₦airaland Forum

tstx:
You think you are funny

Ogbeni, commot for here joor. I tell you sey I funny

How da one take concern me, baba pack well jae. 2019 come fast make I con look drama jae

Hmmm, nice drama Dino

Asin I wonder how my life will be in school whenever am broke without garri. This has been saving life since decades.

Jazakumuallah karian

hmm,o ga o. orisirisi

*THE SEVEN LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION IN GOVERNANCE AND POLITICS - #1-3*


_*If you are not a voter, then you are part of our problems in this country. You have no right to blame any government as you are an irresponsible citizen. That is the simple truth.*_ - Francis Adebayo


WHERE DO YOU BELONG?

*1. Unregistered Non-voters*
These are people who chose not to collect their PVC. It is amazing that people like this still complain about the government, when they neither got their PVCs nor voted.

Below are some of the excuses they give for not making efforts to take their PVCs.
1. My votes won’t count.
2. The queue is too long.
3. I am not interested in politics.

*2. Registered Non-voters*
These are those who registered, got their PVCs, but failed to vote... they have their PVCs, probably to use for identification when
required.

Their common excuses:
1. I'm afraid of violence on election day.
2. My votes won't count.
3. It is stressful.
4. It is a day of rest for me.

Take a look at the statistics from INEC as regards the general elections in 2015.

*2015 Summary:*
• Total Number of registered voters: 67,422,005
• Total Number of accredited voters: 31,746,490
• Total Number of valid voters: 28,587,564
• Total Number of rejected voters: 844,519
• Total Number of voters cast: 29,432,083
From these figures, *35,675,515 registered citizens did not vote at all*. This is significantly high. This implies that there were more registered non-voters than the number of people who voted.
This figure doesn’t include those who didn’t even register at all.
*2,314,407 accredited voters did not vote.* These people came out for accreditation, but eventually didn’t come back to complete the voting process by casting their vote into the ballot box.
_(These are the ones that really give room for rigging and I dare say this is the number the people rigging couldn't fill after they have exhausted their manpower. *Emphasis: Mine*_).

*3. Voters*
These are the people who go out against all odds to vote on election days. Some even do more than voting: they *_stay till the votes are counted._* I BELIEVE NO SACRIFICE IS TOO GREAT FOR THE BUILDING OF OUR NATION. We have no other country, and we must play our part in the building process.


_*From the book, SO YOU HATE POLITICS by Francis Adebayo*_

Mtcheeeew, go ask goggle

AN OVERVIEW OF NIGERIA DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

Nigeria, being the giant of Africa has often at times been on the verge of erasure from the good books and not too surprisingly, ludicrous failure. Dating back to the inception of democracy in our great homeland (NIGERIA), it was a great and applaudable achievement then, regaining our social, economic and political freedom from the colonial government. Ever since then, Nigeria has been governed by groups of sycophants, mediocres and frivolous political elites that are indifferent about the plight of the populace and the development of the country. They are all groups of parasitic animal feeding on our national cake for their personal welfare without being sympathetic to the cause of the populace. It is crystal clear that the defects of democracy have outgrown that of military government because of their malicious act of corruption. Going by the definition of democracy by Abraham Lincoln "Democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people" but can our political elites give an answer to the question; " Is it still government for the people or for personal advantage? ".

The breakdown of law and order which occurred in the period under review would not be attributed to any defects in Nigerian legal system. Corrupt practices both in the political sphere and all aspects of Nigeria life eroded progress and development. So therefore, Nigerian Democratic system of government is best known for corruption and embezzlement. Corruption in Nigeria has permeated to an extent that it has become a normal practice for the indolent political elites who enjoy luxury life than their main objective. It is obvious that Nigerian political system has become a chamber and place of asylum for squanderers and miscreants.
It is quite pathetic to say that our beloved country (NIGERIA) is in a state of frazzle and pandemonium, which will escalate to a state or condition that would not be fit to live in, if the horrendous acts of these individuals are not curtailed. Government, which is supposedly meant to be seen as the machinery of the state has now become a threat and setback to our development by its personnel called the POLITICAL ELITE.

