By sdnonline

Dr. Oluwaseun Nariwoh, a sports administrator at the Lagos State Sports Commission, has been selected to attend the U.S. government’s flagship professional development exchange to empower women through sports.

Dr. Nariwoh is one of the 16 participants from around the world who have been chosen for the U.S. Department of State’s Global Sports Mentoring Program based on their exemplary leadership skills, experience, and impact in the sports sector.

The Global Sports Mentoring Program is the product of a partnership between the Department of State, espnW, and the University of Tennessee’s Center for Sport, Peace & Society.

From October 10 to November 19, leading American female executives in business, education, media, non-profit, and sports sectors will work side-by-side with emerging sports leaders from around the globe, sharing valuable business and leadership skills.

The American mentors will assist the participants in the creation of strategic action plans that will be used to create specific sports opportunities for underserved women and girls when they return home.

Nariwoh’s participation in the program will include travel to Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and Indianapolis. She will be mentored by the Director of Inclusion at the National Collegiate Athletic Association, Jean Merrill, and her deputy, Shay Wallach, in Indianapolis, Indiana.

All of the participants will engage with U.S. government officials and high-level figures in both the sports business as well as grassroots associations. They will also take professional leadership courses and learn about American culture, the American sports structure, and the history of disability sports and women’s sports in the United States.

United States Consulate Public Affairs Officer Russell Brooks congratulated Dr. Nariwoh on her acceptance into the prestigious program.

He noted that the Global Sports Mentoring Program advances the goal of empowering emerging female leaders to serve their local communities by increasing the access of women and girls to the opportunities available to them in the world of sports.

“The U.S. Department of State believes that sport is a vehicle to advance the status, liberty, and well-being of women, girls, and marginalized people throughout the world. The Global Sports Mentoring Program is based on the growing body of evidence that women and girls who play sports are increasingly likely to excel on both the playing field and in life.”

“We are confident that Dr. Nariwoh will further hone her skill-set and make a significant contribution towards gender equality in the sports community upon her return to Nigeria,” Brooks said.

Since 2012, alumni from 75 countries have participated in the program, forming an international network of sports administrators, athletes, coaches, educators, and advocates promoting equality and inclusion through sports.

Previous Nigerian participants of the program include Tega Onojaife, sports producer/presenter at Smooth 98.1 FM (2018); Chisom Mbonu-Ezeoke of SuperSport TV (2017); AdaMark Ogbole, CEO AdaMark Foundation for Girls (2013); and Nneka Ikem of Radio Nigeria (2012).

-By Funmi Falobi-

Honourable Frederick Agbedi, a governorship aspirant and member of the House of Representatives, representing Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency of Bayelsa State, has declared that women and youths have prime place in his government when he eventually becomes the governor of the state.

He also said that there is agenda for the grassroots people where his administration would ensure social inclusion at the grassroots level and cater for the welfare of the people through robust economy.

The present political dispensation in Nigeria has relegated women to the background both at the federal and states levels without achieving the 35 percent affirmative action on political position to women. However, Agbedi, a former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State stated that his administration would identify competence among women and youths to run the oil rich state effectively.

“If you have been following my campaigns, there is no time women are not at the forefront making comments, raising supports, speaking on political issues and defending the campaigns. It is a matter of identifying competence. If you identify competence and you know the competent women you bring them to play. It is not just women but it is a matter of identifying competence.

“The question you are asking is like the question of saying the youths are the leaders of tomorrow. They are not leaders of tomorrow, they are leaders of today. It is the ability and capacity of the leaders to identify the youths who have the capacity to deliver. That is why I tell people, look, at River State when Diete-Spiff was made the Military Governor, all those who worked with him as commissioners were all youths and nobody has broken that record.

“It is the ability of the leader to identify competent hands that he would bring into governance that will deliver with their knowledge, agility and with their educational background. For me women are in the prime place as well as the youths in our administration,” he said.

Agbedi, who has four decades of experience in politics stressed that the grassroots people as well as the Bayelsans in general, are yearning for infrastructural development and socio-economy that would raise their standard of living and that he is ready to listen to them.

