CHALLENGES FACING THE YOUTH IN OUR PRESENT SOCIETY

CHALLENGES FACING THE YOUTH IN OUR PRESENT SOCIETY

Globalisation is a new historical reality that is propelled by knowledge and technological advancement. The rapid expansion of markets across national boundaries and the socio-political effects it brings, has grave implications for developing countries including Nigeria. There is a consensus that less developed and technologically advantaged countries shall be unable to take advantage of the increased opportunities that globalisation provide and are to be increasingly powerless and marginalised.

Evidently, successful integration into the global economy shall be a tall order for Nigeria, considering the perceived challenges that confronts majority of Nigeria’s overwhelming youth population. These include; restricted access to functional and qualitative education

Despite enormous progress made in educational outcomes, there are still many young people who lack basic skills needed to support their post-school life. Though high enrolment are reported in many states under the UBE scheme, early dropouts, grade repetition and poor education quality mean that many enter adolescence poorly prepared and ill-equipped for work and life.

Early stage of life. It is the stage of constructing the self-concepts. The self-concept of youth is influenced several variables such as peers, gender, culture, economic, and religion.

Challenge: a demanding task or situation. Problems arising. Challenge is a contemporary word used for “problem”, replaced with problem. As generations shifted from “industrial” to “information” or “knowledge worker” age, every aspects of life change alongside. Challenges facing the youth are never new to concerns but as change remains the constant law of life, these challenges increase with varied approaches. The paramount challenges facing the youth remain the same over time age. Such challenges are termed “global” which are not subjected to time, space, race, and religion. These challenges include:

    Drug abuse

    Sexuality

    Poverty

    Single parenting

    Obesity

    Education disparity

    Materialism

    Violence in school

    Shifting economy

    Unemployment

On other hand, challenges that are restricted to time, space, race, age and religion are characterized “new challenges”. In the recent time, challenges have evolved which never exist in the past centuries. These new challenges include

    Hopelessness

    Negative impact of ICT (media, social networks)

    poor educational system

YOUNG TREE THAT WILL BECOME STRONGER THROUGH LIFE’S STORM

This story is about a young tree. It faced many storms through its young life. The powerful winds, torrential rains, famine, ice, and snow would lie across its branches. At times, the young tree questioned its maker asking, “Why have you let so many storms come into my life?” his maker whispered, “You will understand one day, stand firm, you will make it through the storm of life.” “The challenge will pass, keep this in mind.

The tree questioned its maker, “If I go through one more winter the snow will surely break my branches, if I face any more powerful wind I will surely be uprooted and moved away.” Its maker whispered, “stand strong, dig your roots deep into the soil, you will understand someday.”

Somehow the young tree kept the positive thoughts in its mind and managed to survive and make it through even the toughest of storms. Somehow, even in the toughest of times, when the things it went through should have broken it down, it found a way to stand firm even through the worst of storms. As the young tree grew taller, stringer, and matured the tree realised the storms of life had made it stronger.

Life is not all about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning how to dance in the rain.

Young people are sure to meet these challenges in their quest for comfort, freedom, and living. The motivation and encouragement is that the challenges only make them stronger fitted for adulthood.

Thought Power - Your Thoughts Create Your Reality

Thought Power - Your Thoughts Create Your Reality: Thought power is the key to creating reality. Everything you perceive in the physical outer world has its origin in the invisible, inner world of your thoughts.

Nigeria's unity is negotiable- Former Akwa Ibom state governor Victor Attah says

Nigeria's unity is negotiable- Former Akwa Ibom state governor Victor Attah says

Former Akwa Ibom state governor, Victor Attah, says contrary to President Buhari's position, Nigeria's unity can be negotiated. President Buhari, during the Sallah holiday, had told a group of people who paid him a visit in the state house, that members of the various militant groups and Pro-Biafra group should stop their agitations as the unity of Nigeria cannot be negotiated.

In an interview with Vanguard, Attah said negotiation does not mean splitting of the country ...

"You have to renegotiate. If you talk about renegotiation, some people think you want to split the country. No, it is like everytime they tell you to go and investigate somebody, you think it means you must go and find that person guilty. No, do not forget that they investigated Dr Alex Ekwueme and came back and said in fact, he was poorer than when he went in (to government). The people of Nigeria are dissatisfied with the current federal arrangement or whatever is binding them together now and are saying they want to renegotiate the terms of staying together.

