Investing in Nigeria’s Future

Commentary by: Enoh Titilayo Ebong | USTDA Deputy Director


When I was growing up in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, my father used to say that his future was in his past. In other words, you can never know how what happens today might impact tomorrow.

My father, Ime James Ebong, used to regale my sisters and me with stories about rising through the ranks of the Nigerian Civil Service after the country gained independence in 1960. As the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Economic Development and Reconstruction, he worked to coordinate foreign investment that could help build infrastructure and promote growth. He believed strongly in a global Nigeria, and traveled to the United States many times to establish partnerships with American companies.

Deputy Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, visits MWF’s Fish and Poultry Feed Manufacturing Plant

Deputy Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, accompanied by the Assistant Secretary of State, Linda Thomas Greenfield, on Wednesday July 8 visited Ideal Agro Allied Services Ltd—a fish and poultry feed manufacturing plant owned by Mandela Washington Fellow Saidat Shonoiki.  Founded in 2006, Saidat has gradually expanded her company such that she now employs 14 workers and produces 2,500 large feed bags (30 tons) per month. Saidat is an animal food nutritionist. Her ‘excruded’ (floating) feed product competes with foreign brands from Germany, Israel and elsewhere, such that local farmers feel confident patronizing her products. Saidat’s plant is currently running at full capacity.  She is building an agricultural sustainability training center, Green Skills Initiative, with financial support from the World Bank to the tune of N7, 000,000 naira ($35,000).

Women as Peace Advocates

March is Women’s History Month in the United States.  It is set aside to focus on the contributions of women to the development of the country.  March 8 is also celebrated as International Women’s Day.
In his proclamation, U.S. President Barack Obama said, “Throughout history, extraordinary women have fought tirelessly to broaden our democracy’s reach and help perfect our Union.  Through protest and activism, generations of women have appealed to the values at the heart of our Nation and fought to give meaning to the idea that we are all created equal.”

Investing in Africa’s future

Today five hundred young Africans, women and men adjudged to be some of the most promising leaders on the continent, are in the United States for a six week program courtesy of President Obama’s Young Africa Leadership Initiative (YALI).  YALI is a program initiated by President Obama in 2010 to invest in the next generation of African leaders.  This is through enhancing their leadership skills, encouraging entrepreneurship and connecting young African leaders with one another and with Americans.

FIGHTING MALARIA

Catching them young, an excited Ramatu collects
LLNI for herself. Photo Credit: USAID/TSHIP

Listening to a recent radio jingle, encouraging Nigerians to do a proper blood test before taking malaria medication, reminded me how deadly malaria could be.  The jingle was an important reminder about how many Nigerians simply go to a neighborhood pharmacy to purchase malaria drugs without proper diagnosis.  Malaria is so common here that sometimes people forget just how dangerous it is, especially for children under the age of five.  The World Health Organization (WHO) says, in Africa, a child dies every minute from malaria.

Some Last Thoughts about the Women’s Movement in the United States

In the United States the month of March is commemorated as Women History Month.  Information Officer of the U.S. Embassy Abuja, Rhonda Ferguson-Augustus spoke with Peoples Daily reporter Favour Egbuta about the month and its significance.  Below are excerpts from the interview.

Can you give us some background about the Women History month?

International Women’s Month actually started as Women’s Day in the United States, going back to 1909.  I believe that initially, women banded together to advocate for women’s suffrage, improved working conditions, equal employment, and to champion the needs of working mothers.  These issues were important in 1909 and they are just as important now.  The International Women’s movement embraces these same issues.

SHUGA-SHUGA

Photo: aids.gov

When I first heard the word “SHUGA” from a colleague I thought she was referring to the normal sugar.  Turns out it’s the title of a drama that provides great entertainment but important messages about HIV/AIDS and other health issues.

The production of SHUGA 3, the third production in the MTV award winning TV series – “SHUGA” – took place in Lagos and included mostly upcoming Nigerian actors and actresses.  More than three years ago the first production of SHUGA (“SHUGA 1”) was filmed in Kenya to highlight the risks young Kenyans faced when being sexually active without the use of protection and living careless lifestyles.  SHUGA 3 highlights the realities for youth in Nigeria.

What's Happening Now and What's Next: The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)

Ambassador Froman and African officials hear
from an African businesswoman about diverse export
products including Shea butter and cassava flour.

Shea butter, clothing, and countless other African products that make their way to U.S. store shelves. American ingenuity building bridges - literally - across the African continent, with skills training for workers to boot. These are success stories of America's trade and investment relationship with Africa, all highlighted at the AGOA Forum in Addis Ababa.

After helping to open the 12th AGOA Forum and bringing a message from President Obama to the assembled government officials, private sector and civil society delegates today, Ambassador Froman formally launched a major review of AGOA, aimed at building on successes and addressing challenges with the U.S. preference program that allows substantially all goods from 39 African countries to enter the U.S. market duty-free.

A Whole New World

Every year, hundreds of Nigerians travel to the United States in pursuit of higher education. Many of these students are young and travelling to the U.S. for the first time.  They will live and study in a completely different environment for between two to four years.  One of the first challenges that will confront them is culture shock.  From the weather, to the food, to the different accents, they will have a lot of adjustments to make.

3 Secret Founding Fathers of the Declaration of Independence

Thomas Jefferson.  Benjamin Franklin.  Samuel Adams.  Many Americans, students of American History, and/or drinkers of beer recognize these names as Founding Fathers of the United States of America.  These brave souls, along with fifty three other patriots, are rightfully recognized as the individuals who put pen to paper and sent a message to the world—that it was the beginning of the end for repressive, unrepresentative governments everywhere.

