Nigeriaelections.org-A useful Guide for Credible Electioneering in Nigeria

It is no longer news that the apathy display by many Nigerians in the past election is due to inadequate information and education about electioneering in Nigeria, which has undermine political participation of the people in the past.

Although, there is a clamor for more political participation among the people in governance, it cannot happen in a vacuum as most people need to be well informed about the political processes before taking action.

A new website www.nigeriaelections.org created by Nigeria Election Coalition, a virtual network backed by West African Non-Governmental Organisation Network (WANGONet), is a unique news portal that is out to help bridge this age long information divide that is acknowledged by most media practitioners, community based organisation, election observers, international agencies and donors.

Information published on the website includes voter registration statistics, age group spread, gender representation at the federal and senate house level, percentage control of state by political parties, profiles of gubernatorial and presidential contestant across the major political parties, articles, features stories by key opinion leaders etc. that can serve as useful guide for credible electioneering in Nigeria.

WANGONet is a West African Nongovernmental organisation Network that has dedicated time, resources and funds towards the promotion of political participation among Nigerians. Like the Country Director, WANGONet, Tunji Lardner said “it is the people that will change the course of history when they are adequately informed on the issues at stake and their responsibility”.

The website is broken into three segments which are Agora- the pulse of the election: KYC- know your Candidate: What Where and How. A click on Agora lead users to various stories written by the Former Minister For Education, Dr. Oby Eysewisli,  Akin Akinwunmi and other writers whose insight on issues are quite empowering. It also includes information on current happening with INEC and other updates about the election, stickers that could be printed to create awareness locally about the 2011 election. Know Your Candidate provide vital information about selected gubernatorial and presidential candidates, including their principles, manifestoes, family background,  contact addresses that can be verified by key stakeholders in the coming poll. What Where and How provide information on the different polling stations in Nigeria.

Another intriguing thing is that the website provides a platform where individuals can summit stories, situation report, or happenings around them during and after the election. This would help provide a veritable alternative to election tracking in Nigeria, which is a welcome phenomenon. We all want credible elections and as much as possible this alternative means where everyone can serve as a watch-dog and be heard when they need to will ultimately provide some level of probity, transparency and facts that is needed when there is an election manoeuvrings at any corner of our country.

Meanwhile, in as much as the web site is an educating medium for all Nigerians to participate actively in the coming election,  I believe that new media can only be effectively used and managed when it provides a platform for feedback from users. Thus, the nigeriaelections.org need to develop or create a feedback mechanism on the website.

Although, Know Your Candidate aim to provide readers with a portal to read, evaluate and appreciate each of the candidates, the list currently available is not enough representation of all the contestant we have in Nigeria. It is obvious that the gubernatorial candidates in Nigeria are more than the less than 30 candidate listed on the website. Or perhaps, the others failed to provide accurate information needed to include their profile on the website.

While browsing through Nigeriaelections.org, you might think it a bit elistic in nature. The use of graphs, text and content of the videos on the website is however applauded. A good stance others can emulate. I am happy with this new site and I recommend it to everyone who is interested in ensuring that we all have a credible election in Nigeria.

If you have not visited or signed up yet, please visit www.nigeriaelections.org. 

by Adeola Ogunlade

"Preserve my Saltiness" now available in a Book store near you!

"Preserve my Saltiness" now available in a Book store near you!

Paperback: 81 pages

Publisher: Step Out Creatives Publications; First Edition edition (20 Feb 2011)

Language English

ISBN-10: 1906963266

ISBN-13: 978-1906963262

To buy your copies, please visit:

Naija-Sistas Book-stop

Henry Nelson Consulting

26 Festival Road off Adetokunbo Ademola Street

Victoria Island

Lagos

Terra Kulture (Bookshop)

Plot 1376 Tiamiyu Savage Street

Victoria Island Lagos.

Florence & Lambard Publisher and Booksellers

202-204 Ikorodu road, Palm Grove, Lagos

Amazon.co.uk: Buy on Amazon and Share your reviews!

