Njiko Carnival In Igboland

THE FORTHCOMING NJIKO CARNIVAL IN IGBOLAND

Heritage is simply defined as the inheritance such as buildings, monuments, or any property of an individual or a society. Whilst, cultural heritage are the inherited qualities, traditions, ideas, or style of living of an individual or a given society, which have continued over many years, especially when they are considered to be of historical importance.

        

Undoubtedly, cultures to include dancing, masquerading, dressing, sewing, hunting, fishing, singing, wrestling, moulding of sculptures, painting, just to mention but a few, are essential developmental tools in any society or nation. Culture is strongly connected with identity; and identity expressed through culture is a necessity for all human developments. It creates the fundamental building blocks in our respective personalities and in the ties that link us to various communities and the nation we find ourselves.

         

To say the least; culture plays a unique and crucial role in a development policy especially issues relating to human rights. A free and staunch cultural heritage has the tendency of promoting other rights and values including freedom of expression, diversity and debate about needs in a society. Similarly, culture is a key player in the link between freedom of expression and democratization.

          

Inter alia, culture can also encourage the economic growth of either a nation or an individual, as the case may be. Creative areas namely music, paintings, drawings and sewing can equally serve as revenue sources. In fact, the encounter between culture, creativity, technology and economy embodies a great potential in creating work places and increasing exports, and also contributes to social inclusion.

       

Culture can as well assist in checking socio-political crises or differences among members of a particular nation. It ensures unity during crisis, and influences identity, debate and dialogue; thus, it is needed for nation building, and for peace and reconciliation. Needless to say; it inspires positive and tangible change, which we all anticipate. Survey indicates that cultural cooperation is one of the most equality-oriented forms of co-operations in existence.

Surely, the entertainment industry cannot be left out while discussing the impact of cultural heritage on nation building. In the same vein, the tourism of any nation cannot be discussed without mentioning its cultural diversity. Analysts are of the view that the cultural heritage of any society contributes over sixty-five percent (65%) of its tourist sector, which remains one of the paramount Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) sources of any developed society.  

        

Indeed, tourism is one of the backbones or engine rooms of any developed nation in the world, and such cannot be possible without the impact of cultural diversity of the nation in question. This implies that it is high time the Igbo nation, which is endowed with hundreds of different cultural resources, started thinking of how to harness the said endowments.

        

Unequivocally, considering the aforementioned profound benefits attached to culture to include undiluted unity, societal development and absolute peace, there is no gain reiterating the fact that the Igbo nation as a whole can only restore her lost glory and dignity by embracing her unquantifiable cultural heritage. It was against this background that one of the illustrious sons of Igboland, Mr Charles Oputa (alias CharlyBoy) otherwise known as ‘Area Fada’ as well as other distinguished fellows of like minds of Igbo extraction thought it wise to come up with ‘Njiko Carnival’ with a view to reuniting the entire teeming members of the inestimable Igbo nation, which mainly comprises Imo, Anambra, Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi States.

         

‘Njiko Carnival’, which would be an annual event, is proposed to be the first ever Igbo cultural carnival. The idea was borne out of a strong desire to showcase the very rich cultural heritage of the South Eastern Region of Nigeria, which is being neglected and eroded for decades now. The name ‘NJIKO’ meaning oneness/unity was coined as a clarion call to encourage the Igbos to unite through the medium of Arts and Culture. Suffice it to say; any group that represents the interest of the Igbo nation in its entirety is expected to queue in towards ensuring that the proposed event becomes a tremendous success.

         

A carnival with an expected crowd of over one hundred thousand (100,000) spectators alongside participants from all nooks and crannies of the South Eastern States and beyond is one of a series of events aimed at engaging our young ones especially the youth in resourceful and result-oriented activities as long as it lasts. The venue for the forthcoming maiden edition of the Njiko Carnival with the theme ‘The Rising Carnival’, which is scheduled to take place on the 28^th to 30^th December 2015, is the beautiful environment around the Blue Lake situated at the Oguta Ancient Kingdom in Imo State – the Eastern Heartland. The said Blue Lake popularly referred to as ‘Oguta Lake’, which is reckoned to be the second largest of its kind in Nigeria, was chosen owing to its potential as a perfect tourist location.

