SOCIAL MEDIA AND CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIES: A RECIPE TO #SAVEBAGEGA

In October 2012, when the Follow The Money Team were developing their website, little did they know that the hashtag #SaveBagega was going to reach a staggering 600,000 people from over 100 countries. Consequently, putting more pressure on the government of Nigeria to attend to the urgent need of this ailing community.

Bagega is a village community in Zamfara, Northern Nigeria, where 1,500 children awaits urgent medical attention for lead poisoning. "All we had in mind was to create a web platform integrated with social media tools, and write reports (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Storify) that could amplify the voice of these helpless communities" said Hamzat Lawal, co - creator of the non-profit group that advocates, tracks, and visualizes aid meant for local communities.

It's My Birthday in Few Days!!!! YAY!!!!!

My birthday is a few days away and i have decided to do something different this year with friends and family :D

Well, my master plan to make the day splendid is by appreciating the environment for giving me so much and still ask nothing in return and also spend time in the orphanage and plant trees with the children in promoting environmental sustainability while inspiring local positive actions. 

Now, it’s left for us all to take actions to protect our environment by giving back to it.

Kindly join me on Tuesday, March 12 @ Abuja Children’s Home, Karu-Site, Abuja – Nigeria in giving back to the environment & caring for this vulnerable children :) 

Feel free to bring along with you gift items for the children and tree plants.

Cheers!!!!!!!!!!

Japheth Omojuwa: For bloggers only – Part 2 | #SaveBagega

The power of new media realities is that everyone who cares to have a voice now has a voice.

The world has not only changed, that change is in itself increasingly changing. While survival in the old world depended on how well one could think outside of the proverbial box, these days to be at the very top of the world you must do away with the box in its entirety. You don’t need the box. The world is our space and this space is endless. To be at the forefront of the cascading events that define and are redefining the world, we must bench mark ourselves against these realities. Whether or not we move on as a people or country, the world will continue to move forward. It is on this premise that I seek to address the quasi Bloggers who have suddenly realized that Bloggers should not exist in the Nigerian conversation space. I don’t find this funny but I find the part where these same folks use blogs to pass their message across as absurdly funny. It is like posting bills on walls about not posting bills on walls. This is of course not absurd in a place where people use BlackBerry broadcasts to warn people about BlackBerry broadcasts. It is certainly normal to see this as normal in a country where serially indicted public officials emphasize the need for transparency and accountability. This is of course absurd if we benchmark our common sense on the expectations of the world.

Help save 1,500 Children in Zamfara today! #SaveBagega

GOV. ABDUL'AZIZ ABUBAKAR YARI           

HON. BELLO MARADUN MUTAWALLE

HON. IBRAHIM SHEHU GUSAU

HON. MU'AZU B/TUDU LAWAL

HON. LAWALI ANKA HASSAN

HON. DANGALADIMA UMAR SANI

HON. BILIYAMINU SHINKAFI YUSUF

HON. SANI RUWAN DORUWA IBRAHIM

SEN. KABIR GARBA M

SEN. SAHABI ALHAJI YAU

SEN. AHMAD RUFAI SANI

PROFESSOR ONYEBUCH CHUKWU (MINISTER FOR HEALTH)

MRS. HADIZA IBRAHIM MAILAFA (MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT)

ALH. MOHAMMED PATE (MINISTER OF STATE HEALTH)

AMB. BASHIR YUGUDU

Despite the massive coverage of the endemic going on in Zamfara State of Nigeria  (Human Rights Watch, HuffingtonPost, France24, Institute of Chattered Chemists, Premium Times, Nigerian Youth Climate Action, Channel4, ThisDay, Follow The Money) nothing concrete seems to be happening. Appeals from Senator bukola Saraki, Doctors without Borders, CSOs and NGO's both international and foreign including bloggers have fallen on deaf ears but as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Doha climate conference diary: youth activists bring energy and urgency

When the US university student Anjali Appadurai lambasted diplomats from 194 countries for their lack of action and ambition at last year's climate talks in Durban, she shocked the UN and galvanised the meeting. She told them:

"I speak for half the world. We are the silent majority. You've given us a seat in this hall, but our interests are not on the table. What does it take to get a stake in this game? Lobbyists? Corporate influence? Money? You've been negotiating all my life. In that time, you've failed to meet pledges, you've missed targets, and you've broken promises, but you've heard this all before."