Since the inception of EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission), the body in charge of economic and financial crimes has arraigned 30 political elites who hide under the shield of political parties and unholy affiliations with the aim of squandering and embezzling our national funds. Judging from the information given by the EFCC, 16 of them were arraigned under the administration of President Muhammed Buhari. The next question is "Will Nigeria maintain its sovereignty and good posture among countries of the world? Taking a deeper look at the ongoing miasma occurrences in the country with a lot of abnormalities here and there. Meanwhile, we should not forget that, whenever election is at the peak, something like this is bound to occur in order to dent and chastise the current government. Citizens would be influenced and convinced by all these elements who eventually solicit for their votes with peanuts or meagre sums which are readily accepted by the masses as a result of the alarming poverty rate in the country.

During the 2015 presidential election, the APC party promised the populace "changes" in all spheres of the country. The regime of President Muhammed Buhari has experienced some sort of criticism because of the long awaited CHANGE they have promised the citizens, but the populace failed to note that, this said CHANGE is not an Indian Movie nor American Movie that will just happen within a blink of an eye. If the citizens are also ready to experience the CHANGE, we must also stand and unite in peace and harmony to fight all these vices prevailing in the country. It is high time we stay woke from our imaginary dreams and fight for our inalienable right by voting for the right candidate and not by selling our precious votes to mediocres that are not interested in our wellbeing.

The political elites alleged or charged for corruption under the regime of President Muhammed Buhari cannot but vilify and criticize his administration in order to have their way back to the system to continue their malevolent acts. Now they ask for the impeachment of Buhari, is their aim not conspicuous (obvious)? It is incontrovertible that all the horrific and terrifying occurrences happening in the country is nothing but the handiwork of the wicked ones vying for the top post and using all channels to discredit the current government.

MY SUBMITTAL
Nigerians should resurrect from their supposed death and fight against all these malicious acts and portray the definition of DEMOCRACY by ABRAHAM LINCOLN; "By the people" not by miscreants and criminals. We all should come out en masse for the 2019 presidential election to vote for the right man. Someone with vigor and who is goal oriented, not a man with frivolous and fickle behaviour.

Thank you for reading.
By: BALOGUN IDRIS OLADIMEJI
Student; Lagos State University (Accounting)

Na wa o

So this one Na news

Who cares

Amin

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I'm one babe

AN EYE OPENER ON THE NEWLY APPROVED GRADING SYSTEM BY THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES COMMISSION FOR NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES

By;
Shotunde Oladimeji

It is no longer news that the National Universities Commission (NUC) has adopted a new grading system which happens to be entirely different from the one we are used to.

However, it is important to note that this grading system would take effect from the 2017/2018 academic session; implying that it affects only the new intakes and subsequent intakes, thereby giving preceding ones nothing to bother about.

There have been uproars from concerned Nigerians condemning the initiative and positing firmly that Nigeria has numerous problems to be battled and things like this should not be an item on the list to be tackled. We seem to have forgotten that problems are very contagious and one leads to the other.

For the benefit of those that would find themselves with this new system, you have nothing and something to worry about. The fact is that the new grading system is a very laudable initiative and definitely one to embrace.

Having spoken to those in the academic sphere (Insiders), I discovered that it would, to a large extent, encourage hard work among the students. I will juxtapose the new system and the old system to give an insight into what I am trying to pass across.

Under the old system, we had a grading system that was largely discouraging and to a large extent not truly reflective. Take a look at this:

1.50 - 2.39-- Third Class
2.40 - 3.49-- Second Class Lower
3.50 - 4.49-- Second Class Upper
4.50 - 5.00-- First Class

At times, I tend to question the large spacing between this categorization. Does it mean that a student with a 3.51 or possibly 3.62 would have the same degree classification with a student who graduates with a 4.40 or 4.48? Or another with a 2.40 would have the same degree classification with someone with a 3.49? Isn't it ridiculous It is questionable and largely defective.

Now, let us take a look at the new grading system which happens to be very reflective:

1.00 - 1.99-- Third Class
2.00 - 2.99-- Second Class Lower
3.00 - 3.49-- Second Class Upper
3.50 - 4.00-- First Class

Can you see the spacing in there. There is no way an hardworking student would not fall in the First class or Second class categories. Luckily for university undergraduates, for you to achieve an "A" in a course, you need to have a "70" and above score unlike the polytechnics where an "A" starts from "75" and above.

