SECURING admission into any university in Nigeria could be troubling. While many students are struggling to secure admission slots, others are seeking alternative ways to achieve their dreams of a university education. For those that can afford it, European and American universities are an option, with a few getting competitive scholarships.

However, Asian countries have also been found to offer good quality tertiary education at a more reduced cost. India is one such place to look at. In diverse disciplines, such as Medical Tourism, Technology and even Education, India has been delivering sound tertiary education to the envy of other countries. The Indian economy is considered  world’s 10th largest by nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and third largest by purchasing power parity. It is also the world’s most populous democracy.

In the southern part of India is Bangalore city, the capital of Karnataka State. Bangalore is well known as a hub for India’s information technology sector. The city is home to many well-recognised colleges and research institutions in India. Numerous public sector heavy industries, software companies, aerospace, telecommunications, and defense organisations are located in the city. Known as the Silicon Valley of India because of its position as the nation’s leading IT exporter, Bangalore is also referred to as garden city because of its beautiful gardens. A demographically diverse city, Bangalore is a major economy, a cultural hub and the second fastest growing major metropolis in India.

It is also home to many world-class universities, such as the Bangalore (public) University.  Established since 1886, the university is one of the oldest in India, and admissions are currently open to international students. The duration for a Bachelor’s Degree is three years and courses offered include: Commerce, Journalism, Psychology, Business Management and Computer Application. Requirements are five O’level credits in WAEC/NECO SSSCE (with attestation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Nigerian High Commission in India), Secondary School Testimonial and Birth Certificate. Benefits of studying include affordable education fee, low living expense, and global experience. Application closes by April 2012 and academic session begins July 2012.

 http://ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79011:varsity-education-opportunities-in-india&catid=54:campus&Itemid=568

Saturday, November 19
11:00A.M.
Freedom Park, Broad Street , Lagos
3D & Animation; The Virtual Reality and You
An interactive session that will expose you to the world of 3D and animation. This event will not only enlighten you but also stimulate your interest in the art, business and future of the 3D & Animation techniques
This event is organized by Positive Development Foundation and DADA Academy as part of the 13th Lagos Book and Art Festival.
Participation is free; come with a friend

About the LABAF
The Lagos Book and Art Festival is a comprehensive, four day programme of events, readings, conversations around books, art and craft displays, kiddies’ art workshop, reading sessions, book exhibitions, live music and dance. It will run from November 18 to 20 at the ground of Freedom Park , 1, Hospital Road , (Old Broad Street Prison site), Lagos Island
Babawale To Open The Lagos Book Festival
Tunde Babawale, the professor of political economy who runs the Centre For Black And African Arts and Civilisation(CBAAC), will open the 13th Lagos Book And Art Festival (LABAF 2011) on November 18, at the Freedom Park on Broad Street , in Lagos . Babawale will be delivering a keynote address with the theme: The Book In My Life. The Festival opening session, at 9am, is largely for the young Nigerians (aged 11 to 18), at the Festival for whom the organizers have planned a robust segment. The first of the 10 panel sessions in the adult segment kicks in at 11am. Babawale will moderate that session with the theme: Africa In The Eyes Of The Other. Meanwhile, his opening address to the kids “is expected to be a summary of the journey of the life of a high achieving individual in society”, according to Ayo Arigbabu, the Festival’s Project Director, “with emphasis on how Books have helped him reach where he is today”. Previous such speakers have included Femi Osofisan, the country’s most distinguished professor of drama, who gave a moving speech, in 2006, on how he discovered literature via the Bible and how reading has enabled him to escape a childhood life of poverty. “LABAF is the one book event with a high children participation”, Arigbabu reports. “Last year, we hosted 1200 kids to workshops on paintings, readings, photography; a range of experiences and, most crucially, discussions around books”.

Publishing In The Age Of Microchip
Digital technology and its use in enhancing the business of publishing is the focus of the second annual Publishers Forum, scheduled for November 17 at the Goethe Institut-the German culture centre- in Lagos . “The Forum provides a concentrated space for key publishers in Nigeria to gain critical insight into their current operations within the context of the challenges facing their industry”, explains Ayo Arigbabu, the Forum’s director. “It is also for them to brainstorm on their findings and identify key steps that can be taken as individual businesses to improve their bottom line”. Arigbabu, a trained architect who is himself a publisher (Dada Books) expects “participants to add value to their businesses through the intervention of key facilitators, critical feedback on their processes, input on the most challenging areas they have to deal with, all in the space of the four hours earmarked for this instructive business forum”. The event kicks off at 10am, and will be followed from 5pm to 6.30pm by a conversation (open to the public) tagged: “WOOING THE MASS MARKET” where two publishers will share from their current work and their future plans, by discussing a selection from their publishing lists. “This year, we will have two publishers discuss their efforts at publishing online literary journals and what mileage the internet afforded them in their efforts. A digital display of past editions of their journals will be presented. The discussions will be brought to a close with a cocktail”. Mr Arigbabu describes the Publishers’ Forum as a ‘focus group’ or a strategy session with key facilitators as guide. “The forum is targeted at principals of publishing houses who seek to grow their market and are willing to engage in creative thinking towards identifying strategies that can make this possible for them whether within a collective or through their individual operations”. Mr Arigbabu could be reached on 08033000499 or arigbs@gmail.com

