Social media, viable tool for climate advocacy —Cross River Most Beautiful Girl, 2015

BY DOYIN ADEOYE
TWENTY-YEAR-OLD Cross River Most Beautiful Girl 2015, Queenette Awukam is an environmentalist, advocating for more youths’ involvement in climate friendly activities.
“I have been advocating for forest conservation even before I became Cross Rivers’ Most Beautiful Girl. And I believe that being in this position is an avenue to further promote this. I am passionate about the sustainable livelihood of my people, coupled with the drive from my governor, Professor Ben Ayade, who is a source of inspiration in the course of championing climate change.
“I grew in a state that is very environmentally conscious; very clean and green. So having grown up in such place, I believe everywhere in Nigeria should be conducive enough for breathing and our day-to-day activities,” she said.
Using the platform to create awareness on climate change and its effect, Queenette said her green pictures which went viral of recent, is meant to reach out to more youths to be environment conscious.
“As a beauty queen and an artiste, I know that pictures are good sense of communication, as they speak louder than words. In one of the pictures, I, being the only live tree in the middle of dead logs, is an appeal for forest conservation.
“There have been innovations over the years; every youth is on the social media. So I feel that the best way to go reach out to them is to create more awareness using the social media. Every youth now wants to have fun, so we can as well educate them while they do that.
“For instance, the recently held Calabar Carnival had the theme: ‘Climate Change,’ which was used as a platform to educate youths on being environment friendly. More youths need to champion the course for a greener environment, and must take further steps in acquiring more knowledge on problems and particularly solutions on climate change,” she said.

Why we partner with secondary schools —RecyclePoints

BY DOYIN ADEOYE
RECYCLEPOINTS, an incentive based waste recycling and social benefit scheme is partnering with schools on waste recovery, reuse and recycling.
In line with its corporate objective to breed an environmentally friendly generation, the company, over the weekend, had a partnership with the Redeemers International Schools (RIS), Lagos, where the latter signed into the company’s Schools Recycling Programme.
“RecyclePoints motivates people to recycle by creating value from their everyday waste. We have a target of partnering with three schools every month, where we get them to have recycling bins and also educate them on how to sort their waste and recycle them. Through this programme, each school earn points from their recycling activities, which they then use to get rewards that we offer through our scheme,” Mrs Chioma Ukonu, Chief Operating Officer (COO) and co-founder, RecyclePoints said.
Speaking on what influenced the partnership with schools, she noted that many children over time are beginning to be more environment conscious.
“We had a lot of schools visiting our collection and sorting hubs in the past, just to learn about waste recycling. So we felt that since there was the affinity to understand at their age the benefit of waste recycling, we could carry the message to the schools directly, where they will see the idea of sorting waste from source.
“We offer various items through our incentive-based schemes, so for schools, we are looking at partnering with them to get things that would necessarily support their educational activities. Whenever they reach a particular point, they get something in return. For instance, like we did some two years ago, we invited them to an environmental quiz competition June 5, which is the World Environment Day.”

Why I want to be president of Spain --Helen Mukoro

Nigerian-born Spanish female politician, Helen Mukoro Idisi, made history as the first woman and an immigrant to be contesting for the presidency of Spain. The writer, legal consultant and forensic expert shares, in this interview with DOYIN ADEOYE, her passion, issues with the Igbo in Spain, how more women can be involved in politics, among other issues.

Why exactly do you want to be the president of Spain?
I am a good starting point to build a community based on the principles of respect and solidarity. Broadly speaking, there are a number of key points that make me a model candidate and a healthy unit that works for progress for all. And these points can serve as a self-assessment to ensure in every way that we would promote care of the environment; not act outside the limits of the law; propose many changes as we deem necessary to improve the quality of life in the country with a constructive attitude; avoid violence whenever possible, putting the dialogue as a means of conflict resolution; respect the rights of other living beings; be part of life in the country, its history and its decisions, enjoying their good times and helping to rebuild during its toughest crisis; assess other citizens, respect the role they play and their opinions.

You contested for the Mayor of Denia earlier this year and lost, what went wrong, and how did you bounce back from the defeat?
We lost, but it was expected. We came to understand that our party was only three months old when we contested, and we carefully examined our actions and criticised where we failed. But there will always be politics, and we are aware that our existence in the social organisation and ethical standards is an indisputable fact.