On the pathway to care: Schizophrenia and social-cultural fallacies

Schizophrenia only affects 1 to 1.5% of the general population (in Lagos). The only thing is that it has a devastating effect that tends to run a deteriorating course in the life of the people concern.”

Most misleading views about mental disorder are rooted in social-cultural beliefs. As a result, especially in this part of the world, most people suffering from mental illness experience dehumanizing conditions before they are eventually taken to a Psychiatric Hospital for treatment.

Schizophrenia, one of the major mental disorders, is commonly misunderstood to be split/personality disorder. In a more critical stage, people suffering from it are regarded as “possessed” by demons or witchcraft. In this chat about the prevalence of mental illness in Lagos, Dr. Olugbenga Owoeye and Dr. Richard Ademola Adebayo, both consultant Psychiatrists and a Clinical Psychologists at Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, demystify some of the social-cultural fallacies associated with Schizophrenia. They also elucidates on some of the cultural factors that delay or limit the treatment of mental disorder and recommend ways to better curb the illness.


According to Dr. Olugbenga Owoeye, “Schizophrenia is one of the major Psychiatric disorders. It is a disorder of the mind. But in a layman’s definition, it is like a Psychological condition in form of a shattered mind. Just like how a shattered glass looks. It is a chronic recurrent major psychiatric condition that tends to deteriorate with time. As a result of which the individual will not be able to function socially and emotionally.


There are different types of Schizophrenia. There is the paranoid Schizophrenia, which is the commonest and affects people in their 20s and 30s; Epiphrenic Schizophrenia and the simple Schizophrenia. “With these ones, if you are not a professional Psychiatrist you may not know that they are sick. The only sign is that they may not be socially active but in their dressing they look normal and make no trouble with anyone. But they lack the ability to move up in life, they lack motivation, they refuse to associate with people and are unable to function socially and occupationally. They may not aspire to set up their own family, they just eat and live.” Said Owoeye. Another type is the Catatonic Schizophrenia. “Those are the ones that may be reckless or aggressive and hyperactive on one hand and be socially withdrawn and mute on the other hand.”

Explaining some of the factors that instigate such conditions or precipitate mental illness, Owoeye categorized them as Predisposing factors, Precipitating factors and the Perpetuating factors.

“The Predisposing factors are factors operating in the early life of the individual that tend to make the individual vulnerable to the development of a major mental disorder. For example, during pregnancy a mother may fall ill, suffer from malnutrition or the child might suffer some injury or infectious at childbirth. Also, early in life, the person may have suffered from a major illness like severe infections either due to virus or bacteria infection. These could be a major access to the brain. Aside those, other Psychological factors can also lead to Schizophrenia, such as someone not having any Parental attachment or closeness early in life. Schizophrenia can also be transferred from Parents to Offspring, that is to say that it is also hereditary.

When you talk about the Precipitating factors, these are factors operating in the life of individual around the time that the illness started and thus appeared to have caused it or precipitated it, making the person mentally vulnerable. This varies from Physical condition to social situations.

Finally, we also have the Perpetuating factors. These are factors that help to maintain the illness that will not allow the person fully recover even after treatment. For example, where you have a family that is too emotionally over-involved with the individual. Or those families that run critical comment that discourages the person suffering from Schizophrenia from taking medication. Also, when educated individuals find out the extent of the illness, they feel demoralized and become socially withdrawn. As a result, the illness perpetuates further.”


Signs and Symptoms…
“The major signs and symptoms of this illness vary. But the major one is that the individual will start experiencing auditory hallucination, hearing voices of unseen people either discussing him or her in a third-person among themselves or commanding the person on what to do.

They may have strong paranoid delusions. For example, they may believe the family member is responsible for their problem or believe they own the whole world and become so grandeur. Apart from that, they may also execute some bizarre behavior. Sometimes, these believe may be so bizarre that it will be difficult to comprehend. They experience a situation where their thought is being spoken aloud to them, thus causing them to believe that their thoughts, actions or plans are being made known to everybody without them informing anybody. These are the major symptoms associated with these individuals.