Rolling Dollar, Clark and Idonije To Headline CORA’s Birthday Party
The highlife musician Fatai Rolling Dollar is the oldest of the group of media and culture enthusiasts, artists and scholars who will be honoured at the Freedom Park on Broad Street in Lagos on November 19. And he will be performing with his band. November 19 is the second day of the 2011 edition of the Lagos Book and Art Festival. As a rule, the Committee For Relevant Art(CORA), organizers of the Festival, uses this day to celebrate those culture producers who have had a landmark birthday or the other in the course of the year. “Those who make the list are not just anybody”, says Deji Toye, chairman of the jury that decided on the honorees. “These are people who, in the course of the lives they’ve so far lived, have made significant contributions to the media and arts”. The party, this year is for Fatai Rolling Dollar at 85, the novelist Chukwuemeka Ike at 80, the music critic Benson Idonije at 75; the actress Taiwo Ajai-Lycett at 70; the culture scholar Ebun Clark at 70; the singer/entertainer Charly Boy at 60; the actor Richard Mofe-Damijo at 50; the dancer/choreographer Yeni Kuti at 50 the actress Joke Silva at 50; the music critic and publisher Femi Akintunde-Johnson at 50; and the culture scholars Tunde Babawale, Sola Olorunyomi and Remi Raji at 50. “We are having a big feast for them and their families”, Toye explains, “under a massive tent”. The Lagos Book and Art Festival is a comprehensive, three day programme of events featuring readings, conversations around books, art and craft displays, kiddies’ art workshops and reading sessions, book exhibitions, live music and dance. It’s a festival of the arts with a high book content.

Oil Executives Debate: Can A Book Make You Rich?
Bayo Akinpelu, former Director at Chevron Nigeria , will moderate a conversation between Austin Avuru, Femi Aisida and Dayo Adegoke around the theme: The Book as The Key To The Knowledge Economy at the Freedom Park in Lagos on Saturday November 20, 2011. Mr Avuru is the Chief Executive of Seplat Petroleum, the Nigerian E&P company which produces 37,000Barrels of oil a day; Aisida oversees Energy and Mineral Resources(EMR) and Adegoke is Managing Director of Mosenergy. Both companies are hydrocarbon consulting firms. The conversation involves reading, reviews and discussions around four books, including Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, Niall Ferguson’s The Ascent Of Money: A Financial History Of The World, and Tom Friedman’s The World Is Flat as well as Hot. Flat and Crowded. The discussions are taking place as part of the Lagos Book and Art Festival, a three day festival of the written word, now in its 12th year. The Festival involves drama skits, music, 10 panel sessions around 26 books, and a lavish party for icons of Nigerian culture landscape headlined by Fatai Rolling Dollar.

Toni Kan, Jideonwo and Nwelue On The Thriller Tradition
Toni Kan is an alumnus of Hints, the Romance magazine and perhaps the closest thing in the country (currently) to an incubator of thriller fiction. At 40, his is the generation that grew up reading the Pace Setter series. He’s always believed “there’s a market for fiction, if you write something that grabs people by the collar of the shirt”. Kan ’s best selling collection of short stories, Nights Of The Creaking Bed, is a work of literary fiction, but a lot of the stories have the “thriller element”. On Saturday, November 19, 2011, he will be making a 25 minute presentation What happened to The Pace Setter Series- and when will the new Nigerian thriller come?. Mr Kan ’s talk will preface a panel session with the theme: Mapping The Future , involving four young authors and publishers under 35, discussing the changing landscape of the publishing industry and express, in detail, their dreams/plans in contributing to the revamp. The programme is being put together by Chude Jideonwo and The Future Award group a well as Onyeka Nwelue’s Blues and Hills Literary consultancy.

The City As Character In African Fiction
Asked if she had read The Secret Lives Of Baba Segi’s Wives, Lola Soneyin’s witty novel about polygamy, the novelist Abimbola Adelakun responds matter of factly: “I had to, people kept drawing similarities” (to her novel). Still, while it’s so clear that Adelakun’s well received Under The Brown Rusted Roofs is located in Ibadan , with the city’s character sketched out so vividly in the minutae of daily living in those “Agboles”, the plot in Secret Lives is played out in a way that it could have happened anywhere. Or could it? Plus, how comparable is Rusted Roofs with The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany, Egypt’s notable successor to Naguib Mahfouz, given that both books are episodic in nature and treat readers to witty and entertaining foibles of residents in each “household”, in a neighbourhood? These are some of several arguments expected to be explored in a panel session on the opening day of the Lagos Book and Art Festival, on November 18, 2011. Titled: How Familiar Is This Town? The City In Fictional Narratives Of The Continent, the conversation involves readings, reviews, and discussions around several novels produced by African writers including (1)Good Morning Comrades(Luanda, Angola)-, by Ondjaki, (2)The Yacoubian Building(Cairo, Egypt) by Alaa Al Aswany, 3 Tropical Fish (Entebbe, Uganda)-Doreen Baigana; (4) The Secret Lives Of Baba Segi’s Wives(Ibadan)-Lola Soneyin and Under The Brown Rusted Roofs(Ibadan) – Abimbola Adelakun. This session continues from the series Lagos In The Imagination, focused on Lagos as the primary site of plot narratives in Nigerian fiction, which began at the 2005 edition of the Lagos Book and Art Festival. A number of panelists are currently reading these several books well in advance to ensure a healthy debate.

