Education Rights 2002). Nigeria government can look into these examples to encourage more girls in schools.

Pathetic state of secondary education in Ile Ife

2010-11-29T17:29:00.001-08:00

Published 24/04/2010 03:00:00 Punchng
Students from the Faculty of Education, Obafemi Awolowo University are undergoing teaching practice in various secondary schools across Osun State. But the situation in Ile Ife is an eye sore. Many of the schools are yet to feel the impact of the state government.
The measure of success for any administration should not be the hullabaloo of praises at the urban centers but the encomium that emanates from the rural areas, particularly on the way the government is bridging the gap between rural illiteracy and urban intelligence.
The poor educational structures in government schools in Ile Ife calls for instant attention. Obande Secondary School, St David’s Grammar School and a host of other public schools in Ife are in pathetic conditions.
Ile Ife, the cradle of the Yoruba kingdom, can be better equipped education wise.

Our educational system needs urgent redemption

2010-11-29T17:26:00.001-08:00


Saturday PUNCH, 8 May 2010

Education in Nigeria needs a “medical check up”. In the past years there have been lots of strike at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. The Federal Government reluctantly called on Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State to settle the grievances of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, but NASU also embarked on a nationwide strike.

One reason the nation has not got to the Promise Land is that issues that ought to be given priority attention are not so treated. We tend to focus out attention on less important things. The fact is that the youths who are being looked upon to rescue the nation are turning out as half-baked graduates from an unstable educational system. The acting president and his cabinet should look into these salient issues.

Nigeria: Half a century of waste

2010-11-29T17:14:00.000-08:00

Published by PUNCH news paper, Saturday, 9 Oct 2010

Nigeria is a fertile land with rich traditions and countless natural resources, a great country brought to its knees by poverty and corruption. This same country is celebrating her 50th anniversary and there are lots of programmes in the national, state and local government levels to commemorate our liberation from our colonial masters.
Today, we stand and stare, looking back at the 50 years of freedom, decisions, governance and policies. One cannot say with all honesty that we are better off than when we had colonial masters. I live in a rural area where everything modern appears impossible. There are few hospitals which are also ill equipped; many children who cannot afford schooling; poor security, high rates of unemployment and leaders who don‘t care about their followers. Why should a country, filled with people who have great ideas and prospects, still languish in lack and penury?
Fifty years after independence, Nigeria remains an enigma wrapped in the gloom of overwhelming paradox, a nation steeped in history and yet behind history; a culture rich in arts and music, but poor in mass education and formal learning. A civilised, cheerful and kind people, who appear inferior, indolent and debauched. A religious society who thinks nothing of perpetuating evil when it is most convenient.
Recently, Nigeria was listed among the worst economies in the world. Are we to say we are the most affected by the economic meltdown? Take for instance, the educational sector apart from the frequent strike by university lecturers, it has been observed that our universities produce graduates who are incapable of defending their certificates and unable to become entrepreneurs because of the archaic curriculums. There was a time the doctors in the country went on strike, the civil servants, secondary and primary school teachers have now joined in this disgraceful act all because of the poor leadership and economic mis-management.
This October, we are celebrating our 50th independence but is Nigeria really independent? Are we actually reaping the dividends of true democracy? If only we could re-examine our priorities and try our best to transform our ideas into reality, Nigeria can be a country with youths who are free from being delinquent and adults who are honest in conscience and in deeds, a place where every child is well-informed; a country where all sick people will be able to pay for their hospital bills and enjoy stable power supply; a reformed educational structure which will equip our students with the relevant skills that will make them self-reliant and become job creators; a country of free and fair elections, incorruptible uniformed men and abundant food from the agricultural sector, a country with accountable leaders devoid of corruption, crimes and all forms of religious crisis.
Nigeria needs to wake up! If we don‘t know where we are going, at least we should know where we came from. We are yet to improve on the structures left behind by our colonial masters. Instead, to our shame, we have destroyed what was left behind with nothing in place for the future generations. Oct. 1 should not only be a day of celebration, it should be a day of sobriety. We should ask ourselves where we got it wrong and make the decision to get it right. It is not a day to trade blames because we have all failed, both leaders and followers. Happy independence anniversary.

NIGERIA: A NATION AT 50; Facing the realities of unparallel paradox

2010-10-06T18:15:00.000-07:00

Nigeria is a fertile land with prospect, rich artistic tradition and a promising future, a land with bright opportunities far from poverty and decay. A stunning land with; natural glory, illuminations, immense natural empowerment, man power, creative minds, wonderful climatic conditions, serene environments and a rich cultural artifact. This same country will be celebrating her 50th anniversary and there are lots of programs at hand in the national, state and local level to commemorate our libration from the oppressions of the western powers.

Today, we stand and stare, looking back at the 50 years of freedom of choice, decisions, governance, initiatives, ideas and policies. One can not smile, frown, laugh or cry. I live in a rural area where it appears everything appears to be impossible. With many sick people but few hospitals, many children who cannot afford schooling, gender discrimination, poor security and high rates of unemployment and leaders who don’t care about their followers.
I can’t stop wondering why a country filled with people who have good ideas, philosophy, concepts, designs, and wonderful viewpoints still languish in shame and penury.