Talking About Children’s Rights

“We can provide solutions to Nigeria’s problems,”  a sharp and thought-provoking response from a mere toddler  who was among a group of 5 – 11 year old school children at a program in the U.S. Embassy, Abuja.  The program in commemoration of children’s day focused on the Nigerian Government’s Child Rights Act.

When asked what rights children had the responses by the children were very insightful – clearly, they had a pretty good idea of what rights they have.  Answers given include right to speech, right to education, right to movement and right to worship.

307 American “Holidays”: June Edition

For Americans, nothing is too unimportant to celebrate with a day, week, or even month!  Want to encourage awareness of sauntering?  June 19th is yours!  Do you passionately wish to share your abiding love of clay with others?  Have a whole week.  But why settle for a day or week when you can dedicate an entire month to the refreshing wonders of iced tea?  Americans take less holidays than almost any nation on earth, yet we clutter the calendar with an astounding number of questionable celebrations.  We found 307 “holidays” on record for the Month of June alone.  We spared you 304 of them.  You’re welcome.

Young People Also Talk About Corruption

Today we heard from young people their views on corruption.  At Government Secondary School Wuse, U.S. Speaker on anti corruption Peter Ainsworth interacted with students from public schools in Abuja on corruption, particularly how it affects them. 

The first question Mr. Ainsworth asked the students was their definition of corruption.  Answers included the following:

The Fight Continues

Today is the second day of the U.S. Embassy hosted program on anti-corruption.  The Speaker, Peter Ainsworth, who is Senior Deputy Chief for Litigation - Public Integrity Section, Criminal Division in the Department of Justice, was at the Nigerian Law School, Abuja.  There he interacted with members of the faculty lead by Head of Academics, Bob Osamor.

Just as in his interaction with civil society, Mr. Ainsworth emphasized that fighting corruption is a continuous process and hope must never be lost.   He said, although systems and approaches in the U.S. and Nigeria may differ, the goal is still the same and that is to successfully enforce anti-corruption laws as deterrence for future behavior.  As simple as this goal seems, achieving it is not simple at all and the U.S., after working on this for two hundred years still makes mistakes.

The Fight Against Corruption is Continuous Commitment

This week the U.S. Embassy, Abuja, is hosting an anti-corruption program with U.S. Speaker Peter Ainsworth.  Peter Ainsworth is Senior Deputy Chief for Litigation - Public Integrity Section, Criminal Division in the Department of Justice.  His section investigates and prosecutes public corruption, election law, and conflicts of interest offenses nationally and internationally.  In addition he personally serves as lead attorney on high-profile matters handled by the Section.  One such high profile case is that of Rickie Scruggs, a highly influential, highly connected and rich Attorney in the State of Mississippi who tried to bribe Judge Henry Lackey, which Mr. Ainsworth used as a case study in his interaction with civil society groups this morning at the National Center for Women Development in Abuja.  The program was put together in collaboration with the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG).

Something Special in Worcester

On a recent training trip to the United States, I visited the city of Worcester in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of about 180,000, this former manufacturing hub is today a center of excellence for higher education, healthcare and medical research.  While there is a lot going on in Worcester, most notably the various attempts to reinvent the city, what I found more interesting were the programs offered for young people.  My training colleagues and I interacted with organizations like the Boys and Girls Club, Y.O.U. Inc (Youth Opportunities Upheld) and visited a youth center, all of them with   an overall goal to groom their youth into mature, well adjusted, responsible and productive members of the community.

You can do it

Becoming an entrepreneur is a very difficult task, especially in a developing country like Nigeria, where businesses have to deal with huge challenges - lack of basic infrastructure, hindered access to capital and other issues - which other parts of the world take for granted.   It is even more challenging for women who have to deal with these impediments in addition to managing their homes in a very conservative environment.  To encourage upcoming young women entrepreneurs the Public Affairs Section of the Embassy put together an interactive session.

Zero Tolerance

I had a shocking experience several years ago noticing a neighbor’s young daughter would constantly cry in the morning while her mother was bathing her.  Upon inquiry, the young girl’s senior sister casually told me in Hausa that “An yi mata kachiya ne” (she had a circumcision).  To say I was shocked by what I heard is an understatement.  I could not believe my ears.  I had heard about such practices but thought they had long been stopped.  When I asked my mother about it, she told me it is alive and still practiced in certain communities.  Further inquiries showed the principal reason given in most cultures for this practice is “to prevent the girl from becoming promiscuous” while others regard it as an important rite of passage.

The Inauguration of a President

The inauguration of a President represents an important symbol of democracy in the United States, as the President will publicly swear that:

“ I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

When written, this oath was revolutionary because the President swears their allegiance not to a country or an individual, but instead to the ideas of the United States Constitution—democracy, federalism, and the separation of powers.  The President is stating he is bound to the rules outlined in the Constitution and it is his job to protect and enforce this document.

5 Fanatics of American Football

In the US, the holidays have come and gone, the Superbowl is approaching, and Americans en masse  turn their collective attention to that most unique of sports—American football.  For citizens of many countries, the American fixation with football can seem strange.  Why do so many Americans share a love of watching hulking men form lines and bash into each other while slightly less hulking men toss, run, or kick a ball downfield?  What motivates grown men to stand in sub-Arctic temperatures shirtless, fully painted and wearing funny hats?  And who are these fanatics that turn every Sunday afternoon in America into a feast of chicken wings, beer, and pork rinds?  To answer this and many more questions, we will consider 5 American football fans in all their glory.