Sunday 29 December 2013

UNEMPLOYMENT ESCALATING. By Taiwo Taiwo

It is no news that the unemployment rate in Nigeria is on the high side that some of the ministers had to cry out the exact or estimated percentage rate of unemployed citizens (youth) in the country. This made me recall the old good days as told by elders that back then in Nigeria, the moment you graduate from the university a job within the government agency or the private firms/company awaits you. But now (quoting the words of Director-General National Directorate of Employment) "school leavers and graduates of Nigerian tertiary institutions appear to be most adversely hit by this development (the escalating unemployment problem in Nigeria)."

I will disagree with the NDE DG on the note "that most Nigerian youths are unable to secure job because they do not have requisite skill." Nigerian youths are so skilled; the actual problem is not their skill but an avenue to display those skills. You will agree with me that what is trending in the labour market is job experience of unspeakable years. You do not expect a fresh graduate to have 5years working experience, for where he wan take get am? For class or him papa and mama compound?

What shocked me was seeing an advert from PHCN (as it then was) for a vacant position demanding for a person with 5 years experience among other requirements to apply. If you do not have the stated requirement, you cannot apply. I became bitter on the spot, that I did not know when I shouted "government agency too?"

The revamping of the informal sector would not be enough by mere distribution of equipments as stated by the NDE DG, but in addition, ensure granting of loan facilities as start-up Capital, repayable for at least 5years period. Also those youths who would rather want to work with the degrees, be employed without the unattainable criteria.


Taiwo Taiwo.

Wednesday 18 December 2013

Grateful...

TODAY; I reminisced, I looked back, I reflected, and I realised how lucky I am....

I was out on company business with my best male friend but it seemed more like a casual drive around town. We talked about a lot of things, but most especially, our individual experiences. He spoke to me, and tried to make me reason differently on a number of topics. I learnt quite a lot from his stories and was greatly inspired by his words. He talked to me about Love; the love of our Lord, what love should mean, and how love should be interpreted. He told me love should be spiritual, and beyond the physical. Love should be identical to how our God loves us, it should be selfless and everlasting. Love should be everything that's different from what we see in our environment today.

Who do you love most in this world?...
My automatic response was "my sister of course", and my darling George simply smiled and corrected me. The person you love most in this world is you! In my opinion, loving yourself greatly before anybody else inhibits you from being able to portray the kind of love our God showers on us. If we cannot love like God, then we can at least try to  make the other person smile. Nothing makes George happier than seeing me (as well as the next person) smile, and to me, that is the greatest kind of love mortals can have. Going out of your way to see someone else smile is not a very popular act in our community and it doesn't make us too friendly. God loves those that show love to the common man without expecting anything in return but a smile...

A friend is someone that should love you, be there for you when you need them, encourage you against all odds, and ensure that you don't doubt their place in your life. I found out that while sulking that I did not have too many friends to talk to and have fun with at the moment, I actually have that one (1) special friend that have taken the place of ten (10) "friends" in my life. A friend that understands you without judging, while trying to help you become a better person. It took a talk about the love of God to realise it, but I do know now that I am genuinely loved, not just by my family, but by friends that are selfless in all accounts. To top that, God constantly remains faithful and merciful to me...

I'm Blessed!



Con amor.

Wednesday 4 December 2013

MY IDENTITY By Munira Kadiri

Have you ever wondered or asked yourself one simple question, “Who am I?”
You might scoff and say, “Why would I ask myself such a question?” But then, think and ask yourself, “Who really am I?”, “What am I?” “When am I really being myself and when am I not?” “How do I want to be known?” “What is my identity?”
At a point in my life, I asked myself that question. Being such an indecisive girl, I couldn’t find a straight simple answer. I was torn between being a strong devoted Muslim lady or a crazy socialite as the new modern world expects a young educated lady as me to be. My parents gave me the total freedom to choose my path. With a very religious Elder sister, a very social and liberal Elder brother and a younger sister who, (though she never openly accepts it) looks up to me, I was literarily at crossroads. While living the life, I experienced the good, the bad and the ugly of everything; relationships, feelings and emotions, people’s character, struggle for survival, honesty, faith, devotion, freedom and socialization. At a point, I experienced total independence. I could do all I wanted to do. But having a strong Islamic conscience and a crazy social spirit waiting to emerge, I was at conflict with myself. At that moment, I asked myself, “Who am I?” Only after these experiences, did I figure it out. How I want to be known. The person I want everybody, including me, to see. The lady that can stand up tall and defend no matter where, when and who.
I am a Muslim lady with Allah as her Lord and I please no one but Him. I put on my hijab because my Lord orders me to, and because I want to be known as one who observes it. I’m not naïve, oppressed, unappreciated or unintelligent. On the contrary, I am respected, regarded, and treated like a queen. I am an independent lady who has found a balance between the social and religious life. I do unto others what I want done to me, I try to understand people and why they act the way they do so that I can live in peace with them and with myself. I exist to serve Allah and be happy, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.
So that’s it, I know my identity……………

I am a Muslilah………………..


