Rock the Vote -- It’s your Right!

Ask any American and they’re likely to remember the first time they voted, especially if that experience happened to coincide with a Presidential election.  Mine didn’t, but that didn’t keep me from voting.  For even if there isn’t a new (or current) President to (re)elect, every two years the U.S House of Representatives changes and every 6 years the Senate.  In short, every year our local, state and federal government changes in some manner through new representatives.  That’s important to consider, every first Tuesday in November, America’s Election Day, we vote not just for representatives on the national level, but also state and local level.  Even the new sheriff in town is voted on that day for his/her term.  New laws are voted on – should the county or state change its position on parking laws for example.

Biotechnology can feed the world

“Critics of Biotechnology say the process, especially in Agriculture does more harm than good; either to the consumer or the environment. Thousands of good things are criticized; sometimes simply because the critic has no clear understanding or has a different view. In the case of Biotechnology I think most times it’s due to the former, and this brings the question “what is Biotechnology?”

Agricultural Biotechnology is a process of enhancing seeds. The actual process called genetic modification takes place in the laboratory, where genes of a particular plant are transferred to another in order to enhance it. In this process for instance, genes of plants that grow without adequate rainfall are extracted and transferred to a plant that needs much water.

Catching the Reading Express

The American author Theodor Seuss Geisel, a.k.a Dr. Seuss, a renowned writer of children books once said “the more that you read, the more things you will know…”  As cliché as that may sound, I’m sure we can all agree there is an element of truth to it. Reading opens up the mind and broadens our imagination. It therefore was not a surprise when over 200 children were signed up to participate in the American Corner Abuja Summer Reading Program for children aged 5-13.

The Library table was filled with books of all kinds, spanning a broad range of topics:  the Underground Railroad, the United States Constitution, history of the White House, American singers, American sports legends, animal and plant life, mostly written in a language that children can understand.

Nigerian Youth Discuss Future of Urban Development in Lagos

Carrington Youth fellowship Initiative
U.S. Consulate General Lagos

In its quest to turn Lagos into a megacity of the future, several Nigerian youth said they felt the Lagos state government should focus on education and long-term solutions rather than expecting rapid and sweeping change.

The youths are fellows in the Carrington Youth Fellowship Initiative, a Consulate-sponsored youth outreach program for which 15 young Nigerians were selected and grouped into teams to design and implement projects with a social impact. At the fellowship’s monthly meeting on September 15, which was attended by U.S. Consul General Jeffrey Hawkins, the fellows viewed segments of the BBC documentary “Welcome to Lagos” and discussed issues relating to urban development in Lagos.

Know America – Expansion of U.S. Territory, Part 2

As the United States reached celebrated 60 years as a nation, the territory inhabited by Americans had more than tripled and the number of states had doubled to 26 – not including territories not considered states yet. At the time it seemed the only factor limiting the continued expansion of the United States was getting enough pioneers to move to these territories so that they could be considered states.