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Imagine an international school for day and boarding students with a warm family atmosphere that is safe and secure, where your child can discover and achieve his/her optimum potential, acquire social and moral values, develop a positive self-image, and collaborate in an internationally diverse community Then imagine a friendly environment that offers highquality education and produces globally minded individuals in a community that is internationally diverse. That's what the International Community School, Abuja (ICS) offers.

In a rapidly globalizing world, it's more important than ever to give children a truly international education. ICS is dedicated to doing just that. As a diverse school, we provide an enriched American curriculum delivered by a highly skilled, committed faculty in a continuously improving technological learning environment.

Our students are independent and articulate communicators who are critical thinkers, innovative, and analytical problem solvers. We deliberately nurture a positive and cooperative working relationship among and between

students, parents, administration, faculty, staff, other schools, and educational organizations.

At ICS, we believe that education is not just about academic achievement, but also about equipping students to become active and responsible global citizens. That's why we offer a comprehensive program that includes not only rigorous academic classes, but also a wide range of extracurricular activities, service learning opportunities, and community service programs where our students learn to work collaboratively with people from diverse backgrounds.

We understand that choosing the right school is one of the most important decisions that parents will make for the future of their children, that is why we have created a nurturing environment where every child is valued and supported. Our small class sizes, individualized attention, and commitment to student wellbeing ensures that every child can discover and reach their full potential, and understand, live, and bear witness to their faith in respectful awareness of other beliefs. They are guided to participate and pursue positive relationships with the wider

community

We also encourage a high standard of self-discipline and instill a deep sense of personal responsibility by providing opportunities to foster well being and develop skills for effective decision-making and leadership through age-appropriate guidance and counselling.

The ICS community is diverse, reflecting the world that our students will soon join as young adults. Our students come from several regions across the globe and bring with them a wealth of perspectives and experiences that enrich the entire school community. Our families are just as diverse, and we work closely with them to ensure that their needs are met and that they feel a sense of belonging.

Our graduates are well - prepared for success and leave our school with a love for learning and a commitment to making a positive impact in the world. Join us and see why we are the preferred destination for families seeking a topnotch education for their children. Enroll now and help your child soar to new heights.

Valuable Lessons From The Orient

First Aid procedure on dying patient unless a hefty deposit is paid; Hippocratic oath turned on its head, conscience seared, humanity long abandoned. Education devoid of a moral foundation speaks equally to Theodore Roosevelt's observation that, "to educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society" as it does to what the universally revered Indian liberator, Gandhi, referred to as one of the seven devastating social sins, education without character

To elaborate a little on this Japanese model, I will cull some passages from my book, "The Last Flight", so here we go:

Old ways of doing things cannot produce new results. We need to combine the best of all worlds; time tested African traditional values with western and eastern concepts. The Japanese approach to education could teach us a thing or two, just as that of the Fins who are gradually phasing out straight jacketed subjects and have instead opted for a more fluid multidisciplinary, problem solving approach to education. This unique approach requires a good understanding of different disciplines and how to apply acquired knowledge of the appropriate disciplines to solve real problems. Useful, practical and most importantly, applicable knowledge

Going back to the Japanese, their educational model only affirms my position that it's a grave mistake to regard education simply as a series of academic exercises to enhance cognitive thinking and the like. If anything, it's primary role can be said to be a form of induction into what it really means to be a human being. Education worth its salt should teach us to respect the unique value and dignity of every human being. It should lead and urge us to always pursue the path of dialogue, equality and justice. Critically too, it should prepare us to think for ourselves, thereby empowering us to get involved in issues that affect our lives

This forges the solid moral foundation upon which all other building blocks can then be set. That's why we Christians say, "when the foundation is faulty, what can the righteous do?"

Tell me if the following sound familiar Policeman shoots a man for twenty naira. Lecturer demands sexual favours to give students a pass mark. Contractor in connivance with government official builds substandard road thereby endangering lives, just to maximise profit. Hospital refuses to administer even the most basic

"The Japanese are remarkably well mannered people but don't be fooled, it didn't come by chance. The Japanese Primary educational system places less emphasis on academics and more on developing character. A keen eye is kept on sowing a sense of right and wrong, good and bad, honesty. To put it succinctly, good and decent human conduct. Until a Japanese child reaches the age of ten, he is not subjected to taking any major exam. Instead, emphasis is placed on shaping his character. His mind is intentionally and systematically ingrained with virtues such as good manners, politeness, selflessness, compassion and a heart which pursues the common good. As one article puts it, 'the first three years is not for the child's knowledge or learning but to develop their character'.

Good conduct, a direct consequence of good character doesn't just happen, it must be deliberately and meticulously cultivated.

No Japanese school, whether it be Elementary, Middle(Primary) or High School(Secondary) employs janitors. The pupils do all the sweeping, cleaning and even scrubbing of the toilets themselves, ably assisted by their teachers. This is one aspect I love and these are the reasons why One, because the teachers are not exempt but equally participate in these chores, it doesn't feel like a form of punishment to the pupils. Two and probably more importantly, it's a wonderful way of putting the servant-leader concept into practice. As Naija would say, it's not just by mouth. The children therefore grow up with the understanding that a leader should lead from the front, not just when it's time to enjoy privileges but also when it's time to share in burdens and tasks."

It comes as no surprise that Japan is a highly progressive society which can proudly boast of operating the third largest economy in the world while beating its

chest at having an unbelievably low crime rate. A crime rate which quite honestly puts the USA and most of the supposedly developed western European nations to shame. It's a highly innovative society where many offices have replaced the stereotypical receptionist with infinitely more efficient robots. A society renowned for producing many of the world's leading brands in electronics. Brands such as Sony, Panasonic, Sharp and Hitachi will ring a bell in just about any ear, no matter how remote the community one lives in. Similarly, Japanese vehicles for the most part outnumber all others in many countries of the world. The USA being a case in point. And all this by a people who by design opt to forgo rigorous academic pursuit until the age of ten but instead see wisdom in first inculcating crucial life defining values. This is why on the rare occasion, leaders whether in the political, business or any other sector are found to have soiled their hands or behaved in a way incompatible with their national ethos, are as a rule expected to submit themselves to the public, as it were. This they do via the most visible medium, national television, by profusely apologising to their compatriots, expressing remorse for their actions and humbly bowing repeatedly in recognition of the greater cause, their society. Unlike the shameful anomaly we have gradually got used to here in Nigeria where an outed criminal today will not only proudly vie for public office tomorrow, but will also find support in numbers; to the Japanese, honour is everything

To close, R.S Peters in his Ethics and Education describes the process of educating as the intentional transmission of something worthwhile in a morally acceptable manner. He went further to say that "Education must involve knowledge and understanding such that the knowledge is not inert, in that it characterises a person's way of looking at things and he is committed to the positive use of that knowledge.”

Oladapo Akande, a weekly newspaper columnist for several years, is a University of Surrey graduate with a Masters in Professional Ethics. An alumnus of the Institute for National Transformation and author of two books: The Last Flight and Shifting Anchors

LinkedIn: Oladapo Akande

oladapo.akande@edutimesafrica.com

If we sincerely desire to catch up with the rest of the world as we want to profess, it becomes imperative we abandon our propensity for insular thinking

EDUTIMES AFRICA IS A PRODUCT OF

AFRIC Education

connecting education & people

Content

EDITOR’S COMMENT

Valuable Lessons From The Orient

EDUCATION NEWS IN AFRICA

UNIBEN wins Africa Outstanding University award in Rwanda

PURPOSE

To strengthen the bedrock of Africaʼs education landscape so that Africa may thrive as a continent

VISION

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COVER PAGE PHOTO REFERENCE || www.adamsmithinternational.com

Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.

Phakeng tasks stakeholders on Africa

Education Medal 2023

COVER STORY

Rebuilding Nigeria’s Educational Foundation: Will State Of Emergency Help?

GOOD SCHOOLS GUIDE

THE GOOD SCHOOLS GUIDE: 50 of the best Secondary Schools in Lagos

INSPIRATION

How Education Made Me interview with Mr Kunle Jaiyesimi

ACROSS THE GLOBE

Let’s teach kids skills for life

THE ENTREPRENEURIAL YOUTH The Mindset of money

POLICY

Interview with Mr Chris Uwaje (The Oracle)

Is Everything Really Back to Normal?

EARLY YEARS Role Play

A YOUTH'S PERSPECTIVE

The future of the Classroom

SCHOLARSHIPS OFFERS

SPORTS NEWS

Israel Adesanya knocks out Alex Perreira at UFC 287

SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION

What is Cerebral Palsy?

EDUTECH Top 7 African Leaders in Tech Business

HEALTH

PERSONAL

UNIBEN wins Africa Outstanding University award in Rwanda

By: www.vanguardngr.com

The University of Benin has won the Africa Outstanding University Award of the Year for 2023 in Rwanda.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Lilian Salami, was also honoured as Africa Pillar of Education for her impact in education development on the continent. According to a statement by the institution’s Public Relations Officer, Dr. Benedicta Ehanire on Saturday in Benin, the awards were presented at the 1st Africa Education Summit, held at the University of Rwanda in

Kigali.

Ehanire said besides her leadership role in the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Federal Universities, Prof. Salami was also the Vice President of the Association of African Universities with headquarters in Ghana. This position, the public relations officer said, the vicechancellor had utilised to project and promote the achievements of many African universities, including the University of Benin. (NAN)

Phakeng

tasks stakeholders on Africa Education Medal 2023

By www.guardian.ng

Vice chancellor, University of Cape Town, Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng, has called on changemakers in Nigeria and across the continent to step forward for this year’s Africa Education Medal.

Founded by T4 Education and HP in collaboration with Microsoft, the Africa Education Medal is the region’s most prestigious education accolade. It is given to an outstanding individual who has demonstrated impact, leadership and advocacy in the field of education.

Phakeng won last year’s inaugural Africa Education Medal award.

In the decades leading up to the pandemic, Africa had been making great strides in boosting school enrolment.

To protect and expand upon these vital gains in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, Phakeng, in her keynote address said teachers, non-governmental organisations, politicians, tech entrepreneurs and figures from public and private sectors, will need to work together to build a future where every child in the region can achieve the quality education that is their birthright.

The Africa Education Medal recognises the tireless work of those who are transforming education across the continent – to celebrate the stories of those who have lit the spark of change so others will be inspired to take up the torch.

Two Nigerians – Folawe Omikunle, Chief Executive Officer of Teach For Nigeria (TFN) and Jide Martin, Founder and CEO of Comic Republic, were

finalists for the Africa Education Medal 2022 and organisers hope more Nigerians will apply for the medal this year

Phakeng

Applications for the Africa Education Medal 2023 opened at the Transforming Education in Africa Summit, co-hosted by T4 Education, Teach For All and HP. The summit brought together educators, NGOs, politicians, tech entrepreneurs and leading figures in African education to discuss how learning can be harnessed to unlock Africa’s potential.

Phakeng said: “It was the greatest honour to be recognised for my life’s passion. Winning the Africa Education Medal 2022 gave me a global platform to advocate that work and I hope it has inspired others across the continent to further the cause of African education.