Fifty years after independence, Nigeria still remains a sunny enigma raped in the gloom of overwhelming paradox, a nation steeped in history and yet behind history, a culture rich in arts and music, but poor in mass education and formal learning. A civilized, cheerful and kind people, who appear inferior, indolent and debauched, A society apparently catholic and religious, a social life unblushing sensual and epicurean, a system of cool deceitful realism, a system of grandiose dreams, brilliant visions and disastrous extremes, a country of tragedy and calamity.etc

It is a well known fact that to dally on the brinks is the sung illusion of live and to visualize what we can’t see is the paradoxical pleasure of the mind. Haven’t considered such vast values, one can hardly boast of a free and fair election, stable economy, health and educational sector. With countless riots, issues of tribalism, break down of law and orders, political instability and assassinations. This ever-green land has not yet produced its fruits because of the powers-that-be. Recently Nigeria was listed among the worst economy of the world, are we to say we are the most affected by the so called economic meltdown?, Take for instance the educational sector, apart from the frequent strike of university lecturers, it has been observed that our universities yearly produce graduate who are considered as dregs not capable of defending there certificate and who can’t become entrepreneurs because of the archaic curriculums. There was a time when the whole doctors in the country went on strike, for the civil servants at a time striking was an annual event, secondary and primary school teachers have now join in this disgraceful act all because of the poor leadership and economic miss-management.

Today as we stand alive to celebrate independence, can we really say Nigeria is independent? Are we actually reaping the devidence of true democracy? These and many more questions ring bells in my mind. If only we could re-examine our priorities and try our best to transform our ideas into realities, Nigeria can be a country with youth who are far from juvenile delinquencies and adult who are honest in conscience and in deeds, a place where every child will be well-informed. A country where all sick people will be able to pay for their hospital bills, enjoy stable power supply which will be constantly available, affordable and guaranteed in every home. a reformed educational structure which will be designed to equip our students with the relevant skills that will enable them self-reliant, fit into the society, answer contemporary needs, fill the vacant positions, become job and value creators. A country with free and fair elections, incorruptible uniform men and abundant food from the agricultural sector, a country with leaders far from greed, corruption, environment void of crime, religious crisis, rituals, ethnicity, rape, kidnapping and tribalism. A country with; stable economy, education and increased employment opportunities with people who are ready to work hard and solve their community problems.

Let us look back from where we are coming and consider where we are heading to. I see better days ahead, let’s put things in their right places and perspectives, let’s retrace our stapes and see where we made the mistakes. I fell posterity is giving us amnesty. lets utilize this opportunity to drop all unworthy attitude like corruptions, political massacre, bad governance, stealing, miss-appropriations of funds, misplacement of government officers, rigging of elections, ethnicity and tribalism, stop religious riots and lets us embrace cooperation, hard work, harmony, tranquility, togetherness, unity, determination, tolerance and transformations, lets appreciate our cultural differences, heritage and values. With this in mind backed with prayers I see Nigeria becoming on of the world’s most desirable nations before 2015. These and many more are what I wake up every morning to see. Nigeria will be great. Happy independence

2010-09-03T19:44:00.000-07:00

A HEART TO MEND a fiction

A Heart to Mend is a romance novel set in Lagos, Nigeria and tells of two protagonists, Gladys and Edward, and how they found true love together in spite of the obstacles they faced. Being almost unique as a contemporary romance novel set in Nigeria, the book has generated quite an interest and following on many social media sites including facebook and twitter. From January up to April, it was one of the top ten books viewed and read on the sample free reading site, Freado.com. There has been reviews in both UK, US and Nigerian newspapers and magazines. Due to popular demand, I got an offer to publish the novel in Nigeria. The Nigerian edition has been launched with a raffle included (see attached) and is available for distribution.

A Novel written by Nkem Akinsoto AKA Myen Whitman

About the author.

My name is Nkem Akinsoto also known as Myne Whitman. I grew up during the 1980's in Enugu, Nigeria. I remember as a child studying a lot, reading everything I could lay my hands on, and then trying to play as much as possible. I sometimes across as quiet and laid-back but do like a good loud debate sometimes. In three words, I will describe myself as friendly, caring and fun-loving. I have been a teacher, NGO consultant, banker, skate-hire attendant, researcher and Scottish government worker. After a postgraduate degree and a few years in Edinburgh, Scotland, I now live in the United States with my husband. (see picture at side bar)

The dilemma of love and poverty

2010-08-29T21:58:00.000-07:00

…forced by fate into the quandary of love and the realities of penury, a young prospective graduate engages in an adventure into a world surrounded by unfamiliar questions. Driven by the passion for luxury, better life and promising future, kunle in his quest is caught by the web of strange affection while trying to catch the fading answers to the rhetoric questions of his life. Find out more about this story of a man who was left to catch the shadows of his past while trying to reach for the stars of posterity... COMING OUT SOON…

A short fiction by Tosin Osemeobo

watch out..........

THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ON OUR SOCIETY

2010-07-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

Advanced technologies are potential threats to devastate the living environment. Although technologies have helped human beings to adapt an easier way of life, however, in the long term it might not be as beneficial as people realize. Many technologies have led to chronic devastations in the environment this includes automobiles, industrial power plants and medicines.
The invention of automobiles have brought convenience to people, on the other hand, it also causes air pollution. Driving is probably the most polluting act an average citizen commits. Pathogens in car exhaust like carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, benzene and polycyclic hydrocarbons are toxic to human body organs. These substances have been shown to produce harmful effects on the blood, bonemarrow, spleen and lymphnodes, any of these pollutants can cause anemia, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and the possibilities of developing several types of cancers. Furthermore, combustion car engines contribute to carbon dioxide accumulation in the atmosphere is responsible for climate changes. Carbon dioxide is increasing at a rate of 2 meters per year. As a result, some cities along the coast will the working young populations and the populations who claims the old age pensions referring to the above statistics, by the end of year 2010 people will consumed half of barrels
Since the industrial revolution, society has become more and more dependent on technology. So much so that we sometimes lack the willingness to think before we act. We become impatient if it takes more than a few seconds to download a copy of the morning news paper. We expect immediate responses to our email, and we expect someone to answer their cell phone whenever and wherever we call. “Industrialization resulted in rapid and sustained economic growth and a massive increase in consumer goods. But at the same time, for many people it meant a thoroughly unpleasant work environment.

