₦airaland Forum

In just six (6) months, a dossier of data detailing the progress of beneficiaries from the “Ejekaseyi” empowerment programme shows that over 50 percent among them now run thriving businesses, making up to ₦60,000 every month. But the most striking part is the fact that these beneficiaries are set to re-empower other unemployed youths in their respective communities.

In the month of December, 2018, 100 unemployed youths across the eight ( communities of AFIJIO local government in Oyo State were enrolled into this empowerment program that was ran by the 7Eleven Foundation, and the singular aim was to not only give them a source of income, but to start a chain-reaction of job creation in the zone.

The impactful outcome of this empowerment programme as stated above, has caused statewide buzz, such that it is being widely touted as a readied template to be deployed by other facilitators in other zones in the state and across the country.

Buoyed by the need to do things differently and achieve an unusual result, the facilitator of the empowerment programme, one-named Seyi Adisa, a politician who at the time was the All Progressives Congress House of Assembly candidate for Afijio, was quoted saying that the idea of the Ejekaseyi Jobs was birthed from his team’s mantra of running a campaign of substance as against a campaign of merely-mouthed political promises.

He explained, “When you look round Afijio at that time we started, what you'd observe, just like you will in some other parts of the country, is a pool of youths not getting productive with their time and energy mostly because of the lack of opportunities to thrive. We saw a situation of youth unemployment tethered to the lack of opportunities”

“But then, we also noticed that this situation has been persistent despite supposed empowerment programmes that have been brought to these youths. At that point, we were tasked with the question - What could be missing? Why are these pools of youths unproductive and unemployed despite a handful of opportunities they’ve been exposed to by successive empowerment programmes in the past?”

“Well, we discovered three major gaps which were - a lack of financial and business management skills, a lack of mentoring and also a lack of supervision. And, these are the components we decided to add to our style of empowerment, much more like wholesome human capital development.”

“Our team accepted the fact that it will take more than arming these youths with vocational skills to make them gainfully empowered first, and also so well enough to re-empower others. Tasking as it looked, still, it wasn’t rocket science”.

Seyi Adisa’s team partnered with the 7eleven Foundation, a non-profit known for empowering entrepreneurs with life skills right from incubation to activation, to train these 100 selected youths in 5 different crafts namely catering, tie and dye, paint making and painting, shoe-making, and fish and snail farming.

A week-long intensive training of this lot involved masterclass from different professionals who took the beneficiaries through practical layers of financial and business management. Together with the tools given to each of them after this training in form of their take-off support, they have been undergoing continued mentoring and supervision in these 6 months, a process which will go on for another 6 months.



These successes recorded so far with the EJEKASEYI JOBS isn’t unconnected to this unusual process of empowerment detailed above. It is clearly a story of pure desire to get youths off the streets, which then gave birth to a thorough and exemplary solution that seems to last.

In Afijio today, the graduands from that programme are not only gainfully employed, but are indeed creating employment themselves. They are the success stories of this unusual incubation-to-activation style of empowerment.

There is the story of Olabiyi Tolulope and Akano Mary, who are beneficiaries from Ilora town of Afijio Local Government Area, have grown productively with the skill they learnt during the one week intensive vocational training. They both learnt catering and had in the last six months made several moves among which are: supplying snacks to private schools, doing home and office deliveries, as well as rendering catering customized services to grow their business.

The story of Oladejo Veronica is a single mother from Fiditi town is particularly more intriguing. She also learnt the craft of catering and in the last six months, she hasn’t only established a living, she has also been able to scale up the business with the purchase of an additional 6kg Gas cylinder. That’s how successful the knowledge they were impacted with, works. According to her books, she makes an average of N2100 daily profit from the business, from which she’s been able to enroll her child into school, as well as greatly improve her standard of living.


If this data coming from the Afijio 100 is to be believed, beneficiaries who trained in the tie and dye craft are now “busy merchants”, as they are now the go-to people for both day-to-day and ceremonial clothes in the entire Oyo area, at the famous central Iware market, and as far as Ibadan, the state capital.




For Oguntokun Samson, Ojediran Remi and Salisu Ali, they have successfully given “birth”. These trio benefited from the vocational training, learning shoe making, tie and dye, and paint production respectively. In the last six months, Oguntokun, Ojediran and Salisu have been able to court one (1) apprentice each under their wings, channeling the training into them and setting another three (3) erstwhile unemployed individuals on their way to become gainfully empowered too.