Subjectively, I did an analysis which showed that attaining a first class is easier under the new grading system. If you correlate the 3.50/4.00 which is the least to attain a first class in the new system to the 4.50/5.00 which is also the least you can have to attain a first class in the old system, you will discover that on a scale of 5.00, having 4.375/5.00 would earn you a first class (3.5/4 *5). However the analysis does not hold water after I carried out a simulation and discovered that it is all the same since we would be representing a "5" as a "4" to serve as an "A".

Overall, the advantages of the new grading system are as follows:

1. It would eliminate mediocrity in the system I.e it would put you where you rightly belong. (Someone with a 2.50 wouldn't have the same degree classification with another with a 3.49)

2. It aligns with the standard used in some countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and a host of others thereby making our grading system to align with international best practices.

3.It will help in distinguishing job worthy graduates. Making a Third Class under the new grading system shows the unemployability of such a person and we should note that third class increases the unemployability of our graduates.

4. Uniformity: Having been faced with the challenge of having two systems of grading where some institutions use 6 grade point of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 for letter grades of A, B, C, D, E and F respectively and others removing the E grade thereby having a grading system with grade points of 5, 4, 3, 2, 0 for letter grades of A, B, C, D and F respectively, this system, if complied with, will ensure uniformity across all institutions thereby eliminating any technical implications on the grading of students. It would also eliminate instances where some universities would use the 5 point grading system while some others like the University of Ibadan (UI) would use the 7 point grading system.

I am not disputing the fact that funding is a major problem in the educational sector. However, we should note that there are some unpronounced or not too pronounced problems that if not well addressed would snow ball into bigger problems and an example of these is the grading system. The problem facing Nigeria educational system is multi faceted and the diagnosis and proffering of solution must also be multi faceted and should take a multi faceted approach.

Thanks for reading.

Shotunde Oladimeji
(Shotundeoladimeji07@gmail.com)


Kindly RBC

THE NIGERIAN POLITICAL ARENA AND ITS UNENDING FALLACIES

By; Shotunde Oladimeji
Student;
Lagos State University

_This article is a long one but trust me, it is loaded with meaning._

The 2019 elections is fast approaching and politicians are already in their usual business of trying to woo unsuspecting electorates with their unending promises. This has been the norm right from the inception of democracy in the Nigerian political sphere.

An average Nigerian would, in the normal practice, be convinced to vote for an aspirant with incentives like a mini bag of Rice and a litre of groundnut oil. These are the almost-usual prerequisites for any Nigerian politician to get himself or herself into office. The question is: "How long are we going to keep doing this?". The Nigerian political landscape is a cycle where everything revolves and comes back to the same state it started off from after a period of time.

We have continually seen old and recycled politicians; who have nothing to offer the populace, in the corridors of power over and over again and we seem not to have the killer instinct to negotiate our path to freedom.

Recently, I have been observing the Buhari vs Atiku tussle and I ask myself; " If Nigeria is a progressive country, are these the persons we should present come 2019?". Does it mean that out of over a hundred million adults (According to the National Population Commission; NPC), we can only present two recycled politicians for the top post at Aso Rock who happen to be 75years (Buhari) and 71years (Atiku) respectively?. Sadly, the Nigerian political system is positioned in such a way that electorates would have no choice than to vote for any candidate presented by the elite parties. Party primaries are seen as the real deal even though, in actual sense, they are rarely representative or transparent enough.

One problem about Nigerian politicians is that many of them see themselves as demigods. Once they assume office, they automatically place themselves above the law; giving no room for accountability and inclusive governance, and this limits their performance. They seem to have forgotten that the illiterate of the 21st century is not someone who can neither read nor write, but someone who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.

The problem of Nigeria began with the May 1999 constitution which allows for political office holders to occupy political positions for two terms; with each term lasting for four years. This is a major blunder. The best would have been to introduce a single five- year tenure system as I fail to see why a purpose driven individual would not be able to impact the society in five years unless when he or she is allowed to rule for eight years.


The legislative arm which should have amended certain laws is sadly in a sham. Both the upper and lower chambers are in a mess as the political office holders there seem to just occupy the seats, flaunt wealth and do nothing more. The tiers of government in their entirety need a massive restructuring. I posit!