People in today’s society are always looking for ways to improve their lifestyles and in some way help deal with their physical environment. Agriculture; Farming and cattle herding led to the growth of large, settled human populations and increasing competition for productive lands, touching off organized warfare. The need for transportation brought vehicles into the market. The need for employees brought mechanical robots into society. Battles over land brought on the need for sophisticated weapons. The agricultural system brought on a revolution.

The invention of the television has brought all forms of entertainment into our houses with video and audio combined. Before 1950, newspapers and radio were the only ways to bring media or entertainment into the house. Mass production and other job opportunities brought many people from the rural areas and farms into the city. Society is more reliant on technology than ever before. While technologies have their advantages there is a negative effect to all this technology as well. Technology can actually harm society rather then help it. Competition between companies or even cities can sometimes make our lives for even worse. When a city builds more roads to attract tourists, the result is more traffic, not less. Even things we take for granted such as the automobile have negative effect on us. Because the automobiles cause pollution and that can surely harm us slowly.
Technology is making us so bust that we can’t even find time to spend with our closed ones. it would be surprising to know that people are in contact through chat and online messaging though they are in same city .because they think it’s more faster and effective but they are forgetting that meeting personally can never replace online chatting.

Before the advent of television and internet, people had ways of having fun together every day .many of these primitive methods of fun have almost disappeared in the modern world .people used to actually talk with each other ,they would play games with each other but now they play games with computer giving no reaction at all making people drift away from one other. In many ways modern technology had the opposite effect of making us worker harder and faster just to stay in the same place.

Technology in society or technology and culture refers to cyclical co-dependence, co-influence, co-production of technology and society upon the other (technology upon culture, and vice-versa). This synergistic relationship occurred from the dawn of humankind, with the invention of simple tools and continues into modern technologies such as the printing press and computers.
The importance of stone tools, circa 2.5 million years ago, is considered fundamental in human development in the hunting hypothesis.
It has been suggested, in Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human, that the control of fire by early humans and the associated development of cooking was the spark that radically changed human evolution.

All these little changes in mobile phones, like Internet access, are further examples of the cycle of co-production. Society's need for being able to call on people and be available everywhere resulted in the research and development of mobile phones. They in turn influenced the way we live our lives. As the populace relies more and more on mobile phones, additional features were requested. This is also true with today's modern media player.
In ancient history, economics began when occasional, spontaneous exchange of goods and services was replaced over time by deliberate trade structures. Makers of arrowheads, for example, might have realized they could do better by concentrating on making arrowheads and barter for other needs. Clearly, regardless of goods and services bartered, some amount of technology was involved—if no more than in the making of shell and bead jewelry. Even the shaman's potions and sacred objects can be said to have involved some technology. So, from the very beginnings, technology can be said to have spurred the development of more elaborate economies.

In the modern world, superior technologies, resources, geography, and history give rise to robust economies; and in a well-functioning, robust economy, economic excess naturally flows into greater use of technology. Moreover, because technology is such an inseparable part of human society, especially in its economic aspects, funding sources for (new) technological endeavors are virtually illimitable. However, while in the beginning, technological investment involved little more than the time, efforts, and skills of one or a few men, today, such investment may involve the collective labor and skills of many millions.

The effects of technology on the environment are both obvious and subtle. The more obvious effects include the depletion of nonrenewable natural resources (such as petroleum, coal, ores), and the added pollution of air, water, and land. The more subtle effects include debates over long-term effects (e.g., global warming, deforestation, natural habitat destruction, coastal wetland loss.)
Each wave of technology creates a set of waste previously unknown by humans: toxic waste, radioactive waste, electronic waste. One of the main problems is the lack of an effective way to remove these pollutants on a large scale expediently. In nature, organisms "recycle" the wastes of other organisms, for example, plants produce oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis, and oxygen-breathing organisms use oxygen to metabolize food, producing carbon dioxide as a by-product, which plants use in a process to make sugar, with oxygen as a waste in the first place. No such mechanism exists for the removal of technological wastes.