Treatment and medication…
"The illness can be successfully treated and managed…but most of these medications are very expensive. Some of the poor patients face the challenge of sustaining the medication and rehabilitation process. Some of them are very poor and there is a limit to which the government can subsidize these drugs. There is no Social Security System to cover them. I don’t think they are included in the National Health Insurance Scheme. Some of these conditions require a long-term treatment, which is quite expensive so their families are left to do all the running around to raise fund."


Psychotic conditions and Religion:
“When we look at the issue of religion, we must take it from the general cultural perspective. As a result of our cultural background and beliefs, it is discovered that a lot of people may not believe that the illness needs treatment. So they go to all sorts of unorthodox places like “Babalawo”, spiritual homes, Churches etc., because they believe that the illness is Spiritual, their approach to treatment is spiritual. This sometimes also contributes to the delay in treatment. But in some of these Churches, whose leaders are educated, the moment they recognize the symptom, they pray for the person and ask him/her to go for medical attention.” Owoeye said.

Meanwhile, to further expatiate on the discourse, Dr. Richard Ademola Adebayo said “We try to be holistic in our approach because we cannot isolate our believe from how we see things. Thus, we do what is called evidence base medicine. That is, medicine is not just what you practice; there must be an evidence for it.

From the cultural or religious point of view, I’m a Christian and I believe that everything that is not good is not of God. Because the Bible says that God’s thought towards us are thoughts of good and not of evil, to give us an expected end. So it means that anything that is not in line with that is not of God.

Also, knowledge comes from God. Science is not an anti-god device, science is knowledge from God but it is the wrong application that is not desirable. So if you believe science comes from God and through science we have been able to proffer solutions to problem then it will be very wrong to say in a myopic way that mental disorder is from a particular cause.

From the science point of view, the current thinking is that mental disorder can be seen from a biological and social perspective. This means that mental disorder can be genetic i.e. hereditary or socially incurred. From the cultural point of view, they see it as a curse running in that family but in reality it is the genes. Just as Down syndrome can be genetic, so also can Psychiatric disorder be inherited from the genes of parents. Other biological conditions that can manifest into mental disorder later in life include childhood infections, road traffic accident that affects the brain, the medication a pregnant woman uses that may affects the child, drug or substance use, hypertension etc.

While Psychological factors that may cause mental disorder include unemployment, broken relationship, abandonment etc., the Sociological factors include, overcrowding, traffic jam, even the economic meltdown is enough to cause mental disorder… That someone in a family has a mental disorder caused by domestic accident doesn’t mean his or her children will inherit it.”


From your experience as Psychiatrists, what are some of the social –cultural beliefs limiting the treatment of mental disorder in our society?
Dr Ademola said “People tend to read meanings to the condition of someone suffering a mental disorder and such person is often stigmatized and ostracized. Even after the person is treated or the situation is managed, the person might still be avoided by others. Unlike developed countries, in this part of the world we are still holding on tenaciously to our cultural belief. Sometimes Schizophrenic people are called witches who want to confess their evil deeds. For example, a young patient once went to a grave and said she was responsible for the death of the person. Meanwhile, the dead had long been buried before the patient was born. If not for that the people would have thought she was a witch. As part of the cultural believes, people with mental disorder are taken to various places- herbalist homes, Churches etc. Some of them are dehumanized, chained, beaten and stigmatized etc in the process of finding solutions to what they deem is spiritual. It is called pathway to care.


On this pathway to care…
“ This (Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital) is one of the largest Psychiatric Hospital in West African. Because of the stigma associated with mental disorder, people don’t usually think of this place. Pathway to care refers to the passage or process of seeking help before the person is brought to the Hospital. Because of our cultural belief, people connote causes of mental disorder as religious and call it demonic attack or spiritual curses. So the first place they go to are religious or traditional places. They shop around for solution in these places thus causing delay in medical treatment. The patient passes through all sorts of things. Some of them are deprived of food, made to undergo vigil and even sexually abused before they are eventually brought to Hospital for treatment. But with enlightenment now, a lot of people come to the hospital directly, to avoid unnecessary delay in treatment, which might lead to prolong recovery.