Saturday, November 19
11:00A.M.
Freedom Park, Broad Street , Lagos
3D & Animation; The Virtual Reality and You
An interactive session that will expose you to the world of 3D and animation. This event will not only enlighten you but also stimulate your interest in the art, business and future of the 3D & Animation techniques
This event is organized by Positive Development Foundation and DADA Academy as part of the 13th Lagos Book and Art Festival.
Participation is free; come with a friend

About the LABAF
The Lagos Book and Art Festival is a comprehensive, four day programme of events, readings, conversations around books, art and craft displays, kiddies’ art workshop, reading sessions, book exhibitions, live music and dance. It will run from November 18 to 20 at the ground of Freedom Park , 1, Hospital Road , (Old Broad Street Prison site), Lagos Island
Babawale To Open The Lagos Book Festival
Tunde Babawale, the professor of political economy who runs the Centre For Black And African Arts and Civilisation(CBAAC), will open the 13th Lagos Book And Art Festival (LABAF 2011) on November 18, at the Freedom Park on Broad Street , in Lagos . Babawale will be delivering a keynote address with the theme: The Book In My Life. The Festival opening session, at 9am, is largely for the young Nigerians (aged 11 to 18), at the Festival for whom the organizers have planned a robust segment. The first of the 10 panel sessions in the adult segment kicks in at 11am. Babawale will moderate that session with the theme: Africa In The Eyes Of The Other. Meanwhile, his opening address to the kids “is expected to be a summary of the journey of the life of a high achieving individual in society”, according to Ayo Arigbabu, the Festival’s Project Director, “with emphasis on how Books have helped him reach where he is today”. Previous such speakers have included Femi Osofisan, the country’s most distinguished professor of drama, who gave a moving speech, in 2006, on how he discovered literature via the Bible and how reading has enabled him to escape a childhood life of poverty. “LABAF is the one book event with a high children participation”, Arigbabu reports. “Last year, we hosted 1200 kids to workshops on paintings, readings, photography; a range of experiences and, most crucially, discussions around books”.

Publishing In The Age Of Microchip
Digital technology and its use in enhancing the business of publishing is the focus of the second annual Publishers Forum, scheduled for November 17 at the Goethe Institut-the German culture centre- in Lagos . “The Forum provides a concentrated space for key publishers in Nigeria to gain critical insight into their current operations within the context of the challenges facing their industry”, explains Ayo Arigbabu, the Forum’s director. “It is also for them to brainstorm on their findings and identify key steps that can be taken as individual businesses to improve their bottom line”. Arigbabu, a trained architect who is himself a publisher (Dada Books) expects “participants to add value to their businesses through the intervention of key facilitators, critical feedback on their processes, input on the most challenging areas they have to deal with, all in the space of the four hours earmarked for this instructive business forum”. The event kicks off at 10am, and will be followed from 5pm to 6.30pm by a conversation (open to the public) tagged: “WOOING THE MASS MARKET” where two publishers will share from their current work and their future plans, by discussing a selection from their publishing lists. “This year, we will have two publishers discuss their efforts at publishing online literary journals and what mileage the internet afforded them in their efforts. A digital display of past editions of their journals will be presented. The discussions will be brought to a close with a cocktail”. Mr Arigbabu describes the Publishers’ Forum as a ‘focus group’ or a strategy session with key facilitators as guide. “The forum is targeted at principals of publishing houses who seek to grow their market and are willing to engage in creative thinking towards identifying strategies that can make this possible for them whether within a collective or through their individual operations”. Mr Arigbabu could be reached on 08033000499 or arigbs@gmail.com