Humanity at the moment may be compared to a colony of bacteria in a Petri dish with a constant food supply: with no way to remove the wastes of their metabolism, the bacteria eventually poison themselves.
How information technology is changing the family and how it might affect the future. Some of the ways that IT may affect the perceptions and behaviors of individuals are considered next. Critics of this technology argue that it is negatively affecting our family lives. Their concern is that because of increasing use of home computers, a growing number of family people are becoming addicted to computers and loosing human interaction.
Information technology is affecting our children is another family issue brought by the critics. Critics fear that soon our world will become electronic society, because the neighborhood would loose intercommunion. Families have transferred their homes to offices, however reducing the family conceptions at the same time. Because of the technology family and school are taken over by leisure activities and mass entertainment that is only technological not real. Since kids are using information technology for their possible leisure and entertainment time instead of possible social interactions. When we spend time on computers at home and converse with people around the world, critics argue that they are talking to an artificial community and they lack real world face to face human interaction due to talking through a computer network is greatly different from face to face contact. Working at home with this information technology, we would certainly be concerned with work all the time at home that would affect the family. Although using multimedia interface and emotional communication tools we can build up a better environment for communication that does not suffice the real world. On the whole, it will make the people isolate and decrease social skills to be dependent on computers. Since school and family are the possible social gathering for children, increased use of information technology reduces possible human interaction that degrades the possible psychological development for the children. Family and school are the two main socialization institutions for children.
Have you ever wanted to return to a life without 21st century technology? Have you ever thought about returning to nature, like Robert Frost or Ernest Hemingway? Technology benefits society in numerous ways but it also has negative impacts. For this post I want to focus on the negative impacts of technology on society.
One negative impact of technological advancement it the invasion or privacy possible in today’s society. Any person, with the knowledge to do so, can track another person’s activity on a computer.
Phone conversations can be monitored, government satellites can be used to watch your every move, and records can be kept electronically during your lifetime.
For instance Radar, used by the police, to determine another vehicle’s speed is another technological advance that has negative impacts. The ability to determine the speed of a passing vehicle has made it possible to enforce speed limit laws. While I’m not arguing the benefits vs. the disadvantages of this technology, I would simply like to make it know that this can be considered by some as a negative impact on society, especially those that have acquired a speeding ticket.
The advancement of technology creates a need to monitor this technology. This can often have negative impacts on society. Technology has had a negative impact on our society. We would be better off in the predated times when there was less technology advancements. As technology and science advances human’s morals and ethical values diminish. For instance, the internet has given us a way to email and contact others without having to face them. Therefore, our social live is becoming more and more complicated.
CONCLUSION
From my Personal point of view, I think it's important to say that people KNOW how big of an impact technology has on us. It doesn't matter what you do, however, because it's always there, always in your face. The important thing to remember is that Technology is alienated us from other human contact. Instead of having quality family time or focusing more on family, we see people sitting at computers or on the phone or watching TV. It's a one on one interaction with someone who isn't really there or something that cannot give any kind of emotion or response in return. While technology definitely has its benefits, we're overusing it extremely.
While I won't disagree that some technology has had negative impacts, I think the more responsible thing would be to say that the way we use technology has had a negative impact. What some fail to realize is that everything we use on a daily basis is technology, from the air conditioning in our homes and the vehicles that we drive to the preservatives in our food and the clothes that we wear. Technology didn't just miraculously come about; technological advances happen because of a need or want. Some may say that computers, the internet and text messaging have limited the ability to socialize and communicate with people face to face when in actuality it has enabled us to communicate when communication would otherwise not be possible. Soldiers in Iraq are fully capable of communicating face to face, however if it weren't for the internet and web cams some would never see their families. It all goes back to knowing how to use technology responsibly and appropriately, and if you can't do that than maybe it's not technology that's straining your relationships, maybe it's you. Technology has brought nothing to our world more than disillusion. The salvation of mankind is a snare. Pollution, genetic mutation giving rise to new set of organism that causes disease, the fear of global warming; solar mares and changes are the bankrupt of our so called technology. What we think is our achievement is our inadequacy and curiosity boomeranging to us. Though I could chuckle with its great achievement, yet life remains constant. How many have medical technology pushed to live many years of 150s? In those days, when there was little technology, I was told of great men who lived 180, 150, and 140. This is to mention but few. Irrespective of our great potentials in this field, yet our days are not prolonged as days we have no or little technology. The threat of nuclear weapon can never salvage mankind. Its abundance on the earth could post more fear for the coming generation. A global war, could at this point post little survival. Pursing after peace with war, is against our belief of a perfect utopia; where everybody is free of fear and uncertainty this is what technology has brought to us.
Technology is never intrinsically good or bad. However, it’s the usage of technology which gives rise to these controversies
We must take action before advances in technology and science destroys our society. To sum it all up, the impact of technology is indeed in the hands of its wielder

EDUCATION AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN CONTEMPORARY NIGERIA

2010-06-08T18:20:00.001-07:00

Unemployment for the past few decades has drastically increased in leaps and bounds; one may be forced to wonder what the cause of this is. The economic value of schooling such as gainful employment has help to raise the demands for modern day education, but the high demands for education has drastically increased the percentage of unemployment, this is a paradox.
One of the challenges which the Nigeria economy has to contend with presently is the enamors number of Nigerians who are qualified educational and wish to work but unfortunately are unable to find any meaningful employment if not at all for themselves.
In the works of Adaralegbe (1985) he said, the president of world bank once has this to say “developing countries like Nigeria have greatly expounded their educational system over the past quarters of the century, but much of the expansion are seen in one of the most disturbing paradox of our time. While million of people from among the educated are unemployed millions of jobs are waiting to be done because people with the right education and skill can’t be found”

The federal government is vigorously emphasizing the need for our youth educational system to produce employable youth, and emphasis has now been shifted to science. This same science and technology education programs in Nigeria have been criticized as esoteric and generally unproductive due mainly to inadequacies in the curricular provisions and implementations. Graduate of science are mostly narrow specialist who find it difficult to fit into the world of works (industries and civil services) except in to teaching professions which unfortunately takes all.
Evaluating such issues as the curriculum and the adequacy with which it is preparing its product for effective future functioning in a society is less straightforward. Beginning with the primary school curriculum, it is obvious that it is still abstract and academic in nature. That is quality of education is judged primarily on the basis of academic achievements (e.g. ability to pass an exam).

Giving the socio-political and economic realities of Nigeria – a nation increasingly threatened by the population problem majority of them illiterates residing in the rural areas and depending on subsistence agricultural base for marginal subsistence, it can easily be said that the curriculum is irrelevant to the learning need of the majority of the school students in Nigeria. How do we assess the quality of an educational system preparing students to attain their individual and corporate objective within the same society were paper qualification and material wealth is highly valued?

For education to have any qualitative meaning in life of the students in any society, a holistic conceptualization of the purpose of education in that society, country and the place of the individual in the scheme of things is a prerequisite. there is no reason to believe that an academic and theoretically orientated student will not want to, and indeed, even be more effective in helping to transform his environment if exposed to a learning situations where he can practically demonstrate his theoretical information which otherwise will be a useless knowledge. Education should instill the relevant skill that will enable students to fit into the labor market and their society.
To be meaningful therefore, the Nigeria educational system should aim at ensuring that learning is work oriented, practical and relevant to the Nigeria needs and situations, that means that education should be that which would instill the spirit of self-help and self-reliance. Therefore, the big gap between formal and non-formal education as well as the distinction between academic and practical work should be bridge
It is imperative therefore for government to look into these issues and formulate educational policies that will turn these ideas into realities. Students of Nigeria universities are tired of going for extra trainings to fit into the job they have being employed to do. Companies, banks and multi nationals are tired of wasting so much money in retraining employees to fit into their vacancies. The time to act is now.