In recent times, it has become increasingly evident that even the youths cannot be banked on. Everyone is just there to take their share of the national cake. We do not need to stretch our necks out too far to see the signs. In our various tertiary institutions, young people contest for elective posts and many times, it all comes to nothing at the end. Can you see that the much hyped future of Nigeria is very bleak but there are still signs of hope that can be ignited by me and you reading this.

The youths, from my observation have "misplaced priorities ". Recently, there was an online campaign to end the operations of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) tagged #ENDSARS which was massively carried out by everyone even though they failed to turn up for the scheduled protest at Abuja after all the noise. I would have loved it if we had shown that kind of zeal in chasing out old, recycled and corrupt politicians and inadvertently, use that zeal to elect vibrant, lucent and intelligent individuals.

In Monica Crowley's words; "In our age, there is no such thing as keeping out of politics. All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia". This is a deep statement but we can change that ideology. "Politics can become a mass of truth, abidance, prudence, affection and reality"- Oladimeji.

WHAT IS THE WAY OUT?!

From the foregoing, I would suggest the following:

1. There should be a massive revolution in the political circle. Old politicians should be blacklisted from contesting political offices and younger generations should be given a chance!

2. Single term tenure system should be entrenched in the constitution as that would negate the ideology of having a second chance.

3. I would push for STATE SOVEREIGNTY I.e the powers at the federal level should be shared to component units. It would reduce the scramble for the ultimate prize among politicians and it would conspicuously bring Inter-Governmental competition which would in the long run benefit the citizens.

4. Nigerian elections should not be monetized as it has driven out many of the good eggs and left the game for the bad and dirty ones.

5. Political participation should be encouraged by making elections free, fair and credible. This would repose confidence in the electorates.

6. The practice of having political godfathers should be abolished as it limits performance as a result of working under the radar of unknown cabals.

7. I will push for us to have a *POPULAR SAFEGUARD* where democracy will not be understood as a practice of collective self government by the "people", but rather, the selection by the people of representatives to govern on their behalf- Joseph Schumpeter

*my SUBMISSION!

Borrowing the words of Martin Luther King; "There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right". Nigerians, the time to make a move is now!

Thanks for reading!

Shotunde Oladimeji

STAGNATION OF THE NIGERIAN STATE: A FAILURE OF THE NIGERIAN YOUTH.

BY;
SHOTUNDE OLADIMEJI
Student;
LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY.


The Nigerian state has been bedevilled by some negative phenomena which has had an effect on its progress as a nation. This has come in the form of corruption, absence of patriotism, general restiveness, unstable economy and above all; negligence on the part of the youths. All these are inimical to the growth and development of a nation. They would be extensively discussed, in a lucid manner, as we move on in this write-up.

Stagnation is a process or level of inactivity; when one is neither moving nor progressing,for a long period of time. Using the Nigerian state as an example, it is easy to conclude that the country lacks the necessary drive to be in tandem with the advanced countries of the world. Failure is defined by the Oxford Advanced Learners' Dictionary as the inability to meet up with an intended goal or objective. Relating this to the Nigerian youths, the questions are: Have we been able to proffer solutions to the country's economic problems? Have we been able to initiate innovations that would aid the advancement of the country? Sadly, the responses to these questions are rarely in the affirmative. We have failed to realize that the youths are the major stakeholders in any nation and therefore;their input would, to a large extent, reflect on such setup.

It is pertinent to note that the Nigerian youths constitute about 60% of the total population (according to the National Bureau of Statistics). Thus; they occupy a large chunk of the dependency ratio. Pathetically, the youths have deployed their strength in a way that is inimical to the advancement of the country by engaging in corrupt practices, partaking in social vices, causing unrest and serving as a tool for politicians to project their selfish agenda. When those that constitute the dependency ratio have failed, a nation is bound to fail. The youths have failed to consolidate on the achievement of our early nationalists. Instead, we have succeeded in making ourselves readily available to politicians and, in the same vein, serving as elements of destruction.