‘Nigeria, a country where a man can turn N500,000 into $20bn’

Sijibomi Ogundele is the Chief Executive Officer of Sujimoto Construction Limited. At 34, he is a billionaire with various investments, and entrepreneur with a difference. He speaks in this interview with DOYIN ADEOYE about his business and style. Excerpts:

You recently delivered luxury estate, Medici Terraces, in Ikoyi, just within few months of your operations in Lagos. What did it take to put it all together, judging from the fact that it was sold out in record time?
The Medici Terraces was a successful project because we were true to our words of setting high standards, paying attention to details and not compromising on quality. We used the best raw materials, the best team and inputted outstanding features in the property. The facility management and concierge service, which is a subsidiary of Sujimoto Group, handles the day to day running of the property, giving residents the ultimate experience that cannot be derived anywhere else.
Our business mantra is “Build It, Sell It, Manage It.” So we always aim to exceed expectations in all three aspects. My main focus was to create the most beautiful town-house property in a choice area on the island in Lagos, and I dedicated all my effort into generating quality and value; ignoring immediate gratification.

What exactly would you say are the setbacks to the development of the real estate industry in Nigeria?
A few things come to mind as the setbacks to real estate development. The craftsmanship, lack of technical know-how, the significance of expertise and proper training are undervalued in Nigeria. As a result, finishing, quality and attention to detail are compromised.

If we want to compete with foreign developers such as the Germans, Lebanese and Italians that have spent decades mastering their craft, we will need to raise our standards in the Nigerian construction market. When people refer to quality as being expensive, I always correct them saying it’s not; what is expensive is our intention to deliver quality.

National policy on education should be reviewed -- Professor Adedoja

A seasoned educationist and former Minister of Sports and Special Duties, Professor Taoheed Adedoja is the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the governing council of the Federal University, Dutse (FUD),  Jigawa State. In this interview with DOYIN ADEOYE, he shares the achievements of the institution, its prospect, and the challenges facing the education sector in Nigeria, among other issues. Excerpts:
How has it been since your appointment at the Federal University, Dutse?
I consider it a major responsibility to be one of those who would champion the cause of educational development in Nigeria, particularly in university education. I also consider myself to play a key role because of my background and experience, and also because I always find myself highly challenged if given any public responsibility. I have never failed in the past and with this assignment, I want to be seen as one who would champion the cause of good governance in higher education.
For me to be at FUD, I see it as a familiar terrain because it is quite easy for me to relate with the environment in which the university is situated. It has also been worthwhile because I met on ground a very visionary Vice Chancellor, Professor Jibril Dahiru Aminu, who was the VC at the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), where I started as a lecturer. I also met a very committed Registrar of the university with whom we worked together at the Bayero University, Kano. Also, the Emir of Dutse, Dr Muhammed Sanusi, happens to be a friend and my senior while at Kano’s Teachers College. The environment is really conducive for me and more so, Jigawa is one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria.

I have fun when I talk to presidents —Zuriel Oduwole

Zuriel Oduwole is an achiever compared to many children her age. At 12, she has interviewed 15 heads of state and she has four films to her credit. The Global Ambassador for the Ethiopian Airlines shares, in this interview with DOYIN ADEOYE, her passion, inspirations, projects, among other things. Excerpts:
 What exactly drives you?

I really don’t know, but I know that I have the opportunity to do something and I am doing it. I see young children, especially girls, on the news, or whenever I travel across Africa, to countries like Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Egypt, on streets hawking and I think that they should be in school just like me. So, I’m doing what I can to tell older people to do something about this, because I can’t do it all by myself. I’m only 12.
What did you have in mind when you started your advocacy?
I was nine years old and even though we were born in Los Angeles, my parents who are from Nigeria and Mauritius, always tell us about our African heritage and who we are; the kind of history our continent has.
So, I knew that I had to tell my friends and other people at every opportunity, about the African continent, especially the positive things there, because usually on the foreign news, they show only the negative things in Africa, like wars, corruption, famine and disease, but Africa is much more than that.