Alice Ossai;An Introspective look into Health and Safety laws in Nigeria

I first came across the news of Ms Alice Ossai the lady that was severely assaulted to the point of losing her seven month pregnancy, while news trolling like i always do a couple of days ago.While the news struck me in the starkness of its  corrosive violence and wickedness i despaired for a couple of minutes, musing about it and then shrugged on to other news.

I mention this because this attitude i exhibited of initialy shrugging it off to a large extent is symptomatic of how normalised these sort of abhorrent work place incidents have become to an average Nigerian.

An Online petition to President Goodluck Jonathan on Domestic Violence and Rape

Hi there,i could not do this directly from the blog,so i will just post a link to the petition on the Moveon.org.
We would like everybody to please sign the petition which is for the protection of abused women in whatever guise or form,for the protection of rape victims and any kind of Domestic violence.

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/president-goodluck-ebele?source=c.em.mt&r_by=1596808

Goodluck Jonathan Approach to Boko Haram Counterinsurgency;Proactive Vs Reactive

If...citizens believe they will not be protected from retributive violence, their willingness to participate with authorities will be understandably reduced….brian jackson

Nigerians and even non-Nigerians woke up to a startling and unpleasant Pre-independence package on the 23rd of september 2013.An unfortunate boat mishap which claimed over 100 lives with some still missing. while we were deeply engrossed in the emotional thrall of this sad occurrence, the sudden news of the students callously murdered in their sleep by Boko Haram terrorists beamed across the print and electronic media to worldwide indignation and grief.At the last count we had lost more than 50 students,i will neither go into further recorded and confirmed casualties of Boko Haram terrorist attacks both after this and before.

President Goodluck Jonathan's  media chat was intended as an avenue to mount a defence of his Government s scorecard in the 2 years plus he attained the

RETORT TO FFK'S SPEECH; MY STRUGGLE MY DREAMS

I had to undertake a fairly long journey today on account of work I really didn't feel like going but what to do when a means of livelihood is involved? Grit ones teeth and suck it up!

Retort to Mr Osuntokun ; Dangote For President

I read Mr Akin Osuntokun's  insightful piece on Dangote with scarcely disguised disbelief tinged with scorn masked by a totally befuddled mien and thinly veiled acerbity .while i acknowledge the stellar performance and how far Dangote has come and how he has been able to build his business conglomerate,i think Mr Osuntokun seems to be exhibiting selective amnesia mainly concerning Alhaji Dangote's business practises.He seemed to be doing a moral cherry picking of the man's positives while conveniently side stepping his untoward personality traits.

AN AMATEUR PERSPECTIVE ON APC MANIFESTO

A whole lot has been going in our political sphere,in fact it now seems something new crops up in a matter of hours and days.none however has garnered more coverage or drove the social media sphere into a temporal meltdown and social over drive at the same time than the recent APC registration and subsequent release of their manifesto.After this we have also been heralded with more recent happenstance like the registration of the PDM which was a former pressure group headed by the late Shehu Yar adua and then Atiku Abubakar.

ASUU STRIKE AND VESTED INTERESTS

So the ASUU strike has gone on for almost two months at the time of writing,hence by a simple process of deduction, Nigerian undergraduate and Postgraduates have had an abrupt interruption to their studies for that long with no conceivable end to the Mexican stand off in sight.

RETORT TO CHARLY BOY'S SANCTIMONIOUS TIRADE

Its one of these saturdays where i just feel like kicking back,laying under the duvet and pilling on the calories (saturdays and sunday are my days off from gym and calorie counting ) with this comes the predictable boredom which weekends portend.The only cure? Gossip blog surfing and spending time doing a little bit more twittering than usual. while doing my blog surf,i came across Area father (Charly boy's) letter to single ladies.Even though it was a long read,i managed to soldier through and read it to the end(dont forget its my day to lounge under my duvet) While reading it,i swiftly went through a whole host of emotions,i was aghast,irritated at a point laughing out loud before i decided such a farcial and inaccurate never mind negative perception of Nigerian men deserves some sort of  retort.

Politics of ethnicity and sundry issues

As ususal in these things,i was a bit slow on the uptake and it took me a while to get my head round what all the fuss was about.To my eternal shame i even allowed myself to be dragged into the recalcitrant fray,briefly allowing a misguided ethnocentric hue to colour my initial assessments and comments concerning the issue.Thank GOD i was able to step back before i went any deeper to re assess and critically look at the issues.I really didnt want to write about it,but all the frightening and insidious views i have read which seemed to be

FELAISM;AN EVOKING IDEOLOGY

Its another day of reflection and celebration for a music enigma,for the man who used his musical genius to awaken a whole generation's patriotic fervour and pan africanism.

