THINKING ABOUT THE FUTURE OF NIGERIAN YOUTHS

It worries one to think that the future of the Nigerian youth is uncertain because it lacks direction. There is an argument that young Nigerians don’t have sound set of values or models to look up to. The reason for this write-up is to showcase inspiring Nigerians all over the world who are doing Nigeria proud, individuals the younger generation could model and pattern their lives after.

These individuals through what they do and through whatever instrument that is in their hand motivate and inspire the public. You see motivation can come in various forms and by various means.
Messages like “Be you, be free, be brilliant,” “If it doesn’t exist, then you are lucky; invent it,” “Hard is a reality, difficult is a myth…impossible doesn’t exist,” “People think it, great people think it and do it,” “Achieve the extraordinary” is a reflection

of the bank PHB’s work ethics. To succeed in any Endeavour, one must develop the habit of

thinking positive.

Mr. Atuche is a great thinker and it showed on the activities of the bank earning them the name the thinking bank. According to Dayo Lawuyi, former managing director of Dunlop Nigeria Plc, “Strategic thinking should be a team effort but the CEO must do the initial thinking…. All I have to do is to tell my colleagues about the vision because they are experts in their own fields. They will then come with their ideas and we create together. It is a team work but the CEO cannot exonerate himself from the leadership.”

Creativity is very important in whatever we are doing. It was Dale Dauten who observed “If you want to be creative in your company, your career, your life, all it takes is one easy step… the extra one. When you encounter a familiar plan, you just ask one question: What else could we do?”You must make it your business to be visible
We must be futuristic. According to Ted Levitt “The future belongs to people who see possibilities for profiting before they become obvious to all.” You will agree with me that the youths are the future. Lastly, we must appreciate God for the inspiration to do whatever we are doing.

A PLEA FOR THE NIGERIAN CHILD

The report specifically stated that over a million Nigerian under-five children die each year from preventable diseases such as whopping cough, polio, measles and pneumonia, making Nigeria one of the top 12 countries with the highest under-five mortality rate in the world. Also, according to the report, nearly a third of the country’s children are under-weight and about half of the country’s total population has no access to safe drinking water. The report further disclosed that the Nigerian child is faced with severe cases of under-nutrition, a factor which contributes to about half of all deaths among the under-five.
Condition of the Nigerian child still shows no sign of significant improvement. This much is apparent in the recent release of the 2008 United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) "State of the World’s Children Report". The section on Nigeria is tellingly grim, a very disturbing story of insufficient concern, if not outright neglect of society’s most vulnerable group.


This is the grim reality of the Nigerian child, an existence marked by the most difficult of struggles for survival, from the womb to the tomb. For most, it is a miserable life that more often than not is cut short as a result of the absence of the basic necessities of life. In life, he or she is often unloved, unwanted and even abandoned, left all alone to face society’s cruel fates.
In Nigeria, he or she is an adult even before he has matured, forced to fend for himself or herself and made to bear the burden of the gross follies and failures of the adults who run the affairs of society. He is the perfect study case in exploitation, neglect and abandonment.
On its part, UNICEF, in its concern for the Nigerian child has called on all the states in the country to implement the Integrated Maternal, New-born and Child Health Strategy (IMNCH), a policy that encompasses the Accelerated Child Survival and Development (ACCD).

According to UNICEF, the ACCD promotes the selection of low-cost and high impact intervention packages such as strengthening routine immunization, Vitamin A supplementation, exclusive breastfeeding, Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) and the use of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs). These measures, if fully implemented May not just put us on the road to meeting the MDGs target date of 2015 for reducing under-five mortality rate by two-thirds, but more importantly improve the overall health and wellbeing of our children.
The Nigerian child has been battered and abandoned long enough. Is it not time we listened to his pleas for mercy, for concern, for love and above all his call to us to relieve him of the terrible pains he has been in since birth? Shouldn’t his everyday tears move us to action? Shouldn’t his cries be our cries, his pains, our pains, his hunger our hunger and his vulnerability our vulnerability also? He is precious and invaluable, God’s priceless gift to mankind. The kind of tomorrow we want for our country is dependent on the kind of investment we make in the child today. This therefore means that our future, including our desire to be among the top 20 world economies by 2020 is tied to what we make of him or how we treat him today. Here then is the stark choice before us: treat him well now and reap a bountiful future or continue to abandon him and the country will continue to be consigned to backwardness.