How can we eradicate such misconceptions?
“That is why we are telling our people that the only thing that is permanent in life is change. We need to change from our perspective of being myopic. We shouldn’t just think that anyone that is having a particular problem must be addressed from the religious point of view. We thank God that a lot of patients have come to this place and they have recovered. The medication and mode of treatment we use is universal. Without anyone stigmatizing them, these people return home to live normally and fulfill their destiny.”


Advice for religious leaders:
“They should not see Psychiatric conditions as being caused by demons because there are others causes. Even if they are caused by demons, they can still benefit from our treatment. Let them do the praying aspect but they must send the patients to us on time. While the patient is in Hospital, they can come here and pray with them. God is not limited by any barrier or distance. We don’t discourage our patients from going to churches. Unfortunately, we have some Pastors who will tell patients not to take treatment. They tell them to exercise their faith. But the same Bible tells us that faith without work is dead. The work aspect is for patient to take treatment, listen to doctors etc. We are not working against Pastors or religious leaders; we should have a meeting point. Ultimately, God is the healer and not man.”


Some other challenges most Psychiatrists face in curbing the trend…
Dr. Owoeye: The major challenge we face right now is the lack of adequate infrastructure to manage the people. Our Psychiatric facilities are not adequate. We do not have rehabilitation home for them, Vocational center is not adequate and in the area of personnel, we do not have enough of the personnel to take care of the patients. The few we have need training and re-training. All these need government intervention. There are some of these patients who cannot live in the community; there is need for accommodation for such people. If we have such, those people you see living under the bridge or walking naked along the road won’t be there. They are Schizophrenics, the Epiphrenic type, which are those ones that hoard rubbish. So the challenges we face are in the area of infrastructure, personnel and facilities/equipment.


The challenges listed above are more of government’s responsibilities. Is there anything the public can do to support?
“Yes. The Non-Governmental Organizations can help by establishing these foster homes…They can encourage community participation in the management of these patients in their rehabilitation back into the community. In some of the Psychiatric Hospitals where they lack one or two things, they can come up with a Structure to help the Psychiatric home; individuals can also do that to help.”


Some basic things people need to do to remain mentally healthy:
“First, do not go beyond limit- don’t bite more than you can chew. Also, you must abstain from drugs and alcohol. Also, you must have an easygoing attitude and be able to tolerate others to avoid bitterness and grudges. ...learn how to be content with whatever God has given... Don’t say because somebody is riding a Jet then you must ride a Jet overnight. Most importantly, you must try to avoid stressful situations. Although this may not be possible because you need some degree of stress to make it in life but one must try as much as possible to avoid unnecessary stress. By so doing, you can remain mentally healthy and live a fulfilling life.


Stay mentally healthy! And support those going through any form of mental illness by directing them to the right pathway to care!

The Beach At Your Door-step (Updated)

Many rightly refer to Lagos as the city that never sleeps. Characterized by over population, noise, business hub, cultural diversity etc. the city is most celebrated for its liveliness and hot spots which distinguishes it from other cities in Nigeria. Among the many features that can only be found in one of the most populous cities in the world, the Beach remains the most outstanding.

Bar Beach, Kuramo Beach, Lekki Beach, Alpha Beach, Eleko Beach, Akodo Beach, Badagry Beach, Agaja Beach, Ilashe Beach, Whispering badagry beach 300x225 CPA Commentary: The Beach at your door stepPalms, Lighthouse Beach, Atlas Cove, Ogogoro Island and Tarkwa Bay are some of the private and public Beaches in Lagos (some of them are not so enticing anymore though…).

These Beaches serve as a good spot where Lagosians and Tourists let their hair down and feel the earth under their feet. They turnout in tens on weekdays and in hundreds on weekends, but during festive holidays or other public holidays the place is besieged by both rich and poor itching for an opportunity to bask in the glory of nature. You will see lovers strolling on the white sand, families sitting under the Palm trees with their picnic basket, youths swimming in the wave of the calm ocean or religious groups/spiritualists offering sacrifice/sun worshiping (in some of the public Beach).

