President Goodluck Jonathan; (right) welcoming Malala Yousafzai; during her visit to President Jonathan at the
Presidential Villa Abuja on Monday.July 14, 2014.
ABUJA, Nigeria, Oct. 12, 2014
/PRNewswire/ -- President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan congratulates the
joint-recipients of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, Pakistani girl-child
education activist, Malala Yousafzai and Indian children's rights campaigner, Kailash Satyarthi.
President Jonathan believes that Malala and her co-winner are very
worthy recipients of the Noble Peace Prize in view of their
globally-acclaimed and very courageous advocacy against bigotry,
discrimination, oppression and extremism even in the most difficult of
circumstances.
The President, who recalls his meeting with Malala earlier this year when she visited Nigeria, salutes her indomitable spirit, resilience, courage and conviction in promoting young girls' right to education.
President Jonathan similarly commends Ms. Satyarthi's peaceful
campaign against human trafficking and abuse of children as slave
labourers, urging others with grievances around the world to emulate her
method of non-violent protests.
The President enjoins both Nobel laureates to draw greater strength
from the global honour and recognition which the Nobel Peace Prize
represents and carry on their brave advocacy for the rights of girls,
women and oppressed persons with renewed vigour and impetus.
President Jonathan assures the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winners that he
fully shares their belief and views on gender equity and the protection
of the rights of young persons.
He further assures them that under his leadership, the Federal Government of Nigeria
will continue to do all within its powers to promote safe education for
all children and the empowerment of women, while vigorously protecting
young children from forced labour and human trafficking.
Reuben Abati
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity) October 11, 2014.
These materials are distributed by LEVICK on behalf of the News Agency of Nigeria. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
SOURCE News Agency of Nigeria
CONTACT: Philip Elwood, pelwood@levick.com , (202) 973-5310, Patrick Pannett, ppannett@levick.com , (202) 973-5319
Give President Goodluck Jonathan a High Five!
Photo: President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan and Hon. Ndubuisi Ebiliekwe(Ebilikoko).
Source: Nigerians Report Online.
WASHINGTON, 10 October 2014
/ PRN Africa / -- Ms. Elnagar: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the IMF
World Bank Annual Meetings, and to the G-24 Press Briefing. I am Randa Elnagar from the IMF Communications Department. Let me remind you that we have Arabic and Spanish interpretation in the room.
On the podium with me here is the Chair of the G-24, Dr. Naglaa el-Ehwany, Minister of International Cooperation in Egypt; she is on the right. Representing the First Vice Chair on her right is Mr. Alain Bifani, Director-General of the Ministry of Finance in Lebanon. On Mr. Bifani's right is Mr. Andres Velasco, Director of Macroeconomic Policy in the Ministry of Finance in Colombia. In addition, we have Ms. Marilou Uy, Director of the G-24 Secretariat.
First, we are going to start with Ms. El-Ehwany's comments and after that we going to take questions. Thank you.
Ms. El-Ehwany: First, let me welcome all you to this press conference. You have our communiqué, so I can be very brief.
Our meeting focused on two central issues, the Global Economy and
Implications for Emerging Markets and Developing Countries and
Financing for Development. We also discussed the Role and Reform of both
the IMF and the World Bank Group.
First, our Ministers agreed that we continue to face a global
economy that is highly uncertain. Growth forecasts have been revised
downward since April and downside risks have risen. In the short term,
the tapering of monetary policy in major advanced economies poses
immediate risks of turmoil in global markets and adverse spillovers for
EMDCs. In order to avoid these harmful spillovers and spillbacks, we
urged advanced economies to take steps to coordinate and more clearly
communicate their policies. It will also be crucial to ensure that
emerging and developing countries have access to adequate and more
flexible financial safety nets.
Ministers also discussed the considerable long-term risks
associated with the potential for an extended period of low or
stagnating growth, particularly in advanced economies, which would
adversely affect developing country growth prospects. We called on
advanced economies to implement deeper structural reforms and more
supportive fiscal policies.