FINDING A FULFILLING RELATIONSHIP

2010-06-08T18:18:00.001-07:00

published by campus digest OAU may edition 2010

Finding someone to be in a relationship is actually quite easy. Finding someone to be in a relationship that actually fulfills you, however, is a different story. So how do you find a relationship that truly fulfills your needs and desires? Setting your priorities straight and having realistic expectations will help guide you into the right direction in finding the relationship you have always wanted. Before you can do that though, you need to make sure that you feel fulfilled on your own first.

So many people end up in relationships that do not fulfill them because they are entering the relationship with the wrong expectations and for the wrong reasons. A big example of this is someone entering a relationship as a way to feel complete. Many people feel unsatisfied with themselves and their lives, and believe that someone else will be able to fill in that gap for them. Placing the responsibility for your happiness on someone else is unrealistic and will only result in disappointments in the relationship. You also need to acknowledge and accept the fact that there is no such thing as The ideal relationship And that there will be issues that will require teamwork and compromise.

Most people have the idea that if a relationship is truly happy and meant to be, then there never will be any problems and should not require so much work- it should just be happy. Well, if this is how you view relationships, then it is time to change your way of thinking before you set yourself up for more painful reality checks. If you are interested in finding a person to build a strong romantic relationship with, the best thing to do would be to start by focusing on yourself first- and make sure that you are have your life sorted out, before deciding to share it with someone else. Majority of people would read this say. Of course, it is common sense. And while this may true, “people still enter relationship with unrealistic expectation, wrong reasons” (Tosin Osemeobo)

So if you feel you are ready to be in a serious, committed relationship, do your self a favor and take it one-step at a time. Review the relationship you have with yourself first and make sure that you are truly happy with you are and where you stand currently in your life. Ask yourself why you feel the need to be in a relationship, what you are prepared to invest into it, as well as what you are expecting from your partner. Sorting this out will help you understand your relationship goals and will help you understand what it is you need to look for in a person when trying to find a fulfilling relationship.

PARADOXICAL REALITY

2010-06-08T18:17:00.000-07:00

...… A country with uncultured civilization
Lost in the pride of modern fog.
An independent but literally imprisoned state
Led by the blues of western bait
And enslaved bosom pride.

A country without curtain
Exposed to the dark games
Of foreign culture.
A country in tartars
Salvaged by strange powers.

Sudden lost consumed us all… as
The boom of our oil’s past
The exploits of our green pastures
The success of our nationalist struggles and
The sovereignty of our black race
All gone like vestiges.

Our past glories vanquished before us all
Pride our fathers’ fought to keep
Wither away like dew.

From our art of true history
In a dialect similar to my mother tongue
Found I, rich and treasured heritage
Nurtured by ripened hands and sacrosanct traditions.

But “they” swiftly came calling like
The seducing sounds of the church bell
In a chill-in Christmas morning
To brain-wash our hands, heads and hearts
And make us dance to the dictated
Tones played by paid masquerades
With our local tom-tom

I stood to examine again, but saw I
A country led by an office without a leader
A promising land far from the Promised Land.
A people rich in culture without content.

I saw minds consumed with the bloody festivities
Of corruptions and innocent political massacres
Surrounded by insatiable inclinations

But, these glimpse of hope I fear
That we can if we want
Sweep away all dirty minds
Into the worthless heap of history

And plant new trees and pastures
Fill our positions with evergreen minds
Freed from imprisoned morality
And uncensored consciences.

I will wait, our salvation will come.

Until then, let us all dance on this
Brinks of paradoxical realities.

FRIENDSHIP AND FAMILY

2010-06-08T18:16:00.000-07:00

Some one once said, show me your friend and I will tell you who you are, to day, it is show me your friend and I will tell you where you are going in life. Friends are integral part of our lives; the friends we make are the answers to the questions of posterity. We all have different definitions of friends, many people define friends by their characteristics, some say a friend is someone who love you, care for you, someone who is honest, faithful, kind and just. Others say they are those who possess the fruit of the spirit as recorded in scriptures. Whichever way, our friends as Christians should, portray the life of Christ. According to one of my favorite speaker pastor bimbo Odukoya, (a woman of God in Nigeria but now late.) who said, Godly friends will do you Good, and not harm, another anonymous writer, once said, if you have one true friend you have more than your share. In a world of fear, pain, trials, tribulations, terror, uncertainty, lost, danger etc, we can always find a family in the company of faithful friends. Jesus understood this when he found a home in the family of Mary, Martha and Lazarus in Luke 10:38-40, john 11, and 12 respectively. there many examples were recorded about the life of Christ and his friends, Bethany was about two miles from Jerusalem and much farther from Jesus’ home in Galilee but he did not just pass by to drop a note but he spent time with them their Mary was anointing the feet of Jesus and Martha preparing the meal. We also understood that Lazarus was a good friend of Jesus. Jesus could rest in their home after a long teaching and ministerial work.
Today in our contemporary world, we can also find a home and a family with people who share in our view of life and those with similar interest.
I do not know if you are lonely and need a friend, not just any person but some one who fear God, then all you need to do is, prayerfully find someone who you can be free with and can share your intimate thoughts . You can enjoy where you are if only you can find someone you can be true to, trust and share your problems with. I’m sure God will not disappoint you.

DEAR GOD

2010-06-08T18:13:00.000-07:00

PUBLISHED BY MINE MAG JUNE/ JULY EDITION 2010

Eternal God
Above the galaxy
Main perfection destiny
First gate, trinity kingdom
Holies of holies
Heaven
God@heaven.com

Dear God,

A letter of inner expression

Compliments of this glorious season of the consciousness of the parousia
I picked up my calligraphic pen from the awe of your awesomeness
Just to express my heart felt worship and adoration to you
Your nature is irrefutable

Each time I take a glimpse at your writings
They are new and always refreshing.
You are affable and amiable
You are the fountain that spring forth

Waters, which quench everlasting, thirst
The shadow of your passion and care
Has showered on me aesthetics and tranquility
Your commitment in my life has snatched me

Out of this world of rejection, stigma and humiliation.
Your beauty supersedes that of the yews
Your word carries overwhelming truth
A message that breaks the stony hearts of men

When I was desolate in this cheerless
Weather of bad days and sad night
You alone, lord came to my aid and brightened me
With care and compression.