Exploring the rave behind these testimonies of Ejekaseyi jobs is just very timely, as it will not be untrue to now admit that, if it works in Afijio and for Afijio youths, it will definitely work anywhere else where there is a lingering situation of unemployment amongst our energetic youths.

Furthermore, it is quite clear that this veritable and mentor-friendly empowerment idea behind Ejekaseyi jobs is steadily proving to be a potent antibiotic against the infection of unemployment, as far as the youth is concerned, and you wouldn’t be wrong if you’re unable to resist the temptation to give deserved kudos to Seyi Adisa and his team.

A woman o!

victoryukpong:
Wow Amazing
F T C

Mods please this above is Frontpage worthy. Let's celebrate this woman who just made Nigeria proud.

Thank you Mods

"...With Juliet Ehimuan at the helm, Google Nigeria is providing free digital skills training to 10 million Africans in five years. So far, through a combination of classroom and online lessons, three million have been trained..."

[Read full LBS article below]

LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL - 30 People Who Are Changing The World

COUNTRY DIRECTOR OF GOOGLE NIGERIA AT THE FOREFRONT OF INITIATIVES TO EMPOWER BILLIONS IN AFRICA THROUGH DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

Juliet Ehimuan wants to raise human dignity by helping to develop human capacity and create opportunities for growth. But Ehimuan is not a charity boss or a UN chief. As Country Director of Google Nigeria, she’s a global tech leader whose contributions to technology and entrepreneurship have won her multiple awards and recognition, including being named one of Forbes’ 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa and featuring in the third series of the BBC Women of Africa strand, Power Women.

“With our technologies and economies today it’s more important than ever to not leave anyone behind,” she says. “Technology has the power to create a level playing field. Putting technology in the hands of people allows them to create their own opportunities.”

With Ehimuan at the helm, Google Nigeria is providing free digital skills training to 10 million Africans in five years. So far, through a combination of classroom and online lessons, three million have been trained. In Africa, where 11 million people enter the job market every year to compete for less than three million newly created jobs, the digital skills project is providing a much-needed boost; not just to Nigeria, but the whole region.

“The biggest problem in the world is disconnectedness,” she says. “Now, with a smartphone, you can be connected to anyone else in the world, or to any information you need, in seconds. That’s empowering.”

Ehimuan, who graduated from London Business School’s MBA programme in 2008, has witnessed first-hand how technology can change lives. From the farmer who identified the ants killing his crops and saved his harvest by looking at photos of affected crops online, to the young man who became a globally acclaimed videographer by staying up all night to watch YouTube tutorials, she knows who she needs to reach.

But a vision without a goal “is just wishful thinking” for Ehimuan. Tangible ambitions need measurable impact, so through Google’s Developers Training programme, she and her team are training 100,000 developers over three years and offering scholarships to current and aspiring African developers. One woman (she uses this example because it’s exciting for her to highlight female participation in technology) was able to increase her earnings tenfold as a result of becoming Android-certified.

As a woman in tech herself, Ehimuan is in a global minority – and the statistics on women in STEM professions in her own region are even more alarming.

Was this a reason for her career choice? “No,” she says. “I loved the arts as much as the sciences growing up.” Medicine was an option, but she didn’t have the stomach for it: “When I started my first degree, computing was a new wave, so it was great for me to ride it.”

As a child, Ehimuan was taught that she could do anything if she tried hard enough. Raised alongside four sisters and two brothers by a mother who lost both her parents as a young child and devoted her life to instilling kindness and courage in her own children, she says she had the best possible role model. “She had a saying: ‘It’s not the life that matters, but the courage you put into it.’ I saw her demonstrate that courage so many times, in a society where women are not always uplifted.”

Her mother passed away in October 2018. In Ehimuan’s role as a mentor and coach, she passes on some of her mother’s wisdom. She coaches young people to become self-leaders through her ‘Beyond Limits’ initiative. “I tell them to always apply themselves and make the best of every circumstance. Every situation offers an opportunity to learn, grow and define who you are,” she says. “Always do your best, always expand your horizon. You never know what is around the corner.”