“If it is your passion too, if you want to see an Africa in which every child’s potential is fulfilled, and you are working every day to make that vision a reality, then, I urge you to step forward for the Africa Education Medal 2023. Changemakers from Nigeria and across our continent should apply”

Managing Director, Middle East and Africa at HP, Ertug Ayik, said a good education empowers not just individuals, but entire communities. According to him, being accessible to everyone, education can skill the next generation so that children can develop and grow in a world being transformed by technology

“HP has a bold goal to enable better learning outcomes for 150 million people globally by 2030. Only by joining forces between NGOs, government, educators and businesses can we truly improve the education environment. The Africa Education Medal brings together all those who are changing the face of African education, whose tireless work deserves to be celebrated,” he declared.

Kenyan-born Founder and CEO of T4 Education, Vikas Pota, said: “Education is the key to Africa’s future. It will help African countries grow and prosper. In the wake of the pandemic, African education stands at a crossroads, but if leaders from across the continent come together then they can build the lasting change needed to truly unlock the continent’s potential.

“The Africa Education Medal is a rallying cry for changemakers to come forward and be counted.”

The Top 10 finalists for the Africa Education Medal will be announced in May while the winner will be announced in July. Nominees will be assessed by a Jury comprising prominent individuals based on rigorous criteria.

Rebuilding Nigeria’s Educational Foundation: Will State Of Emergency Help?

The United Nations International Children Education Fund (UNICEF) recently gave a damning report on education in Nigeria which confirms our worst fears that education had got to the final stages of decline; with the levity evidenced by the trajectory of our educational curve. In a recent report, UNICEF said that 35 percent of children aged 7 to 14 years in Nigeria could not read a simple sentence or solve a basic mathematics problem. The Representative of UNICEF in Nigeria, Ms Cristian Munduate disclosed this at the 2023 International Day of Education marked annually on January 24th. This year’s edition, with the theme “Invest in People, Prioritise Education” is dedicated to all the girls and women of Afghanistan, who have been denied their right to learn, study and teach.

January 24th every year is dedicated

by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to celebrate the role of education for peace and development. The UNGA is interested in inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, so as to achieve gender equality and break the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind. What really are some of the factors responsible for this dip and how can these be remedied? What steps can be taken to improve the performance of the putative “leaders of tomorrow”?

The Bible asks a germane rhetorical question where it says inter alia, “If the foundation be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" The righteous should carry out research to discover factors responsible for the new low in our educational system. Some of the identified and obvious factors responsible for the dip in quality

include lack of proper monitoring of the educational sector, uninspired students and in some cases laziness, demotivated teachers, preponderant poverty, aloofness of parents and the negative debilitating effects of “Boko Haram” activists who for close to one and a half decades now, have been campaigning that Western education is a scam amongst other factors.

On its part, UNICEF recommended the following steps to improve the sector and I concur into:

• Improve access to education through proactive measures to reduce the number of out-of-school children in the country which currently stands at over 20 million children

• The Nigerian government should also provide safe, secure and violence-free learning environment for learning

• It should scale up foundational literacy and numeracy programmes

• Offer digital skills and employability skills to adolescents to facilitate the

school to work transition

• Increase domestic spending on education to 20 percent of the national budget as against the between 5 and 7 percent currently being spent on education

• Employ a sufficient number of teachers and provide adequate classrooms and libraries

• Provide teaching aids

• Improve quality of teaching and learning at the basic foundational level

If political will is added to the above recommendations then our education will be reflated especially at the basic level. This requires all stakeholders to be active participants in the remedial efforts. By this I mean, government, teachers, students and parents/guardians. Parents will help by closely monitoring the progress of the students through regular reviews of the progress and supervised practice sessions For illiterate parents, organising relevant home lessons will imbue children and wards with requisite skills

PHOTO REFERENCE || www.adamsmithinternational.com By Dare Folarin

I will also advocate organising an orchestrated advocacy campaign to trumpet the values of education and to counter the corrosive effect of the Boko Haram campaign and its corollary “School na scam” mantra, rampant amongst students in the country nowadays. In all, government and non-governmental organisations, as well as well meaning Nigerians should take steps to encourage reading and mathematics. They can do this by creating healthy competition amongst students and schools by sponsoring various competitions to boost reading and numeracy

Introduction of indoor games like Scrabble should be encouraged as creative leisure for students to develop love for words and improve their vocabulary. Finally, a stitch in time saves nine and so the government should declare a state of emergency in education to arrest the drift and save our future by making our future leaders competitive, resourceful and talented.

Records reveal that there are over

40,000 secondary schools in Lagos state and more than 120,000 in Nigeria. As at 2021, only 5000 out of the 20,000 private secondary schools operating in Lagos had received approval of registration, according to Lagos state's Commissioner of Education, Mrs Folasade Adefisayo. This is simply because the majority of the schools do not meet the required standard

Please note that the assessment by Schoolings and EduTimes Africa is not based on the school fees charged although the

academically and socially

importance of adequate funding cannot be discounted. It indeed enables the school to hire the best teachers and administrative staff as well as to provide the best of facilities which not only enhances learning but can result in a more rounded education and development.

Bearing in mind the large number of schools in Lagos state, it would be worth noting that our list of 50 good schools is not a comprehensive list of all the good schools in Lagos. Such a list would be almost inexhaustible

Oluwadare Folarin is a former Press Secretary to Governor Gbenga Daniel, a former member of Tribune Newspaper's Editorial Board, former Senior Manager, Public Relations at Globacom. He is a Visiting Lecturer to a university in the Republic of Benin. He is a public relations expert. Till date,he remains a member of several professional bodies including the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), Nigerian Institute of Journalists (NUJ), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR).

darefolarin2012@gmail.com

1. The school’s academic achievements in terms of their WAEC and NECO results

2. Social, sporting and other developmental facilities that aid learning both

3. Their performance in inter school competitions within Lagos and even outside the shores of the nation

4. Awards and accolades received both locally and internationally

5. Debating records within and outside its environs plus other salient factors not necessarily enumerated here

The 2023 list of 50 Good Secondary Schools in Lagos, in no particular order:

1. Children International School Lekki (CIS). Plot 8, Funke Zainab Usman Street, Lekki Phase 1

2. Meadow Hall Education. Meadow Hall Way, Alma Beach Estate, Lekki, Ibeju Lekki

3. Corona School Lekki. Block 35 Corona Dr, Abijo GRA Scheme 2

4. Grange School. Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja GRA, Ikeja

5. Grenville International School. #18 Ladoke Akintola Rd, Ikeja GRA

6. Cayley College. #6, Church Street, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria

7. Chrisland Schools. #26 Opebi Rd, Opebi, Ikeja, Nigeria

8. National College. #9/11, Lanre

The criteria used in assessing the schools that made the list is as follows:

T HE GOOD SCHOOLS GUIDE: 0of the best Secondary Schools in Lagos

Ogunyade Street, Gbagada

9. Adrao International School. #28, Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island

10. Queen Diana International Schools 5/7, Ugochukwu Street, Abule Egba, Alimosho

11. Avi-Cenna International

Muhammed Way, Yaba

22. Greensprings School. #32, Olatunde Ayoola Avenue, Ikeja

23. British International School. #1, Landbridge Avenue, Oniru Private Estate, Eti Osa

24. Kings College. #3 Catholic Mission Street, Lagos Island

25. Queens College. Birrel Ave, Yaba

26. King’s High School. #1 Awomolo Estate, Satellite Town

27. Dansol High School. #13/15, Acme Crescent, Agidingbi, Ikeja

28. St. Gregory’s College St. Gregory’s Road, Obalende

Road, Festac Town

36. Temple School. #213, Ikorodu Road, Ilupeju

37. Supreme Education Foundation Schools. #23, Emmanuel Keshi Road, Magodo G.R.A

38. Grace School. #Plot 241 Ajidagan Street, Gbagada Estate, Phase 1

39. Halifield School. #2 Oki Lane, Maryland

39. American International School 1004 Federal Housing Estate,

Junior Secondary School Badore Village, Badore, Ajah, Eti Osa

48. Surulere Community Junior Secondary School, Surulere Street, Alagbado

49. Government Junior College

Osborne School Complex, Osborne Estate, Ikoyi

50. Pinefield Schools. Christ Avenue, Off Admiralty Road, Lekki Phase 1

School. #6, Harold Shodipo Crescent, Ikeja GRA

12. Caleb International College. #1, Kayode Odusola Crescent, Ikosi GRA, Magodo

13. Dowen College. #18, Adebayo Doherty Road, Road 14, Lekki Phase 1

14. Wellspring College. #25B, Somide Odujinrin Street, Omole Estate Phase 2, Ikeka

15. Loral International Schools. #201 Road, D Close, Festac Town, Amuwo Odofin

16. Cambridge College. #64, Adekunle Fajuyi Way, G.R.A, Ikeja

17. Atlantic Hall. Poka, Lekki-Epe, Express way

18. Jextoban Secondary School. #1/3, Ibadan Street, Kosofe

19. Vivian Fowler Memorial College. Plot 5, Balogun Street, Chief T.A. Doherty Layout, Oregun, Ikeja

20. Indian Language School #14/16, Oba Nle Aro Avenue, Ilupeju

21. Methodist Girls High School. #320, Murtala

29. Caleb International College. Km 15, Lekki-Epe expressway, Lekki Phase I, Eti Osa

30. Tunwase High School #22, Akinola Cole Crescent, Adeniyi Jones Avenue, Ikeja

31. Genesis High School #34/36, Bisi-Afolabi, Oke-Ira Nla, Badore, Ajah, Eti Osa

32. Redeemers International

Victoria Island

40. ISL Unilag DLI Road, University Of Lagos Campus, Yaba, Akoka

41. Nigerian Navy Secondary School (NNSS)

Nigerian Navy Barracks, Navy Town, Ojo

42. Edgewood College #13 Sule Onabiyi Street, Lekki Phase 1

43. Lagos City Senior College #34, Commercial Avenue, Sabo Yaba, Lagos Mainland, Lagos

There we have it. 50 of the best schools in Lagos. This is just the first of many good school listings that will cover states in Nigeria, Abuja and other African countries. The Lagos Good Schools Guide is a special project carried out by Schoolings and EduTimes Africa. We hope our readers scouting for a good secondary school in Lagos will find it useful.

www.Schoolings.org

Secondary School, 350, Ikorodu Road, Maryland, Ikeja

33. Lagoon School. Ladipo Omotesho Cole Street, Lekki Phase 1

34. White Sands. Block 140, Whitesands St, Lekki Phase I

35. Radiance Schools. #41

44. Mobolaji Bank Anthony Junior High School #324, Herbert Macaulay Way, Sabo Yaba

45. Blue Waters Academy Plot 4/5 Abeke Ogunkoya Drive, Lekki Phase 1,

46. Rainbow College #51 Johnson Street, off Bode Thomas Street, Surulere

47. Badore Community

1. Sir, which state are you from and how were things growing up?

I hailed from Ogun State but was born and bred in Lagos State Growing up was interesting under a disciplinarian Father and a prayer warrior Mother both of blessed memory. They did a lot to shape my life and shielded me from the torrid environment I grew up with my siblings. I am the second child and first boy in a family of three girls and three. We are still a closely-nit family

2. How were your schooling years?

My Elementary School days were fun with lots of nostalgia, my teachers deeply inculcated discipline and fear of God in me. My khaki uniform then must be well starched and crispy. In my Primary 6, I was the Janitor of the School, meaning I must always get to School before 7:30am and I was almost the last pupil to leave the School premises. The discipline, dedication and devotion to my assigned school portfolio then, helped in no small way through my Secondary school and later years

3. Are there any particular attitudes, disciplines or life skills that you derived from the process of education?

As I said earlier, my elementary school years made a lot of positive impact in my life. My teachers were sticklers for discipline that would not in any way spare the rod in teaching or correcting in towing

How Education Made Me

interview with Mr Kunle Jaiyesimi

By Oladapo Akande

From being elected the pupil school Janitor, to becoming Chief Accountant and now Deputy Managing Director. There's one clear lesson to glean from this. Excellence and subsequence success never comes by chance. It does not just fall on your lap fortuitously from the heavens. It results from intentionality Learning the right lessons at the right time and adopting useful attitudes such as humility even while pursuing lofty ambitions. There is a saying that it does not matter where you are coming from, what matters is where you are going. Mr Kunle Jaiyesimi, in record time rose to become the Deputy Managing Director of CFAO Motors, the French conglomerate known for household names such as Mitsubishi, Suzuki and a host of others. His story is nothing short of inspiring.

the right path. The School office of Janitor that I held at age 11 was a big task that prepared me for greater leadership responsibilities in my later years

4. What would you say is a memorable low you experienced during your time at school as a student?

I still feel saddened by that experience till today. I was in Secondary School Class 4 then, I was passing by one of my Classmates and he made a sudden turn and thrust a pen that injured my finger. I didn't blink an eye before I retaliated. That resulted in a severe cut at the back of the boy's hand. We both faced the disciplinary panel of the School where he explained that he was hit from behind and he thought I did that but eventually the guy that dis that owned up. We were both "punished" and given the task of moving sands to the school farm. Surprisingly, my classmates rallied round me by assisting me in moving the sands, therefore instead of spending 3 days serving the punishment, I only spent a day. This experience taught me profound lessons of exercising restraint in reacting to circumstances and desist from being vengeful.