Using current situations as an instance, I start with corruption. Corruption is a major bottleneck that has impeded our growth as a nation. The general belief is that the politicians are the brain behind corruption but have the Nigerian youths come to terms with the fact that they have been gullible, negligent and self centred when it comes to challenging what is wrong and doing the needful? If you ask a Nigerian youth what he or she would do when given the privilege to serve in any political capacity, the reply would be astonishing but sincere; "I'm going there to get my share of the national cake". Imagine the mentality! That is why I am skeptical about the "Not too young to run bill" that was passed recently by the National Assembly. This is because there is no assurance that if we are governed by the young ones, we will not experience what we are passing through in the hands of the old and recycled politicians. We have seen situations where the youths were given top political appointments and they failed us. Let us take a look at Salisu Buhari (36 years) and Dimeji Bankole (37 years), who were both speakers of the House of Representatives in 1999 and 2007 respectively, but they failed woefully. In fact, they brought shame to the youths. The former allegedly falsified his certificate and the latter was alleged to have siphoned about 50 billion naira. This shows that the youths have been given the platform in the past but they failed!

Another aspect where the Nigerian youths have failed is our inability to be innovative. The youths have failed to think outside the box. I would place the blame on the system of education practiced here in Nigeria as it is structured in a way that does not allow for bringing in ideas. Academic excellence is overrated! The euphoria that comes along with students' CGPA is too much. We tend to place emphasis on excelling on paper forgetting the need to excel in practice. The Nigerian youths derive joy in lamenting about the evil ways of our politicians. We are heavily reliant on them. An average Nigerian youth would always lament about the poor state of the economy, unemployment, display frustration and the likes, but we have forgotten the word of John. F. Kennedy where he said; "Do not look at what a country can do for you but what you can do for that country". Nigerian youths, have we thought of what we can do for our county? No! We love being spoon-fed and that has stunted our growth over the years.

Another issue is our lack of patriotism. Patriotism denotes "Love for one's country". It is a general belief that where the love of a country is not at heart, abuse and stagnation becomes inevitable. I believe participating in politics is not the only way to contribute our quota to the Nigerian state. Abraham Miller said "Those who love their country never wish to rule". That means our inability to get political appointments shouldn't serve as a yardstick for us to suspend our brain. We have to start showing the spirit of patriotism by following the words of Charles. C. Jefferson; "A man is a patriot if his heart beat for his nation". The zeal must be shown!

I have observed that the youths are beginning to behave and are towing the path of the older generations in their ways. We have propagated ethnic, tribal and religious sentiments, that has long polarized us and endangered us as a nation. We have not demonstrated the vision to take the country forward. Rather than being the hope of our nation, we have become the hopeless generation. The Nobel laureate; Prof. Wole Soyinka said that "My generation is wasted" but, from my observation, ours is a lost, confused and disillusioned generation.

We defend, praise and support leaders who are corrupt just because they are of our ethnic stock. Youth restiveness is now the order of the day. We derive joy in facilitating violence, lawlessness, insurgency, oil bunkering, kidnapping, to mention but a few. All these have become permissible in our society. We seem to have lost focus, we seem to be lacking vision, we seem to be clueless and moribund. I wonder why the Nigerian youths cannot act like the youths of Egypt who came out en masse at the Tahir square to bring an end to the Mubarak rule. I wonder why we cannot emulate our counterparts in Tunisia who demanded an end to Ben Ali dictatorship. Instead, we revert to our ethnic and primordial cocoon when our voice is needed to end impunity, corruption and incompetent leadership.

In J.K Rowlings words; "Everything has an expiry date". Nigerian youths, the time when we blame our politicians has come to an end. The time when we blame our parents has come to an end. The time has come for us to take the destiny of this great nation into our hands and rescue it from palpable collapse. The time has come for us to deploy our strength in a way that would project Nigeria and Africa in good light. Nigerian youths, where is our Vibrancy and Articulacy?


Thanks for reading.
Shotunde Oladimeji

We are Lasu we are proud.

NIGERIA VS BIAFRA; A DICEY GAME

BY; SHOTUNDE OLADIMEJI
Student;
LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY


The Nigerian state came into existence by virtue of Lord Lugard's amalgamation proclamation speech; delivered on January 1, 1914. This brought the Southern and Northern protectorates together; forming a single entity called Nigeria. From this time, the entity has continued to function as a nation inhabited by people of diverse ethnic, tribal and religious backgrounds.