While our own economies have been broadly resilient since the
crisis and have continued to account for the majority of global growth,
it will be critical for us to take actions to support quality and
inclusive growth in the long term through increased investment,
especially in infrastructure, job creation and improved productivity. We
also stressed the absolute imperative of a sharper focus on equality
and social inclusion both as outright objectives and as channels for
growth.
Achieving our growth and development goals in an inclusive,
sustainable way will also require substantial augmentation and
revitalization of development finance. We committed to broad actions to
strengthen domestic sources of finance, but also called for cooperation
from the international community on tax evasion and noncompliance,
delivery of aid commitments and strengthened development banking.
With regard to the IMF, our discussion today revolved around the
absolute imperative of coming to closure on IMF quota and governance
reforms. We are deeply disappointed that the already agreed 2010 package
of reforms has not been implemented. This impacts the credibility,
legitimacy and effectiveness of the IMF and prevents us from undertaking
further necessary reforms and meeting forward-looking commitments.
We believe that all options to sustain voice and governance
reforms need to be considered, keeping in mind that the goal of any
reforms must be to recognize the growing role of emerging markets and
developing countries in the global economy while enhancing the voice of
the poor and small, low and middle-income countries.
We also discussed the role and reform of the World Bank Group. We
stressed the importance of recognizing the changing global economic
realities and the changing development landscape in the governance
structure of the Bank, and called for both full implementation of the
2010 governance reforms and also the conclusion of the next Shareholding
Review by October 2015, as previously agreed.
Finally, we expressed our deep concern for those countries
affected by the Ebola outbreak and underscored the urgent need to
contain the outbreak and mitigate the human and economic costs. We call,
therefore, for urgent and concerted support by the international
community and welcome the stepped-up efforts of the World Bank and the
IMF.
With that, we open the floor for questions. Thank you.
Ms. Elnagar: Please identify yourself and your organization.
QUESTIONER: You mentioned in the communiqué the IMF proposals on
collective action clauses in sovereign debt. I noticed that in the paper
by the International Capital Market Association they also mention
Creditor Committees and engagement with creditors in the event of a
restructuring which was not mentioned in the IMF paper. Is that
something that the G-24 considers important?
Ms. Uy: The G-24 would like to see progress in a much more—as a
comprehensive sovereign debt resolution system so that one could have an
orderly process of debt resolution in case of default. We are
encouraging all options; there are several options on the way forward.
Even within the Group, there could be some disagreement on how to
actually pursue it, but what we are encouraging is steps toward that.
The IMF paper is a step in that direction. There is also some further
talk on a multilateral system and that is also an option that could be
pursued later.
QUESTIONER: My question goes to Her Excellency, Dr. Naglaa. Have you agreed who is going to be the ED, whether Egypt and Emirates have agreed whether Dr. Shaalan will continue to be in his place or Dr. [?] is stepping in?
Ms. El-Ehwany: We have not yet decided and maybe by tomorrow the picture will be clearer.
QUESTIONER: [THROUGH INTERPRETER] How far has Egypt succeeded in marketing economic success and the positive results that Egypt managed to achieve through the International Monetary Fund, through the signals of the Monetary Fund.
Ms. El-Ehwany: [THROUGH INTERPRETER] Our relation with the
International Monetary Fund is an old relation and it is based on
cooperation. Egypt has invited a mission from the International Monetary Fund to come to Egypt by the end of this year in order to discuss the Article IV consultation.
We are proud in Egypt that the
economic reforms that have been made by the government in the past few
months was homegrown. These reforms were homegrown; it means they were
inspired by the belief of the government and the political leadership
that there should be reform that should be taken because it has been a
long time since these reforms should have been taken a long time ago
regarding the procedures of subsidy and financial reform, and so on.
Therefore, the signal sent by the International Fund and also other
international and financial institutions are to the benefit of the
national economy, and we will consult with the mission to be sent by the
Fund by the end of this year in order to review the situation and the
economic landscape in Egypt.