“The grassroots people are not outside the state, they are within the state. The grassroots people want employment, they want something to do that will put food on the table and give them income. They also want things that will bring infrastructure in terms of roads, electricity, improving the education system. That is what they are looking for because once you have a robust economy everybody will tap into it and then the issues of environment will be improved,” he said.

The politician explained that he would run the state differently as an experienced hand in a way that would improve industrialisation and build refinery to enhance the business environment of the state.

By sdnonline

More than 303 Nigerian students from the 17 states of southern Nigeria have received no less than $7.5 million in full or partial scholarships from 225 American universities and colleges to study in the United States for the 2019-2020 academic session.

Acting United States Consul General Osman Tat disclosed this in Lagos on Tuesday during the 2019 EducationUSA pre-departure orientation for students who have received offers of admission and scholarships to attend U.S. colleges and universities this fall.

Noting that the U.S. remains a top destination for international students, Tat explained that the list of acceptances for Nigerian students for the upcoming academic year has been quite impressive, cutting across many of the 50 U.S. states.

“I congratulate each one of you on your tremendous success. This is a very important step in your life. I encourage you to make the most out of your time in the United States to acquire the requisite skills and knowledge needed to support Nigeria’s development,” he told the group of U.S.-bound students.

The students have been accepted for undergraduate and graduate degree programs at top notch U.S. institutions ranging from Ivy League universities, liberal arts colleges, women’s colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), to community colleges.

They include Stanford University, The George Washington University, Johns Hopkins University, Purdue University, Tufts University, Boston University, Emory University, and Howard University, among many others.

The pre-departure orientation is intended to assist students to prepare for their move from Nigeria to attend a college or university in the United States.  The event included interactive sessions on topics such as travel planning, adjusting to life in America, safety on campus, and F-1 visa rules for international students.

Participants also had the opportunity to meet with students currently studying in the United States who offered tips on how to prepare for the U.S. academic, social, and cultural environment.

Among the departing students are 13 EducationUSA Opportunity Fund grantees —10 undergraduate and 3 graduate students, with full scholarships — who received financial aid to cover the up-front cost of obtaining admission.

Annually, through the Opportunity Fund Program, the U.S. Consulate’s EducationUSA Advising Centre assists talented low-income students who are good candidates for admission to U.S. colleges and universities, by funding their application process.

According to the latest Open Doors Report, published annually by the Institute of International Education, Nigeria is the 13th highest sending country of international students to the U.S., with about 12, 693 Nigerians currently studying in the United States.

By sdnonline

By sdnonline

The International Press Centre (IPC) has released a compilation of the campaign promises made by President Muhammadu Buhari in the course of electioneering activities for the 2019 general elections.

30 of such promises covering pledges on specific and general issues of road/rail infrastructure, education, agriculture, poverty eradication and inclusion of youths/women in government as well as the fight against corruption and insecurity were documented.

The documentation was done by IPC’s Media Monitoring Team, while the promises were derived from quoted statements of the president in The Nation, The Punch, Daily Sun, Daily Trust, Vanguard, This Day, Leadership and Nigerian Tribune newspapers over a four-month period from November 2018 to February 2019.

The specific sources were page 6, The Nation newspaper of Monday November 19, 2018; page 2,  The Punch Newspaper of Monday November 19, 2018; page 6, Daily Sun newspaper of Monday, November 19, 2018; front page, Daily Trust newspaper of Monday, November 19,2018; page 5 and 41, Vanguard newspaper of November 19, 2018; page 1 and 10,  This Day of November 19, 2018; page 2, Nigerian Tribune of November 19, 2018; page 25, Leadership newspaper of December 5, 2018; front page, Thisday, January 17, 2019; page 12, Daily Sun Newspaper, Thursday, January 31, 2019; page 9, Nigerian Tribune of January 17, 2019; and front page, Vanguard Newspaper, February 09, 2019.

The promises include the engagement of one million N-power graduates and skill up 10 million Nigerians in partnership with the private sector, to expand the school feeding programme from 9.3m to 15 million children, creating 300,000 extra jobs for food vendors and farmers and to create more room for inclusion in government by achieving 35 percent in female appointments.