At different points in the country's history, issues of ethnic marginalization have risen. These have led to agitations for secession. However, these agitations; over the years, have not been successful as there has been reluctance on the part of the central government to accede to such demands.

One of such historic calls for disintegration was the agitation for the secession of the then Eastern region;which was spear- headed by Lieutenant Colonel Ojukwu on May 30, 1967 and brought about the historic civil war. It started on July 6, 1967 and lasted for three (3) years (1970). This civil war culminated in heavy bloodshed which saw the nation losing close to three (3) million indigenes ;mainly women and children. At the end, Lieutenant Colonel Ojukwu embraced the olive branch extended to him by the Federal Military Government of General Yakubu Gowon and this brought and end to the civil war.

It should be noted that the civil war of 1967-1970 was ignited on a roundtable and in the same vein, resolved on a roundtable. This implies that the bloodshed we witnessed then was uncalled for. Let me put this on record: Neither Ojukwu nor Gowon's family were at the battle front during that period as their immediate families were flown abroad for safety; leaving the children, youths and adults of the Nigerian state to bear whatever fallout thereafter.

Just recently, a serious agitation surfaced which involved those clamouring for the Sovereign Republic of Biafra been led by Mr. Nnamdi Kanu asking for a referendum and ultimately; the secession of South-Eastern Nigeria. The Federal Government is not willing to give in to Mr Kanu's demands and this has led to physical confrontations between the Nigerian Army and supporters of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) which is led by Kanu.

Within the purview of ongoing events, a referendum is literally impossible to serve as a means to achieving their aim as a number of Eastern lawmakers in conjunction with other lawmakers would work against the actualization of that state (BIAFRA). This shows that even within the Igbo circle; all is not well. Realizing this bitter truth, the only alternative available to this group is secession which they might or would not get.

Will the call for secession ease the problem we are currently facing? Will the actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, should their request be granted, take the Igbo people to the promised land or bring about a wave of internal crises especially when it is time to decide who and which part of the state will rule the new republic; Biafra?. If I can get cogent answers to these questions, then, I don't have any objection against the actualization of that state. However, if the answers are unconvincing and look self centred, I have no reservation in recommending that the Federal Government exercise its might by silencing those agitators therein.

From my observation so far, both parties are at fault in the way and manner they approached the issue. The federal government is displaying political immaturity by deploying military personnel to silence the agitators. This, in my own opinion, is not the right thing to do. Of what use is the military in civilian matters when we have the police force? Matters like this should not involve the military as it would only give prominence to the issue. The best thing the military has done so far is their enforcement of the "Operation Python Dance" and just recently want to introduce the "Crocodile Smile". This, I do not think, would solve the situation on ground.

I must not fail to fault the outlandish utterances of the Biafra leader; Nnamdi Kanu. His statements and wordings at times are subject to scrutiny and are capable of causing chaos in a sane society. Also, engaging Turkey to help them fight the battle is a step too far as he might not be able to control what he has started.

The most painful part of it all is seeing the Eastern youths display acts of illiteracy and showing incivility in their agitations. I just feel they might be used and dumped. During the 1967-1970 civil war, both Gowon and Ojukwu were never at the battlefield and their immediate families were never in the country at that time. Relating it to this similar event, Buhari and Kanu will not be on the battlefield. Instead, it would be the children of the masses, left at the mercy of sporadic shooting and hazardous weaponry. The Eastern youths should have a rethink. They should not allow themselves to be used by individuals who have their own personal agenda.

I implore president Muhammad Buhari and the leader of IPOB; Nnamdi Kanu to exercise care, thread with caution and be quick to realize that if this situation degenerates further and leads to war, they will bear the curses of future generations as this situation requires logical thinking, articulate enunciation and utmost display of sagacity.

Irrespective of what President Buhari and Nnamdi Kanu might have in mind, they should not forget the bloodshed that followed the civil war of between 1967-1970 which claimed millions of innocent lives. They should not kick-start a situation they may not be able to control. They should employ all possible means to pervert any war and acrimony that might want to rear its ugly head at this critical time in the history Nigeria. Nigeria is too complex to handle matters with levity. When two elephants fight, the grass is made to suffer. I hope the masses won't be at the receiving end of this struggle. What we need now is good governance and not restructuring or secession. God bless Nigeria!