DIL

Tuesday 3 December 2013

No one told me! By Amir Abdullahi

The really important lessons in life aren’t taught in any school. Come to think of it, they are the lessons no one will ever bother telling you about. Perhaps if they did, we wouldn’t go through life wondering why everything we do seems like a chore.

Growing up, people often told me how intelligent I was. Somehow, whenever they mentioned that, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy. I was just doing things by routine. As long as I got high marks, everyone was happy, right? Scoring a perfect on a test felt good. There was no denying that. Unfortunately, I never stopped to ask myself what I wanted to do at that point. I was barely filling out the JAMB form before everyone told me to register for medicine.

I survived the first year of pre-clinicals intact. It was just another year of science courses after all. It took me barely a month of second year to realise I was in the wrong place. Medicine just wasn’t the course for me. I had imagined things will work out as they always did but they didn’t. One week of anatomy was enough to show me I was not where I wanted to be.

The mistake I made was, in all that time when I was busy earning high marks for someone else’s approval, I never stopped to probe my own personality and figure out the things I really wanted to do with my life. Seeing through the looking glass was a process that began really late for me and the consequences still hurt me to this day.

The most precious commodity in the world is time and I ended up wasting three years of mine just because I hadn’t figured out what I wanted from life, hadn’t discovered what my interests were.

Teachers can teach you chemistry, history, physics or literature but none of them will teach you to ask yourself what your goal is. I drifted through almost a decade trying to please other people. That it took a very jarring and painful academic process to awaken me to the truth that I had missed the road a long time ago. No one can turn back the hand of time but if I had the insight into my own mind and personality that I do now, I would have made vastly different choices. I can’t know if they would have turned out for the better but I would have been doing what I wanted to do.

Very soon, I will be a quarter of a century old and I’m still doing catch up for those years I wasted and opportunities I failed to take. At an age when some of my mates are starting their adult lives, I just awakened to my interests.

No one in school will teach you this. If you have still not run headlong into the years between youth and adulthood, then take a deep breath and pause to figure out the things you like and what you expect from life. See if you can see that desire reflected in what you choose to do whether as a University student or elsewhere. Trust me, the choices you make in your teenage years may seem simple but they can haunt your life for a long time to come. That yoke is not easy to shake off.


Amir Abdullahi

Monday 2 December 2013

Happy End of the Year!

I know I planned to start the post features for my blog on the 1st of December, 2013 but the last couple of days have been particularly stressing for me in every way. I am immensely sorry I didn't start when I had intended, but I guess that will also mean a longer time before we end this challenge.

Now, is the time to talk to ourselves. WRITING is not a special talent gotten from heaven; it's an habit that's cultivated over time and with practice. Don't get me wrong- I know that there are some people that are very much talented in the art of writing more than others but that's not the kind of writing I proposed here. I did not ask you to write professionally to win a NOBEL prize or an award that would get you recognised internationally. All I asked was for you to challenge yourself, pick up the pen and actually write... Write anything you like- something out of the blue... Write and have fun while at it! How difficult can that be?! Writing to me, the best form of expressing yourself after music. I love writing... I love listening to people/music, thinking, and putting down those thoughts on paper!
So, you can imagine how shocked I was when people sent me messages that "they could not write", "they didn't know how to write" or that "they prefer reading to writing". Some said that "they didn't have any talent in writing". I studied Physiology in school, and did not get any degree in writing. All I do is sit, think, and put down my thoughts in paper. Honestly, I'm not very happy with some people, not because they didn't take part in this challenge but because they already discouraged themselves before they even gave it a shot!. Its quite sad, and its one of the things inhibiting some of us from progressing. Our lack of faith in ourselves. We prefer to believe in others than to actually believe in our own ability to win or to succeed.
Nobody is going to believe in you if you don't first have faith in yourself! You as an individual need to trust in yourself and your capabilities to move the mountain before you even make a move to do so. No one is going to take a confused man seriously! You must be confident and sure of yourself in the face of challenges even if you're scared beyond the skies of messing up. You will either mess up badly or do really well, but I don't see any harm in trying when there's nothing to loose. Your success can only start with you believing that you can do anything, and practically you can if you really set your heart to it!.

On the other hand, I was also quite impressed with the few write ups I've received. They were neatly written, by people who were determined to see it through. I've had so much fun reading about the different things they wrote about and I'm certain you will also. The first featured post will be uploaded in the morning and subsequent ones will appear on later days. Please bear with me if it's a little late, work is very demanding at the moment.

Thank you

Your ever gorgeous and delectable,
LadyAries...