I have been musing on how to adequately  put this in words for a while now,partly because of the complexity and brilliance of the man and also due to the fluidity at which his ideals and ideology has evolved over the years.Even as i write this,i must admit it is still very difficult for me to put forward an all encompassing view of what he was all about, prompting me to come to a decision that i will use my own personal perspective.Yes, he was that unique and hard to put in a box even several years later.

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT,AN ALTERNATE TANGENT

I was going through some articles a couple of days ago and came across an astonishing data.The informations to say the least was startling as well as frightening.Reading through it again,i realised that we are sitting on a keg of gun powder. And should be patently obvious to all and sundry that present way of doing things is not sustainable,hence a continuation on same perdicious road will only mean us digging ourselves deeper in the slippery mire  .

According to the Nat Bureau of Statistics the unemployment rate in Nig presently stands at about 23.9% (Data only goes as far as 2011).To be a little bit more specific some social commentators have inferred that 8 in every 10 NIG youth are presently unemployed, and registered as jobless or under employed. There are no official statistics for the number of graduates churned out yearly but using unofficial sources like blogs and newspaper articles, about 2.5 million graduates are being added to the unemployment pool yearly.The implication of this startling figures means, potentially another  2.5million by inferrence will be graduating this year that is without factoring in the perennial school closures which has added a compulsory extra semester, at the very least to every NIG undergraduate's school year.

The reocurring connundrum for me is this,if there are presently  these alarmingly high number of graduates who are jobless with little  or near impossible hope of getting a job,and another 2.5 million still joining them every year, how do we

1.Clear up the backlog of graduates who are presently looking for jobs with little hope of getting one?

2.How do we make sure present and future graduants are gainfully employed and dont have to rely on the few companies  still operational ?

A lot of knee jerk and short term solutions has been introduced by the Government and even social commentators which seems to complicate the issue further rather than solving it,most times, sucessive Govts  simply  ignore it and roll the problem over for the next  to deal with leading to the accumulated log jam we are presently facing.

It is very important to state here that this is not just a NIG or african problem,it is world wide especially due to the global recession which has meant a potential of even western graduates being in search of non existent jobs.However, the difference with them is that they are seeking realistic and pro active solutions, rather than just being complacently reactive as our government are.

The prevaliling  harsh business climate obtained in the country has meant multi nationals are re-locating their companies  to nearby african countries and abroad where the business climate and Govt business policies are more friendly to business,hence we are having fewer white collar jobs. A place like Nnewi in Anambra state with a blossoming cottage industry of about 50 manufacturing industries some years ago are left with only about six functioning  now,with the downturn and closure in  its wake the attendant unemployment and other economic malaise. The only vibrant sector in the Nigerian economy are the telecommunications and banking industry.They employ a lot of Nigerian graduates however, even they are not big enough to absorb the total work force,leaving the rest working in the ever shrinking and exploitative  private sector with their repressive and and enslaving employment bonds and laws including state and federal govenment as civil servants on different pay grades.

What is a pro active and sustainable solution to getting the jobless graduates and  even undergraduates into paid employments?

The obvious solution that readily comes to mind is  Contemporary Agriculture and  a properly structured Apprentice programme.However due to the fact that the Agricultural sector has been written on extensively and Govt have paid attention to it both in form of Legislation and Budgetary allocation,i will briefly be concentrating on the Apprentice Structure.

Presently,the way Apprenticeships Programme if it can be called that as presently constituted is structured is neither practical nor endearing  for  drop outs and illiterates who seem to be drawn to these sector presently,never mind graduates who might think of re-training and going on to set up SMEs.

The worskshops/place of employment are filthy,the ambience and atmosphere is not conducive for learning and most of the apprentice for the first 2-3 years are not taught much of the trade they signed on for but used as glorified slaves or runners remiscient of the dickensian workhouse of the  18th century england. In adittion to this is most of the technicians are illiterate,and at best semi literate,they are  stuck in the same knowledge rut of the trade they have had since their informal graduation 10-20-30 years ago..as far as they are concerned,if these trial and error ways work for them,there is no reason to change it.Most do not aspire to anything greater than a small ramshackle lean to where they practise their trades and live a life of contentment,devoid of the natural intellectual curiosity found in the young and educated.