QUESTIONER: My question is for Dr. Bifani. I want to know some of
the countries of the G-24 now are facing serious challenges, whether
they are military, political tensions, the flow of refugees, and so on
and so forth, regarding these countries. So, I want to know how did you
discuss this during today's meeting and what are the steps that you can
take in order to support such countries, and if Egypt has a certain role they can play in the G-24
Ms. El-Ehwany: Well, Egypt is a
member of the G-24 and we have been chairing this round. All the
tensions you have mentioned have been discussed in the last round and in
this round also. We are cooperating with all the member countries to
solve the problems and tensions. Maybe my colleagues also would have
some answers to these issues.
Mr. Bifani: Indeed, as a member of the G-24, we are probably the
country that has the biggest number of refugees for the time being. We
have effectively 1.5 million refugees for a population of 4 million
persons in Lebanon nowadays. The cost is huge; it is a humanitarian cost and it is a human disaster. It is also a stress on the public finance of Lebanon. The economy is strained greatly by the situation. Our losses are in billions of dollars.
For the time being, we also face security issues due to this
situation, knowing that at the same time the mobilization of the
international community has been very much below expectations and that
the support that we were expecting from donor countries has been very
much under what Lebanon would have
expected. This situation is one of the main reasons why we are here. We
are discussing with the institutions the means and the possibilities for
us to mobilize more support and to channel it through the Lebanese
government properly so we can achieve better results on a humanitarian
level and at the same time on the security and stability of the country.
Any country in the world that would face such a massive inflow would be
at risk at any point in time.
QUESTIONER: You mentioned the quota reforms both at the World
Bank and the IMF and I was wondering if you discussed any possibilities
for next steps and whether you think a discussion on the 15th Review
should begin in January even without U.S. ratification, and also what
would you like to see out of the next World Bank reforms that are
supposed to be completed in a year.
Ms. Uy: Yes, IMF governance reform was discussed quite
extensively in our meetings. We continue to press for the ratification
of the 2010 Reforms and it is also in our communiqué that if that would
not be the case, we do call on the IMF to find some interim solutions if
that ratification does not happen.
Now, the objectives that we are hoping to see is to recognize the
increased importance of developing countries in the governance of the
IMF, and that is the end objective of which interim solutions are
directed toward, and the 15th Review, if it happens, would also be
directed toward those objectives.
As far as World Bank governance reform, the promise is to have a review in October 2015
for the next steps, and that was agreed. What we hope is a roadmap by
that time and due ambition in the pursuit of governance reform, in voice
and governance reform in the World Bank, and also to recognize the
role, the increasing role of emerging countries, emerging and developing
countries, and to protect the share of the poorest.
QUESTIONER: Do you have any specific proposals for the World Bank?
Ms. Uy: Not at this point simply because the discussions are still ongoing.
QUESTIONER: [THROUGH INTERPRETER] You spoke, Your Excellency,
about the issue of uncertainty over the global environment and the
situation in the Middle East. What kind
of steps are suggested by the G-24 to face such challenges? The second
point is, how does the G-24 look at the prospects of the international
alliance against ISIL and how it might bear going ahead for the six
months?
Mr. Bifani: [THROUGH INTERPRETATION] - Of course, the situation
in the region is very much and what is going on nowadays is just a
natural sequel to the recent developments over the last couple of years.
The response is not through only war. It is also a response through
economics and through steps to be taken by the Leaders of the region.
The Arab society has come to know how dangerous terrorism is from
the perspective of economics. As to the economic impact, there is an
impact that has been created by the inflow of refugees. Also, another
impact is that now a whole generation is not schooling. Also, there is
an impact on how to manage the revenues of the natural resources against
the backdrop of losses. Also, there are sometimes sectarian rifts,
sometimes other types of rifts that are emerging.
There is a part of this generation that is not training in
schools. It is rather training in extremism and this has an economic
impact. I do not have a quantification of the same, but it is
catastrophic and it requires that there has to be an education strive
that is based on a thorough understanding and a practical one, indeed,
of the underlying issues and why the phenomenon has increased in volume
over the last couple of years.