         

The highlights of this year’s Njiko Carnival include cultural display from member/neighbouring states of the region, boat regatta, float parades, traditional wrestling, musical concerts from veteran Igbo/Nigerian artistes, cultural dances, coupled with the faces of various famous Nollywood actors, comedians and sports personalities that would grace the occasion, amongst other cultural displays too numerous to mention.

         

Presently, the Njiko Carnival has won the support of many prominent men of Igbo origin such as the likes of Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe (the Obi of Onitsha), Sen. Ben Obi, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife and Elder Kalu, among others. However, the fundamental objectives of the proposed cause/crusade, which include to foster peace and unalloyed unity among the Igbos, to showcase the rich cultural heritage of the South eastern region of Nigeria, as well as to use pop culture to reach the youth, cannot be holistically actualized without the support of all and sundry across the Igboland or anyone who thinks good of the Igbo nation.

         

According to the National Coordinator of the Njiko Carnival as well as the Chief Convener of the awaited 2015 episode, Mr Charles Oputa – an exemplary artiste and a renowned producer in the entertainment industry, the Carnival is targeted to attract a mass movement of people of Igbo origin from all walks of life within the country and in the Diaspora, to unite and celebrate the dense cultural heritage of the great Igbo nation.

          

The organizers of the forthcoming epoch-making ceremony (Njiko Carnival 2015) are using this medium to appeal to all the Igbos to endeavour to spread the good news via their respective individual or collective capacities. It is worth noting that the Igboland belongs to we all of Igbo extraction; thus, it is our civic responsibility to revive its lost glory. And we can’t actualize this by sitting on the fence. So, let your voice be heard. Think about it!

COMR FRED DOC NWAOZOR

(The Media Ambassador)

Executive Director, Centre for Counselling, Research

& Career Development - Owerri

_____________________________________

frednwaozor@gmail.com

+2348028608056 

Twitter: @fdnnwaozor          

        

Commemorating 2015 World Food Day

CONFRONTING THE BANE OF NIGERIA’S AGRICULTURAL SECTOR AS THE WORLD MARKS THE 2015 WORLD FOOD DAY TODAY FRIDAY OCTOBER 16

Undoubtedly, no one has ever boasted of living a healthy life without an adequate food on his or her table. This implies that a healthy living is not unconnected to consumption of required and adequate food.

Food which remains one of the three basic needs of man on earth can only be acquired by continual indulgence or thorough participation in agricultural practices.

Agriculture is simply the act of farming. In a nutshell, farming is the activity of growing crops and/or raising animals on a certain piece of land in a given area or locality.

No doubt, agriculture is an integral part of human existence considering the fact that it is the only means that can guarantee the three paramount needs of man, which are food, clothing and shelter. Of course without agriculture, no one can boast of a clothe or even a shelter. In view of this, agriculture has indeed proven to mankind that it is the epitome of life which was initiated by God himself.

Obviously, several countries in the world depend solely on agriculture as regards Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) coupled with creation of employment opportunities. And those countries jealously safeguard it owing to the fact that, they acknowledge that it is the most affordable and assessable source of revenue within the reach of mankind.

Unequivocally, if well harnessed, agriculture is considered as the most important and lucrative revenue source due to the unending fruitfulness or benefits as well as easy accessibility attached to it. Among all, the fact that no one can live without food is enough reason to say that the positive impact of agriculture on mankind cannot be overemphasized.

The above facts have proven to us that agriculture can function as a revenue source as well as a means of survival to any individual or nation. Suffice it to say; sustenance of agriculture remains one of the prime desires of any rational and vision-oriented country in existence.

Due to its challenges, which include access to mechanize farming, undesirable topography, poor climatic condition, unavailability of land, insufficient funds, et cetera, many prospective farmers or interested individuals in most developing nations like Nigeria have over the years lost interest in agriculture thereby endangering the socio-economic status of the nations in question. It is no longer news that lack of participation in either subsistence or commercial farming among the populace of a certain country invariably leads to malnutrition as well as tremendous decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.