In a world where the pace of change means a surprise is around nearly every corner, Ehimuan believes the work she is doing puts humans in the driver’s seat: “People fear that we’re going to be taken over by robots and become unrecognisable, but it’s up to us to make the decisions that align with our own morality and sense of humanity. The pace of change can be an enabler for communities. Farmers who can get answers to what is wrong with their crops in seconds, instead of days, save harvests.”

In 2019, the majority of farmers still do not have that option. Over half the world’s population has no access to the internet, with four out of seven billion people – mostly in emerging markets – not connected to the web. Ehimuan leads an initiative called ‘Next Billion Users’ for Africa, where 70% of the 1.2 billion population are under 30.

“The opportunity to shape the future direction of technology for these next billion users is incredible,” she says. “The skills that we give them will enable them to connect with their global counterparts and make a significant impact on the region by creating jobs and developing communities. I see technology leverage solutions all the time. The impact we make in Africa will affect the rest of the world.”

A young mother in a remote village in Nigeria with a smartphone can now access the same information as a Silicon Valley CEO. This, Ehimuan believes, is the true power of technology. Her ambition to raise human dignity stems from her long-held conviction that we all have an inbuilt capacity to do more. “The power of the human spirit lies in its striving to always do better,” she says. “All we need to do is give people the tools and they’ll do it for themselves.”

No matter what anybody or anyone says about Governor Ajimobi, he still remains the Koseleri of Oyo State. APC’s loss at the Governorship elections are not strong enough to eclipse Mr. Transformation’s pace setting achievements which will remain indelible in the annals of the history of the state. I have researched and googled, some of the things I found, include but not limited to:

1. First Governor to win a second term mandate

2. First Governor to pay 13th month salary in full for 3 years consecutively (2012, 2013 and 2014)

3. First Governor to dualise the road into major towns in Oyo State across all zones (Ibadan, Oke Ogun, Oyo, Ogbomoso and Ibarapa

4. Unprecedented eight years of peace in the state – No bank robbery, peaceful festive seasons

5. First Civilian Governor to build a flyover

6. First Governor to provide free medical services to over 1 million people across the state

7. First Governor to give interest free grants to traders

8. First Governor to build free shops to traders

9. The First Governor to introduce the Health Endowment Fund

10. First Governor to provide free mass transit bus transportation for workers and students

11. First Governor to pay 142% increase in pension

12. First Governor in Nigeria to introduce State Health Insurance Scheme

13. First Governor to establish a Technical University in Nigeria, The First Technical University, Ibadan

14. First and only Governor in South West to become the beneficiary of the World Bank assisted Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) in the South West

15. First Governor to establish an Education Trust Fund in Oyo State

16. First Governor to institute a Security Trust Fund in Oyo State

17. First Governor to give Oyo State a City Master Plan as well as the Drainage and Solid Waste Master Plan

18. First Governor to introduce the Geographic Information System in Oyo State

19. The First Governor to institute an Industrial Policy in Oyo State

20. The First Governor to introduce Electronic C of O (60 Days time Limit)

21. The First Governor to achieve a Four Star Rating of the state by NIPC

22. The First Governor to elevate Oyo State to the fourth position in investment friendliness according to Nigeria Bureau of Statistics.

22. The First Governor to introduce e-governance with payroll automation as Phase one

23. The First Governor to introduce Treasury Single Account (2011)

These well documented facts speak for themselves.

Ipinle Oyo e ko si le ninu iwe iranti.

Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s place in the history books will be prominent.



GMA

Gbolagade Matthew Adeleke

SaharaReporters seems unable to mend its ways. Instead of trying to publish what is fair and accurate, it rather grows its tales from seedlings of untruth and calumny. This online newspaper no longer bothers to offer the pretense of seeking the truth.

For SaharaReporters, whatever is sensational must be true and whatever is true must be sensational. The real truth is that SaharaReporters no longer cares if its reportage is right. SaharaReporters just cares that it is widely read. It dare not allow veracity to hamper its business model. This is a disservice to ethical journalism which honors truthful, accurate reporting.

The report titled “Tinubu Bans Ajimobi from Appearing at APC Governorship Rallies” is another of SaharaReporters’ excursions into falsehood. The report claims that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu somehow has banned Governor Abiola Ajimobi from attending APC campaigns for Saturday’s governorship election in Oyo State.