QUESTIONER: I am going to touch base on the same answer that his Excellency, Mr. Bifani, just stated.
I see a certain role for the World Bank in terms of the displaced
people and individuals, and I insist these people are not called
migrants because they are not migrating; they are refugees. Some people
are trying to avoid such terminology because they want to basically
avoid responsibility. I am not referring here to international
organizations; I am more referring to countries.
However, I speak here as a Lebanese because we are suffering. Of
course, Mr. Bifani is here wearing the Ministry of Finance hat. He has
to give official numbers. We are well aware that the number exceeds 1.5
million. The registered number is 1.48, I think, so it has basically
touched 2 million plus, almost half of the population.
Why am I involving the World Bank here? Simply because usually
the countries, they stand in line when negotiating with the World Bank
due to the technical assistance and the financial assistance that
institutions such as the World Bank and the Monetary Fund provide.
Therefore, I do believe that such institutions as the World Bank
need to take a further role in terms of pushing other donor countries
and organizations in terms of helping countries like Lebanon to cater for such displaced people. What is happening in Lebanon and other countries, but namely in Lebanon, is disasters and the—
Ms. Elnagar: What is the question, sir?
QUESTIONER: The question is, what is the World Bank currently
doing to push donor countries and other organizations further to take an
active role in terms of the displaced people?
Ms. Elnagar: This is the G-24, sir. We have representatives of the country, but if Mr. Bifani wants to take the question?
Mr. Bifani - Very briefly, because actually the World Bank is one
of the organizations that did the most in our specific case. We have
seen the President of the World Bank mobilizing and coming to Lebanon and going to see the refugees and the host communities, establishing a Trust Fund for the situation in Lebanon
and providing the first commitments. So, effectively we would really
wish that many others would follow the path of the World Bank in this
specific case.
One of the very interesting things that took place is that the
World Bank took the lead in calling for countries and called for a
couple of meetings, is urging donors all the time to support the country
and to support, if you want, the host community in addition to the
refugees, because one very important issue is, yes, the support for the
refugees is critical, but at the same time you have host communities
that are totally distressed and need as much support as the refugees.
But in this specific regard, I think the Bank has done a lot of things,
and we were just reassured by the President that he will continue to do
so and push forward.
Ms. Elnagar: Thank you very much, everyone, and we hope you enjoy the Annual Meetings. Thank you.
ABIDJAN, Côte d'Ivoire, 10 October 2014 / PRN Africa / -- The African Water Facility announces today, October 10, 2014,
that it had offered the Hadejia-Jama'are-Komadugu-Yobe Basin Trust Fund
a €2 million grant for the preparation of a strategic action plan to
develop water resources in the Komadugu-Yobe basin in Northern Nigeria.
Over 15 million people depend on the basin and stand to benefit from
this project, particularly farmers, pastoralists and fishermen.
The economy of the basin is highly dependent on freshwater
resources, particularly on the livelihoods generated from the wetland
ecosystems, including agriculture, fishing, livestock production and
related activities. Kano city and other major urban towns and rural
settlements have also seen a significant increase in water demand for
human consumption and other urban needs.
The project is designed to help meet these water needs and
address the associated challenges through an integrated water resources
management approach focused on the reoperation of the Tiga and Challawa
Gorge dams. Particularly, it will help enhance urban water supply,
agriculture water management, aquaculture, rangeland management, as well
as ecosystem services through enhanced water resources allocation,
utilisation and management.
“This new action plan is poised to address, in a more sustainable
way, fundamental water resources management issues that are currently
preventing millions of people from living better lives in Northern
Nigeria,” said Akissa Bahri, Coordinator
of the African Water Facility. “We anticipate for the ecological
services and the livelihoods that are dependent on the basin's river
system to be fully regenerated, bringing a much-needed boost to the
local and regional economy.”
The strategic action plan will outline the short- to long-term
actions and related investments needed to restore rational water
management in the basin through re-optimisation and re-operation of the
Tiga and Challawa Gorge dams, identified as primary solution to improve
the use of the basin's water resources and to increase water flow in the
lower part of the basin and to the Lake Chad.
