Mon 29 Dec 2008
At coffee ceremony in Ethiopia!
On December 25, Emmanuel and I hosted a coffee ceremony at our home in Addis Ababa. There were lots of friends from the Ethiopian community, including grandma!
Wed 25 Jun 2008
Last saturday was my last official day as the Executive Director of Development Partnership International. How time flies, it seems like only yesterday, yet I have been holding sway at DPI for three and half years. I am so happy to have been able to work with a dynamic team of young people who are interested in change and to contribute my little quota to youth work in Nigeria. I am particularly proud to have been able to work with former Ms. Onyinye Ndubisi (now Mrs.) DPI co-founder, during this period.
I have been replaced by Ms. Betsy Imabibo. A dynamic young woman who has been DPI’s International Partnerships and Billingual Coordinator since its inception. She is being joined on the management by a team of dynamic and determined youth leaders from various professions. I will be working with Betsy as adviser to the organisation during the course of her term.
I wish Betsy and the rest of the management team all success they deserve.
Mon 24 Dec 2007
The year 2007 like the one before it was quite busy! I have been working through many different processes and have lived in three different cities during the year. First, I was in Port Harcourt from January to March, then I moved to Osogbo, Osun State in March and lived there until June. I am currently in Abuja, I moved here at the end of June to continue the compulsory national service which I am completing in January 2008.
After the initial orientation camp in Ede, I wrote a report titled “Serving the nation,” which highlighted my experiences, thoughts and expectations throughout the camp. I raised issues related to education, health care and HIV prevention, service delivery in Nigeria (SERVICOM) and most importantly relationships. I met one of the most treasured friends I will ever have in my lifetime at this camp. Leaving camp, I lived in a small community called Illobu and was assigned to teach at the Illobu Community Commercial Grammar School. I love to be a teacher, and I guess that’s just what I have been doing a most part of my life. I have taught music and French during my days in secondary school.
When I moved to Abuja to join the Ministry of Youth Development, it was for me a dream come true. I am happy to have been here and have contributed to some very critical long term plans, including the draft National Youth Development Agenda (2008-2015) which is currently receiving attention at the Presidency and may be approved in the New Year. My term as Nigeria’s representative at the Commonwealth Regional Youth Caucus was also renewed for another two years.
As the year comes to a close in a few days, I have been thinking what 2008 will be like. The next few days will be spent in a private place where I can think through with my many thoughts and take decisions on what I should be doing in the new year.
Sat 9 Jun 2007
I just read on the UNAIDS website that South Africa held a National AIDS Conference in Durban last week with the participation of UNAIDS Executive Director, Dr. Peter Piot and South Africa’s Deputy President Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. More than 4,000 AIDS activists, scientists and experts had attended the conference. From all indications, this conference was very well organised and attended.
Wed 14 Feb 2007
I have been travelling for the last one week to the US. Last week, after a three day workshop in New York, I travelled to Washington DC to speak at a conference of University Students’ at the John Hopkins University on “Education for All: Challenges and Opportunities in the Niger-Delta” which was a qualitative study supported by Global Rights Partners for Justice since 2005. I returned to New York yesterday to speak at the UN Commission for Social Development and later a meeting with the theme developing the World Youth Report 2007.