VOICE OF THE VOICELESS FROM NIGERIA

Nigeria's central bank digital currency (CBDC), the eNaira, have been launched by President Muhammadu Buhari. Buhari said “the digital currency and the  blockchain technology it uses can foster economic growth and increase the GDP of Africa's biggest economy by $29 billion over the next  10 years”. I have no doubt about that, than many Nigerians waking up on the 25 th October 2021 to realize that Nigeria has a digital valid currency on the internet called “eNaira”. Many more Nigerians do not know about this electronic currency, how to access and use it, confused about any myths around it and need education and enlightenment which to me is scarce especially to the poor in marginalized, connected and unconnected communities in Nigeria. To my mind, this digital currency cum eNaira is primarily to open space for financial inclusion where Nigerians can have fast, safe, easy, and cheap means of payment. I do not think it is solely for elites. Central Bank of Nigeria – issu...

Violence conflicts are rather escalating in pockets of communities across Nigeria with increasing maiming and killing of people and families including their livelihoods, economic and infrastructural development are hampered affecting children the most.  Children living in conflicts affected communities suffer it all from the consequences of conflicts they know nothing about, losing parents, brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends in and within their neighborhoods. Neighboring communities to conflict zones are adversely affected especially their mental health because these children at times saw it happened and memorized, can feel, know and experience hard pains the conflict have caused their neighbours and can likely grow up with the pains, hate, notions about it unaddressed. Negative emotions and mental trauma if left unaddressed on the mind of a child can influence child's vulnerability to violence tendencies. But most often as seen are left  unrecognized and unattended t...

I read on newspaper about the lead contaminated #gold mines of Zamfara State, Nigeria which poisoned and killed more than 700 children. I also read in Plateau State, landowners in former tin-mining districts are finding it difficult to survive because their land is saturated with chemicals and heavy metal run-offs, making it near impossible to find fresh water. On TV, somewhere in Akwa Ibom State I watched a riverine community mostly fishermen whose   livelihood are depended on the river, waking up to see sea foods in their river floating dead out of oil exploration. In all this I noticed all the communities are poor with makeshift houses as ghettos, not to talk of indigenous people’s physical look. That one will clearly tell you one thing call poverty on their well being written all over them.               There are huge and natural resources across Nigeria from Enugu to Zamfara, Bayelsa to Kogi, Kano to Delta amongst other states. Rich and ve...

I was imagining why is it that almost all the elected and appointed leaders in Nigeria will have to be investigated and some prosecuted after their tenure in office, and I got to know that they were involved in one case of corruption; misappropriation and stolen of public funds. I had wondered why this is so and came to conclusion that most people do not see call to serve as service or servant- leadership above self, but opportunity for self enrichment even at the detriment of those to be served. But most disturbing to me is and has always been citizens apathy to their commonwealth. Citizens do not care to know what gets in for them as funds, how these funds are or will be spent, or able to track what the money is for,  meant for or on what it will be spent on. That alone gives lacuna for looting and stealing spree in Nigeria.          Nigeria is a wealthy nation no doubt but sadly is poor. To its poor masses out of corruption by politically exposed perso...

#Covid19 affected and is affecting the poorest of poor livelihood more than any in Nigeria, thereby exposing very high numbers to vulnerabilities of exploitation and deepened inequalities. The pandemic brought the new normal and bolden online activities including online financial transactions as best alternatives to the masses.           App-based microlending is popular in Nigeria, both because banks generally require collateral for loans and because the bureaucracy involved with lending can be overwhelming. So there’s a flock of new lending sites springing up, like Okash, Gocash, Credit9ja, Lcredit, Sokoloan, Kash Kash, Fastmoney, Newcredit, Cashlion, 9jacash etc. These online loan app companies in Nigeria operates as financial institutions aka Fintech; targeting very low income earners and the poor with very high interest rate and shortest time for repayment date plan, pushing many people into deepened poverty instead, while the FinTech companies inconsi...

There are many reasons why we may fail and will continue to fail in the fight against insurgency in Nigeria and the Lake Chad region as it seems. Lack of coordination between the military and the police are just one part; another is mismanagement of information by the security. Almost when it seems like the war is over; you will suddenly realize that such news is only a painted picture of information from the security. Immediately in a characterized mode, will either be breaking news of unstoppable sporadic suicide attacks and bombing by the insurgents whom the military claimed have been completely wiped out. And the cycle goes on and on till then.   How many times have we not be told that insurgent in the North East of Nigeria has been wiped out? So many times I can recall. The wrong idea is, when it seems like the insurgent group is defeated at Sambisa forest, we assumed that the war is over. And that is where and how we fail. The war is actually not in sambisa forest but more in...

    Youth Against Election Violence Road Walk. Children and Young People Living for Peace (CYPLP), is not for profit, that is organic and voluntary in Nigeria. We  are everyday people living in our communities, motivated and coming together to contribute to driving change in our society through small local actions.  We work to protect children' rights and help translate them into concrete realities through evidence based approach for inclusive development.  We also came to amplify the voice of youths and women in decision making processes. CYPLP is actively working in new ways and approach in the social development space by leveraging on left behind grounds of the informal sector, private sector, youths and women groups for galvanized actions that will lead to the achievement of sustainable development goals.  We defend and protect the rights of indigent, most vulnerable and poorest of poor both online and offline, create platforms for their voices and...

  As 2017 is rounding up, it is undoubtedly unexplained that we cannot stop the hands of time. Unemployment and job cuts are real, so real that it is on the rise the world over.  Technology cum automation and robots are taking over jobs of humans. Young people are adversely affected by this take over and may seemingly be disturbed that job opportunities are closing up. Job close up can force young people into migration, whereas young people are more technologically savvy thereby giving room for questions between technology and jobs? The summary is, manual jobs are disappearing for digital and the opportunity is in the energy to translate any manual job into digital job. As said, technology is opening virgin jobs opportunities for young people to tap from, from music to sport, fashion to photography etc, only that those untapped opportunities requires new sets of skills for young people all over the world. It is glaring that if you don’t understand this future present tense in ...

There is no justification whatsoever, when citizens begin to take arms against its nation and fellow citizens by any guise. But this is our story in the Northeast of Nigeria of Borno State aka “Home of peace”- where peace is difficult to find this days. In the Northeast of Nigeria, over 20,000 lives has been lost, over 2.3 million people displaced, children orphaned, women widowed and many more unidentified number maimed, while properties worth millions are destroyed and human trust derailed totally till then. This is bitter one, with a state that was known to be so peaceful until politic mix with religion, when things fall apart. There was a group of young people who came together to fight a cause for the establishment of a new religious order with the aim of routing away corruption in Nigeria. That group was founded in Borno state with capital in Maiduguri; a cosmopolitan city. What has become of this group is mind blowing  as date. Boko Haram is a group of young people founded b...