THE EFFECT OF POSITIVE CONFESSION

Words are spirits and they are powerful. what we say is what happens to us. Let us therefore practice the art of positive confession. Below are examples. Say them as often as you can and what your life become a miracle.
I am the apple of God's eye. I am on the mind of God
God will not leave me nor forsake me
His word concerning my life is yea and amen
I shall be the head and not the tail
I shall eat of the best of this land london cannot contain my family and I
My eyes shall see excellent things
My ears shall hear excellent report
My hands are blessed, i will lack no good thing
I shall be a blessing to my generation and the generations to come
I shall not die but live long to declare the mighty works of God
I shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water
I shall bear fruit in season and out of season
No evil tongue formed against me shall prosper
I am blessed beyond every curse
The world is about to celebrate me
I shall eat of the fruit of my lips
I shall eat of the fruit of my labour
This is my week of divine excellence
My relationship with the lord jesus shall be shall stronger than ever
I am a living testimony
Men shall see me and see jesus. i am blessed, insured and assured by the blood of king jesus. Amen!

NIGERIA: WHAT'S THE FUTURE PLAN

Nigeria relies on crude oil sales for more than 90 percent of its export earnings. With the dramatic drop in the price of crude oil in the wake of the global economic crisis, Nigeria’s income has diminished. The drop in the price of crude oil and the sweeping panic following the sub-prime mortgage market collapse in the U.S. in 2008 saw foreign investors pulling their money out of the country and resulted in a shortage of hard currency. This led to a fall in the value of the local currency, the Naira. In the black market, where most Nigerians source their hard currency dropped by about 50 percent. The official rate also fell to N145. Inflation Higher production costs for the manufacturing sector are transferred on to consumers leading to inflation. Just like the manufacturing sector, small businesses transfer some of their costs to the consumer. According to Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics, inflation rose from 8.2 percent in April, to 9.7 percent in May. The rising inflation and the inability of many Nigerians to cope with it have caused some disquiet around the country. In May, workers started a series of demonstrations to demand higher pay. The main workers union, the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, wanted the minimum wage - currently the equivalent of 30 dollars a month - to rise to about 300 dollars. These greatly increased wages say NLC officials, were needed to cushion the effects of inflation.Ismail Bello, an official of the workers' union, fears the worst if the government goes ahead with deregulation. "For us deregulation will mean further increase in prices of petroleum products. For workers we believe that deregulation will bring more pain, it will result in an increase in prices," he said He adds that deregulation "will result in [further] inflation, it will depress workers pay which is already very depressed given the kind of economic crisis that we are going through."

EDISON: AN INSPIRING TRUE STORY

I have always been amazed by Edison, who had filed 400 patents between 1876 and 1884, at approximately a patent a week. Isn't he remarkable?
This is a true story which i came across from one of the Newsletters which was trying to explain about "things ahead of its time". It seems that Edison liked to demonstrate his phonograph by allowing people to speak into the machine and then playing the recording back for them. However, the technology was outside almost everyone's conceptual understanding. Up to that point in history, the only thing that could mimic the sound of one's voice was a ventriloquist, so people thought it had to be a trick. Clergymen came to pronounce it "the devil's work" and to discredit Edison.
But here's the really fun part. Edison used to charge people 25 cents to try to "fool the machine." A person who spoke Latin (a dead language) would speak Latin into it and, of course, it would speak Latin back to the person. People wondered how Edison was able to teach a machine to speak Latin. A person would speak Chinese into the machine and it would speak Chinese back to them. Again, people would wonder how the "Wizard of Menlo Park" taught the machine to speak Chinese.
People simply did not understand the concept of a recording.
This just goes into prove "what a genius, he is".
If you would like to read and know more about this genius do visit:http://www.edison.me.uk