The most devastating aspect of apathy in agriculture is the one observed amongst the youth due to their eager quest for white-collar jobs. To say the least, the current lack of enthusiasm in regard to agriculture among most youths of the contemporary global society, particularly the African continent has contributed immensely to the ongoing scarcity of food witnessed in several nations in Africa and other developing nations across the globe.

History indicates that between 2011 and 2013, a total of eight hundred and forty-two (842) million individuals or about one in every eight persons in the world, were estimated to be suffering from chronic hunger, which simply implies that the said set of people were not regularly getting enough food for themselves to carry out their active life activities.

Due to the inevitable impact of food on mankind, the World Food Day (WFD) was established during the 20^th General Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) in November 1945. During the conference, all the Member States of FAO resolved that October 16 each year should be commemorated as World Food Day; the Day was meant to coincide with the anniversary of the founding date of the organization (FAO).

The Hungarian delegation led by the former Hungarian Minister of Agriculture and Food, Dr Pal Romany played an active role at the said conference; he suggested the idea of celebrating the World Food Day worldwide. The first commemoration of the World Food Day took place in the year 1946; and since then, the Day is being observed annually in more than one hundred and fifty (150) countries across the global community, raising awareness of the issues behind poverty and hunger.

As the world over celebrates the 2015 annual World Food Day, I’m using this medium to urge the Nigerian government to wake up from its slumber with the view to ensuring that the bane of the country’s agricultural institution is totally and thoroughly addressed. This can be made possible by providing adequate or needed support for any genuine prospective farmer in the country such as soft loan without any interest, arable land, as well as enabling environment, and what have you. Similarly, the federal government alongside the various state governments through a formidable and reliable agency should regularly intercede on behalf of the Nigerian farmers to ensure that the commercial banks are always willing to allocate either soft or hard loan to any intending indigenous farmer.  

The government is also expected to subsidize the prices of farming machinery/equipment to enable every prospective farmer, either subsistence or commercial, purchase them without much ado. This, no doubt would go a long way to encourage or boost the morale of all the intending farmers in the country thereby intensifying the rate of locally made products. In the same vein, the ongoing restriction of importation of goods and services into the country must be duly strengthened and intensified by the apt authorities to include the Customs Service, among others in order to increase the level of demand on locally-made commodities.

On their part, the farmers in question ought to from time to time validate the membership of all their members and also encourage or mandate the intending ones to register, to enable the government or any concerned corporate organization to easily assess them as well as ascertain the genuineness of anyone who claims to be a practising farmer.

More so, the governments at all levels should endeavour to own and manage various mechanized farms at their respective jurisdictions with a view to supplementing the private owned ones, so that farm produce would be affordable by the citizenry. It would also create an avenue for diverse revenue sources and more employment opportunities for the teeming youth.

Above all, there’s a compelling need for Agricultural Science to be studied by every secondary school student as a core/compulsory subject; and such gesture/practice ought to be replicated during their Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (SSCE) to include WAEC, NECO, and/or NABTEB, as the case may be. There’s also need for all the Nigerian tertiary institutions of learning to introduce Agric Science in their schools as a General course to be studied mandatorily by every first year student. However, there would be need for a formidable legal backing towards ensuring the effectiveness of this measure when implemented.

In addition, the various governments, corporate bodies as well as well-meaning individuals should endeavour to continually grant bursary to the undergraduates studying Agric Science or any agric-related discipline with a view to encouraging our teeming teenagers to be preoccupied with the dream/aspiration of studying an Agric-oriented discipline in future.

The aforementioned proposal if duly considered and implemented by the President Mohammadu Buhari led administration, which has indicated its interest to face the Agricultural sector squarely, would indeed go a long way towards revamping the Nigeria’s agricultural institution in its entirety. And for this to be holistically actualized, it is worthy to note that all hands are expected to be on deck. Think about it!