In the darkest of my doubt
You lifted the lamp of faith
Leading and showing me the way I should go
Speeches are not enough to say thank you.

God in you I confide my spirit, soul and body
I just felt to appreciate and worship
And awesomeness

Fraternal to the trinity.
Yours heavenly,
Amb, Tosin Osemeobo

MY CHRONICLE

2010-06-08T18:11:00.000-07:00

This is the story of my life
Long ago, I came to this world
Through the tongue of a weaker sex
I was named after the pastures of passing streams

Was given out to ilocoparentis
Who pretended to be good semi-parents
Many years later, after
A long period of ideological combat

With my true parent, for my true identity
Many of my relatives
Paid with their blood and time
To liberate me from subjugation to sovereignty

But they never lived to see me enjoy it
When I was an adolescent
I tried many things, issues, ideas and theories
I even went into adventures

And played games like monopoly and scrabble
But I never won in any of those games
I was more of a futility
Many times, I was used as collateral

For loans, I knew nothing about
Many people died for my sake
Some for just and others for unjust causes.
Recently became a full grown adult

With unkempt hair all over my face and chest
My major problems now are
People calling me fool
Because I am aged above forty

Yet still reasons like a lad
… A fool, because I am rich
But live in perpetual penury.
… A fool, because I am as fertile as the earth

But never care or even show concern for my people
…A fool, because I was educated
But still lacks common sanity
… A fool, because I have good computers

But allowed Trojan and his brothers to rest in them
…A fool, because I have many things
But use them all for philanthropy
… a fool because have many good mansions

But my children are still living with my neighbors.
My grand parents are not better of
They are the cause of my dilemma
If I have only seventy years to live now

Then I must change my basis
May be by revolution or faith
I must learn to redeem my lost glories
I must utilize all it takes in me to be all the best…

I must be the change I want to see
This is my chronicle… this is who I am.
But wait…! Who am I?

imprisoned morality

2010-05-28T14:35:00.000-07:00

Deflowered by strange hands
Bold and proud to publish the misery
Seen not as a shame today
But cultural cachet
Where no one can stand
The shame and boast of
Being a virgin

Just like the masia group in Kenya
And the modern cities of Nigeria
Today’s fashions are
Simply bait for sexual stimulation.

Ladies engrossed in arrogant
And luxurious brags of flounce
Nudity and patronizes by men of
Low emotional self-esteem

Situations spread across Africa
Like dew in a chilly early morning
Whose fault then?
Consider same sex legality

And gay couples in sacred matrimony
Many compelled to sex slave trading
Profession by certain conditions
Punished by rugged sex and little pay

Sympathetic? Hey it’s simply our
Modern version of slave trade,
An Independent body with
Imprisoned self-sovereignty.

Where gone our morals?
Lost in the air? Swallowed by mundane culture?
Kidnapped by illicit religion?
Or imprisoned by modern outlaws
And betrayed conscience?
Only to wake up from our wealthy
Cultural and religious norms

To find morality and human dignity
Slip away like yesterday,
Reputation and integrity vanish like cinders
In the windy desert

Morals held at the tip
And worn like a loosed garment.
How secured is then our fate?
Painful and shameful!

Not many subscribe to it
Not many can help it
Because modernism conditioned it
And have enslaved our conscience to it

Alluring colonial and economic strokes
Compelling many into slaves
Of lustful passions
Won’t you be determined?
Sexual pleasure is a treasure
Wrapped and stamped fragile
Address to only one being

And only to be set free
In the western nuptials of
Sacred bondage
Called marital sex freedom.

THE GRANDEUR OF O.A.U

2010-05-28T13:17:00.000-07:00

Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is one of the leading universities in Nigeria, born in 1962 and built with one of the best hands and minds. Named after a great philanthropist, activist and politician, the school is located in Ile Ife, a place in Osun state known as the cradle of the Yoruba kingdom. Chief Obafemi Awolowo was a great nationalist who fought endlessly for Nigeria’s independence in the late 50s. The structures and design of the school still remains the best till today. The school was formerly the leading ICT University in Nigeria (Prior to that it was named the most beautiful campus in Africa). OAU is an ancient institution with rich architectural designs, fertile past and a promising future. An environment pregnant with beauty, a macrocosm of the larger society embedded with all the necessary paraphernalia for intellectual, social, and religious activities, thereby making life interesting, fun, whimsical, insightful and astute.

THE NATURAL PERSPECTIVE
OAU, from the natural point of view, is blessed with lots of natural endowments like mountains, hills, rocks, tropical rain forest, and evergreen shrubs for wildlife conservation and recreations. Her atmosphere is blessed with fresh breeze from the western hemisphere and with millions of bats spread across the sky; OAU has being reputed to be one of the largest bats colonies in the world.

AT DAWN
At dawn, the school is poetic with street lights all over the place and the blue sky beams its smile on the elegant structures. The students are divided into five category, namely; the religiously-inclined, the philosophers, the fanatics, the activist, and the moralist. With close to forty Christian fellowships and over twenty Christian organizations; OAU has also being reputed to be the second most religious institution in the world after Oral Roberts University.