HELPING THROUGH THE GRIEF

"The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen."
--- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Grief touches all of us. It may be because of a death of a loved one, a loss of a job or tragic life events beyond our control. Grieving hurts and heals. As you read through this section, if you have something you would like to add, please send it here. By sharing, you can help others through their grief.

QUOTES ON HOPE

Hope, deceitful as it is, serves at least to lead us to the end of our lives by an agreeable route. ~François Duc de La Rochefoucauld

Once you choose hope, anything's possible. ~Christopher Reeve

Hope is the only universal liar who never loses his reputation for veracity. ~Robert G. Ingersoll
Things which you do not hope happen more frequently than things which you do hope. ~Titus Maccius Plautus
Hope is some extraordinary spiritual grace that God gives us to control our fears, not to oust them. ~Vincent McNabbIn reality,
hope is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs man's torments. ~Friedrich Nietzsche,
Human, All Too Human, 1878When the world says, "Give up,"Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."~Author Unknown

Love floods us with hope. ~Jareb TeagueThere is nothing so well known as that we should not expect something for nothing - but we all do and call it Hope. ~Edgar Howe

HOPE IN THE MIDST OF DISPAIR.

Nigeria is among the 20 poorest nations in the world, as almost 66% of Nigerians live below the poverty line of one US dollar a day. Nigeria, a country of over 133 million people, has experienced severe hardship since the decline of the oil boom. The large scale unemployment and the desperation for survival among the populace have led to numerous vices. Despite huge resources and efforts directed at restoring progressive social norms, Nigeria is acclaimed to be the second most corrupt nation in the world. These factors and many others have affected the country’s overall prosperity, with a weakening currency and high inflation. Unemployment rates and poverty levels drastically worsen by the day. For the average Nigerian, diverse problems create a hopeless state of economic uncertainty. Companies are forced to downsize and retire their staff early. Plundering of the nation’s scarce resources and high capital flight to foreign banks continue to make our country an enigma before patriots of other nations, despite the war against corruption being waged by the federal government. Bringing it to the individual level, Nigerians, especially students, now have limited control over their destiny. Citizens in employment realize that, though they do not have any spare time for other important things in their lives, they are overworked and underpaid. Debts, bills and medical costs rob families of financial resources. Our purchasing power has fallen more than 14,000% since the time the Naira was at par with the dollar in the 70’s. From the above analysis, it is obvious that the entire situation in the country offers no bright future for the working class and the youth. The youths in general are pummeled with various criminal options calling for their attention, such as advanced fee fraud (419), internet fraud, etc. Many have lost their sense of destiny and are left in a state of utter despondency. As a result, the mindset of the youth can be depicted in the French saying ‘Que sera sera’ meaning ‘What will be, will be.’ There is no drive to excel, as many look for better opportunities outside Nigerian shores. Is there a way out of this hopeless situation? Can we wriggle out of this confusing state we find ourselves in? Is there any solution or have we gone beyond the state of redemption? Can anyone still find the drive within to succeed? Where can we find these answers? Do we wait for the government or can we find them within ourselves? Surely there is hope in the midst of despair.
These answers lie within you! They are in your mind. Whatever goals and dreams you can envision in your mind will materialize in your life. Think about that for a minute! Whatever you focus your mind and energies on will manifest itself into reality. You should learn to conceptualize your dreams, this way they will soon become real. Just like an artistic concept waiting to be created by the artist, so are your dreams waiting to materialize. It is time to brace yourself and redirect your focus from the dismal situation of the country.