Thanks for reading.
Shotunde Oladimeji

TACKLING UNEMPLOYMENT AND YOUTH INVOLVEMENT IN CYBERCRIME

BY; Shotunde Oladimeji
Student;
LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY

Every country across the globe has its own challenges and shortcomings; Nigeria is definitely not an exception. Unemployment remains a puzzle which the government as well as the youths have failed to proffer solution to. It has been on the rise despite the abundant human and natural resources available to the Nigerian state.

Cybercrime, on the other hand, has been on the rise since global technological advancement. Technology has integrated nations and the world has become a global village. However, technology and advancement in technology remains a double-edged sword. It brought about two edge functions; one is the positive impart it has had on the populace and the other is the fatal detestable implications it has had on the Nigerian populace. The effects of technology remains lethal on a larger fraction of the Nigerian populace.


Unemployment is a state of joblessness in an economy; characterised by limited availability of jobs for the employable population. It is pertinent at this point to note that the Nigerian youth constitute about 60% of the total population (According to the National Bureau of Statistics). This means that they make up the larger part of the dependency ratio.

Cybercrime and Unemployment are very much related. Halder and Jalshankar(2011) define Cybercrime as: Offences that are committed against individuals or groups of individuals, with a criminal motive to intentionally harm the reputation of the victim or cause physical or mental harm to the victim using the internet.Cybercrime can come in the form of Cyber terrorism, Fraud-Identity theft, Malware and the likes.

Cybercrime can be correlated with high rate of unemployment. Research has shown that many youths involve in Cybercrime because they have no jobs. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria is saddled with about 25 million unemployed people. To further worsen the situation, there are about 2.5 million new entrants into the sad realm of the unemployed annually.

In tackling this menace, which i regard as bothersome, effective and expedient solutions need to be proffered. Before discussing on how to tackle this oddity, I must not fail to highlight what has led to their increasing dominance over the years. In the case of unemployment, poor educational system has had a large bearing on the graduates churned out in recent times, as they are positioned to be job seekers and not job creators. Government maladministration cannot and should not be ignored also. In the case of cybercrime, urbanization, unemployment, negative role models and the desire to live flamboyant lifestyles have all influenced its rise.

In tackling unemployment, government will play a pivotal role. Just recently, the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) said: "For unemployment to be effectively tackled, innovative programmes and schemes must be regularly injected into the economy through skills that are demand driven, specific and community based". This statement depicts that the NDE is in support of the practice of entrepreneurship which, until recently, has not been encouraged in Nigeria. The good news is that higher institutions of learning have made the study of entrepreneurship a compulsory course for all students to undertake.

Also, we should reduce occupational immobility. Immobility is a cause of structural unemployment. We should engage in apprenticeship schemes which would provide youths with new skills to find fresh employment. Furthermore, government should create an enabling and business friendly environment for industries to thrive; this would greatly help to reduce unemployment as a lot of industries would spring up and a huge number of graduates would be entrenched and absorbed in the system. In furtherance, government should employ techniques to control our population growth through public enlightenment campaigns/programmes. Germane!

In the case of cybercrime, we know it cannot be easily eradicated but it can be minimized. To do this, efforts will be required by all stake holders (Government and Private Sector). There should be well equipped technological security systems, strident laws should be promulgated and appropriate punishment should be made to serve as a deterrent to the public. Individuals themselves should abstain clear. It is a collective thing!

Conclusion;
For Nigeria to serve as a fertile ground for economic activities, it must be premised on an enabling workforce and crime free society. But an ideal economy is virtually impossible. The future of our economy lies in our hands. We must learn to start doing things the right way. By not following the points highlighted in the concluding part of this writeup doggedly, we might have a very bleak future to look forward to.

Thanks for reading.
Shotunde Oladimeji

©Excel Minds

Homeboiy:
Show me Ebute egba ,Bariga, Ajengule, biko

you no add okokomiako

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The group is now ready to stand on its own and it is about to get patented. The group has now been *expanded* from a *Tutorial Group* to an *Academic Group.*

The new name of the group is *"EXCEL MINDS"*. we hope the name brings the depiction it connotes.