The Hadejia-Jama'are-Komadugu-Yobe Basin Trust Fund will be
executing the project in partnership with the Nigeria Integrated Water
Resources Management Commission. The Fund is jointly funded by six
states of Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Plateau and Yobe, in
collaboration with the Nigerian Federal Government.
The new plan also presents an opportunity for greater collaboration between Nigeria and the Komadugu-Yobe Basin riparian countries, which should lead to increased mutual benefits.
South Africa-based multinational mobile telecommunications company MTN, Bharti Airtel and Orange top the shortlist for the 2014 AfricaCom Awards coming up on November 12, at the Waterfront LookOut in Granger Bay, Cape Town, South Africa.
The following is the complete report and all the leading contenders shortlisted for the 7th Annual AfricaCom Awards.
The shortlisted contenders or the various categories in 2014 are:
Best App for Africa
Orange – Libon
Orange – Orange Self-care Application: My Orange
Kirusa – InstaVoice
Bharti Airtel- Internet.org App
Spice – Mziiki
Best Connectivity Solutions for Africa
Orange – My Social WiFi
Liquid Telecom – 100Mbps FTTH Service
Breeze Micro and World Telecom Labs – New Inter-city VoIP Routes in Nigeria from Breeze Micro and World Telecom Labs
WIOCC – Connecting Somalia – closing the final link
Sky Vision – SkyVision Hybrid Satellite and Terrestrial network solutions
Best Cost Efficiency Solutions For Africa
TKM Maestro - TKM Cost Efficiency Solution
Nomanini – Nomanini payments platform
Digital Route – Mediation Zone
Afrigis – Voting Station Monitor USSD Solution
Huawei – Africa’s 1st SDN Innovation
Opera Software – Opera Web Pass
Fairwaves – Mobile network which you can build yourself
Best Device for Africa
Solarway - Solar Powered Mobile Phone Charging Station
Solarway – Solar Kiosk
Equatel – Equatel SIM Payphone
Nomanini - Nomanini payments platform
Bharti Airtel – Airtel Red
Best Marketing Campaign
MTN – MTN Corporate Campaign
OgilvyOne Africa /Airtel Zambia – Go For It : Be Whatever, Do Whatever
Orange – Emergency Credit Campaign
Orange – Orange Football Club Campaign
Huawei – MTN’s Mandela Birthday‘ 67 Minutes
Onlime – Marketing Campaign – Rebrand
Millicom Tanzania TIGO – Free Facebook in Swahili
Bharti Airtel – Mr Money Campaign
Best Mobile Money Solution
Orange – Mobile Travel Tickets
Orange – Mobile Pensions
Mobile Pensions – PocketMoni Mobile Money Service
Bharti Airtel – Airtel Money
Mahindra Comviva – Mahindra Comviva mobiquity Connect
Best Network Improvement
Ericsson - Unitel Angola, Smile Nigeria, TiGO Senegal
World Telecoms Lab – Nigeria’s new interconnect exchange carriers and World Telecom Labs’ 2nd Generation VoIP Switches
WIOCC – Extending WIOCC’s Pan-African Network into Somalia
Tigo Rwanda – Tigo Voice and Data Mobile Services
Bharti Airtel – Nigeria Data Service Improvement
Liquid Telecom – Upgrading and improving the fibre network of Liquid Telecom Kenya
Best Pan African Initiative
MTN - MTN GLOBAL MPLS VPN
PCCW Global – High-Quality Calling with Direct Routing in Africa
Orange – Pan-African Partnering Play Store
Liquid Telecom – East Africa Fibre Ring
Airtel Africa and IBM – Business Intelligence Solution (based on Cognos, DB2, Websphere, AIX and IBM Blade Center)
Breakthrough LTE Development
PCCW Global - Global LTE Roaming for African Mobile Subscribers
Ericsson – LTE Market Impact
Ericsson – Breakthrough LTE Development – Unitel
Orange – LTE for fix
Huawei – Innovative LTE Rollout
Smile Communications – SmileON and Data Management
Telkom – LTE
Surfline – Deployment of 4G LTE network in Ghana
Changing Lives Awards
Afrigis - Gender-Based Violence Command Centre (GBVCC)
Orange – Digital School Project