Young People To World Leaders at COP18: Your Climate Legacy Shapes The World We Inherit.

On Monday morning, negotiators from around the world poured into the Qatar National Conference Center for the first day of the COP18 United Nations Climate Talks, prepared for a long day of speeches on the technical details of multilateral environmental diplomacy. However, as they travelled down the moving walkway between security and the plenary hall they were confronted with the human face of climate change.’

Young people from around the world had flanked the walkway holding signs in multiple languages that reminded negotiators of the terrifying consequences that runaway greenhouse gas emissions have already begun imposing on people and the planet; droughts, hurricanes, wildfires, desertification, rising seas, biodiversity loss, and more.  At the bottom of each sign the youth posed the question “Will This Be Your #ClimateLegacy?”

Chart: Among youth, unemployment is not always the issue

From the World Development Report 2013

621 million young people are “idle”—not in school or training, not employed, and not looking for work. Rates of idleness vary across countries, ranging between 10 and 50 percent among 15- to 24-year-olds.

Source: http://blogs.worldbank.org  

Counting Costs of Climate Change. By Stanley Ijeoma

CLIMATE change has finally come home; yes our lives have been invaded by floods of fury and other freak weather events that we currently grapple with.  From Lokoja to Onitsha, down to Yenogoa and moving north of the Niger to Makurdi, Adamawa and Taraba; it has been tales of woe, sorrow, anger and disappointment.  Confusion and utter bewilderment were clearly written on the faces of the governors of these states–I do not know of any state governor or minister in Nigeria today, including the Federal Capital Territory, that has appointed a cabinet level Adviser or Special Assistant on Climate Change –strictly climate change, specifically! Climate change deserves to be unbundled from the environment portfolio –at least at advisory levels -because of its cross cutting nature that requires specialized multi-sectoral knowledge.

For Nigerian Women (and Girls), It Will Take More Than YouWin. By ZAINAB SANDAH

Except for when the camera generally sweeps through the Federal Executive Council seating, you hardly see or hear from Hajiya Zainab Maina, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development. That is, until she was recently reported by Daily Trust as saying that ‘the YouWin program is aimed at facilitating women’s transition from informal to formal sector of economic development’. (Thank God it’s that simple!) But perhaps not so, and Honourable Minister underestimates the daily challenges being faced by women and girls across the country and needs reminding why empowering 6,000 (or 1,200?) out of 80 million women, 54 million of whom are rural and mired in backbreaking and unskilled labour should not presuppose an automatic facilitation of transition to formal sector of economic development.

BMC task FG on entrepreneurship mentorship for youths

Business Management Conference (BMC), a non-governmental organisation, has called on the Federal Government to create centres across the country where youths could be properly mentored on how to be successful entrepreneurs. This, according to the group, would help bridge the unemployment gap.

The call was made in Lagos at a seminar organised by the organisation, themed, ‘Emergence of Giant Entrepreneurs.’

How Can Africa’s Resources Profit Its People? By Katherine Lay

Tune in to the BBC’s Africa Debate and Make your Voice Heard.

Whether Africa will ever harness the full potential of its natural resources to combat poverty is a question that is more relevant now than ever, as new discoveries of coal, oil and gas look set to transform global energy markets and – we hope – the economies of resource-rich African countries. It’s a question the BBC will pose to global experts in the AfricaDebate in Addis Ababa at 19:00 GMT/UTC on 26th October. ONE will be participating in the debate and citizens across the continent will be airing their views.  We’d like to hear yours.

Award Winning Group Makes Song on Co2 'Me & My Bike'

T-S-1 from Nairobi, Kenya, made a song about Co2. They are already winners of four awards.

Rap Ojuki and MaryX chorus Ester

Enjoy!!!

Lerics

Bicycle Song -Me and My Mike

Mobile Technology and Social Change. By Ryan MacLean

The opportunities for youth to be agents of change are increasing in number dramatically, with the spreading use of mobile technology and pace of its innovative applications. Twelve youth across nine countries – Canada, the US, Brazil, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Italy, Belgium, and the UK – were convened by TakingITGlobal on September 4th, 2012 to discuss some vibrant examples of recent mobile web technologies that are facilitating social change, many of which are being created or used by these same participants.

The youth climate movement was well-represented at this Cisco-enabled teleconference, as these young leaders build upon the momentum of Rio+20 and look ahead to the COP 18 Meeting in Doha.