This report goes beyond a lie. It is a vindictive attempt to sow discord because the writer is angered by the APC’s success in the presidential election. Thus, the writer has cast truth aside in his angry desire to inflict some kind of electoral wound on the APC. However, the writer should refrain from this path of falsehood. It would be better for the writer to come to grips with reality and to accept the fact of the APC presidential victory and the likelihood of APC victories in most governorship elections, including that of Oyo.

The mischief that SaharaReporters cites is not between Tinubu and Ajimobi. It is solely in the mind of SaharaReporters. By its unsubstantiated report, the medium seeks to set brother against brother. Asiwaju and Governor Ajimobi have been political brothers and allies for a long time. Their friendship existed long before SaharaReporters came to the scene and will endure long after this self-diminishing online site is no more.

Moreover, Governor Ajimobi has been an excellent governor and a faithful member of the APC. He has brought progress to the state and in serving two consecutive terms, Ajimobi made history in Oyo. He is instrumental to anything the APC can achieve in Oyo. The truth is that Asiwaju is not trying to supplant or hide the governor. Instead, Asiwaju is lending his support to the governor’s and APC’s efforts in the state. They are partners not rivals.

As such, he has held strategic meetings with some notable groups and important individuals. The heart of the discussions was the need for all to come together to achieve victory for APC in the March 9 governorship poll.

At no time did the issue of banning anybody, talk less of Governor Ajimobi, enter into the discussions. We want and need Governor Ajimobi to be a visible figure at the forefront of this campaign during these final decisive days. He will prove pivotal to our hope for victory in the state.

SaharaReporters betrayed its abject bias with this report. It makes absolutely no sense to even try to stop a sitting governor from campaigning in that governor’s state. Such a move would only create enmity and hinder, not help a campaign. For SaharaReporters to claim this is to claim that Asiwaju is a political novice. Asiwaju has never barred anyone from participating in a campaign. Why would he now start with Ajimobi in Ajimobi’s own state?

In addition to not having such a negative inclination, Asiwaju wields no such power and has no desire to have such power. Ajimobi is a sitting governor who can travel his state as he pleases. Who can dare stop him? We want him in and at the rallies.
Asiwaju’s intervention in Oyo was to engender genuine reconciliation. To exclude this good and able governor would have aborted this mission before it started.

Asiwaju views Governor Ajimobi as highly disciplined and a committed and respected party leader, unlike some others who have no respect for party supremacy. The relationship between them remains solid and loyal. And one hundred false reports by one hundred SaharaReporters cannot change that reality.

Tinubu Media Office,
Tunde Rahman,
March 4, 2019.

#OyoDecides UPDATES: APC retains Oyo state, winning 9/14 Fed constituencies & 2 Senatorial districts so far.

From results collated so far, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has won in 9 out of the 14 Federal constituencies so far, and also the two senatorial districts where elections have been concluded. (Oyo Central and Oyo North).

This means that the APC maintained and its majority position amongst voters in the state.
Results from Oyo South, the last senatorial district are still being collated at press time.

More details later...

UPDATES: APC retains Oyo state, winning 9/14 Fed constituencies & 2 Senatorial districts so far

#OyoDecides UPDATES: APC retains Oyo state, winning 9/14 Fed constituencies & 2 Senatorial districts so far.

From results collated so far, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has won in 9 out of the 14 Federal constituencies so far, and also the two senatorial districts where elections have been concluded. (Oyo Central and Oyo North).

This means that the APC maintained and its majority position amongst voters in the state.
Results from Oyo South, the last senatorial district are still being collated at press time.

More details later...

Ward10 Ibadan Northwest local government. Result scored by each party are as follows: President. APC=1302. PDP=1588. Senate: APC= 1082. PDP=1256. House of Representatives.APC= 1885. PDP= 2026.