Uniquely located in different parts of Lagos, each Beach appeal to a varied audience- For example, the Kuramo (named after a small lake which lies behind it), Eleko Beach and Tarkwa Bay are often patronized by the masses while Ilashe and Whispering Palms (a holiday resort near Badagry) are exclusive Beach resort accessible only to those who can afford it.

Tarkwa Bay CPA Commentary: The Beach at your door stepTarkwa Bay, a sheltered Beach located at the entrance of Lagos Port is one of the best public beaches in Lagos. It is easily accessible by boat from Tarzan Jetty at Maroko or through Falomo Bridge on Victoria Island. Many love Tarkwa Bay because of its calm aura, which makes it possible for children to swim. Also, the white sand is not as coarse as of other Beaches, thus people find it more comfortable to walk or lie on.

Like Tarkwa Bay, Lekki Beach is a popular Beach on the Island. It is accessible through the Lekki-Epe Expressway, around Ilasan Housing Estate. The Beach has small huts/shelter made of palm fronds that are available for hire (at meager price) by tourists and other visitors.

Meanwhile, another serene Beach for Lagosians who love to live big in an exclusive environment is the Halem Sea Side Resort on Kuramo Beach or Ikaare Island or Satellite Town. Like Ilashe and Agaja Beach, this exclusive Beach resort is open to people looking for a place to take-off for a short vacation while maintaining a sense of community feel.

Farther away from the Island and the buzzing of the metropolis is the Badagry Beach. People who visit the Badagry Heritage Museum or Slave Port often maximize their trip by heading down to this famous Beach. The horse ride, fresh-looking coconut begging to be eaten, not-so-clean but calm atmosphere makes it an attractive place to unwind.

But oh! I must warn you though… Some of the Beaches currently need a serious makeover. Like some public infrastructures in Nigeria, some of the public Beaches are becoming a little unattractive. I mean, the place is sometimes left to the care of domineering “touts” and petty traders. To walk into the place, one has to go through the loud and bossy street urchins who demand ridiculous amount for entrance fees, depending on your demeanor or outward appearance. In the early hours of the morning or late at night, spiritualists and other religious “consultants” take over the public space. They are seen carrying out different sacrifices and prayers to the god of the sea, for people who consult them. But if you can look beyond these inadequacies, the public beach is a good spot to hangout, socially with friends. And help the government and those in charge make the beach more visit-able for others by cleaning up after your “celebration.” As the saying goes, “be the change you want to see in the world.” Or better still, create the change you want to see on the Beach- don’t loiter, don’t dump dirts or leave your space untidy, avoid patronizing or engaging the services of touts, street urchins and prostitutes, report any suspicious behavior to the right authorities immediately, etc.

In terms of proximity, Bar Beach and Kuramo Beach are located at the heart of business in Victoria Island. However, Lekki Beach, Eleko Beach and Akodo Beach are located around the Lekki Environ. Still on the Island, Tarkwa Bay, Halem Sea side resort, Lighthouse Beach, Ogogoro Island and Atlas Cove are closely knitted around the Port entrance. The whispering Palms Beach and Holiday resort, Badagry Beach and Suntan Beach are all located in Badagry. But no matter where you reside in Lagos, one of these Beaches are near you, if not at your door step! So maximize the upcoming holiday season, let your hair down and feel the earth under your feet at the Beach!

A Young Nigerian bags the Rolex Young Laureate Award 2010

Victoria Pam, a Parasitologist from Jos, Pleteau State is one of the 27 finalists, 2010 Young Laureates Programme. Mrs. Pam who is currently a Ph.D student serves as a researcher and lecturer in Parasitology, Entomology, cell biology and research methodology at the National Veterinary Research Institute in Jos. She applied for the 2010 Rolex Awards to establish a permanent molecular biology laboratory in the National Veterinary Research Institute facilities to screen parasites infections and implement awareness campaigns about prevention and control measures. For her, educating the local community is key to success and to sustainable change. Although she did not get the $50, 000 award, Pam said she was still expectant. Her expectation for the event is to network, get advices from the jury and research on future funding opportunities for her project.