5. Getting to the top of a major foreign conglomerate as a Nigerian cannot have been plain sailing. What are some of the hurdles that you encountered? What aspect of your character helped you to surmount them?

It was not an easy task at the onset om

career, I started in a department that was flooded with elderly people, some of them would not look at you as a colleague but as their son that they could send on errands not minding your education or the fact that we were on the same level in terms of hierarchy, some of them would find excuse to push their tasks to me. I never complained and took all that as a learning process. That gave me the opportunity to have a good knowledge of all the tasks within the department, this later helped in shaping my career and getting promoted to a higher level I never envisaged within a short time

6. What would you say has been the highlight moment of your career?

As I mentioned earlier, I was able to grasp all the major tasks in the department within the 6 months of my joining the Company. When there was an opening for the position of Chief Accountant in one of our subsidiary companies, I was recommended after a competency assessment was conducted between me and my older colleagues. The intriguing aspect of the promotion was that I skipped three-steps to attain that position, it was the turning point in my career within the Group

7. Do you have any regrets at all about the path you took? Have you ever wished you chose a different career?

Although my initial ambition was to become a lawyer, my involvement in my late Dad's business where I was helping

out with book-keeping and stock taking made me change to Accounting. I have never had any cause to regret my choice of course and career.

8. Sir, you have had a multitude of honours bestowed upon you. Please tell us which one most touched you.

I cherish all the honours, awards and recognition because I never paid or solicited for them. I always like to understand the reason why I am being picked or chosen for any award so that I can carry out a personal assessment to confirm if I am worthy of such honour

9. Nigeria is a particularly tough environment right now and many of our adolescents and youth are quite disillusioned. There are very few jobs available even for those with university degrees. What word of advice or encouragement would you like to offer our young ones?

The Nigerian Government does not have a serious plan for the youth, even from the Federal Universities that are bedevilled with incessant strike actions that is culminating in a course of 4 years lasting till 6 years. My advice to the youth is that while studying your desired course in the institution of higher learning, you should endeavour to learn a skill that is marketable anywhere in the world. The situation in the country now is that if your degree can not put food on your table, your skill will surely do. Take advantage of the abundance of marketable skills, financial management and long term investment skills acquisition opportunities on the internet. These will be of immense advantage to you even when you are opting for private sector job opportunities. This sector requires a polyvalent or multi-skilled employee that can quickly and easily adapt to virtually any incident that arises within the operation.

10. Some young Nigerians feel somewhat disadvantaged that they were not born with a silver spoon in their mouth. What would you say to them?

These young Nigerians should take solace in the fact that the majority of the world renowned billionaires listed in the recent Forbes' 37th Annual World's Billionaires lists were born without silver or wooden spoons. My belief is that nobody is disadvantaged as we all have special or peculiar gifts and attributes from God at creation, our youths should strive to unearth their hidden potentials and never give up on their dreams and

what they want to achieve in life. They should not be counted with the 'lazy youths' that are striving to become overnight millionaires without any legitimate means of livelihood. They should know that there's "no gain without pain".

11. Can you tell us of any funny moment you experienced as a student that has remained etched on your mind? One that evokes involuntary laughter in you any time you remember it.

I remember my Saturday's special preparation of ''efo riro" (vegetable soup) . Then, my friends would come around in the evening with their 'fufu' (pounded cassava) and we would all have a feast. It was a nice and convivial experience then, my friends still make jokes out of this anytime we see

12. Sir, as Deputy MD of CFAO Motors, a French company. Am I right in saying you are one of very few Nigerians to have attained this height? One of them being the late and legendary Chief Molade Okoya Thomas. How would you say education helped to make you the success you are today?

As a believer, I want to say it is not by my power nor by might but by the special grace of God. Although education contributed to my progression in the organisation in no small means because that is the number tool that one needs to be successful in life, the education I had enlightened me on what I truly want from life and aided in how I navigated my career within the organisation. I started as an Accountant and have virtually worked in other operations of commercial, production, human resources, logistics etc. Acquiring education beyond the tertiary level is always an advantage to successful career upliftment but I still believe Education is a continuous process, acquiring knowledge and abilities are processes that should continue throughout one's lifetime

He served as Chief Accountant of CFAO Qualitex from September 1995 to December 1996 and was redeployed to CFAO NIPEN as Chief Accountant. He later became the Assistant General Manager, responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Factory

He progressed his career within the Group when he was redeployed to Nigeria Motor Industry (CFAO NMI) in February, 2005 as Deputy General Manager, where he successfully managed the Admin, Sales and Logistics Departments. In August 2007, he was appointed Deputy Managing Director of CFAO NMI.

In 2010, after the merger of CFAO NMI with CFAO Motors, he retained his position as Deputy Managing Director under the company name CFAO Motors Nigeria Limited, which is the position he holds till date

He is also the Deputy Managing Director of Massilia Motors Nigeria, a joint venture operation between CFAO and Chanrai Group, which was established in April 2014.

Kunle holds a Master’s Degree in Finance

He has travelled extensively in the course of his profession. He possesses rich experience of the Automobile Industry in Nigeria and remains a respected adviser to the Automobile Management Professionals.

He is a member of relevant professional bodies - Institute of Directors, Automobile and Allied Group of the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Institute of Cost & Management Accountants, Nigerian Institute of Management and Fellow, Institute of Credit Administration.

Kunle JAIYESIMI is the Deputy Managing Director of CFAO Motors Nigeria Limited.

He joined the CFAO Group as an Accountant in 1995 and rose through various positions ranging from Treasury/Finance Officer and Chief Accountant.

He is currently the President, Association of Automobile Boatyards Transport Equipment and Allied Employers of Nigeria (AABTEAEN), Vice Chairman of the Automobile Sectoral Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria and Chairman Automobile and Allied Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, member Governing Council –Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) and the President of LASUMBA Heritage, the Alumni association of Lagos State University MBA Graduates

His hobbies include coaching, establishing relationships, football and table tennis

Let’s teach kids skills for life

By Richard Branson

challenging, but you need to be able to wrap your head around the basics Learning about things like interest rates, how mortgages and loans work, and how much money is coming and going out is essential. For most of us, this is the real, everyday maths you need to know - core life skills that will benefit any child leaving school. So, I am all for teaching maths, but it’s the applied maths that will make all the difference when you’re working out a budget, want to buy a home, or start a business. And I hear that there is far too little of that.

In my experience, life is about looking at a problem and seeing how you can fix it. If you can turn that into a business idea, even better. My optimistic approach tells me that maths usually works out when you’re improving people’s experience or changing something for the positive

Richard Branson on a Virgin Atlantic plane with the first seatback entertainment screen Virgin.com

I like to say I attended the university of life, as I was fortunate to learn the

to understand it. He coloured a piece of paper blue, indicating the ocean, and put a net in the ocean with fish in it. He then explained that the fish in the net were the net profits and the rest of the ocean was our gross turnover. I realised I was poorer than I thought. I always thought it was the other way around!

A black and white illustration of a fishing net full of fish, over the ocean

Getty Images

This example always reminds me that every child can be different. Some may be visual learners; some may prefer words – but we need to include every single child and we need to teach things that will actually be useful.

Iwas never good at maths – the maths they teach in school anyway

Some people excel at trigonometry, calculus, or algebra and I wholeheartedly applaud those who do, and put their knowledge to good use in ways that make our lives easier. But we shouldn’t be excluding the vast majority of kids from learning practical life skills they

important things along the way. Some concepts took longer than others to stick… It wasn’t until I was in my fifties in a meeting about finances that I realised I had no idea what they were talking about when it came to net and

I love this quote that sums it up: “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

We try to make everyone fit into the same box, and people aren’t built that way. We’re all so different, and that should be celebrated. The way children are taught and set up for life really needs an overhaul so that they can leave school and pursue their dreams – and have the skills they need to make them a reality

Holly Branson sat with school students

Adam Slama

I’m proud that Holly and Sam set up Big Change. It’s great to see the progress they are making, supporting more than 40 projects and 200k adults and children.

need to succeed. As the 2023 Strive Challenge approaches, I’ve been thinking about this a lot. The Strive Challenge is an annual adventure which raises money for Big Change – an education charity set up by my children, Holly and Sam, to back projects that support young people to thrive in all areas of their life, not just in exams. The people I meet on the Strive Challenge and through Big Change always leave me inspired by the bold ways that education can be reimagined.

Richard Branson hugging friends on the 2022 Strive Challenge

Adam

Slama

Making your dream come to life can be

gross profits. Now that would have been useful to learn at school.

As a dyslexic, I thought I’d been hiding my muddling of words and numbers well for years, but on this occasion I’d been rumbled. One of the team kindly took me outside the meeting room after spotting my blank face. After I admitted my mistake, he showed me a simple way

The world of work is changing so rapidly, and children who leave school without these skills will be left behind. We need dreamers, problem-solvers, and entrepreneurs to solve the big problems of our time – let’s set them up for success so they can keep changing the world for the better

Big Change has also launched its Big Education Challenge with a £1m prize fund for people with bold ideas to transform education and learning. If you have a big idea, submit it here before February 22, 2023.

With so much money and information around, why do most people still end up poor? A wise man once said, “Success is a mind game first, then a physical series of actions.”