The President quoted Gowon. Gowon had said that keeping Nigeria one is a task that must be achieved. That task was achieved by military means. He (Buhari) is not a military man now, he is a democrat, a politician. So, the only means politicians have is to negotiate. ‘So, what did you mean by you won’t negotiate? If you want to keep Nigeria one today, you must negotiate the terms and conditions of the people staying together and it goes back to the conference report, it goes back to the concept of fiscal federalism.

'You would find out that in the final analysis, that is what everybody would be saying to you. Go and study as religiously as you can, the constitutions of 1960 and 1963. What is restructuring? Several people have used that word and have not been able to say what they mean. The few that have actually attempted to say what they mean either end up talking about going back to the regions as we had them before or adopting the six-zonal structure that had been proposed for Nigeria, which actually is in current usage but has not been sanctioned by the constitution of Nigeria. Others just use the word restructuring because it is almost like a buzz word, it is a popular thing to say now. ‘I do not want to be caught up in the semantics. I will subscribe, absolutely and entirely, to the concept of fiscal federalism. People ask what is the difference between fiscal federalism and restructuring and I will explain. I am convinced that fiscal federalism can be practised with even the 36 state-structure and one federal capital territory that we have today in Nigeria. In fact, I can say, it is a must, for there to be peace and harmony, understanding among the federating units"he said

Internet Explorer must die

Internet Explorer must die

Photos: President Buhari hosts Abuja Imams and selected Individuals to Ramadan dinner

Photos: President Buhari hosts Abuja Imams and selected Individuals to Ramadan dinner

Authority, Responsibility and Accountability – The Right Mix

There is a wise saying, “Nothing is impossible if you can delegate.” People who know what, how and when to delegate can achieve great results for themselves, their team, and the organization.

Good delegation is about balancing responsibility with authority and accountability. But what exactly do these terms mean? The Business Dictionary defines them as follows:

Authority is “Institutionalized and legal power inherent in a particular job, function, or position that is meant to enable its holder to successfully carry out his or her responsibilities.”

It also defines authority as “Power that is delegated formally. It includes a right to command a situation, commit resources, give orders and expect them to be obeyed. It is always accompanied by an equal responsibility for one's actions or a failure to act.”

Responsibility is “A duty or obligation to satisfactorily perform or complete a task (assigned by someone, or created by one's own promise or circumstances) that one must fulfill, and which has a consequent penalty for failure.”

Accountability is “The obligation of an individual or organization to account for its activities, accept responsibility for them, and to disclose the results in a transparent manner. It also includes the responsibility for money or other entrusted property.”

Clearly, authority and responsibility have accountability in common. Without accountability authority can abused and responsibility neglected. How do we ensure that these three elements are balanced? I suggest you consider the following:

Avoid giving more authority than the assignment requires. Although this sounds obvious, I have seen many situations where authority and assignment do not balance. I have worked on several projects where individuals were given authority in excess of their responsibility. While some managed to stay within their limits, others abused their influence by demanding results in excess of what the project team could possibly deliver with the available resources. When assigning authority always consider the responsibility that should come with it.

Avoid giving responsibility without assigning the authority to deliver the expected results. I have observed examples of this in organizations where line managers are not given the financial authority to undertake their work properly. Often the authority to reward and discipline for performance lies with senior staff rather than with the person responsible for the assignment.

When you delegate authority to a colleague, you are still responsible for the performance of this colleague. You remain accountable for the results even though they are delivered by employees several layers below you.

Ensure individuals have the competencies and the tools they need. Accountability becomes difficult if people are not in the right environment to achieve the results you desire. This includes providing the necessary competencies and tools to do the work.

Hold them accountable. Most of the poor performance I have observed is linked to lack of accountability. People who are not self-accountable or are not held accountable tend to go for the minimum they can get away with.

Stop interfering! Once you have delegated responsibility and authority, let the individual get on with it. It is necessary to have regular meetings to review progress, and to coach, mentor and advise, but resist the temptation to get into the details of how to do things or make decisions on their behalf. As General Patton said, “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”

Reward for delivering excellent results. Many organizations reward people justly, yet many others do not. Those who do not feel recognized tend, over time, to become demotivated and your results will suffer.

Remember that you can only hold people accountable for responsibilities when they have been given enough authority to do the job well.