Rolling Dollar, Clark and Idonije To Headline CORA’s Birthday Party
The highlife musician Fatai Rolling Dollar is the oldest of the group of media and culture enthusiasts, artists and scholars who will be honoured at the Freedom Park on Broad Street in Lagos on November 19. And he will be performing with his band. November 19 is the second day of the 2011 edition of the Lagos Book and Art Festival. As a rule, the Committee For Relevant Art(CORA), organizers of the Festival, uses this day to celebrate those culture producers who have had a landmark birthday or the other in the course of the year. “Those who make the list are not just anybody”, says Deji Toye, chairman of the jury that decided on the honorees. “These are people who, in the course of the lives they’ve so far lived, have made significant contributions to the media and arts”. The party, this year is for Fatai Rolling Dollar at 85, the novelist Chukwuemeka Ike at 80, the music critic Benson Idonije at 75; the actress Taiwo Ajai-Lycett at 70; the culture scholar Ebun Clark at 70; the singer/entertainer Charly Boy at 60; the actor Richard Mofe-Damijo at 50; the dancer/choreographer Yeni Kuti at 50 the actress Joke Silva at 50; the music critic and publisher Femi Akintunde-Johnson at 50; and the culture scholars Tunde Babawale, Sola Olorunyomi and Remi Raji at 50. “We are having a big feast for them and their families”, Toye explains, “under a massive tent”. The Lagos Book and Art Festival is a comprehensive, three day programme of events featuring readings, conversations around books, art and craft displays, kiddies’ art workshops and reading sessions, book exhibitions, live music and dance. It’s a festival of the arts with a high book content.

Oil Executives Debate: Can A Book Make You Rich?
Bayo Akinpelu, former Director at Chevron Nigeria , will moderate a conversation between Austin Avuru, Femi Aisida and Dayo Adegoke around the theme: The Book as The Key To The Knowledge Economy at the Freedom Park in Lagos on Saturday November 20, 2011. Mr Avuru is the Chief Executive of Seplat Petroleum, the Nigerian E&P company which produces 37,000Barrels of oil a day; Aisida oversees Energy and Mineral Resources(EMR) and Adegoke is Managing Director of Mosenergy. Both companies are hydrocarbon consulting firms. The conversation involves reading, reviews and discussions around four books, including Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, Niall Ferguson’s The Ascent Of Money: A Financial History Of The World, and Tom Friedman’s The World Is Flat as well as Hot. Flat and Crowded. The discussions are taking place as part of the Lagos Book and Art Festival, a three day festival of the written word, now in its 12th year. The Festival involves drama skits, music, 10 panel sessions around 26 books, and a lavish party for icons of Nigerian culture landscape headlined by Fatai Rolling Dollar.

Toni Kan, Jideonwo and Nwelue On The Thriller Tradition
Toni Kan is an alumnus of Hints, the Romance magazine and perhaps the closest thing in the country (currently) to an incubator of thriller fiction. At 40, his is the generation that grew up reading the Pace Setter series. He’s always believed “there’s a market for fiction, if you write something that grabs people by the collar of the shirt”. Kan ’s best selling collection of short stories, Nights Of The Creaking Bed, is a work of literary fiction, but a lot of the stories have the “thriller element”. On Saturday, November 19, 2011, he will be making a 25 minute presentation What happened to The Pace Setter Series- and when will the new Nigerian thriller come?. Mr Kan ’s talk will preface a panel session with the theme: Mapping The Future , involving four young authors and publishers under 35, discussing the changing landscape of the publishing industry and express, in detail, their dreams/plans in contributing to the revamp. The programme is being put together by Chude Jideonwo and The Future Award group a well as Onyeka Nwelue’s Blues and Hills Literary consultancy.

The City As Character In African Fiction
Asked if she had read The Secret Lives Of Baba Segi’s Wives, Lola Soneyin’s witty novel about polygamy, the novelist Abimbola Adelakun responds matter of factly: “I had to, people kept drawing similarities” (to her novel). Still, while it’s so clear that Adelakun’s well received Under The Brown Rusted Roofs is located in Ibadan , with the city’s character sketched out so vividly in the minutae of daily living in those “Agboles”, the plot in Secret Lives is played out in a way that it could have happened anywhere. Or could it? Plus, how comparable is Rusted Roofs with The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany, Egypt’s notable successor to Naguib Mahfouz, given that both books are episodic in nature and treat readers to witty and entertaining foibles of residents in each “household”, in a neighbourhood? These are some of several arguments expected to be explored in a panel session on the opening day of the Lagos Book and Art Festival, on November 18, 2011. Titled: How Familiar Is This Town? The City In Fictional Narratives Of The Continent, the conversation involves readings, reviews, and discussions around several novels produced by African writers including (1)Good Morning Comrades(Luanda, Angola)-, by Ondjaki, (2)The Yacoubian Building(Cairo, Egypt) by Alaa Al Aswany, 3 Tropical Fish (Entebbe, Uganda)-Doreen Baigana; (4) The Secret Lives Of Baba Segi’s Wives(Ibadan)-Lola Soneyin and Under The Brown Rusted Roofs(Ibadan) – Abimbola Adelakun. This session continues from the series Lagos In The Imagination, focused on Lagos as the primary site of plot narratives in Nigerian fiction, which began at the 2005 edition of the Lagos Book and Art Festival. A number of panelists are currently reading these several books well in advance to ensure a healthy debate.