There are many reasons why we don’t get as rich as they can. Many are excuses we give ourselves to feel better when we don't achieve our goals. Sometimes, it's the belief that we can’t be rich or that wealth is morally bad. With some, it's the absence of a good wealth plan, poor or weak mid to long term goals, a lack of needed information, negative friends/environment or the lack of consistency in taking the right actions towards wealth creation over time

Perhaps the key reason many would never live a life worthy of their dreams and have wealth that can sustain desired lifestyles is because of wrong mental money programming from a young age

We all have a mental self-image about money that we carry in our minds. Our mental model of ourselves or self-image is basically an internal idea of who we are to ourselves, in several key areas of life. The mind has constructed over time an image of what we believe we are, can do and can be. This self-image directs us at a subconscious level and dictates how we behave and respond to situations and issues. This self-image/self-belief is shaped in our brains as it watches us and listens to everything we do, say, hear or take significant interest in, over the years

We are basically programming our minds with the conscious and unconscious information we give it and it in turn uses the information to build up an image of what it thinks we are like or want to be like, (whether it's actually correct or not). Once this image is complete, the mind will then do everything to defend that idea of who it has decided we are and in all circumstances. For example, if we have programmed our minds to think that we are not really good at long distance running, our mind, once it receives this idea/info from us or from people telling us this repeatedly, will believe it and then take it as instruction to begin to model how we live and respond to all running or jogging issues from this perspective that we are not good long distance runners. As such, it will filter anything that comes to us in form of marathons, jogging etc negatively, by repeating back to us that we are not really good long distance runners, therefore we cannot perform well at or enjoy a marathon. It will

The Mindset of money

By Max Menkiti

self-images’, to enable us form certain habits that it can easily run for us, so that we can be consistent with how we meet and address life’s challenges without much effort. It tries to make us handle things automatically, saving energy and time but it can only do that effectively if it knows HOW we would like to act, and for this purpose, it gathers information from us quietly and uses it to build an image of who it thinks we are and who we are trying to become.

prevent us from even thinking about trying to participate in a marathon, (regardless of if we are fit enough to do it, or whether we may even be good at it, or actually enjoy it.) The mind just shuts us down from having any interest as it believes we have told it we are not good at that sport and wouldn’t get any pleasure from it. You may have heard people say things like; “I'm not a swimmer”, "I’m not really good at maths", "I can’t drive at night", "I am not a good dancer” etc These internal ideas we have about our various abilities and words we choose to express them, come from our inner selfimage, generated and upheld constantly by our mind, from tons of data we have fed into it, over some time. So, it is about money and wealth. Our money habits and ideas are not usually our conscious ideas, but an amalgamation of these various voices and inputs we’ve allowed to shape our minds to date

So, we are creatures that have minds that are programmable. Programming the mind causes it to build a self-image about our abilities. These images once established then run on automatic and we are mostly unaware of this or that a self-image in our mind even exists. The running of these programmes causes us to absorb it as our habit and repeated expression of this habit forms a behaviour which goes on to form parts of our character. That’s how strong the effect of these self-image programs can be, once formed.

Actually, the mind is trying to help us. It’s designed to help us by building up ‘mini

Based on this, we all carry an internal money self-image level, and we are not aware that we do Our minds will always go to work to make us behave in a manner that's congruent with our money self-images That’s why a person can be poor internally in their money self-image, and no matter how much money they acquire, they will always spend it all (somehow), till they come back down to their internal money level. This is why lottery winners win millions of dollars, but in a few short years, blow everything and even wind up in debt, (they were probably in debt before the winnings and the mind is comfortable being back there, and even if the person hates being there, the mind wins.) UNLESS THEY QUICKLY BEGIN TO RAISE THEIR INTERNAL WEALTH LEVEL or financial IQ

We are all familiar with the saying “As within, so without”. This means as we are deep inside us, we will surely act to express that on our outside We can never perform outside far above our internal money/ wealth self-image. Our minds WILL sabotage everything we do, till we fall into the level of wealth we believe we deserve, want, and can manage. This happens automatically and is called selfsabotage due to cognitive dissonance.

Now that we have an understanding of how the mind works and how what we think is important, we can begin to consciously take control of the process and begin to build the prosperous life we dream of

Max is a serial entrepreneur, a mentor, founder and CEO of Millennium Apartments and Studios, Lekki, Lagos He is the Executive Director of Radiance Schools and currently the President of Fate Foundation's Alumni Association EXCO

Instagram: @MaxMotiv8

Linkedin: //ng.linkedin.com/in/maxnonso-menkiti-entrepreneur

Interview with Mr Chris Uwaje (The Oracle)

Popularly known as "The Oracle" and the pioneer of Information and Communications Technology in Nigeria, Mr Christopher Uwaje is a man of many firsts. In the early 1970s when most of his peers pursued the more favoured career paths of the time such as law, engineering and medicine, the visionary in him turned his sights in an entirely different and novel direction. Many may have secretly and perhaps even openly questioned his judgement but as the saying goes and his career trajectory soared, the rest is history. Credited with pioneering Nigeria's Information Technology Policy which eventually led to the creation of The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Chris Uwaje has served as the "go to" mentor for some of the country's most successful IT practitioners. And as the world increasingly turns digital, who better to consult on how best to ensure Nigeria and indeed Africa, does not get left behind. Join us as we share some precious moments with the undisputable IT Guru of our time.

We are immensely grateful for your time sir. Thank you.

1. Sir, please tell us a little about yourself sir. How was it growing up?

First, I wish to seize this opportunity to convey my distinguished appreciation and profound gratitude to the founders and promoters of EduTimes for the rare opportunity to be considered worthy of their consultation for a privileged and exclusive interview such as this

Everywhere in the pages of the rule books of wisdom, knowledge and history of civilization, we encounter a truism: ‘That Education is and remains the most valuable pillar and constructive tool for accelerated and sustainable human development and indeed the dependable key to our collective survivability’.

I was born in Lagos where my education started at the primary school level at St. Paul’s and formed my life experience. I also had my Secondary school in Lagos at St. Finbarrs’ College from 1966 to 1970. It was at St. Finbarrs’ that I started to appreciate the technicalities of things, the science and technology interfaces in global development. Indeed, Finbarrs’ was the acclaimed first technical and grammar school in Nigeria founded by late Reverend Father Dennis Slattery. In Slattery’s school, you really needed to be

very vast in knowledge. When I say knowledge, I mean practical knowledge. He would always emphasise it. If it is Biology, you must have a ridge in the farm to study plant life, because all the makeup of human life is biological. If it is technical, you need to design, construct and build a specimen of your concept. If it is architecture, you need to design and construct something related to liferelated infrastructure. That is how the education ecosystem was programmed and worked at that time. It would be recalled that Rev. Father Slattery built a technical department by generating a loan totaling £3 million pounds from Europe and Ireland in particular at that time. And that’s on record talking about 1956, £3 million pounds to build the first technical grammar school in Nigeria. Some of the Old boys-students really acted as the resource people to Yaba College of Technology when it was founded and under construction. People like Nwosisi and others who did Architectural Study are reference points. They had the practical experience apart from the theoretical knowledge of curriculum and syllabus. Many of them have gone much further in espousing this knowledge to be able to get through all the issues that people still anticipate as rocket science today. For example, Finbarrs students were involved in helping the churches do their building diagrams and structural design in those days. Finbarrs imbibed in us the need to appreciate techniques, probably not technology, but techniques Putting the submissions in context, we are talking about Lagos in the 1960s when we were in primary school. You go to school from Monday to Thursday and you go to the Center on Fridays. That was the school educational cycle You go to vocational Centers for practicals. There were practical education development Centres all over Lagos. If you are in Ebute Meta, you go to the Center in Ebute Metta. If you are in

Yaba, you go to the Center in Yaba. If you were in Obalende, you went to a Center there. They had them there. And what did they do in these Centres? They did filing practice. They did Artwork, moulding with mud and all sorts, of course, weaving. In those days, all the brooms we had were woven with dyed ropes at the end. That’s what we did. The practical knowledge in those days encouraged forwardthinking of making-and-doing and influenced many other areas of human development. That knowledge experience model probably made students of those days much more wellrounded and practically grounded.

For example, on Saturdays or even on Weekdays, you go to the swimming pool. There were public swimming pools in Yaba. There were public swimming pools in Onikan stadium. It was a Park and had what they call a love garden. When you had a girlfriend in those days, you went there to take a snapshot. That was how really the ecosystem was working. You have, of course, a school bus allocated to transport students only. It is called ‘Scholly’. Your school ID card grants you access to the school bus. When you look at the whole materials around you, they were moved by trains to different destinations. Materials like petrochemicals and goods were moved by rail. We never had tankers on the road. All those Petrol Tanks were transported by train. Of course, Private and Community Buses ply the road from Ijora up to Kaduna. Then, of course, you had the luxury of having bicycles on the road. You had the luxury of having fewer cars, but you have motorcycles, good motorcycles that people are proud of and can be used to work. You can ride your cycle from the Medical Center where we used to live to the Racecourse, for example, without being hurt. Then, you tie all these knowledge wares together with the music, the musical lyrics of the people in those days. The influence of the music such as Osadebe,

with Olaiya, with Fela Ransome Kuti, Ebenezer, Obey, Sunny Ade and with a lot of all those music especially the messaging content of the music. The philosophy of the music, which for me, is sort of a moving junction within layers of life. When you want to become poetic because we have a lot of libraries in those days, there are a lot of Poets who you can encounter in the libraries. When you put this in layered analytics, then you find out there are multiple moving joints that make the whole. That is the way I grew up before I left the country for Germany in 1972. And of course, you need to do the German language to be able to go to school over there. After the German language, I had to study science, scientific things, and then went to the Gast Hoarer’s Course (required for foreign guests.

2. You got into Information and Communications Technology (ICT) many decades ago, long before it became popular; when most Nigerians aspired to become doctors, engineers and lawyers. What led you to follow the path of ICT?

My dream was to be a pilot as a young lad in Nigeria. I had this uncle who is quite passionate in mentoring youths. He mentors practically. When he talks about aeroplanes, he must take you to the airport. He will say, “I’m taking you to see how people fly from one airport to other places and countries and you must see it physically. There are people like you who are in the cockpit who navigate the Aircraft to fly” I became so passionate because he was so fond of me – growing up. I remember that once a month, he would take me to a Cocktail dinner

When I say Cocktail dinner, I mean real Cocktail dinner with a bowtie on my neck. When we go out with him, he will say, sit down here and he would teach me table manners! He was so fond of me that the airport visit became my passion. Later, he took me to the breweries. The Nigerian breweries at Iganmu, Lagos where thousands of beer bottles were rolling to be washed-clean and filled-up, of course, they told us it's chemistry. He did some of that, but I was glued on to Aeronautics. Embry-Riddle, I think, it’s in Houston. Embry-Riddle Aeronautics Institute in the US was where my contact of applications was filed with a lot of anticipation. You know, in those days the General Post Office was effectively working. You anticipate that the reply is going to come within a week or 10 days, and it would come. So, you stay at home on the weekend or tell your parents if you are going to football practice at school, that you are expecting a letter.

Anyway, I got admission into EmbryRiddle, and I had to do the documentation for the H120 visa. I remember one Dr. Maduka in Park Lane in Apapa. I went in there, did all the signing, blood/urine tests, and stamped everything. But as destiny would find it, I didn’t go to the US. I had peer-groups, some of them went to the UK and Germany and said, oh technology’s here It’s really tough. That’s probably where to go, and if you want to be a pilot also, you have it here. It’s like having it all in one spot! So, I went and ended up doing Computer Science at Computer Directorate Corporation Technology in Frankfurt. I leveraged that to do engineering in research and development with Communications in Glasgow College in London. All the while, I read a lot, having been addicted to books in my early days in Lagos by visiting the Library. I was fascinated reading about the Second World War and the role played by technology and got fascinated with the Enigma machine. It stuck like a positive bug in my head!