Women and Youth as Catalyst for Agribusiness Development and Growth.

On October 6 – 9, 2012, the leadership of UNIDO Regional Office in Abuja-Nigeria in partnership with IFAD, UNWoman, FAO, UNDP, Songhai Centre & OXFAM organised a four day workshop in Port Novo tagged ‘Youth & Women As Catalysts For Agribusiness Development And Growth in West & Central Africa’.

The event started with a trade fair showcasing agribusiness produces and processing machineries and culminated in a consultative forum which explored strategies for attracting more women and youth in agribusiness - as a credible job and wealth creation option for the sub region.

Earth Hour Unveils 2013 Official Video :)

Earth Hour is organised by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). With almost 5 million supporters and a global network in over 100 countries/territories, it’s one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organisations. WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the Earth's natural environment and build a future where people live in harmony with nature.

Globalisation of floods: The start of hundred years of change in Nigeria. By Dele Sobowale

“Climate change is more threatening than people realize”- Dr Kim, CNN, October 12, 2012.

Another climatologist has gone further by stating that climate change and the advent of perennial floods are already reshaping civilization as we know it and very few countries will emerge intact from the impact of climate change. Nigeria is no exception. Countries with long coastal regions and many rivers, which hitherto had benefited from water provided by rivers, seas and oceans will be the hardest hit.

It was in the 1980s that globalisation of markets became the mantra of the leading thinkers in management studies. “In today’s market you don’t have to go abroad to experience international competition. Sooner or later, the world comes to you”. “Harvard Business Review, March-April, 2002”. (VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p75). That explains why no sooner than a new product is released in America, Japan, China, etc, and it is available in Nigerian  markets.

Climate Conversations - Why millions still don't use clean cookstoves. By Jerome Bossuet

There may be plenty of exciting ideas around that could help solve hunger, poverty and lack of access to energy. But the problem is persuading people to adopt them and roll them out on a large scale in poor, marginalised communities.

For instance, at the Convergences 2015 Forum in Paris last month, a photo exhibition entitled Innovate against Hunger, by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), presented several agricultural innovations that are helping farmers cope with drier weather and more unpredictable rainfall. Low-pressure drip irrigation, small seed packets, and bio-reclamation of degraded lands are all boosting yields and incomes, while boosting people’s resilience.

Go Green or Die! By Mukosha Funga

Imagine the world 50 years from now if people do not take an active role in fighting climate change.

IMAGINE the year is 2060 and you have finally managed to get enough money to visit the 7th wonder of the world; the Victoria falls. As the guide leads you to your destination, you have high expectations.

Before you realise it, you ground to a halt and hear the guide saying 'this is it'. You discover you are standing at a deep narrow steep-sided valley; a ravine. It is a lifeless place.

No water cascading over masses of rocks. No lush greenery on the banks. Coarse dried up grass and grey-brown rocks are all that meet the eye.

#NGFloods: THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE SOUTH-EAST RESPONSE. BY Akachukwu Okafor

The floods are finally here, no doubts about that.  It has come with its full rage totally submerging communities, farmlands, destroying lives and property along its path, with thousands rendered homeless, now taking shelter as Internally-Displaced Persons (IDPs) and over 25 million predicted to be affected. No thanks to the increase in annual rainfall this year that caused excess water at Lagdo dam in Cameroun, Kainji, Shiroro, Jebba, Warama, Kiri dams in Niger, Kwara Kano, and Adamawa states respectively to be released. This resulted to over flow of the River Niger and River Benue in the form of flash and massive flood into communities along its plains and tributaries. Affected states includes: Niger, Kogi, Benue, Delta, Anambra, Sokoto, Kebbi, Bauchi, Katisna, Imo, Ebonyi, Adamawa, Kano, Jigawa, Gombe, Rivers, Cross River, Ondo, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, and Lagos. The magnitude of the devastation can only be expressed by calculating the total land mass of affected area, number of persons killed and displaced, impact on affected population, worth of property destroyed, impact on local and national economy and post flood recovery costs.

National Climate Change Policy and Nigerian Floods.

Climate change, Floods and government responsibility.

Climate change is no longer an issue that is only discussed by a few elite groups in Nigeria. An ordinary Nigerian is currently facing the impacts, making life harder than it already was and governments keep saying that they are doings something about it. Well yes there are.