We thank everyone for their patronage of the erstwhile brand *Excel Alliance* as we look forward to your continuous patronage of the new Brand *Excel Minds*

*We would close the Facebook page after 14 days and open a fresh page for the new Group.*


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Excel Minds

*©Excel Minds*

Who cares??

THE SADDENING COLLAPSE OF EDUCATION IN NIGERIA
BY; SHOTUNDE OLADIMEJI
Student;
LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY.
Nigeria as we all know is a developing nation and a budding country in Africa. It is seen as a country having a lot of potentials to execute and deliver key projects that would help promote and project Africa in good light. It is pathetic and disturbing however, to note that the leaders are the one serving as a bottleneck in the actualization of that dream. The government, both past and current, have shown and displayed high scale corruption, lackadaisical attitude to work and have displayed nonchalant and unsympathetic attitude to issues affecting the masses which they claim to govern.
It is from the foregoing that brought about the sudden or should i say outright decay in the educational sector. If at all a sector should be so destabilized, should it be the educational sector? A sector that stimulates critical thinking which in turn birth innovation that eventually lead to the much needed growth and development.
The educational sector has derailed from a once budding sector in the late 20th century to a sector often characterized by pandemonium, seen as unstable and confused with turmoil. The Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education are grossly underfunded resulting in a proportional decrease in the quality of teaching and service delivery which has in turn had a consequential effect on the graduates emanating from the system.
To make matters worse, the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, (JAMB) made cutoffs for higher institutions 120 which they claim is to serve as a benchmark, but from my analysis, 120 out of the total 400 marks obtainable in JAMB is just 30%. Wow!. In a University setting, having a score of 30/100 in an examination would be regarded as an outright failure (Carryover) and considering the fact that 30% is way below the 45% usually used as a pass mark in most Nigerian Universities. Is the system not tolerating mediocrity?
To further compound the problem, Nigerian secondary schools are hell bent on ensuring that candidates that sit for their SSCE examinations in their centers pass in flying colours aimed at fetching goodwill to them, all because of money. Greed! (Exchanging the future for monetary benefits). Don't you think we have a long way to go? We claim our leaders are corrupt but we have forgotten that we ourselves have taken corruption as a way of life (culture).
To further aggravate the challenge, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), a body expected to fight for the interest of the students and constantly orientate our leaders have become so politicised, riotous, fractionalized and lacking direction all because of monetary incentives given by politicians. This is where the youths have failed. Gone are the days!
Nigeria is structured in such a way that the ruling class will continue ruling and the proletariat will continue serving. Most policies are formulated to favour the rich. I read about the "Not Too Young To Rule" bill and posited through my personal conviction that it was passed to favour some certain categories of people who i won't mention. I won't dwell much on that.
Research, which happens to be the framework with which a University operate has been non existent in some institutions. The system, no doubt is grossly underfunded. The Nigerian government seem not to realize that through undertaking quality research, a solution can be proffered to help ameliorate or possibly solve the nation's economic problems. I wonder at times, why the government can't use the funds recovered from treasury looters to properly fund the educational sector. I am sure they travel often and can see what is obtainable in other countries of the world.
My submission;
Not until we start seeing education as a critical and germane component of developing a nation; not until our leaders begin to realize that posterity will judge them all; not until we begin to concentrate resources in the appropriate channels; not until the students themselves standup to challenge maladjusted acts and negligence on the part of government; not until we stop playing petty politics with education and by extension the future of Nigeria, the buoyant future we envisage/crave for Nigeria might not be actualized.
Thanks for reading.
Shotunde Oladimeji

its not possible lasu will require maths eng eco govt and act or commerce

no arguments here Davido is fucking berra dan wizkid 10times I don't just like wizkid ,he sucks Mehnn

na Buhari cause am jae she no see better food chop

mtcheeeww, and d gov cannor help

freshness2020:
Handsome boy.

but why una like to der deceive people like diz sef...Nigeria don taya me,I wan travel go Ondo state

wait, don't tell me u guys are blaming Buhari for this....who knows whether d graduate, passed out with a third class , and u are expecting him to see a job easily like that...abegiiii