Being in Germany and reading about the Enigma machine catapulted my passion into another layer. It was about coding, coding structures, the dimensions about the time-machine itself, and how they were able to crack that code that was sending radio messages. That was exactly what prompted me to now go deeper into system analytics. Of course, in those days, as soon as you are done with your studies, you have jobs ready for you. I did my practicals and worked for Deutsche Fachfalac. Deutsche Fachfalac is a German government company that comes and asks for programmers who could do some coding before you pass out. I was lucky with one of my classmates called Shola Onifade, who went to work in Munich, and I was in Frankfurt. And as luck would have it, with my wife, who was my girlfriend at that time, things worked out, and she also graduated from Bourstel Institut in Bioresearch. She worked in the Chemical Research Foundation.

3. Would you say IT is being optimally utilised to develop our society?

Tough Question! How do I start to respond? Development is a complex expression! And it becomes a buzz word clothed in emptiness if it is disconnected from the trajectory of applied knowledge, science and civilization. Why, what and how do we develop a nation? What does development mean to a nation? And how do you design and construct a purposeful framework and proactive strategy to achieve the desired mission and anticipated goals? Finally

who develops society: the knowledgeable or the self-opportunists? I will attempt to respond to your question by interrogating our national experience in the just concluded national general election as follows: It is impossible to achieve sustainable development of people by the people if the core pillars of inclusiveness and merit-first strategies are overtly missing or crudely applied! Our attitude to constructive technology adoption is lay-back and unserious. The preceding statement is hinged on the assumption that Nigeria, as the largest concentration of people of African descent, is unaware of the fact that humanity has migrated from sports Olympics to knowledge Olympiad. Nigeria just lost a golden opportunity to serve the Africa Continent and the world with a trusted digital electoral solution. And it will take almost forever to recover the lost glory! Miraculously, technology did not fail – rather, human-ware failed technology! What has attitude got to do with technology adoption, marketing equity in governance and acceptability of an innovative electoral process? Attitude is a critical pillar in promoting inclusion and acceptability of a brand offering. The pronounced element in mastering and winning a large audience in the digital Olympiad is attitude. Citizens judge electoral conduct by the attitude behind the packaging, execution process and product delivery. In other words, what has attitude got to do with the mastery of technology to win global competitiveness? Everything! Attitude is assumed as the core building block for trustworthiness, product and market assurance and sustainable mileage in global competitiveness. Therefore, can the attitudinal fallout of the just concluded national general election affect the product and marketing brand of Nigeria in the digital economy realm Can the emerging products be trusted and patronised by the larger community of nations? No nation is interested in patronising, investing and acquiring dysfunctional technology processes that exponentially multiplies the challenges of Data-Chaos in national development –especially where Data-Chaos Engineering capabilities are in short supply – in the country.

The purpose of this conversation is to interrogate the role of attitude as a formidable force to attain global IT prominence and provide the nation opportunity to forge and deliver the character of technology product trustworthiness, acceptability, and assurances. It sums up to agree that innovators or manufacturers attitude can negatively derail or otherwise affect the brand, product or solutions perception and acceptability by consumers. In clear perspective, let’s consider that a nation of

the world requires the services of election contractors/service providers to deliver a national general election. And resolves to call for a bid to shortlist 50 electoral services contractors or providers, assurances are that a Nigerian election service-provider or contractor will not be on the shortlist. Great loss indeed. And it will take a very long time to apply constructive damage-control to recover from the deliberate human error that beclouds technology the victim – when indeed, technology in its simple state is overtly innocent!

4. One of the country's telecom companies ran an advert a little while ago where the narrator predicted that in some years to come, many occupations that we know today would have become obsolete and that many of the main occupations then will be ones that do not presently exist. Do you subscribe to that sir?

The shortest answer would have been “Absolutely yes”. But there is a need to justify my response as follows: Are we at the dawn of a jobless future and/or education without future teachers? This interrogation has become fundamental because the future means many things to many people. As we navigate into 2024, we must recall that most of the jobs today and workplace environments were not there half a Century - 50 years ago. And, indeed, most of the digital jobs and workplaces were not available before the advent of the Mobile phones. Therefore, how can we advance and make the future of work possible without the future of Teachers Perhaps, another name or description for the future of work is ‘future of the uncertainty of work’. This assumption and many others are informed by the promise, benefits and unpredictability of AI, Quantum Computing, the adoption of intuitive Tech-skill-intensive work in the 4th Industrial revolution, Smart Cities, IoT, Robotics, structure and expansion of work, Climate-change and the type of work itselfall converging as major forces of future work. This response is therefore focused and predominantly concerned with the future of education-for-work (E4W) and the state of teachers in Africa. This is significant, as Africa has suddenly become the preferred continent of the future for many reasons. A future whose strength is visibly anchored on the audacity and unpredictability of the massive Youth population in the hurried quest for rapid digital transformation. As 2024 prepares to emerge with the robes of colourless unpredictability, two critical Domains will

become mandatory epicentres requiring critical attention. They are: ‘the future-skill for work & workplace and the future of Education and Teachers! Complex issues require complex thinking

Post-Covid 19 has now become a complex equation whose real origin we cannot precisely validate in spite of the discovery of various shades of Vaccines

This battle may continue to hunt humanity for a long time, and perhaps up to 2030 and there-after? All possibilities should be on the table, since we are dealing with the ignorant revolution that spurs us in search of more knowledge and simplified answers! In clear context there is a need to situate how to strategically balance, attain and sustain the future of work. This consideration becomes urgently necessary for Africa, guided by the facts that 4IR would be automation intensive. And this mission will require intensive work on the future of innovative education and by extension, the future of Teachers and teaching methodologies

Amidst rapid growth of world population, the mathematics of losing 50 million old jobs (post-Covid19) to reimagine and deliver 400 million new jobs by 2030 requires deep designthinking. Jobs of the future require multidimensional skills and will not emerge without reskilling teachers at both physical and digital workspace

Substantiated assumptions concur that the particles of the effects of retooling and reskilling will continue to influence human activities going forward to 2050 – even with M2M economic systems. The trajectory of its possibilities continues to emit signs of similar pathways. How can we deliver millions of new jobs and productive workplaces of the future without completely disrupting education and preparing Teachers for mastering the upskilling architectures of future work? One thing is clear, we cannot replace preCovid19 skilled workforce, built over many decades, in one day or week. Therefore, imperatives of Retooling Teachers with STEM for the future of work is critical and non-negotiable

In conclusion to this question, I will say this. I encountered a friend who asked me what the Future of Work really is. I was amazed, because the fellow is an acclaimed mathematician! I thought it best to respond mathematically to satisfy his curiosity. My Response:

"In mathematical expression, the future of work translates to the future of knowledge

Knowledge is the coefficient multiplier or factor that measures a particular property THEREFORE IT IS THE COEFFICIENT OF KNOWLEDGE THAT CREATES THE FUTURE OF

WORK.

And since the coefficient factor of human knowledge is infinitive, the future of work and processes of work will remain infinitive".

Chris Uwaje is acclaimed as the Pioneer of the National Information Technology Policy for Nigeria (2000-2002) which created the National IT Development Agency (NITDA). He is a founding member and Fellow of Nigeria Computer Society (NCS). He is also a Co-Founder, Past President and Fellow of the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON). Uwaje is the originator of National Information Technology Merit Award (NITMA).

Uwaje was appointed Africa Chair for IEEE-Global Forum on IoTs. 2016-to date. He is the founder, Chief Software Architect and Chairman of Mobile Software Solutions and Connect Technologies Limited, respectively. He was Lead Consultant and conceptualized one of the foremost Nigerian Science & Information Technology Park (SIT Park) and State IT Policy for Akwa Ibom State in 2003-2005. He is an IT veteran and commands a senior leadership position in the IT Professional and Industry Domain with over four decades of on-the-job IT Practice as a Computer Scientist – Spread across four continents (Europe/Africa/Asia and North America).

Uwaje has published more than 300 papers on Information TechnologiesConcepts, Strategies, Processes, Research and Development, between 1998-todate Served as Chair, Panel of Judges, NCC Innovation Hub Competition -2019. Uwaje is the current Chair of National Software Strategic Think Tank (NSOFT) jointly established by NITDA AND NOTAP - 2019.

Special areas of Professional focus include but not limited to International, National & Regional IT Strategy/Policy Consulting and Digital Knowledge Innovation and incubation Parks. Between 2010-14 as ISPON President, he established over 30 Software Clubs in the Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria. He was the convener and lead Host to National Software Conference and Competition, Lead Director, Software Incubation and Software Hackathon Events in Nigeria

and HackEbola Working Group in New York City, Washington DC USA. 2012-2014.

1975-1980, he studied at the Control Data Institute of Information Technology, Frankfurt, Germany. Equipped with the knowledge of Computer Science he enrolled for Operations Research at the British Institute of Engineering Technology UK, incorporating certificate (1980) in Communication Technology from the International Correspondence School, Glasgow, UK. He has presented numerous conference papers in Nigeria, USA and served as Panel Discussant at MIT/Boston/USA on Smart City As speaker he has presented ICT Keynote at many Corporate ICT Conferences and at Nigeria Universities – Including but not limited to: UNN, UI, UNILAG, OAU, UNIBEN, UNIJOS, Covenant University and LASU/Others. He is instrumental to the establishment of Nigerian Diaspora Organization in Information Technology. Uwaje is the core promoter for the establishment of National Software Strategy for Nigeria and served as member of the National IT Policy Blueprint Formulation and drafting Committee

In 2003, he served as member of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on ICT Harmonization. Co-Chair: National Software Development Initiative (NSDI). Uwaje has also served as Member of Council of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) and Computer Professional Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN) respectively. He served as member of the Governing Board of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Chair of NITDA e-Solve ICT Competition 2014. He also served as member of the National ICT Advisory Council to the Minister of Communication Technology – Dr Mrs. Omobola Johnson. He is the convener and Vice-Chair IPv6 Council Nigeria. Uwaje has won numerous ICT Awards internationally and at home, including Lifetime ICT Achievement Award 2016.

Chris Uwaje has trained and mentored over 25,000 Youths worldwide in Digital Literacy in the last two decades

Role Play

By Uche Chidike-Okoro

free choice play

The benefits of Role Play are too numerous and cannot be over emphasised. Let us take a look at a few. It involves experiential learning, facilitates the expression of attitude and feelings, helps make abstract ideas more concrete, involves experiential learning and provides a memorable learning experience. Did you know that Role play fosters children's self-esteem, creativity, communication skills, physical development and ability to solve problems? How, you would ask? It's a good way for children to get into character, act out real-life or imaginary performances, solve the challenges they are faced with during play using their creativity and imagination and having lots of fun while at it.

These and many more interesting conversations children have when Role Play activities are explored. I can’t even begin to explain the fun, excitement and engagement of body and mind involved in Role Play. If children are not Role Playing, what then are they doing? That is definitely food for thought.