Presently apprentice are mostly young boys or girls brought to shop or business owners for service,their parent or guardian make a form of payment or Gratis  to the principal, for them to impart their wards with knowledge and ways of going about the business,the technical and social intricacies and they in turn serve for some years ranging from at least 4-6yrs and above depending on the magnanimity of the boss. You will typically find apprentices in a wide range of businesses and crafts from cloth Trading to spare parts selling,Automobile engineers or mechanics as they are popularly called,carpenters and every skilled and unskilled labour/job you can think of. This form of Apprenticeship has been going on for as long as i can imagine and till the present time nothing seems to have changed in the way it is structured and run across all the diverse businesses and skilled employment.

However in my humble submission,if we are going to be Pro active  and bullish in the quest to isolate and confront this issue of burgeoning unemployment once and for all, a primordial path needs to be carved out towards a new tangent,it is very important  for society and the Govt most of all to divest itself from the aesthetic to a radical choice with a view to an egalitarian society,this is the only way for us and Govt to divest itself of millions unemployed and at the same time stimulate the economy and start the journey towards  moulding a middle class by fostering and encouraging Small and Medium enterprises.

The Govt should as a matter of fact approach this in a multi faceted way,on one hand there should be a Government backed legislation from the state to Federal for a structured and intellectually aware apprenticeship programme with a set time as is done in advanced western countries,with this naturally will be a syllabus showing the clear cut modules both in theory and practical.They could be attached to existing colleges and Polytechnics as a short to medium term course.This will create an educational/intellectual atmosphere and also cut out the frankly unproductive extra years apprentice spend doing nothing but running around doing odd jobs and errands at the behest of their seniors. Inserted in this Programme is the nucleus and the most important  (segment?) which is funding.Government should attach a special funding or subvention semi independently run which will solely benefit graduands of these apprenticeship programme in the form of long term soft loans to be used in setting up small and medium business in the area of their skills/crafts.

To put this in context,if 10,000 of the 2.5million presently graduating this year are admitted into a pilot of this programme,in a year plus,we can safely see at least 60% of them employing an additional 2 extra staff to help in their small medium business, meaning they would potentially take at least an additional 12,000 unemployed Nigerians out of the mix in addition to the initial 10,000 making a grand total of 22,000 within the first year only.Now extrapolate these numbers in a yearly geometric progression and we could see the numbers of unemployed drastically reduce and the economy stimulated

These objectives are by no means a stand alone concept nor all encompassing solution to the present issue of unemployment presently confronting the nation, it should not be seen in isolation but as an interrelated way  of achieving  a prosperous and an independently run economy which will in turn help foster a socially and financially endearing  environment. I believe it is an original and positively primordial legacy which will go a long way in offering up an alternative to the Jobless Nigerians presently despondent and hopeless in the stark reality of the situation they have found themselves even though it is none of their making.

SMEs have stimulated economies all over the world,not just this they are the bedrock of any forward thinking model and have always been key to the stimulation of distressed economies and precisely what is needed to free up the constriction in our economic entanglement.

It is not realistic,even in the western world  a with smaller  population of unemployed graduates to expect them all to be employed by the existing sectors as presently constituted,hence an alternative definitely needs to be explored,especially if it has the potential to create alternative life skills and crafts via the re training of graduates, above all it will also create an avenue where young and educated newly graduated technicians of whatever field aquire more specialised and relevant knowledge in modern ways of going about their craft more useful in  the contemporary world which the old time technicians do not have.(AN example are mechanics presently who do not realise that only spanners and screw drivers are archaic ways of detecting faults,totally alien to the concept of computerised detections methods e.t.c)

http://www.ncsu.edu/aern/TAS8.2/TAS8.2Ajayi.pdf

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/nigeria/unemployment-rate

http://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/-60-of-nigerian-graduates-are-unemployed-/130658/

Ps ;i am writing based on the stats available to me so i admit there might be factual inacuracies pls if any is found i will appreciate and acknowledge correction thanks

The wealth and poverty of a nation: Who will restore the dignity of Nigeria? By Oby Ezekwesili

I FOUND THIS SPEECH GIVEN BY THE FORMER ECONOMIC ADVISER AND MINISTER DURING THE OBASANJO GOVERNMENT AND THOUGH I WILL SHARE IT ON HERE…REALLY THOUGH PROVOKING AND INSIGHTFUL READ..

I am hugely delighted to return to my alma mater the great and only University of Nigeria to speak at your 42nd convocation. Twenty eight years ago I sat just like you those of you who are part of the graduating Class of 2013; excited by my graduation. It was 1985 and I was very privileged to be one of the then only 3% of our own youthful population that had the opportunity of a university education. Today, you are still fortunate to be one of the yet paltry 4.3% of your own youthful generation with an opportunity for university education. For Nigeria that percentage does not compare favorably with 37.5% for Chile 33.7%