WIOCC – Closing the final link – connecting Somalia
afb Mauritius Ltd – Mobile Consume and Businesses Unsecured Credit
TXT Ghana – JOB 1917
Bharti Airtel – Ebola Initiative
Sky Vision – Ghana Crossover Academy
Telekom – TNM Moyo Cover
Excellence in Customer Experience Management
Procera – RAN Perspectives
OgilvyOne Africa /Airtel Ghana – Uncle MB | Sorting data drama
SafariCom – Customer Care support for M-PESA product – the leading mobile money transfer service in the world
Orange – ’100% Successful Calls’ Suites of services
Bharti Airtel – Airtel Premier
Most Innovative Service
Huawei – Huawei’s Digital Music Service for MTN
Millicom Tanzania TIGO – Tigo Pesa – International Mobile Money Transfer
Econet Renewable Energy Systems – Titan – Home Power Station
Opera Software – Opera Web Pass
Orange – Facebook Partnerships
Kifiya Financial Technologies – Digital Finance and Payment Service
VSAT Innovation for Africa
Afrique Telecom – Full VNO OSS/BSS for VSAT Industry and Customers
Liquid Telecom – Shared MPLS Satellite service
EMC – Fully managed VSAT services
Sky Vision – Sky Vision Active Series
About AfricaCom 2014
Africa’s premier communications congress and exhibition returns to
Cape Town on 11-13 November for its biggest and best year yet. This
year’s conference programme will cover a host of new topics affecting
companies in Africa’s digital market. Experience strategic content from
300+ business supremos and digital gurus, representing the entire
communications ecosystem across Africa and beyond. Discover a
record-breaking 375+ exhibitors showcasing their solutions and services,
plus a host of new features from the Africa Com Village, Google Big
Data & Cloud Developer Zone, Entrepreneur Incubator Hub to the
highly-popular Africa Com Masterclass Theatre!
For media related information, please contact:
Elize Engle
Tel: 021 461 6764
Cell: 074 132 3255
Fax: 021 464 1124
Email: elize@networxpr.co.za
Web: www.networxpr.com
Twitter: @NetworxPR
Facebook: NetworxPR
Photo Credit: UNICEF Haiti, 2014. Unstoppable Foundation Kicks Off International Day of the Girl With Plan To Educate 5,000 In 2015
5,000 CAN Program to Create Sustainable Education for Children
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- On the eve of this year's International Day of the Girl Child, The Unstoppable Foundation (www.unstoppablefoundation.org) has kicked off its unprecedented 5,000 CAN
campaign to bring sustainable education to an additional 5,000 of the
world's most vulnerable children during 2015. Founder and CEO Cynthia Kersey and legendary sports agent Leigh Steinberg revealed the ambitious program at an invitation-only donor luncheon in Los Angeles.
"The inspiration for the 5,000 CAN initiative was ignited by Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai,
who was shot by the Taliban because of her courageous stand for an
education. We are inspired by Malala's commitment and promised her that
we will not stop until this critical mission of education for every
child is achieved," said Kersey.
The Unstoppable Foundation is taking action by funding programs that
deliver long-term sustainable education in sub-Saharan Africa, where the
need is greatest. In a region of Africa
where one in ten children dies before the age of five and 12 year-old
girls are married off, The Unstoppable Foundation delivers a
comprehensive approach to uplifting the entire community out of extreme
poverty.
"Education for every child is the greatest human rights movement of our time. The new 5,000 CAN
campaign challenges us all to create a future for the next 5,000
children -- many of them girls -- who are deprived of their right to go
to school. If one child can change the world, imagine what 5,000 can
do," Kersey said.