What exactly does roleplay mean? Role Play is an activity where children play pretend and act out roles given to them based on a story, imagination or real-life scenarios. It is how children make sense of their world, acting out experiences, ideas or stories. Role Play can be done across all topics or themes and entails using a variety of resources like props, clothes, location and many more

Fred Rogers said ‘’When children engage in pretend play, they are using their imaginations to move beyond the bounds of reality. A stick can be a magic wand, a Sock can be a puppet and a little child can be a Superhero’’. Role Play gives children the opportunity to tell stories in their own words and actions: putting their imagination and creativity to work. Research has shown that Role Play is very crucial in building children’s social competence, including their ability to selfregulate and cope emotionally. It is also very essential for language and vocabulary development. When children Role play, they develop their communication skills as they interact and explore with each other A typical Role Play activity has four main stages: identify the situation, add details, assign roles and act out the scenario. The children MUST be involved in all the stages It should never be planned in isolation of the children. It is also important to note that Role Play activities can be structured or unstructured. That is, the teacher can either facilitate the activity or the children carry it out independently during a class session or

You might ask, why Role Play? In a short but precise answer, Role Play prepares children for real- world situations. They acquire a good number of skills like Negotiation, debate, teamwork, cooperation and persuasion that help them as they continue to grow and develop

Uche Okoro is a veteran educator with expertise in early years education. She is currently heading an international school in Abuja, Nigeria. She is a seasoned early years trainer who has vast knowledge of the intricacies of adopting the British Early Years Framework, which she is well acquainted with and has had several trainings on how the curriculum can be adopted in Nigerian schools. Uche has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Abuja and a Post Graduate Diploma in Education. She also has an Early Childhood diploma from the Open University, Australia and is a registered Teacher in Nigeria.

She is the Program Coordinator of the Teacher Development Program and the founder of ‘The EYFS Hub’, an educational platform with the objective to change the narrative of the Nigerian Education sector She has training in Special Education, Safeguarding, Early Childhood Development and Administration, Curriculum Instruction, Teacher Leadership, amongst others. Uche has participated in the Nurturing Program to help improve student wellbeing. She is passionate about keeping children safe in education and is very experienced in how this can be effective within an African context.

Instagram: @Uchywand_eyfshub

Email: deyfsnetwork@gmail.com

“Today, I want to be the mummy pig in the story ‘Three Little Pigs’ so I can build the houses for my piglets’’.

"The best way of successfully acting a part is to be it" - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Is Everything Really Back to Normal?

By Yosola Nwangwu

It's been three years since the epochal lockdown and

as much as there have been claims that everything is back to normal now, it is clear just as we mark our calendars BC and AD that there is now a pre-covid and post-covid era. Yes, we stop wearing masks and maybe back to our less religious habit of not sanitising our hands every five minutes as we did during covid, a lot of things aren't normal.

There is now a work type called hybrid work where one works at home for some days and at the office for the rest of the week and remote work is now popular and increasingly becoming the order of the day. People are now between a rock and a hard place when it comes to using technology as it has become the air of work...and learning

While governments around the world did their best to ensure learning continued during the lockdown, what we observed was that across all the nations, developed and others, no one was prepared for COVID, and in Africa, where most of the countries treat education like an afterthought, planning through COVID was arduous as these countries were already trying to salvage an already dilapidated education sector. Even though we claim that learning as we know it is back to normal, we have to look at the implications COVID left in its trail in the education system. According to the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), these developing countries such as those in Sub-Saharan Africa were forced to make difficult fiscal trade-offs between sectors of the economy that require a higher share of limited resources and sectors that pose less contiguous socioeconomic risks in other words health system versus education.

What they may not have realised at the time is the fact that even though students in developed countries had access to facilities that supported remote learning, they still had learning loss to a certain degree. Comparing the level of learning loss in a country like Japan to Nigeria will give you an idea of how much recovery of learning we need to do to ensure that our nation's economic output does not drastically diminish in the coming years. This deduction is

simply based on the fact that before COVID, learning inequalities already existed even within and amongst nations. In identifying considerations in support of learning recovery, the authors of "How COVID-19 caused a global learning crisis" reported that globally students are eight months behind where they would have been if there was no pandemic and further classified these students according to their countries into three archetypes because the impact of the pandemic varies widely:

High-performing systems, with pre-COVID-19 performance levels that were rather high, and where kids may be one to five months behind owing to the pandemic (for example, in North America and Europe, where students are, on average, four months behind).

Low-income pre-pandemicchallenged systems where children may be three to eight months behind owing to the pandemic (for example, in subSaharan Africa, where students are on average six months behind).

Pandemic-affected middleincome systems, with intermediate pre-COVID-19 learning levels, where pupils may be nine to 15 months behind (for example, in Latin America and South Asia, where students are, on average, 12 months behind).

Learning loss is the term used to describe the reduction in academic performance seen in many pupils because of educational interruptions, such as school closings, shifts to remote learning, or changes to their family environment. Although learning loss can happen in any subject area, it is frequently most noticeable in areas like arithmetic and reading that demand constant practice and reinforcement.

Students who experience learning loss may experience a variety of detrimental effects, such as decreased academic performance, decreased selfesteem, and decreased drive to learn all of which are

beginning to emerge in recent research.

Whilst there is a claim that everything is now back to normal, it is rather glaring that learning will take many decades to return to the way it was in 2019 and this is the big problem we have on our hands; returning to normal.

It is a long road to recovery especially for us in Nigeria considering the many plagues we were and are still facing in the education sector prepandemic

Adeyosola Nwangwu is a Mathematics Teacher with expertise in the British, American, and Nigerian curricula for junior and senior secondary schools and has worked with schools in Lagos and Abuja. She is a curriculum and policy enthusiast whose passion for learning about best practices to implement and improve education in Nigeria has led her to Japan. She recently graduated from the Teachers' Training program at the University of Tsukuba, Japan, where she conducted research on the mitigation of learning loss due to the pandemic and is looking forward to furthering her research on related issues, and was also the president of the Association of African Student(AASUT) at the university. She obtained her first degree in Educational Management from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and is a member of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria. She has worked with teams from South Africa, the UK, and Canada on curriculum mapping and teaching mathematics throughout the span of her teaching career. She is currently the lead teacher at thelessonteacher.com.ng, a private outfit that provides tutoring services for learners of Math, English, and the Sciences in Nigeria and beyond since 2016.

louiesek94@gmail.com

Crossword Puzzle

ACROSS

1 Oscar-winning 2017 Pixar film

5 Use a loom

10 standard protocol used by email clients(acronym)

14 Smell

15 Bewitched

16 Fey of "30 Rock

17

The future of the Classroom

By Itofa Ivarah

Have you ever

wondered what the dynamics around our classrooms will be like in the future?

Let's talk a little bit about some amazing Innovations future-forward-educators and parents alike must prepare for:

Digital Nomads; in the future, educators will not be confined to the four walls of a classroom, and students will not need to learn in the traditional manner. You must prepare to begin raising students who are digitally responsible

Workforce Activation; future curriculums will be designed to serve students who are ready to disrupt the workforce with innovations, technology, and design. You will need to start preparing your students to think independently and creatively

Student-led learning; many lessons in these classrooms will be led by students.

According to Blink Learning, 76% of teachers in Mexico believe that autonomous learning is one of the most significant pedagogical benefits of using technology in the classroom. You'll need to devise a system for tracking students' varying levels of interest in your classroom.

The future of the classroom is here. Own it.

Itofa Ivarah is a Nonprofit Management Consultant at ID consulting; a firm that helps Nonprofits become sustainable

He attended the university of Benin & currently a Masters candidate of Int'l Development at the University of Galway, Ireland.

Itofa Ivarah is a social entrepreneur championing zero hunger in Nigeria through My 9ja FoodBank and Church On They Street Int'l, two Non-profits he founded.

He has raised over $12,000 in funding to tackle malnutrition and design community ledintervention to reduce poverty in Nigeria. His work has been featured on both local and international platforms like The Vanguard Nigeria, TEDx and the UN Millennium Fellowship

He is an Author and a recipient of the 2022 Oxfam award as a part of his contribution towards championing Zero Hunger in Nigeria.

Ivarah Itofa

United Nations Millennium Fellow'21

Founder, Church On The Street

www.churchonthestreetng.org

DOWN

1 Freebie

2 Scandinavian alodium owned by individuals

3 Unresponsive state

4 Juicy fruits

5 Bread choice

6 Spooky

7 Neural transmitter

8 Docs for dogs

9Tokyo before 1868

10 Norse mythology goddess of spring

11 2020 Oscar-winning film with dialogue in Korean

12 cross the t's ___ ___ the i's (2 words)

13 out-of-date

21 Light brown

22Allotment

24 Some ballistic missiles (acronym)

25 No longer working:Abbr

26 In the past

27 Promise

28 Someone ___ (not mine or yours)

29 Constricting snakes

31Apple's operating system

32American Society of Civil Engineers (acronym.)

34 Provide food for

35 Word before "talk" or "rally”

36Another phrase for radio presenter (acronym)

37 Expert 39 No 1 cryptocurrency

40 Ignore (2 words)

41 Punctual (2 words)

42 Enter hurriedly (2 words)

43 UFO crew

44 She/___ pronouns

46 Light on one's feet

47 Diamond corners

49 Fill completely

50 ___ andThummim (sacred Judaic objects) 51 2nd qtr. starter (abbreviation)

52 Hammer's target

53Alternatively

55 Starchy tuber

DAAD Leadership for Africa scholarship for Masters Study in Germany 2023

By: www.studygreen.info

Are you a bachelor

degree holder, who dreams about studying for a Master’s degree in Germany? You live as a national or refugee in Chad, DR Congo, Niger, Nigeria and Togo? Then DAAD Leadership for Africa scholarship programme is the opportunity for you!

The scholarship holder can choose the study programme, they can apply to all suitable Master degree programmes in Germany. Interested applicants are invited to apply.

Scholarship Sponsor(s): DAAD

Scholarship Type: Fully Funded Scholarships

Host Institution(s): Germany Institutions

Scholarship Worth: Varies [Full Funding]

Number of Awards: Not Stated Study Level: Masters

Nationality: West/Central Africans

Eligibility Criteria | DAAD Leadership for Africa scholarship 2023

Two categories of candidates are welcome to apply

Highly qualified refugees who hold refugee status and fulfil the necessary qualifications for Master studies in Germany and the requirements in the call for applications

Applicants must fulfil the following conditions:

Holding refugee status in their host countries, being granted before 3rd of April 2022 Country of asylum must be either Chad, DR Congo, Niger, Nigeria or Togo

Completed Bachelor’s degree of at least 2nd class upper division

Possess good English or German language skills

Highly qualified graduates from Chad, DR Congo, Niger, Nigeria or Togo who fulfil the necessary qualifications for Master studies in Germany and the requirements in the call for applications

Applicants must fulfil the following conditions:

Citizenship of either Chad, DR Congo, Niger, Nigeria or Togo Country of residence Chad, DR Congo, Niger, Nigeria or Togo

Completed Bachelor’s degree of at least 2nd class upper division

Possess good English or German language skills

Scholarship Benefits

Language course (up to 6 months) in Germany before the start of the university studies

Tuition-free M.A. or M.Sc degree programme at a public

or state-recognized university in Germany starting in winter term 2024 (September/October 2024).

Monthly scholarship rate payments 0f 934 EURO

Adequate health, accident, and private/personal liability insurance in Germany

Travel allowance

Yearly study allowance

Additional mandatory training programme LEAD!

Application Procedures

How-to-Apply: Applications for this scholarship are done entirely online. Applicants are to complete their application using the online application portal. Applicants will be required to submit all the application documents by the application deadline.

Application Deadline: 9 June 2023

Canada

University of Guelph

Application Deadline: 15 August 2023

Susan Marmor Memorial Scholarship for International Students at UEA, UK University of East Anglia

Application Deadline: 2 June, 2023.