STUDENT’S LIFE
Most students do not waste their time doing nothing; the environment is such that you are naturally inclined to pick a line of creative hobby or a career outside your normal course of study. These careers could be in journalism, sports, politics, music, business and so on. During the normal session, the school is a very busy place with students hopping up and down as if their marks are on the run. The atmosphere is usually filled with “stress “of academic loads—students retire to their various halls of residence late in the evening. At night, these students return back to classes to burn the midnight candles. This is why the students of OAU are called “the famous Jack lords”

PROSPECTS OF OAU GRADUATE
Products of this institution are recognized everywhere in the world for their intellectual capability, confidence, hard work and meaningful contributions to national and international issues. That means that three out of every five graduate of the university is a potential leader. An average OAU undergraduate is a star, well-polished to face the demands of the outside world and to produce positive result in the midst of pressure and short time limit. That is why as a product of this school, you can work anywhere.

OAU AT SUMMER BREAK
During the summer break, students stay behind to read their book in advanced. Medical students are usually on session, some students of the Faculty of Education are having their teaching practice while science students are busy with their industrial attachment. The environment is quiet, scanty and friendly altogether. Some student leaders of religious bodies or organization linger through out the break as the case may be to have special time with their creator.
The atmosphere is usually that of quiet commitment to academic and research developments. These give the postgraduate students ample opportunity to carry out their research and use the library without any disturbance. All these and many more make OAU a complete university for advanced intellectual studies. Today, OAU is the 25th school in the top 100 African universities (online rating). This is why we are called GREAT IFE.

YOUTH EMPOWERMENT AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

2010-05-28T13:15:00.000-07:00

Education has no universally acceptable definition; it is a concept defined in many ways. Some see it as the acquisition of certain behavioral characteristics; such as skills attitudes, beliefs, logical reasoning, knowledge and other traits, which will enable one to adjust and interact effectively with others in the society. This is the process of schooling the mind to think logically in order to solve certain problems confronting humanity.
We live in a fast changing world, a time when it is only the quality of insight and information available to a person, which will determine the depth of transformation achievable. This is when education becomes inevitable. By potential education, I mean a kind of educational setting that will help unveil certain potentials, develop those that are dormant and instill new ones. Largely, 70 to 80% of the population in schools (secondary and tertiary) is youths. If this hypothetical assumption is correct then you will agree with me that a vote for education is a vote for the youth. A focus on education will automatically be a focus on the youths.
Education for the past few decades has been proven universally as essential to the developmental progress and advancement of any nation; as a result, it plays a crucial role in the growth and development of other sectors of the economy.
The youths are the force of change, when the educational sector of a nation is vibrant; it unveils their potentials, helps to develop their skills and in turn aids the development of that country. This is because the youths are the most energetic working class in any country. That is why their education is important for nation building. In a recent survey by youth organizations around the world, young people were asked to list their major concerns in life and they identified them as follows:
1. Early marriage
2. Drug abuse
3. Family problems
4. STDs
5. Lack of opportunities
6. Unemployment
7. Inadequate education
8. Poor empowerment and skill development
These concerns are categorized into three;
1. Social issues.
2. Educational prospects.
3. Skill and unemployment issues.
Taking for instance the contribution of the youths to fight hunger as a form of potential education, this depends on just their sheer weight of number, their early openness to new ideas, pragmatic views, illustrations, personal ambitions and interest, sense of worth, responsibility and adding of value to humanity. All these and more make participation effective and result oriented.
One important thing a country can do for its overall development is to invest in educational empowerment and skill development thereby creating opportunities that will be available, accessible and affordable to all. We cannot deny the fact that thousands of young people in Nigeria live in rural areas, they are illiterate and they lack adequate opportunity for enlightenments that will empower their potentials. Major problems facing these country are severe in the rural areas were education and health facilities are poor, jobs and other useful opportunities are limited.
If the government will address these issues, the youths will be able to fulfill their potentials, play an active role in local resources, implement local programs, gain access to formal education, explore urban technology to their advantage, develop insight which will make them fit into lucrative opportunities and help them compete with their counterparts in the world.
These will have a resultant effect on their own future which is inevitably the future of the nation.
RECOMMENDATIONS.
The government should provide financial allocations (capital) to support local enterprises and create employment programs for the youths. They should support co-operative schemes and youth development banks, involving young people in designing and implementing voluntary service programs for their localities. They should establish skill acquisition centers. Build more schools with subsidized fees. Healthcare centers with free treatment for minor ailments, good roads and rural electrification. These will attract local agricultural investors and bring large market to the farmers. Scholarship should be given to students on merit.
Finally, NGOs can bridge the gap between rural illiteracy and urban intelligence. This is imperative because the youths are the future of any nation.

THE NIGERIA OF MY DREAM

2010-05-28T13:13:00.000-07:00

Nigeria is a fertile land, full of prospect, rich cultural heritage and a promising future; a land with bright opportunities, far from poverty and decay. But this ever-green land has not yet produced its fruits because of the powers-that-be. I live in a rural area where it appears everything appears to be impossible. With many sick people but few hospitals, many children who cannot afford schooling, gender discrimination, poor security and high rates of unemployment, our leaders do not care for us, the followers.
This country is filled with people who have good ideas, philosophy, concepts, designs, and wonderful viewpoints but still languishes in lack. This is because we only document our ideas, we never implement them. If only we could re-examine our priorities and try our best to transform our ideas into realities, then, we can boldly say that this great country will soon become one of the most desirable places to live, on earth—a place with youth who are far from juvenile delinquencies and adult who are honest in conscience and in deeds.
A place where every child will be educated, all sick people will be able to pay for their hospital bills and a place where stable power supply will be available, affordable and guaranteed in every home is what we long for. A country with free and fair elections, incorruptible uniform men and abundant food from the agricultural sector is the desire of every true lover of Nigeria. Our desire is a great country with leaders far from greed, corruption, environment void of crime, religious crisis, rituals, ethnicity, rape, kidnapping and tribalism. I see a country with stable economy, education and increased employment opportunities, with people who are ready to work hard and solve their community problems. These and many more are what I wake up every morning to see. Nigeria will be great.