Saturday, November 19
11:00A.M.
Freedom Park, Broad Street , Lagos
3D & Animation; The Virtual Reality and You
An interactive session that will expose you to the world of 3D and animation. This event will not only enlighten you but also stimulate your interest in the art, business and future of the 3D & Animation techniques
This event is organized by Positive Development Foundation and DADA Academy as part of the 13th Lagos Book and Art Festival.
Participation is free; come with a friend

About the LABAF
The Lagos Book and Art Festival is a comprehensive, four day programme of events, readings, conversations around books, art and craft displays, kiddies’ art workshop, reading sessions, book exhibitions, live music and dance. It will run from November 18 to 20 at the ground of Freedom Park , 1, Hospital Road , (Old Broad Street Prison site), Lagos Island
Babawale To Open The Lagos Book Festival
Tunde Babawale, the professor of political economy who runs the Centre For Black And African Arts and Civilisation(CBAAC), will open the 13th Lagos Book And Art Festival (LABAF 2011) on November 18, at the Freedom Park on Broad Street , in Lagos . Babawale will be delivering a keynote address with the theme: The Book In My Life. The Festival opening session, at 9am, is largely for the young Nigerians (aged 11 to 18), at the Festival for whom the organizers have planned a robust segment. The first of the 10 panel sessions in the adult segment kicks in at 11am. Babawale will moderate that session with the theme: Africa In The Eyes Of The Other. Meanwhile, his opening address to the kids “is expected to be a summary of the journey of the life of a high achieving individual in society”, according to Ayo Arigbabu, the Festival’s Project Director, “with emphasis on how Books have helped him reach where he is today”. Previous such speakers have included Femi Osofisan, the country’s most distinguished professor of drama, who gave a moving speech, in 2006, on how he discovered literature via the Bible and how reading has enabled him to escape a childhood life of poverty. “LABAF is the one book event with a high children participation”, Arigbabu reports. “Last year, we hosted 1200 kids to workshops on paintings, readings, photography; a range of experiences and, most crucially, discussions around books”.

Publishing In The Age Of Microchip
Digital technology and its use in enhancing the business of publishing is the focus of the second annual Publishers Forum, scheduled for November 17 at the Goethe Institut-the German culture centre- in Lagos . “The Forum provides a concentrated space for key publishers in Nigeria to gain critical insight into their current operations within the context of the challenges facing their industry”, explains Ayo Arigbabu, the Forum’s director. “It is also for them to brainstorm on their findings and identify key steps that can be taken as individual businesses to improve their bottom line”. Arigbabu, a trained architect who is himself a publisher (Dada Books) expects “participants to add value to their businesses through the intervention of key facilitators, critical feedback on their processes, input on the most challenging areas they have to deal with, all in the space of the four hours earmarked for this instructive business forum”. The event kicks off at 10am, and will be followed from 5pm to 6.30pm by a conversation (open to the public) tagged: “WOOING THE MASS MARKET” where two publishers will share from their current work and their future plans, by discussing a selection from their publishing lists. “This year, we will have two publishers discuss their efforts at publishing online literary journals and what mileage the internet afforded them in their efforts. A digital display of past editions of their journals will be presented. The discussions will be brought to a close with a cocktail”. Mr Arigbabu describes the Publishers’ Forum as a ‘focus group’ or a strategy session with key facilitators as guide. “The forum is targeted at principals of publishing houses who seek to grow their market and are willing to engage in creative thinking towards identifying strategies that can make this possible for them whether within a collective or through their individual operations”. Mr Arigbabu could be reached on 08033000499 or arigbs@gmail.com

Rolling Dollar, Clark and Idonije To Headline CORA’s Birthday Party
The highlife musician Fatai Rolling Dollar is the oldest of the group of media and culture enthusiasts, artists and scholars who will be honoured at the Freedom Park on Broad Street in Lagos on November 19. And he will be performing with his band. November 19 is the second day of the 2011 edition of the Lagos Book and Art Festival. As a rule, the Committee For Relevant Art(CORA), organizers of the Festival, uses this day to celebrate those culture producers who have had a landmark birthday or the other in the course of the year. “Those who make the list are not just anybody”, says Deji Toye, chairman of the jury that decided on the honorees. “These are people who, in the course of the lives they’ve so far lived, have made significant contributions to the media and arts”. The party, this year is for Fatai Rolling Dollar at 85, the novelist Chukwuemeka Ike at 80, the music critic Benson Idonije at 75; the actress Taiwo Ajai-Lycett at 70; the culture scholar Ebun Clark at 70; the singer/entertainer Charly Boy at 60; the actor Richard Mofe-Damijo at 50; the dancer/choreographer Yeni Kuti at 50 the actress Joke Silva at 50; the music critic and publisher Femi Akintunde-Johnson at 50; and the culture scholars Tunde Babawale, Sola Olorunyomi and Remi Raji at 50. “We are having a big feast for them and their families”, Toye explains, “under a massive tent”. The Lagos Book and Art Festival is a comprehensive, three day programme of events featuring readings, conversations around books, art and craft displays, kiddies’ art workshops and reading sessions, book exhibitions, live music and dance. It’s a festival of the arts with a high book content.