Taught Master Scholarships at Maynooth University in Ireland, 2023 Maynooth University

Application Deadline: 30th June 2023

University of Bath Deans Awards for Academic Excellence Scholarships in the UK University of Bath

Application Deadline: 26 May 2023

SMART Scholarship for International Students at Staffordshire University, UK Staffordshire University

Application Deadline: Open

www.scholarship-positions.com

JJ/WBGSP Scholarship for Developing Country Nationals and for Japan Nationals, 2023 World Bank

Application Deadline: May 26, 2023

McGill University Entrance Bursary Program for International Students in Canada, 2023 McGill University

Application Deadline: June 30th.

MacSon Entrance Scholarship for International Students at the University of Guelph in

International Student Annual Scholarships in USA North Hennepin Community College

Application Deadline: 1st May 2023 and 1st October 2023

Equal Access Scholarships for International Students in the UK, 2023

University of York

Application Deadline: 25 April 2023

GREAT Scholarships for International Students at University of Northampton, UK University of Northampton

Application Deadline: June 2023

It has been said that

anyone who aspires to be an effective leader will need to be equipped with both intrapersonal and interpersonal skills

Individual sports like athletics teach one critical intrapersonal skills which relates to emotional intelligence and these include the ability to focus, self-confidence, resilience and self-discipline. Similarly, team sports such as football

and basketball help the individual to develop interpersonal skills such as the art of communication, being a team player, empathy, responsibility, dependability, patience and adaptability. Contrary to the belief of many African educators, the regular playing of sports at school does not amount to a waste of time but moulds character and nurtures qualitative leadership.

Israel Adesanya knocks out Alex Perreira at UFC 287

By: Africanews

Israel Adesanya wanted a quick rematch after a November loss to Alex Pereira stripped him of the 185-pound championship belt he’d held since 2019.

Five months later in UFC 287 in Miami early Sunday, Adesanya dropped the middleweight champion Pereira with two right hands, then raised his fists in triumph as he took back his middleweight championship belt and cemented his legacy as one of the greatest fighters in the sport’s history

“I hope every one of you behind the screen or in this arena can feel this level of happiness just one time in your life,” Adesanya said. “But guess what, you’ll never feel this level of happiness if you don’t go for something ”

Pereira (7-2) landed a knee that pushed Adesanya (242) into the cage in the second round. Adesanya came off the cage with two

ACROSS

1 Oscar-winning 2017 Pixar film

5 Use a loom

10 standard protocol used by email clients(acronym)

14 Smell

15 Bewitched

16 Fey of "30 Rock

17 Papa's mate

DOWN

1 Freebie

2 Scandinavian alodium owned by individuals

3 Unresponsive state

4 Juicy fruits

5 Bread choice

6 Spooky

7 Neural transmitter

8 Docs for dogs

9Tokyo before 1868

10 Norse mythology goddess of spring

11 2020 Oscar-winning film with dialogue in Korean

12 cross the t's ___ ___ the i's (2 words)

13 out-of-date

21 Light brown

22Allotment

24 Some ballistic missiles (acronym)

25 No longer working:Abbr

26 In the past

27 Promise

28 Someone ___ (not mine or yours)

29 Constricting snakes

31Apple's operating system

32American Society of Civil Engineers (acronym.)

34 Provide food for

35 Word before "talk" or "rally”

36Another phrase for radio presenter (acronym)

37 Expert 39 No 1 cryptocurrency

40 Ignore (2 words)

41 Punctual (2 words)

42 Enter hurriedly (2 words)

43 UFO crew

44 She/___ pronouns

46 Light on one's feet

right hooks and a right hammer fist, followed by ground and pound to end the fight at 4:21.

The 35-year-old Pereira had never lost to Adesanya. Before he scored a TKO win for the welterweight belt in UFC 281 in November, Pereira defeated Adesanya twice in kick boxing

Adesanya, born in Nigeria but raised in New Zealand, entered the UFC in 2018 and won the middleweight belt a year later when he beat then-champion Robert Whittaker in a stunning knockout.

He successfully defended his title five times as he became one of the sport’s main draws. He was in unfamiliar territory Saturday as the challenger

“They say revenge is sweet,” Adesanya said. “And if you know me, I’ve got a sweet tooth.”

47 Diamond corners

49 Fill completely

50 ___ andThummim (sacred Judaic objects) 51 2nd qtr. starter (abbreviation)

52 Hammer's target

53Alternatively

55 Starchy tuber

What is Cerebral Palsy?

Cerebral palsy (CP) refers to a

group of disorders that affect muscle movement and coordination. In many cases, cerebral palsy also affects vision, hearing, and sensation. The word “cerebral” means having to do with the brain. The word “palsy” means weakness or problems with body movement.

Cerebral palsy is the most common cause of motor disabilities in childhood. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it affects 1 to 4 out of every 1,000 childrenTrusted Source worldwide

The Symptoms

The symptoms of cerebral palsy vary from person to person and range from mild to severe. Some people with cerebral palsy may have difficulty walking and sitting. Other people with cerebral palsy can have trouble grasping objects

The effects of the condition can become more or less obvious or limiting as a child grows and develops motor skills. They also vary depending on the part of the brain that was affected. Some of the more common symptoms include:

• delays in reaching motor skill milestones, such as rolling over, sitting up alone, or crawling

• difficulty walking

• variations in muscle tone, such as being too floppy or too stiff

• spasticity, or stiff muscles and exaggerated reflexes

• ataxia, or a lack of muscle coordination

• tremors or involuntary movements

• delays in speech development and difficulty speaking

• excessive drooling and problems with swallowing

• favoring one side of the body, such as reaching with one hand

• neurological issues, such as seizures, intellectual disabilities, and blindness

Causes of cerebral palsy

In most cases, the exact cause of cerebral palsy is unknown. Atypical brain development or injury to the developing brain can cause cerebral palsy. The damage affects the part of the brain that controls body movement, coordination, and posture

This brain damage usually occurs before birth, but it can also happen during birth or the first years of life

Other possible causes include:

• head injuries as a result of a car accident, fall, or child abuse

• intracranial hemorrhage, or bleeding into the brain

• brain infections, such as encephalitis and meningitis

• infections acquired in the womb, such as German measles (rubella) and herpes simplex

• asphyxia neonatorum, or a lack of oxygen to the brain during labor and delivery

• gene mutations that result in atypical brain development

• severe jaundice in the infant

Long-term outlook for people with cerebral palsy

There’s no cure for cerebral palsy, but some of the effects can often be managed and many complications can be prevented or delayed. The specific type of treatment varies from person to person. Some people with cerebral palsy may not need very much assistance, while others might need extensive, long-term care for their symptoms

Regardless of the severity of the condition, treatment can improve the lives of those with cerebral palsy by helping them enhance their motor skills and ability to communicate

Sources: Eblity.com and Healthline.com

Tobiloba Ajayi has over 12 years of experience working with various organizations in the Disability Management sector in different countries. She holds a degree in Law and also bagged a Masters's Degree in International Law from the University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. She was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2008. Tobiloba has cerebral palsy

She started by working on Disability Policy as a member of the Nigerian Vision 2020; policy drafting team, and went on to work with various NGOs in a quest to improve the lives of persons with disabilities.

In March 2017, she launched The Let Cerebral Palsy Kids Learn Foundation to promote inclusive mainstream education for children with Cerebral Palsy in Nigeria. This was born out of a realization in 2016 during her Mandela Washington Fellowship, Professional Development Experience that children with Cerebral Palsy were being excluded from mainstream education by the school system in Nigeria. To date, the Foundation has provided support to 450+ children and their families and enabled 95+ of these children to access inclusive education. Each family accesses continuous counseling, referrals, school placement supports and school readiness assessments. The project has also trained over 500 teachers in its bid to address the knowledge and skills gap of mainstream classroom teachers to engage children with Cerebral Palsy in their classrooms

Tobiloba Ajayi

By www.nairametrics.com

Africa is a continent that is home

to some of the most dynamic and innovative entrepreneurs in the world. With a growing tech industry, more and more African entrepreneurs are making their mark in the global market. In this article, we will take a closer look at the top 7 African leaders in the tech business

Strive Masiyiwa

Strive Masiyiwa is a Zimbabwean businessman and entrepreneur who is considered one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Africa. He is the founder and executive chairman of Econet Wireless, a telecommunications company that operates in several African countries. Masiyiwa is also the founder of Kwese TV, a Pan-African television network that offers sports, entertainment, and news content.

Masiyiwa is known for his philanthropic work, particularly in education and healthcare. He is the founder of the Higherlife Foundation, which provides scholarships to underprivileged children in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Burundi. Masiyiwa is also a member of the Giving Pledge, a philanthropic initiative started by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. He is the only African member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Committee on Conscience

Ashish Thakkar

Ashish Thakkar is a Ugandan-born entrepreneur who is the founder and CEO of Mara Group, a conglomerate that operates in several industries, including technology, real estate, and manufacturing. Thakkar is also the founder of Mara Foundation, a nonprofit organisation that provides entrepreneurship training and mentorship to young people in Africa. Mara Group’s operations and investments span 22 African countries He is the author of “The Lion Awakes: Adventures in Africa’s Economic Miracle”.

Top 7 African Leaders in Tech Business

In addition to his business ventures, Thakkar is known for his advocacy work in promoting entrepreneurship and innovation in Africa. He is a member of the UN Foundation Global Entrepreneurs Council and the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Africa.

Manasseh Egedegbe

Manasseh Egedegbe is an experienced Nigerian tech investor and a top African leader in the tech business He has made an initial angel investment of $1.5 million in over ten early-stage startups in various industries in the tech sector, resulting in a portfolio valued at $30 million.

He is the co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of Venture Kinetics, a venture capital fund company specialising in the tech startup space in Africa. Manasseh is the Founder and CEO of Kudy Financials Sarl, a financial technology company that focuses on providing investment products to retail investors by leveraging advanced technology and a data-driven approach.

He is also a Board of Directors member of RelianceHMO, an HealthTech company that uses software, data science, and telemedicine to make health insurance delightful, affordable, and easier to access. With his keen eye for emerging trends and technologies, Manasseh has a proven track record of identifying and investing in early-stage startups across various industries in the tech sector.

Rebecca Enonchong

Rebecca Enonchong is a Cameroonian entrepreneur and the founder of AppsTech, a global provider of enterprise application solutions

Enonchong is also a board member of several organisations, including the African Business Angels Network and the African Media Initiative

Enonchong is known for her advocacy work in promoting the development of

the African tech industry. She is the founder of the Africa Technology Forum, an annual event that brings together entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers to discuss the future of technology in Africa.

She has been recognized for her contributions to the field with a number of awards, including the African Digital Woman of the Year Award and the Global Telecoms Business Innovation Award.

Ham Serunjogi & Majid Moujaled

Ham Serunjogi, the Ugandan CEO of Chipper Cash, and his co-founder, Maijid Moujaled, launched the platform in 2018 to help Africans send money across borders in local currencies

With no-fee, cross-border payments and peer-to-peer transactions, Chipper Cash has grown to over 4 million users in seven African countries, as well as the U.K. and the U.S. Serunjogi has taken a growth-first approach, offering discounts and zero-fee transactions to attract customers, paid for by funding rounds

Chipper Cash has attracted investment from major players, including Jeff Bezos’ investment vehicle, Bezos Expeditions, and was valued at $2 billion for its series C funding round in November 2021. Chipper Cash has raised $337.2M so far Chipper Cash closed its last funding round on Jan 1, 2022 from a Venture –Series Unknown round.

Their next goal is to bring cryptocurrency into the mainstream in Africa.