Others are to give more access to youths as aides of cabinet members and through opportunities for appointments in board and agencies and to introduce special mentoring programme in governance with young graduates working with ministers and other appointees.

IPC Director, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, said the exercise was in line with the tradition of the organisation, which in 2011 documented 91 campaign promises of President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

According to him, it was also embarked upon pursuant to the implementation of Component 4b: Support to Media of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN) Project by IPC over a 52-month period.

Explaining the methodology further, Arogundader said the campaign promises of all the presidential candidates that contested the 2019 elections were documented but only that of President Muhammadu Buhari was being released being the declared winner of the elections.

He however said both President Buhari’s campaign promises and those of the other candidates would later be uploaded on the IPC websites.

Explaining the rationale for the documentation of the campaign promises, Arogundade said the activity was in consonance and conformity with IPC’s mandate to advance democratic accountability.

“The essence is to ensure that it serves as a tool for journalists to monitor, track and ask questions about the diverse aspects of the implementation including using the Freedom of Information Act to such relevant questions,” he said. Adding, “Having trained journalists across Nigeria on issue-focused reporting of elections, we believe they need information like this to follow-up after the elections.”

According to him, the documented campaign promises will also be useful for civil society groups working on development and democratic governance issues as well as various electoral stakeholders.

 “The documentation of the president’s electoral promises from the media reports, which is by no means exhaustive, is to serve as a major instrument to proactively engage the Buhari administration on its performance over the next four years and provide bench marks in seeking democratic accountability, service delivery and the fulfillment of key campaign promises made by the president,” he said.

The full list of the promises:

1. To engage one million N-power graduates and skill up 10 million Nigerians in partnership with the private sector.
2. To expand the school feeding programme from 9.3m to 15 million children, creating 300,000 extra jobs for food vendors and farmers.
3. To complete the Ibadan/Kano phase of the Lagos/Kano rail link.
4. To complete the Port Harcourt/Maiduguri line.
5. To complete the Itakpa/Warri link to Abuja, through Lokoja.
6. To complete the Second Niger Bridge and the East West Road connecting Warri, Delta State, to Oron, Akwa Ibom State, through Kaiama and Port Harcourt in Bayelsa and Rivers State.
7. To establish a peoples Moni bank.
8. To institutionalize the giving of soft loans of up to 1million naira to small traders, artisans and commercial drivers.
9. To increase the beneficiaries of trader Moni, market Moni and farmer Moni from 2.3 million to 10million.
10. To create more room for inclusion in government by achieving 35% in female appointments.
11. To give more access to youths as aides of cabinet members and through opportunities for appointments in board and agencies.
12. To introduce special mentoring programme in governance with young graduates working with ministers and other appointees.
13. To reinterpret the education curriculum through coding, robotics, animations and design thinking.
14. Retraining of all teachers in public primary and secondary schools to deliver digital literacy.
15. Remodeling and equipping of 10,000 schools per year.
16. To complete the 365 road projects under construction in all parts of the federation.
17. Provision of infrastructure and rebuilding the economy.
18. To sustaining the anti-insurgency war and curb insecurity.
19. To fight corruption and revamp the economy.
20. To develop 6 industrial Parks in each of the geopolitical zones.
21. To establish 109 Special Production and Processing Centres (SPPCs) across each senatorial district of Nigeria.
22. To develop the Special Economic zone to quickly concretize our made in Nigeria for export (MINE) plan.
23. To expand the social investment program so as to eradicate poverty.
24. To ensure completion of Manbilla Dam and Bridge.
25. To ensure the construction of the Makurdi Taraba Borno rail project.
26. To complete the bridges across the stretch of River Benue in Ibi local government area.
27. To continue to pursue agricultural policy by ensuring that fertilisers are made available at all the local government areas across the country, for easy access by farmers.
28. To resuscitate the Ajaokuta Steel Company.
29. To ensure the completion of the on-going Zungeru Hydro Power project.
30. To include persons of integrity in the cabinet.