Oil Executives Debate: Can A Book Make You Rich?
Bayo Akinpelu, former Director at Chevron Nigeria , will moderate a conversation between Austin Avuru, Femi Aisida and Dayo Adegoke around the theme: The Book as The Key To The Knowledge Economy at the Freedom Park in Lagos on Saturday November 20, 2011. Mr Avuru is the Chief Executive of Seplat Petroleum, the Nigerian E&P company which produces 37,000Barrels of oil a day; Aisida oversees Energy and Mineral Resources(EMR) and Adegoke is Managing Director of Mosenergy. Both companies are hydrocarbon consulting firms. The conversation involves reading, reviews and discussions around four books, including Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, Niall Ferguson’s The Ascent Of Money: A Financial History Of The World, and Tom Friedman’s The World Is Flat as well as Hot. Flat and Crowded. The discussions are taking place as part of the Lagos Book and Art Festival, a three day festival of the written word, now in its 12th year. The Festival involves drama skits, music, 10 panel sessions around 26 books, and a lavish party for icons of Nigerian culture landscape headlined by Fatai Rolling Dollar.

Toni Kan, Jideonwo and Nwelue On The Thriller Tradition
Toni Kan is an alumnus of Hints, the Romance magazine and perhaps the closest thing in the country (currently) to an incubator of thriller fiction. At 40, his is the generation that grew up reading the Pace Setter series. He’s always believed “there’s a market for fiction, if you write something that grabs people by the collar of the shirt”. Kan ’s best selling collection of short stories, Nights Of The Creaking Bed, is a work of literary fiction, but a lot of the stories have the “thriller element”. On Saturday, November 19, 2011, he will be making a 25 minute presentation What happened to The Pace Setter Series- and when will the new Nigerian thriller come?. Mr Kan ’s talk will preface a panel session with the theme: Mapping The Future , involving four young authors and publishers under 35, discussing the changing landscape of the publishing industry and express, in detail, their dreams/plans in contributing to the revamp. The programme is being put together by Chude Jideonwo and The Future Award group a well as Onyeka Nwelue’s Blues and Hills Literary consultancy.

The City As Character In African Fiction
Asked if she had read The Secret Lives Of Baba Segi’s Wives, Lola Soneyin’s witty novel about polygamy, the novelist Abimbola Adelakun responds matter of factly: “I had to, people kept drawing similarities” (to her novel). Still, while it’s so clear that Adelakun’s well received Under The Brown Rusted Roofs is located in Ibadan , with the city’s character sketched out so vividly in the minutae of daily living in those “Agboles”, the plot in Secret Lives is played out in a way that it could have happened anywhere. Or could it? Plus, how comparable is Rusted Roofs with The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany, Egypt’s notable successor to Naguib Mahfouz, given that both books are episodic in nature and treat readers to witty and entertaining foibles of residents in each “household”, in a neighbourhood? These are some of several arguments expected to be explored in a panel session on the opening day of the Lagos Book and Art Festival, on November 18, 2011. Titled: How Familiar Is This Town? The City In Fictional Narratives Of The Continent, the conversation involves readings, reviews, and discussions around several novels produced by African writers including (1)Good Morning Comrades(Luanda, Angola)-, by Ondjaki, (2)The Yacoubian Building(Cairo, Egypt) by Alaa Al Aswany, 3 Tropical Fish (Entebbe, Uganda)-Doreen Baigana; (4) The Secret Lives Of Baba Segi’s Wives(Ibadan)-Lola Soneyin and Under The Brown Rusted Roofs(Ibadan) – Abimbola Adelakun. This session continues from the series Lagos In The Imagination, focused on Lagos as the primary site of plot narratives in Nigerian fiction, which began at the 2005 edition of the Lagos Book and Art Festival. A number of panelists are currently reading these several books well in advance to ensure a healthy debate.

By Templer Olaiya

On December 5, 20 volunteers from various organizations in Lagos gathered at the Home for Destitute in Okobaba, Ebute-Meta, for a cleaning exercise. This was following a Needs Assessment carried out by Ayodele Taofiq Fanida of Humanitarian Voluntary Association for Community Development and Ike Nwibe of Civil Society Network for Volunteering Development (also known as GIVE Network), which revealed that the community was not in a conducive state for human habitation.

To also promote the message of volunteering and social responsibility, the volunteers displayed their selfless spirits by helping to clean the environment on the International Volunteer Day.

The whole premises were swept and drainages cleared, while the toilets, bathrooms, drainages, gutters and the entire premises were fumigated in order to disinfect the environment. Support also came from the Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA), which provided cleaning equipments.

At the end of the cleaning exercise, there was a sensitization session with leaders of the community on the need to take responsibility for the community. The leaders were grateful and prayed for all the volunteers for their selfless attitude. Clothes, shoes and some food items were distributed to members of the community.

In 1985, the United Nations declared December 5 as the International Volunteer Day (IVD) dedicated to recognize and appreciate the efforts and contribution of volunteers and increase public awareness on their contribution to the society. According to the World Volunteer Web: “IVD offers an opportunity for volunteer organizations and individual volunteers to make visible their contributions at local, national and international levels, especially to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Over the years, rallies, parades, community volunteering projects, environmental awareness, free medical care and advocacy campaigns have all featured prominently on IVD.