Tayo Oviosu

Tayo Oviosu is a Nigerian entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Paga, a mobile payments platform that allows users to send and receive money, pay bills, and purchase goods and services Oviosu previously worked for several multinational companies, including Cisco and Deloitte

In addition to his work with Paga, Oviosu is known for his advocacy work in promoting financial inclusion in Africa. He is a member of the Global Financial Inclusion Initiative and the African Leadership Network.

Shola Akinlade

Paystack co-founder Shola Akinlade is a true example of the Nigerian startup dream. Along with his old schoolmate Ezra Olubi, Akinlade founded the payments company in 2015 to help unblock the Nigerian digital economy by offering new ways for businesses and individuals to transact online

Their efforts were rewarded when Paystack was accepted into the prestigious Y Combinator accelerator program in November 2015, which helped the company become one of Africa’s leading tech firms

In 2020, Stripe, a U.S. fintech giant, acquired Paystack for $200 million, and since then, the company has continued to make strides, such as becoming the first African payment gateway partner for Apple Pay and expanding its services to South Africa.

In conclusion, these African leaders in the tech business are making a significant impact not only in their respective countries but also in the global market. Their innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit serve as an inspiration to the next generation of African entrepreneurs

Healthy living

BY DR BANKOLE SADIPE

but tend to lose this once out of the environment. They must endeavour to continue in the same vein wherever they end up finding themselves anywhere in the world.

Nutritional Awareness:

Good eating habits are a must. While there are just too many of “eat this, not that” to start elaborating here, there’s always a simple golden rule to remember.

1:2:2: in every meal for every portion of carbohydrate (1) make sure you have twice as much protein (2) and twice as much vegetables (2). Always remember that by definition no food is poison ( even the dreaded fat or killer sugar), it is rather how much of it and how often it is ingested that can land us in trouble

In the year 2000, two best friends scientists in the field of human ageing took out a 150 year bet ( to expire in 2150). In the bet, the optimist of the two believed that by then humans will be routinely living up to 100 years with some reaching 150 years as against the routine 80 years and occasional 100s we see today. The other, not so optimist, believes the upper limit of routine human lives will be in the late 80s with the occasional century mark but never up to 150 years. Well the only sure thing about the bet is whoever wins, it is their great grandchildren that will be collecting the proceeds. (1)

*But notwithstanding, this brings up a real and cheering fact that generally humans are expected to be living longer. A lot of this is due to advances in medical science which are addressing many of the ailments that show up later in life and also due to increased knowledge and awareness as to things we can do much earlier in life that could stem such ailments. Common to many of these knowledge breakthroughs is that the earlier in life some habits start especially in adolescence the greatest impact on health and the easier it becomes routine later in life

Students and young adults can do well to start imbibing these simple habits like

Daily Physical Exercise:

It’s recommended that adults should have no less than 150 mins per week of moderate physical exercise which includes something as simple as brisk walking (2). Many students invariably catch this in the course of school and lectures on campus

Minimal Alcohol Intake: While much research abound on minor health benefits for mild to moderate alcohol intake , there’s still no consensus on the levels of intake. On the other hand there’s absolutely no negative to nil alcohol intake while from moderate drinking we start seeing deleterious effects on the health. Since some of these habits are picked up while in school, it’s a good time to make a life decision concerning a relationship with alcohol. Abstinence has all the benefits. (3)

Healthy Mental and Social Attitude: We also need to build up a healthy attitude to challenges and situations that we will face in life. This inner reserve translated in many contemporary ways including Emotional Intelligence gives us a lifetime edge in our health. As the saying goes, “ If ( or When) life throws you lemons, make lemonade”. Life in its various forms will happen to us all but our attitude to these situations determines how much we are affected.

Students , looking critically, these habits are not too difficult or strenuous to imbibe.

References

Https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-100the-new-life-expectancy-for-people-bornin-the-21st-century-11587041951

Physical Activity Guidelines, NHS UK Https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutrition source/healthy-drinks/drinks-toconsume-in-moderation/alcohol-fullstory/

Bankole Sadipe is a medical doctor and an entrepreneur. He runs 21 Medical, a medical consultancy and advocacy group Twitter: @bsadipe

The Contagious Courage and Confidence

By Opeyemi Ojo

confidence in?

Do you have that "I can do it" attitude?

How to Contact Courage and Confidence?

1. Upgrade to a higher dimension of yourself.

2. You must mingle with the right people

3. Emulate good and godly values

4. Learn from other people's stories

5. Be in the right environment

Confidence is feeling

or showing certainty about something

Being unshakable in one's belief

According to Macmillan dictionary, someone who is confident believes in his or her own abilities and so does not feel nervous or frightened. People who are confident display it by the way they talk, walk, dress, speak, smile and comport themselves. Confidence and courage cannot be hidden, even if you try to hide it, it will be glaring somehow Confidence is glaring and finds its expression either in speech, tone, appearance, mood or countenance.

Courage on the other hand is the ability to act despite odds, fear or opposition.

The

Merriam Webster dictionary defines courage as mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty

Courage implies firmness of mind and will in the face of danger or extreme difficulty

My own definition is this Courage is the ability to confront your fear. Courage can be of different types. You need courage to take risks. You need courage to move to the next level. You also need courage to get the lion's share

The first thing you need is

courage and confidence will follow suit. If you have confidence without courage, that confidence may collapse. Let the confidence on the inside of you flow, do not resist it or allow anyone to choke it. That doesn't mean you should not be courteous

However, confidence is not pride, it is totally different from pride or arrogance Confidence should emanate from the inside of you to the outward. It should not be otherwise. It is not about you proving a point but expressing your inner self/esteem. It's a form of life expressing itself and thus must be controlled.

Confidence also reflects the level of growth and knowledge acquired which cannot be suppressed. It shows you have overcome certain situations, you are no longer afraid and thus act bravely. Real confidence implies that; You are aware of yourself; You have mastered something; You have answers to some questions

Ponder on some of these questions

How firm is your mind?

How firm are your actions?

How firm are your decisions?

Can confidence be contagious?

What area do you show

6. Be in the right association.

7. Make the right decisions

8. Develop your personality

9. Have a coach and mentor

10. Get the right information.

11. Appreciate little success

12. Aspire to greater heights

13. Do not compare yourself

14. Set goals and achieve them.

15. Do not give up easily

16. Overcome obstacles

17. Complete your task.

18. Do the right things

19. Celebrate yourself

20. Dream again.

After you have been courageous for a while, you will develop confidence. It takes courage to show up and to become who you were created to be

Show up!

Opeyemi Ojo is the host of Today's Insight with Opeyemi Ojo. She is a Personal and School Development Strategist and also a certified Strategic Life Coach. Opeyemi obtained her Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) from University of Lagos and served as a school administrator for several years. She served briefly as a volunteer with “Fit To Teach” to train teachers at Corona Schools amongst other schools. She is an alumnus of Leading Ladies Business Institute (LLBI); a member of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN); the Nigeria Institute of (NIM) and the Fishery Society of Nigeria (FISON).

Opeyemi Ojo has also authored her first book, Who Deserves My Respect?

www.improvementcentre.org

The strength of this statement is drawn from the evidence of policy progress, as well as the insights of civil society organisations who are tracking environment friendly measures on the ground. Nonetheless, the worldwide economy is still excessively reliant on fossil fuel-based energy, transport and carbon intensive industries. With an increasing share of this workforce finding themselves unemployed, these sectors are quite simply failing to secure and create enough jobs. The brown economy model is struggling and does not provide us the sustainability we need to safeguard this planet, which we are in effect borrowing from future generations. Some yet to be born. What then are the aspirations and robust foundations the world has, on which to build a green and equitable economy?

Politics Matters

For the first time and at the COP21 in 2016, worldwide governments together with businesses, trade unions and civil society organisations adopted the “Paris Agreement on Climate” to set global targets for the world to reduce or at the minimum, maintain global carbon emissions. This offered for the first time, an opportunity for all countries, but the most industrialised ones in particular, the prospects of making changes where economy, ecology and society can match and work in a symbiotic manner. As a matter of fact, we need governments, all governments, especially those of the most polluting countries to politically support such an accord to transform this “agreement” into a “movement”. The opening statement by Mrs. Von der Leyen when she was newly appointed the European Commission President in 2019 wishing “Europe to become the first climate-neutral continent in the world by 2050” gave all, including experts, technocrats and decision makers hope for the future, as it was considered to be a call to action.

Forward-looking Economy

The Green economy will be an inspirational model for the future, and green jobs will be the backbone of it.

Green Skills, or to put it better, “Greening Skills” are required to create jobs and support the green economy This reflects the journey we all need to urgently embark on, not only to make our planet ready for the future but to make it sustainable and able to regenerate itself Collaborative multilateral, international and regional skills organisations should become major platforms where we all learn the skills required. The evolution of skills to model the demand of societies, should be the focus of existing and imminent future occupations. This is the stuff of innovation.

The "greening" of existing occupations should be on the agenda of education policy makers and educators in all education systems. Specific attention should be paid to up-skilling, re-skilling and educational reforms, targeting greening areas such as Renewable Energies, Energy and Resource Efficiency and Natural Resource Management. One should also take note that the Green Jobs sector goes far beyond those limited to the greening areas only. For instance, parallel sectors such as businesses feeding into industries i.e farming, construction, manufacturing, mining, public transport and utilities as well as related services present excellent opportunities for green jobs creation also. Green Jobs, Green Skills, Competencies, Learning Objectives, Curriculum will then be defined and sustained by Innovative Learning Solutions

To support all this, we will need talents with necessary foundations in terms of “knowledge” but also in terms of “attitude” and “values”. Educational reforms on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for green and sustainable economies will be given maximum potential to succeed if, and only if, educational systems intentionally place a premium on their importance and go ahead to systematically ingrain the right attitude in

primary and secondary school pupils, towards them. The Greening economy needs to be reflected throughout the entire education system with a very holistic approach.

The call for greening skills and a green economy will no doubt make some impact on climate change and will also help us to manage desired outcomes Outcomes whose effects will be generational and for which movements such as FridaysForFuture are already holding us to account.

To face our future, let’s keep the window of opportunity wide open. Innovative technologies such as nanotechnology in engineering sciences or core elements of Industry 4.0 will offer more to reach in production, management and conversion of energy, energy storage and distribution as well as its intelligent usage; while our natural resources will be managed with smart processes to secure decent life for all, leaving no one behind on our blue planet, and forever greener

After 3 first academic research and teaching activities, Dr. Nader Imani Joined Festo, a global leader in automation and technical education in 1992. Since then he has been assuming different roles and management responsibilities with Festo Didactic in Germany, as well as acting as CEO of Festo Didactic in the United States and Canada, since 2017 appointed as Executive Vice President Global Education, he has been responsible for larger education projects with impact on socio-economic progress around the globe

He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering of Ecole Centrale de Nantes in France as well as a qualification degree from Harvard Business School in the United States and Saint Gallen School of Management in Switzerland.

In 2014 he was elected as a member of the council and from 2020 as the president of Worlddidac Association of promotion of Education Industry. Within the frame of his professional activities, Dr. Imani has served WorldSkills International since 2017 as a member of its Advisory Board on Skills Development in Africa. Dr. Imani has been acting as an active partner of the United Nations as well as bi- and multilateral development agencies to drive innovation in the field of technical vocational education and training and industrial workforce development.

The green economy offers the opportunity for significant growth in societies by working in line with ecology, not against it. It represents the culmination of sustainable development goals all together.

Winning the future with greening education