Like Pam, 29 years old Preven Chetty, a graduate from University of KwaZulu-Natal with a degree in Geography and environmental management was also one of the 27 finalists. As a child, Chetty was fascinated by rivers in South Africa. He applied for a Rolex Award to produce a socio-visual collage about the Umgeni River, which flows 225 kilometers from the mountains to the Indian ocean on South Africa’s east coast. His aim is to highlight the importance of rivers and put the issue of water conservation on the world stage. The two finalists, like the others are currently focused on strengthening their project ideas in order to give them better chances of winning next year.

The winners, five Young Laureates- Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu, Nigeria; Bruktawit Tigabu, Ethiopia; Piyush Tewari, India; Reese Fernandez, Philippines; and Jacob Colker, United States were honored the Rolex Learning Center at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Geneva on November 11.


An Era of Generosity

Polymath Brian Eno, the British record producer, composer, singer, multimedia artist and a noted technological innovator, was the keynote speaker at the award ceremony. Long concerned with the future of society and the global environment, he congratulated the winners and encouraged everyone to imbibe the culture of altruism. According to him, we are now in an era of generosity.


The Awards ceremony which took place between November 10 to 12, at the new Rolex Learning Center at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), one of Europe’s leading science and technology universities had in attendance some of the world’s foremost scientists, explorers and environmentalists who converged to celebrate winners of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise: Young Laureates Programme. Programme seeks to foster a spirit of enterprise in the next generation with innovative projects and encourage knowledge exchange between older and younger generation.


Young Laureates Pitch

The five Young Laureates, all aged between 25 and 30 for the first time, explained their projects to the public- a diverse international participants and students who converged at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) during Venture Ideas at EPFL: Entrepreneurs’ Journey with Impact session. Ventures Ideas is an initiative for promoting innovation at EPFL and stimulating entrepreneurship among students.

Their projects, which range from transforming volunteering for the 21st century to enabling impoverished women to create eco-­ethical fashion goods, from developing interactive radio in order to promote sustainable farming, to training volunteers to provide rapid care to road accident victims and developing TV programmes to improve children’s health, all had the innovative use of technology in common.


Nnaemeka work with farmers in rural Imo State. Through his interactive, mobile radio network facilitated by Small Holders Foundation, hundreds of thousands of rural listeners receive and exchange information on sustainable farming practices and health issues. Bruktawit Tigabu who has recorded 26 episodes of “Tsehai Loves Learning” broadcasted to about 2.6 million children, is very passionate about disseminating educational programmes through the Mass Media. Jacob Colker, is 27 years old. His project is focused on recruiting “Micro-volunteers”, such as Smartphone users to become volunteers by donating spare minutes to charitable, scientific and community organizations. From the Philippines, 25 years old Reese Fernandez won the 2010 Rolex Awards to expand the impact of her Project “Rag2Riches” that aims to improve the lives of women in Manila’s Payatas Waste dump. Rag2Riches is set to “establish an innovation centre to assist impoverished women to earn a decent wage by creating ‘eco-ethical, elegant’ products”. Piyush Tewari from India is 29 years old. His project, SaveLIFE Foundation (SLF) train a network of police officers and volunteers to provide rapid medical care to road accident victims in Delhi. So far, they have trained over 2,000 Dehli Police officers and 300 community volunteers.

Rolex used the opportunity to showcase both the winners and their visionary projects and to foster intellectual exchange between them and some of the best thinkers from Switzerland and abroad. ”Our ultimate goal is to encourage an enterprising spirit among under- 30s worldwide and to stimulate innovation in the region in order to help ensure a better future for the next generation.” said Rebecca Irvin, head of the Rolex Institute, the company’s philanthropic and educational arm.


Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu

Growing up in an agriculture-oriented environment in Nigeria, Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu spent his after-school hours raising poultry and cattle. After high school, as he participated in youth and citizens’ associations helping farmers, Ikegwuonu quickly became aware that the rural community had little access to information about farming practices and environmental issues. In 2003, he founded the Smallholders Foundation to provide the rural community with information – via the radio – on contemporary agricultural techniques and environmental conservation. Ikegwuonu, who has a bachelor of arts in history and international studies and a master’s degree in cooperation and development, is becoming known as a change-maker who fights poverty using new interactive technology.