WARD 11 PU 14 A.
PRESIDENTIAL
APC 36
PDP 36

.....
Ward 11 unit 14 B
President
APC 50
PDP.59

Ward 11unit 14C
APC 37
PDP 81
ADC 02


There is no problem at all

Ibadan Northwest

WARD 11
UNIT 3
PRESIDENTIAL
APC=- 144
PDP=144
ADC=11
ADP=1
SENATE
APC=111
PDP=113
ADC=62
ANN=9
HOUSE OF REP
APC=115
PDP=105
ADC=61
ADP=10
ZLP=11

Oyo West

Ward 5,unit 3
President
APC-203
PDP-202
SENATE
APC-110
PDP-239
ADC-49
ADP-45
REP
APC-118
PDP-164
ADC-49
ADP-45

Oyo West

Ward 5,unit 5
PRESIDENT
APC-28
PDP-32
SENATE
APC-22
PDP-30
REP
APC-20
PDP-24

Ibadan North

Ogbomoso North

Total ward 02 presidential election result. APC 741, PDP 1220, ADC 148, ADP 11.

WARD 02
SENATORIAL RESULT APC 705, PDP 1082, 359, ADP 20, ZLP 40

Ward 02 House of rep election result APC 639, PDP 1111, ADC 383, ADP 06, ZLP 68.

Ibadan North
Ward 2

Ojo Oniro compound
Polling unit- 015
Registered voters: 637
Accredited voters: 100

Presidential result:
APC - 42
ADC- 10
Accord - 3
PDP - 44
PCP- 1
HDP - 3
SDP - 1
Others - nil

Senate results:
APC - 32
ADC - 38
Accord - 2
SDP - 1
CLP - 1
PDP - 23
ADP - 4
Other - nil

Rep. Results:
APC - 34
ADC - 29
ZLP - 1
PDP - 24
HDP - 3
SDP - 1
CLP - 2
ADP - 3
Others - nil

#OyoDecides2019

O Y O D E C I D E S - Governor Abiola Ajimobi and wife, the First Lady of Oyo state, Dr (Mrs) Florence Ajimobi, cast their votes today in Oluyole LGA.

#OyoDecides2019
#NigeriaDecides @ Ibadan, Nigeria

OMOYELE SOWORE VOTES!

Presidential Candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore has cast his vote in what he described as a "peaceful" but "frustrating" process.

While casting his vote at RCM polling unit 005, Ese Odo LGA, Ondo State, Sowore said "so far everything is peaceful, voter turnout is very very high and encouraging, we are expecting that results will start trickling in after 2PM but the process is a little slow and frustrating for voters, people standing out here for hours just to get accredited and then vote it's a little bit cumbersome and frustrating but otherwise'

It's been good so far and I'm glad we saw a huge turnout of voters".

*OMOYELE SOWORE VOTES!*

Presidential Candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore has cast his vote in what he described as a "peaceful" but "frustrating" process.

While casting his vote at RCM polling unit 005, Ese Odo LGA, Ondo State, Sowore said "so far everything is peaceful, voter turnout is very very high and encouraging, we are expecting that results will start trickling in after 2PM but the process is a little slow and frustrating for voters, people standing out here for hours just to get accredited and then vote it's a little bit cumbersome and frustrating but otherwise. It's been good so far and I'm glad we saw a huge turnout of voters".

Ward 11 Unit 21 all ready as voting is set to commence.

#OyoDecides2019

Won ti beere....PDP and thievery!

Don't sell your votes people!!!

#OyoDecides2019

Election materials and officials arrived ward 6 unit 14 in Ibadan SouthEast.

#OyoDecides2019

Accreditation starts at ward 4 unit 1 and 2
Ona Ara LGA

#OyoDecides2019

IBARAPA CENTRAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Inec staff and security agency are done with election arrangement in all the 139 poling units in ibarapa central local government.

The presiding officers are addressing the party agents and the voters on the election process...in Five minutes, election will be starting in all the 139 polling units across ibarapa central local government.

#OyoDecides2019

Accreditation and Voting commences peacefully at Ona Ara LG, ward 7 unit 6, 7, and 8, IDC Olunloyo.

#OyoDecides2019

Voters list pasted at Ward 10 unit 11;
Ibadan Northwest;
Accreditation and voting about to commence.

#OyoDecides2019

Sowore went to Daura and everyone was shouting Sai Bobo! In Daura o

Tell them! Again!

Omolomo4eva:
My President for life-Omoyele sowore AAC:TAKE IT BACK. APC,PDP UNA FATHER. Same product, same content but they keep changing the pangolo

You know this!

Let's make it happen!!!!

Omolomo4eva:
My President for life-Omoyele sowore AAC:TAKE IT BACK. APC,PDP UNA FATHER. Same product, same content but they keep changing the pangolo