Oct 13: DAY II
12.27pm. I’m a little over an hour late, just in time for questions on the first keynote speaker’s presentation on ICT for Development. The APTECH panelist Tope Akinwunmi is responding to a question concerning the alluring success of ‘Yahoo boys’ (the name cyber-fraudsters are known by in Nigeria) and wants to know why they should not be emulated, illegality notwithstanding. The response is less than satisfactory. Another advocates the set-up of free or low-bill cybercafés, while someone else laments the lack of organisation in Internet control compared to countries like Niger (?). The keynote speaker Gbenga, in response to alternatives to cyber-crime, cites other instances of making money like Google Adsense and research consultations. He urges that listeners participate in sites like Facebook, Wikipedia, U-tube and Myspace, and decries the menace of cyber-crime and refers towww.cybercrime.org for further information. Other remarks by participants include the observation of a possible deviation from the drive of this discussion, the request for APTECH to set up centres in support of youth training, and criticism of APTECH’s website content on e-commerce. Meanwhile panelist Razep Echeng points out that while most of the discussion has revolved round the Internet, ICT concerns much more, and could be assisted tremendously by community mobilisation. The CRUTECH reps are peddling their low-cost CISCO training.

In all, everyone insists there are dozens of ways to harness capital from the Internet honestly, but no one is really speaking in concrete terms. The MC (Victor) thereafter apologizes for the delay in tea break and issues a roll of announcements to dwindle the time. The mob is distracted. The break is then called as promised…
Hobnobbing is a wonderful bonding process. Toluleke (Making Friends, Calabar) hands me a flyer showcasing his organisation- and I am offered a job proposition by another fellow activist! Is this networking thing a cinch or what! It’s a rowdy 45 minutes gone and we’ve still the rest of the day to go.

We’ve resumed the next forum (by this time someone has - perhaps inadvertently - made off with my program). The speaker, Oluwakorede Asuni, seems slightly on edge, an attack of nerves, but soon the motivational talk sails along easefully to the end. Question time. Drawbacks to creativity are identified, primarily funding and familial pressures as the culprits that snag creativity as a driver in pursuing youth initiatives. Panelists in order of response are Ikuru Berejit, Pamela Braide, Emmanuel Igbokwe and Maurice Henshaw. An interesting, edifying story is related in between of how a hawker previously unemployed was empowered with N3000 to commence a business selling fermented corn pap and bean cakes.

Next forum: policy advocacy and poverty reduction with speaker Pamela Braide on board. She laughs easily and chats engagingly, desirous to involve her listeners in the conceptualization of the paper. Her efforts rob her of time however, and she finds she needs to cap her presentation abruptly, which details how policy reformation/development is driven, the advantage of networking to spur youth engagement in policy development, and challenges such as conflict of interest and sustainability issues. She recommends preview and reinforcement of policy documentation, citing the NEEDS program and its follow-up NEEDS 2, which she laments has no real hope of implementation. You get the impression that she is very sceptical of any youth-driven policy reforms overcoming present-day challenges of politicking and bureaucratic red-tape on the road to feasibility…Questions and comments dwell on cases of extortion of NGOs by government officials before their ideas are accepted, overlooking of health care, unsuccessful modalities of approach and the rash of mushroom Niger Delta NGOs complicating matters. The chairperson Okeziem Nwoko identifies another challenge: policy overlapping. Braide cautions on losing sight of monitoring budgetary expenditure in favour of consultative recruitment.. The issue of poverty reduction and business development is handled cursorily, with the usual advice being given, nothing new- wait up, did I hear someone say “lunch break”…?

After the break, the 4th speaker, a gentleman doctor by name Ani Etokidem urges everyone on their feet and takes them through the rites of self-affirming utterances of positivism. Surely he’s got their attention now! Topic: Youth Health and Wellbeing. The speaker is exciting, often spicing his presentation with vivid, often hilarious illustrations, although sometimes his voiced opinions are contentious, like when he says William Shakespeare was possibly the pen-name for 17th century philosopher Francis Bacon. The rest of his delivery is nonetheless quite appealing, error-free and mostly aimed at shock value. He denounces habitual egg-eating which induces obesity, vilifies smoking and launches a measured attack at junk food. He teaches the calculation of BMI (Body Mass Index) to enable listeners ascertain if they are obese or not and points out that 80% of youth health problems are attributed to stress, differentiating between long-term stress and short-term stress. His solution? A- Awareness of the stressor, B- Building up the physical reserve to counter stress, C- Changing unhealthy and stress-inducing habits. His speech is laced with catchy anecdotes – Genes hold the gun, lifestyles hold the trigger; any sweet thing is illegal, immoral or not good for health – and suggests the best safeguard against stress as patience. To imbibe this virtue, he recommends adoption of the cue and count techniques.
He fields questions on the hypocrisy of doctors who persist in unhealthy living while advising otherwise, the dearth of government policies on junk food restrictions and the subject of teenage pregnancy very skilfully and retires from the podium to resounding applause. The participants have been regaled by perhaps the most entertaining speaker yet. There’s still one more to go, but I won’t be waiting to find out. Once again the program’s been extended past schedule…