His Project:

Ikegwuonu wants to build on the achievements of his Smallholders Foundation – which is already broadcasting 10 hours daily to 250,000 listeners on Smallholders Farmers Rural Radio – by establishing a communications network reaching 3.5 million farmers in almost 5,000 villages in his own region, Imo State, in south-east Nigeria. Not only will farmers receive advice on a wide range of topics – from sustainable farming practices to HIV/AIDs and opening and running a bank account – they will also be able to contribute information, thanks to interactive mobile radios, known as AIR devices. These small, solar-powered machines allow listeners to send voice messages, free of charge, to radio stations, which can, in turn, broadcast them. Imo State’s farmers will have a platform to share experiences, ask questions and receive answers in their own language. Ikegwuonu’s long-term ambition is to extend the service to other regions in Nigeria.

Sharing his experience on how he felt when he got the news that he won the Rolex Young Laureates award, Nnaemeka said “I was a bit surprise because there were other young people with so much brilliant ideas. I was surprised not because we are good but because it was another recognition of our relentless effort to promote our agricultural development.” His advice to young people aspiring to initiative their ideas, he said “You can do what ever you want to do. It does not come easy. There are people who will discourage you but come one, pursue your dreams, you will achieve it.”

Giving an example of how SmallHolders foundation has impacted farmers in Imo state, Nnaemeka said “There is what we call rain water harvesting. Rain-water harvesting is a an age-long indigenous practice. It means during the raining season, we conserve the rain. But the practice has been abandoned over the years. We started doing a radio programme that educates farmers on the importance of rainwater harvesting.
Not because they need to harvest rainwater but because there is an agricultural benefit that comes with rain water harvesting…such as, when you conserve water during raining season, you use it to plant crops during dry season…instead of you relying on one season farming of vegetable, you can do two season farming and make money from it.”


Bruktawit Tigabu

Bruktawit Tigabu began her professional career as a primary school teacher in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. Determined to reduce child mortality rates in her country, she looked for ways to educate children on health matters. In 2005, with her husband, Tigabu set up Whiz Kids Workshop. Working from their living room, using sock puppets, computer graphics and their own voices, they began producing “Tsehai Loves Learning”, a television programme about a young, female giraffe, named Tsehai, which covers many health-related issues. Twenty-six episodes of this highly successful programme (in Amharic, Ethiopia’s principal language), have now been created, each one seen by an estimated 2.6 to 5 million children.


Her Project:

Bruktawit Tigabu’s project goal, listed under the Science and Health category, is to develop a health-education television programme for preschool children in Ethiopia.


For Bruktawit, an Educator-cum-Entrepreneur from Ethiopia, the three greatest resources that has continue to drive her are persistence, hardwork and passion. “I have a passion for children, which I can’t let go and I work hard for it.” She said.


A learning ceremony

As part of the interaction between the young Rolex entrepreneurs and the EPFL community, visits were organized to two of the university’s research labs: the Blue Brain Project, in order to understand brain function and dysfunction; and the Global Health Institute, created to contribute to the understanding, prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. In addition, there were presentations of the university’s landmark research in areas such as health and diagnostics, and water and sustainability.

“We are honoured to co- host the ceremony and to welcome the young innovators and other Rolex guests to our campus,” said Adrienne Corboud Fumagalli, vice president of Innovation and Technology Transfer at EPFL and a member of the 2010 Young Laureates Jury. ”The EPFL wants to stimulate entrepreneurship among students, and the Rolex Young Laureates Programme is a great match for us.”


Rolex Young Laureates Programme

An expansion of the long- standing Rolex Awards for Enterprise, the Young Laureates Programme, launched in January 2009, honours men and women between the ages of 18 and 30 with inventive ideas to solve tomorrow’s challenges in science and health, applied technology, exploration, the environment and cultural preservation. Each Young Laureate receives US$50,000 over the course of two years, giving the winners time to focus on their pioneering projects and move forward in implementing them.