Volunteering in Nigeria is as old as the communities and it is common to find people involved in one volunteering activity or the other, especially for family and religious purposes. However, the growing urbanization and inequalities occasioned by poverty and migration have driven volunteering to the back place in the country. In recent times there have been efforts by several organizations to revive volunteering and in a more structured manner.

The workshop to mark the day kicked off on a spirited note with Ike Nwibe, Programme Officer of GIVE Network, giving the opening address, which provided secondary school students with the basic knowledge of the importance of the day. Students were motivated to identify areas of interest for active participation and join in the combat against global problems.

In another session, facilitated by Nike Fagade, the Executive Director of Positive Development Foundation, participants were provided with the basic knowledge of communication skills, emphasizing on listening and writing skills with illustrations. The climax of the workshop was a session facilitated by Aina Ojisola, who defined value as an accepted principle of a person or group of people in the community. He encouraged the participants to always be of good character and join in promoting positive values in their communities and among their peers. A total of 152 students were in attendance.

LINK

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/sunday_magazine/article22//indexn3_html?pdate=131209&ptitle=IVD%20Day:%20Civil%20Society%20Network%20For%20Volunteering%20&cpdate=141209

By Teniola Aderemi

The event was a Youth discussion session convened by the Positive Development Foundation (pdf), a non-profit making social network that promotes positive lifestyles and volunteering among young people in Africa, held in the afternoon of Sunday, November 15, during the eleventh Lagos Book and Art Festival, (LABAF).

Young people representing various networks were gathered in the hall of the National Gallery of Art, Aina Onabolu Complex, National Theatre, the venue that hosted the 3-day Festival, 13 to 15 November. The discussions for the day centred on the themes of creativity, empowerment and social development.

The afternoon kicked off with Adenike Fagade, the Executive Director of pdf introducing the event, collaboration between pdf and the Committee for Relevant Art, (CORA), organisers of the LABAF. She assured everyone of no dulling moment and called forward, Sammy O, who entertained the audience with the sweet tunes from his Saxophone. That thrilled the audience but then, the main business of the day had to commence. So the facilitating young entrepreneurs started to lead in their specialised themes starting with Ike Nwibe, Program Officer, GIVE Network.

Ike facilitated the social development discussion where he analysed the concept of volunteering and its immense value in fostering sustainable development. He stressed on the benefits of volunteering to the individual, organization and community at large.  He was followed by Gbenga Ogunjimi, CEO, Landmark Internship International, gave more insight into exploring the internet to promote businesses. He discussed Web 2.0; taking your business global.

There was another entertainment break, this time with Kafayat Quadri and Awoko. They performed their music acts accompanied by their guitar and flute to the delight of the audience who couldn’t help but ask for more, causing them to perform twice at a stretch.

The discussion continued with Chude Jideonwo, RedSTRAT/ Future Naija project, who enthused about youth empowerment and activism. He made references with many young Nigerians who are thriving to become successful in their career encouraging others to work hard and not cut corners or expect any financial reward from the blues.

Ibrahim Ganiyu, CEO, Imperial Creations Studio, came in to also discuss youth empowerment and creativity. Ibrahim dwelled on how young people can put creativity in all that they do and simply stand out among the crowd. He had an interesting view on how a pepper seller can add value to her business by simply wearing clean and smart apron while at work, using cheap fancy bags for selling her wares to customers and ensuring that her environment is clean, free of rotten pepper or other waste, and appealing to even the classiest of people.

Niyi Tabiti, Producer, Gistmaster.com, discussed doing business online. He elaborated on how personal online blogging could generate income for the owner, using Gistmaster.com as a significant example.

On that note, Adenike brought all the five discussion facilitators together on a panel and moderated the general interactive session. People got to ask various questions on the issues that were being discussed. It was a great time sharing ideas and learning new ones for every participant.

With forums such as this and organizations like pdf and CORA facilitating them, building positive lifestyles among young people will soon become a reality.

Media Web Links:

http://bit.ly/5tG6kQ

 http://bit.ly/5raEgL

 

 

Youth Activism, Capacity Building, Cross-cultural Exchange and Creativity  

pdf is pleased to announce that its representative Adenike Fagade, will be visiting New Delhi and other places in India for a capacity building training in Organizational Development, and to network with other youth led Civil Society Organizations. She will also be at the annual Jaipur Literary Festival as a delegate. The purpose is to facilitate having India as one of the other countries where pdf will be providing young people with a platform for cross cultural exchange via the internet. 

By Teniola Aderemi

Young people are the future therefore; they need to be guided in the right path. As modern technologies have become indispensable aspects of life, it is paramount that young people have a decent understanding of using these technologies to their advantage. This is the view of the Rotary Club of Lekki Phase 1 when it contracted Positive Development Foundation (pdf), to develop and facilitate computer studies for the pupils of Itedo Community Primary School, Lekki, Lagos.