Since The Unstoppable Foundation was established during 2008, 6,028
children are receiving an education and daily nutritious meal, and more
than 20,000 people have access to the five pillars of education, clean
water, sanitation, healthcare, food and nutrition, and adult income
training. The Unstoppable Foundation partners with organizations on the
ground to implement their programs and create self-sustaining
communities that are based upon the five pillars.
The Unstoppable Foundation is a non-profit humanitarian organization
bringing sustainable education to children and communities in developing
countries, thereby creating a safer and more just world for everyone.
To learn more about The Unstoppable Foundation 5,000 CAN program, please visit www.5000CAN.org.
SOURCE The Unstoppable Foundation
CONTACT: Judith Czelusniak, Judith@JudithMail.com, 1 (917) 655-3217
RELATED LINKS http://www.unstoppablefoundation.org
Malala Yousafzai: Journey to the Nobel Peace Prize
Life for Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has never been particularly normal. WSJ’s Dipti Kapadia looks at Ms. Yousafzai’s life since she was shot in 2012. Photo: AP.
Young Nigerians at an event. Photo Credit: Nigeria Intel.
What shall we call this generation of Nigerian youths? The Yahoo-Yahoo generation? The Facebook generation, but who hate reading books? The generation with worsening mass failures in SSSE/WAEC examinations and UME? The generation of the most unemployable graduates? The generation with MBA holders who cannot even write a business plan? The generation of graduates who cannot read and who cannot spell? As
seen even in wrong spellings and grammatical errors of headlines on
newspapers, TV and websites like the one saying "who is the hottest" of
two Nolywood actresses when even my kid in the kindergarten knows it
should "who is hotter". The generation of university students who cannot compose formal letters? The
generation of youths who celebrate mediocrity and their government also
makes mediocrity the order of the day from Yenagoa to Abuja and
government appointments are now like playing roulette and coincidentally
the pockets of the roulette wheel are numbered from 1 to 36, the total
number of the states in Nigeria. The generation of ring tones
singers who claim to be musicians, but who cannot read music and chant
ditties worse than nursery rhymes. The generation of youths who prefer cheating and lying and living in denial as their lifestyle. The
generation of youths without conscience and without shame who scramble
for political bribes as cheap as mini bags of rice and recharge cards. The generation of youths who now see getting a job as a miracle; getting a visa is a miracle and getting bursary is a miracle. The generation of youths with girls who think and work more with their loins than their brains. The generation of youths who have skills and talents, but prefer handouts all the way from the classroom to the boardroom. The
generation of youths with the largest population of users of mobile
phones, tablets and laptops, but lagging behind Kenya in developing tech
startups and prefer useless idle chats and gossip to brainstorming on
ideas that will reform and transform them. The generation ruled by herd mentality and marches on to the drumbeats of mediocrity to the chaos of sociopolitical anarchy.
We have within us, from the start, that which will distinguish us from the vulgar herd. ~ Jean Henri Fabre
As
far as I'm concerned, it's a damned shame that a field as potentially
dynamic and vital as journalism should be overrun with dullards, bums,
and hacks, hag-ridden with myopia, apathy, and complacence, and
generally stuck in a bog of stagnant mediocrity. ~ Hunter S. Thompson
There's a lot of mediocrity being celebrated, and a lot of wonderful stuff being ignored or discouraged. ~ Sean Penn
All
greatness of character is dependent on individuality. The man who has
no other existence than that which he partakes in common with all around
him, will never have any other than an existence of mediocrity. ~ James F. Cooper
In the republic of mediocrity, genius is dangerous. ~ Robert Green Ingersoll
~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, aka "Orikinla Osinachi", Publisher/Editor of Nigerians Report Online, author of Children of Heaven, Scarlet Tears of London, The Language of True Love, Bye, Bye Zimbabwe, In the House of Dogs, The Prophet Lied, Diary of the Memory Keeper, NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® and other books in print and electronic versions distributed by Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Lulu, Tower Books and other booksellers worldwide. He has been a former aide in the publicity department of the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur's Presidential Campaign in 1990 and now coordinating the Transform Nigeria Network in the social media.