The fourteenth Rolex Laureate Award launched the 1st Young Laureates:

Since the inception of the Award in 1976, this was the first time the event was being hosted in Switzerland. Below is more information about the five young laureates honored:


Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu, 27, Nigeria – intends to boost the living standards of millions of Nigerian farmers through his interactive, mobile radio network. Hundreds of thousands of rural listeners are already receiving and exchanging information on sustainable farming practices and health issues.


Jacob Colker, 27, United States – is changing the way people get involved in community service. His internet-based programme allows volunteers to use their smartphones to donate spare minutes to charitable and scientific organizations.


Reese Fernandez, 25, Philippines – is committed to alleviating poverty by training people to become social entrepreneurs. Her Rags2Riches enterprise has already empowered hundreds of women to earn a living by turning scrap materials into elegant fashion accessories.


Piyush Tewari, 30, India – has set up a foundation to train a network of police officers and volunteers to respond quickly to road accidents and administer rapid medical care. By providing immediate assistance to victims, he hopes to stem the thousands of fatalities that occur on Indian roads each year.


Bruktawit Tigabu, 28, Ethiopia – is building on the success of a television programme on health that she and her husband are producing for preschool children and their parents.

Facts & Figures: Rolex Award for Enterprise

· 25,800 applications received and evaluated

· Since the Awards were founded in 1976, 110 Laureates have been selected

· 95 world-renowned experts have served as judges

· Youngest person to win a Rolex Award: 28 years old

· 47 was the average age of applicants in 2008

· Oldest person to win a Rolex Award: 74 years old

· Women made up 23% of applicants in 2008

Published in The Nation

Read Nnaemeka's interview on CP-Africa

One Nation, One Voice: “Message of Hope” for Nigeria @ 50

Chip Heath & Dan Heath, the authors of “Switch: How to Change things when change is hard” stated that although analytical qualities can be helpful sometimes, in situations where change is needed, too much analysis can doom the effort. So instead of sizing up the problems in Nigeria and agonizing over them, here is our “Message of Hope”, as we celebrate the golden year- 50th Independence Anniversary. There is hope in our future, and there is a future in our hope:



“Nigeria is a great country… we don't need any prophet to assure us of that. We can see God's hands in everything we do… The answer to moving Nigeria to the next level is in the hands of the youths. Look everywhere and see the power, potential and ability of the average Nigerian Youth--(and you’ll be filled with hope)” Morakinyo Olugbiji, Lagos.

“We are a people strong in will, we are a nation diverse in culture yet united in peace... I salute a blessed nation at 50” Peter Ukhurebor, Miami.

“My message to Nigerians on this occasion of the country's 50th anniversary is to keep the dreams of our founding fathers alive in our time… let's keep working towards the Nigeria of our dreams…let's keep the faith. Nigeria will be great again; Nigeria will stand tall again among nations.” Peter Akoteyan, Malaysia.

“Let us try not to make what happened to vision 2010 happen to vision 2020. I remember I was in primary school when they (the government leaders) set a target for the country to be a better place by 2010…We must start seeing ourselves as better than what we are now. Break the mental slavery. ” Douglas Imaralu, Enugu.

“Nigeria! I am very proud to be a citizen of this great country. I so much believe there is light at the end of the tunnel for us, though we are not where we should be but the good thing is that we are not where we use to be.” Bukola Idowu, Lagos.

“We should never give up on Nigeria. It has been fifty years of chequered history. Let's us join hands together to make the next fifty years the Nigeria that our children's children would definitely be proud of. Nigeria will surely be great again. It's up to Nigerians to change NIGERIA" Arukaino, Lagos.


“As we celebrate Nigeria @ 50, I want the youths to ponder on what our generation will do for Nigeria. We need to depart from the 50 years of self-propaganda and tribalism to evolve a better Nigeria. Lets join hands to build a better Nigeria” BabaTunde Rosanwo, Ukraine.

Happy 50th Independence Anniversary Nigerians! There is hope in our future; there is a future in our hope. God Bless Nigeria.

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