The initiative arose from the members Rotary Club of Lekki Phase 1 realising that a computer education is a great legacy to give to young people, especially those that do not have good access to such. Providing the pupils of the school with a decent and a sustainable computer education are one of the ways the club deemed important to support the development of the school and its pupils, a cause that they have committed themselves to for many years.

Having been identified for its commitment towards promoting positive lifestyles among young people through modern technologies in Nigeria and the continent, pdf was given the task of setting up and running the computer studies with the pupils. All the necessary equipment necessary for operating an effective and efficient computer studies was funded by the Rotary Club of Lekki Phase 1.

The program which started a few weeks ago will include both theoretical and practical classes that would be based on the Federal Government curriculum for Primary schools. The classes would be run by young professionals from pdf, who are committed to empowering younger minds with competitive skills.      

Describing the Rotary Club of Lekki Phase 1 as a network of people with good intention for the nation’s development, Miss Adenike Fagade, founder of pdf said ‘nothing can be compared to genuinely investing in the future, like the Rotary Club of Lekki Phase 1 funding a program to provide young people in public school with relevant practical knowledge of using the computer, like their contemporaries in the private schools. I appreciate the club for their gesture especially for grabbing the kids young as their minds are still receptive to absorb learning.

http://theguardianlifemagazine.blogspot.com/2009/09/young-people-loving-new-media.html

By Adenike Fagade and Femi Babatunde

When the General Assembly on December 17, 1999 in its resolution 54/120, endorsed the recommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth (Libson, 8-12 August 1998) that August 12 be declared as International Youth Day (IYD), it confirmed the need to promote better awareness and recognition of youth engagement and contribution to development. Every year, the International Youth Day is celebrated with young people facilitating various activities such as rallies, parades, community volunteering projects, environmental awareness, free medical care, advocacy campaigns and other developmental programs. One of such youth programs was the New Media Conference held in Lagos to commemorate the IYD.

The New Media Conference theme: Internet as a Tool for Sustainable Development was organized by positive development foundation (pdf), a non profit organisation set up by Nigerian youth, to help young people develop their skills using modern technologies. Held at Magrellos Eatery Event Centre, Ogudu G.R.A, Lagos, the Conference was used as a platform to bring together young people to discuss the applications and challenges of the New Media and the various creative ways in which internet use can be optimized. It idea was to awaken the consciousness of exploiting the Internet to do positive businesses that will promote individual’s social and economical development. 

Organised in partnership with Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), Children And The Environment (CATE), and Dream Arts and Design Agency (DADA), the conference was introduced along with the story of IYD to the participants by Adenike Fagade, the founder of pdf. It was facilitated by Deji Toye, a member of CORA, featuring discussions on blogging/ e- mail, social networks/ sites, online research via search engines, online freelancing/ schooling led by Tosyn Bucknor (Top radio), Niyi Tabiti (gistmaster.com), Chude Jideonwo (Future Youth Award), Anwuli Ojogwu (Fate Foundation), Shakiru Taiwo- Jalupon (Nigezie) and other creative young people who work extensively with the Internet. Each facilitator took time to discuss the theme and help with answering pressing questions from the excited participants.

A key segment of the programme focused on the public perception of the internet as a tool of the fraudster. As we all know, this phenomenon has created a negative image of the internet as a site of interaction. However, the major emphasis of the conference was on how to use the internet as much as possible for positive business purposes. Elsewhere in the world, the cyber space is growing as the de facto site of business interaction; Nigeria must take advantage of this.

There were selfless older ones who also came to advice and encourage the youth. Barrister Opeyemi Bamidele, the Lagos State Honourable commissioner for Information and Strategy, gave the Keynote address delivered by Mr. Bolaji Uthman, Director General, Lagos State Records & Archives Bureau. Mrs. Olufunke Fadugba, Executive Director, Media Ethics Organization, encouraged young people to use their time and energy meaningfully. Mr. Ogbo Ogbo, CEO Giantthoughts International, discussed financial freedom to empower the youth. Also, Ms. Sola Alamutu, Executive Officer of CATE, gave her support to encourage the youth.  

Kafayat Quadri and JD treated the participants to some entertainment. Both performed on the string of their guitars doing a duet after which both then did solo performances.     

Participants were drawn from different part of the city with 135 young people in attendance. Many of the participants expressed their profound appreciation for the conference initiative and suggested having more of such. George Anson, one of the participants, wrote in his evaluation SMS ‘hi pdf, what a wonderful mind! I did not know that we still have positive thinking people like you. This little time we shared, you have motivated me. I have been drinking of you, dancing of you, eating of you, infact proud of u. It should not be yearly but daily, the venue should be a place like TBS, and u should publicise it in all media. The little you impacted on me, I’m taking it to schools and my church. I LOVE U ALL. May the good God grant u more wisdom and knowledge.’

Media web links

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/sunday_magazine/article16//indexn3_html?pdate=160809&ptitle=Youth%20Day:%20Renewed%20Call%20For%20Empowerment&cpdate=210809

 http://timelessnewspaper.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=35:pdf-commemorates-united-nations-youth-day