 

COMR FRED DOC NWAOZOR

(TheMediaAmbassador)
Executive Director, Centre for Counselling, Research
& Career Development - Owerri

_____________________________________

frednwaozor@gmail.com

+2348028608056 
http://frednwaozor.blogspot.com 

Twitter: @fdnnwaozor         

 

 

            

Commemorating 2015 World Teachers' Day

ENCOURAGING THE TEACHING PROFESSION AT ALL COST

No doubt, every right thinking person eagerly wishes to know what he/she does not or is yet to know. Such attribute can be referred to as ‘Man’s quest for knowledge’.

In the same vein; for anyone to acquire any form of knowledge, he must be taught by someone or something. In a situation whereby the knowledge recipient is being taught by a non-human such as book, internet or as the case may be, it is worthy to note that that material or avenue through which he acquired the knowledge was invented by someone or a human.

Someone who imparts knowledge to other person(s), directly or indirectly, is generally referred to as a teacher. In a concise term; a teacher is someone who teaches others better ways of doing something or a better way of living. He can also be described as someone who helps or contributes meaningfully in the uplift of someone else’s educational status/level. In other words, teaching is simply the act of imparting knowledge.

This singular fact has proven to us that anyone can be identified as a teacher, considering the relationship that exists between the persons involved. But it would interest us to acknowledge that, there are those or group of persons who embrace teaching as a profession. This set of people could be regarded as institutional teachers.

In most cases, the institutional teachers are the ones that are often recognized as ‘teachers’ owing to the fact that they are the only persons that bring out their time, energy, resources, and what have you to the fullness, to ensure that knowledge is fully and duly obtained by its seekers. Among all, anyone who practices teaching or who takes teaching as a profession, must had passed through a certain professional educational training in any higher citadel of learning.

In most nations, it is disheartening to note that this set of people known as teachers whom had contributed immensely to the socio-economic development of the nation, are treated poorly or badly as regards payment of salaries and other incentives. It is even more pathetic and disgusting to note that in some quarters, these persons whom are meant to be the leading professionals are regarded as second class if not third class citizens.

If the truth must be told, then we all must agree that it is only an insane man that is yet to comprehend the fact that teachers are the building block of any nation. Needless to say; they remain the rudiments or foundation on which any nation is built.

In view of the unavoidable impact of teachers on any society, in 1994, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reached a unanimous resolution that October 5 of every year should be observed by all the UN Member States as World Teachers’ Day. The annual World Teachers’ Day, which is aimed at mobilizing support for teachers as well as ensuring that the needs of future generations would continue to be met by teachers, was first commemorated in the year 1994.

According to UNESCO, World Teachers’ Day represents a significant token of the awareness, understanding and appreciation displayed for the vital contribution that teachers make to education and global development. On its part, Education International (EI), which is the global union federation that represents education professionals worldwide, strongly solicits that World Teachers’ Day ought to be internationally recognized and celebrated around the world.

As the world over commemorates the 21^st anniversary of the World Teachers’ Day, the civil society and other stakeholders are expected to encourage the teaching profession by ensuring that the following conditions are reached by any employer:

v Good and enticing employment conditions including appropriate contracts, salaries, and prospects for career progression and promotion.

v Conducive and charming work environment.

v High quality pre- and in-service training.

v Effective management to include a teacher’s recruitment and deployment.

The international community and various governments need to stand firm and united to support teachers as well as quality learning worldwide, especially in those countries where the highest number of out-of-school children exists. In this regard, they are meant to acknowledge that an education system is only as good as its teachers.

Above all and most importantly, the various existing Teachers’ Unions or organizations are also expected to support their respective governments in the area of maintenance of sanity in our schools. By so doing, anomalies like mediocrity, laxity, apathy, truancy, among other nonchalant attitudes of some teachers would be totally eradicated.

The above measure if properly implemented would enable any teacher anywhere in the world to proudly identify him/herself as a ‘teacher’ regardless of the circumstance.

 

 

COMR FRED DOC NWAOZOR

(TheMediaAmbassador)
Executive Director, Centre for Counselling, Research
& Career Development - Owerri

_____________________________________

frednwaozor@gmail.com

+2348028608056 
http://frednwaozor.blogspot.com  

Twitter: @fdnnwaozor