₦airaland Forum

Ford Motor Company’s Conservation and Environmental Grants Programme, the first ever private initiative of its kind in the Nigerian automobile industry, is now accepting applications for its 2013 programme from on-going not‐for‐profit environmental projects that are seeking additional funding. A total of $25,000 (USD) is available to deserving environmental projects that are working towards raising awareness about the environment and much-needed efforts for conservation.

This programme follows the Henry Ford European Conservation Awards (now Ford Motor Company Conservation and Environmental Grants), which originated in Britain in the early 80's with the vision of encouraging a wide range of projects that support, preserve or restore the local environment, heritage and natural resources. Since its launch in 1983, Ford has awarded more than $5 million (USD) in grants to thousands of environmental projects in 60 countries throughout Asia, the Caribbean, Central America and the Middle East.

Application forms for the 2013 Ford Conservation and Environmental Grants programme are available for download on the www.ssa.ford.com website. Completed applications can be sent via email to nigeria@ford.com till November 22nd, 2013.

Individuals, communities and not‐for‐profit groups that have projects currently running in the areas of preservation of the natural environment, environmental education and conservation engineering can apply.

For more information about the Ford Motor Company Conservation & Environmental Grants Programme, please visit www.ssa.ford.com, or write to nigeria@ford.com

Did you know that TVContinental/TVC, a 24-hour pan-African TV news channel, has a state-of-the-art facility in Lagos that can compare to CNN, BBC or Al-Jazeera's facilities? TVC officially launched in February of this year and ever since then, it has provided on-the-spot coverage of some key events such as the 2013 Kenyan elections.

TVC's aim is to tell the many positive stories coming out of Africa. With news channels such as CNN and BBC, they too often cover the negative aspects of Africa. We almost always see coverage of famines, political unrest, and genocide. TVC wants to showcase Africa in a good way, through African eyes. It's not that TVC is in denial of the conflicts in Africa, because TVC covers that too. But the news channel really wants to celebrate Africa's successes and beauty.

You can watch TVC on StarTimes in Nigeria on channels 121 and 326. If you're in the UK, you can get TVC on BskyB's channel 572. TVC is like the CNN of Africa! What do you think??