ECSTASY OF PERSEVERANCE

2010-05-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

Don't believe in fallacies
Which says dreams are easy to achieve
They are like booby whose eyes
Are covered with fog
Cos they lark behind and eat the lies

Dreams are like the upward paths
Paths, which leads to the future
Where dreams can be achieved
It is the only way into the reality of our destiny
But he, who desires to achieve it, must...

Play his way through.
The journey is long; the way is hard and narrow
And there are many dangers.
Don't stumble over pebbles,
For they are the whispers you will hear.
Embrace troubles,

For God has a purpose behind it
Overcome calamity,
For it is a ticket to go ahead.
Bear difficulties,
For it is a gallop along the path.
Don't worry about pesky tries

For they are the night you must pass through.
Don't bother about those who have made it
For they are the yews you see
By the way side, every green. But stagnant.
Ignore destructive opportunities and fickle chances

For they are the signboard
Leading to the abyss of regret and tears
So beautiful, but also the killers of dreams
Bear the tons that pears your foot
For they are the suffering and pains

You must endure.
Don't think of the battles you shall fight,
For they are the prerequisite into the
Realms of nobility and dignity
Make friends with steadfastness,

The brother of stoic and endurance,
The twin sibling of perseverance and patience.
But hold on to God
For you can confide and lean on him
A little more step lies the reality or your destiny

At last you made it, so it is
Slow and steady says the snail,
It is not he who started but he who ends well
Take the blow!
ACHIEVE WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE.

Games fate play

2010-05-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

Opportunity they say comes once and only the prepared utilizes it. Some one once said, that being poor means passing over opportunities repeatedly. What you do now, will answer to the questions of posterity. The games that fate plays are the games of bringing opportunities to you, opportunity disguised as challenges or as puzzles of life. This opportunity comes in tournaments the questions is how prepared are you when this opportunity comes? Skills and personal developments do not come by sleeping and waking up like every other person does, Some one said, any man who wakes up in the morning and suddenly becomes great did not sleep in the night.

Preparations are the best answers to opportunities. Everyday millions and billions of people by pass you on the roadside, in your office, classes, and even in your thought. People are on a daily basses working hard to become assets, empowered with relevant resources, ideas, and intellectual wealth.

In the words of Sam Adeyemi a popular motivational speaker in Nigeria once said, “Ideas rules the world”. What you need is not the money, wealth, or fame but developing yourselves to be the kind of person that will naturally attracts the wealth, fame and money. That is simply by becoming a value creator.
Explore your mind, do the undone, ponder the imponderable, challenge your inner strength, for there is a candle of excellence behind every born child. In you lie jewels of inestimable values. Let fate plays the game we chose to be prepared.

ADVENTURES OF THE MORTAL MIND… (1)

2010-04-27T18:05:00.002-07:00

… I heard behind me the echoes of an ageless voice leading me through the ancient path, silent, cool, narrow and filed with evergreen shrubs. It was indeed tempting and lonely to walk alone, but I journeyed through with sequential and rhythmic steps. Then, I meet an old man seated on a log of wood suspended with strings too small for the ordinary eyes to see. He was clothed in pure white robe. He had long and woolly white hairs and very long beards just like that of the Chinese kunfu masters. He smiled broadly. His gaze was like floods of light which swept me off my feet and then he spoke in a dialect, similar to that of my birthplace with all its diverse tongues, revealing things history did not show me. His voice was sweet but thunder-like. Then he said, “Welcome to the adventure of the mortal mind. As you journey down the historic and futuristic lane, you shall meet with two personalities; one will ask for every thing, give him nothing. The second one will ask for nothing, give him every thing… the journey has begun.” Then, as I opened my hands, behold, I was carrying something.
So I journeyed through the streams of thought. I met yet another man, an old man whose movement was supported by a walking stick. When he saw me, he spoke with the voice of a foolish old man; although his voice cracked, I could still hear him. He said, “My son, I have been climbing this sandy hill for many years now, and no one could help me. I am by name everything and I am the expression of my name, please help me. I need nothing. I was surprised at what he said, and so I replied, “Old man, if you claim you are everything and you ask for nothing, I won’t give you anything. Please go your way.” So, the old man continued his struggle and I went my way…
It was a long walk, so I decided to repose under the yew to regain my lost strength. Suddenly, I saw this young-looking man filled with overflowing energy and enthusiasm. He looked healthy. But he seemed self-indulgent and proud. So he came to me boasting, “My name is nothing and I am an expression of my name, I need everything you have.”
I laughed, smiled and said, “Young man you seem stupid, you are nothing and have nothing and you need everything I have. You are lazy and you waste your strength begging me to give you what I have when you can work with your hands. I’m sorry I won’t give you anything, Please go your way.”
So the young man frolicked happily and playfully away down the wind. Then I looked upward only to see the old man. He smiled and said, “My son, you have made terrible decisions. You were given the opportunity to see your past, and correct your future. The first person you saw was the symbol of your past; he needed nothing because there is nothing you can do about it. But the second person you saw was your future; he needed everything because you can do everything to help him. You had something in your hand and that was skill, time, and opportunity.”
“You had the skill and time to prepare him, train him, teach him, and give him the opportunity to stand on the spot light, wave to ovations, walk to stardom, become a star and be celebrated. Because your future is based on the choices you make today, your future is only as bright as you prepare for it. Time and opportunity wait for no human. The safest way to predict your future is to create it, because the future you do not actively create will come to you as a surprise. All you need to do is invest in your time, develop your mind, equip yourself and get set for the next opportunity. Just like the man, you still have the chance and time to change your future for good. Simply open your hand and see what you’ve got. Look inside your mind, for there lies the true power of creativity and excellence. The spotlight is on you…”

still booting...

2010-04-22T13:52:00.002-07:00

This blog is still under construction please bear with us
Tosin Osemeobo