MentorAfrica: DREAM.ACT.LEAD... INTRODUCTION Pt. 2

MentorAfrica: DREAM.ACT.LEAD... INTRODUCTION Pt. 2: According to William Shakespeare, “life is a stage” and our vision is to make the youths understand that on the stage of this nation the...

DREAM.ACT.LEAD... INTRODUCTION Pt. 2

According to William Shakespeare, “life is a stage” and our vision is to make the youths understand that on the stage of this nation they have vital roles to play, are indispensable contributors and active participants in her destiny. They must be able to critically look at issues from various perspectives in order to exercise sound judgment, know about their rights and care about their welfare as well as that of their fellow citizens.

No one can empower another without first being empowered themselves. That is what building human capacity is about. It means that we will have self-confident, independent youths with strong character that can take on the enormous challenges that we face in this nation, to bring her to the fulfillment of her existence.

Consequently, what we desire to do in this book is answer five questions that we believe will help the youths understand who they are and to show them that they have what it takes to move this country and continent to the next level. (1)What do I have to give? Everyone is an important brick needed to have a complete and beautiful nation, your vision is a necessary contribution to the development of society. (2)Why should I be interested in what is going on? We must realize that a good society is a collective responsibility of all its citizens. (3) Why should developing leadership qualities concern me? Every sphere of life needs a leader, not only in politics; and until we develop the leader in us, we can become clogs in the wheels of development.

(4) What if I do not get a job? The shift from what I would call “education for the stomach” to living a life of impact is absolutely necessary if we are going to have any meaningful development. (5) How do I prepare for relationships that will help me accomplish my life’s purpose? Many a life’s journey have been derailed or completely aborted by entering into relationships with the wrong people.

It is our sincere belief that readers of this text will be able to make well thought-out decisions as they find answers to these pertinent questions that will help them contribute their quota to the development of this nation, Africa and the world at large.  To arrive at her God ordained destiny, Nigeria needs you!

MentorAfrica: DREAM.ACT.LEAD... INTRODUCTION Pt. 1

MentorAfrica: DREAM.ACT.LEAD... INTRODUCTION Pt. 1: INTRODUCTION This is my letter of appeal to the Nigerian youth : NIGERIA NEEDS YOU! It takes a spark to light up a forest, be the ...

DREAM.ACT.LEAD... INTRODUCTION Pt. 1

INTRODUCTION

This is my letter of appeal to the Nigerian youth: NIGERIA NEEDS YOU!

It takes a spark to light up a forest, be the spark in your circle of influence.

The import of the popular saying that where the mind goes, the man follows can never be overstated. We cannot put into action things our minds have not accepted; if we do not get a proper picture of what we want, it would be impossible or extremely difficult to accomplish it.

Spending time with the youths here in Nigeria, whether in schools or in other youth groups, I have discovered that when it comes to the development of Africa, a high percentage do not believe that there is anything in store. It is either they are seeking to go overseas; get out to more developed societies or they want to get wealth, by crook or by hook, to enjoy the good things of life.

Martin White-Ufuah says “ a closer look at the way Nigerians think of themselves shows a people that were completely indoctrinated into believing that they were primitive, savage and lazy because of the western world’s misconception that they are late comers to history and civilization.”

In addition to this negative and damaging self-image, they have also completely lost faith in the government to provide the enabling environment to function or help them live the kind of life they desire. Many are not interested in creativity, entrepreneurship or good governance; they just want to fulfil the basic needs of life and die when their time comes. The compelling purpose of this book is to help youths change the way they think about themselves and what they can contribute to the development of this nation.

· How do we make the youths achieve mental independence?

· How do we make them believe in their God-given potentials?

· How do we sell to them the idea of national restoration and pride?

MentorAfrica: THERE IS A WAY : DREAM. ACT. LEAD...

MentorAfrica: THERE IS A WAY : DREAM. ACT. LEAD...: We are Joseph’s Place, a mentoring and coaching youth agency  set up to create a unique and suitable environment for personal, citizenshi...

THERE IS A WAY : DREAM. ACT. LEAD...

We are Joseph’s Place, a mentoring and coaching youth agency set up to create a unique and suitable environment for personal, citizenship and leadership development with a mandate to work with youth leadership and raise a generation of Nigerians to take the nation to the next level. We work towards raising a generation of resourceful, effective, efficient, excellent, highly productive and community responsible aspiring young professionals within Nigeria and all over Africa.

 

Mrs Justina Edoghogho Kes- Agbosa, Founder and Life coach at Joseph's Place, is a trained teacher who worked in all the levels of the educational system before voluntarily retiring as a lecturer to start a youth coaching and mentoring organisation. As founder and Chief life Coach of Joseph's Place Nigeria, she works with youth leadership where it is found in schools, communities, organisations

Described as a strikingly different, passionate and driven Mentor, Mrs Kes- Agbosa is a Christian, Youth Mentor and Life Coach, a gifted Speaker and Facilitator, as well as a very versatile Trainer and Language Expert, who uses contemporary communications skills, excellently combined with her life experiences and professional interactions to provide solutions to the African community. With the dimension of Nigeria's growth potentials and youth groups, Justina's strong opinions, dynamic approach mechanism and endearing motherly kindness and sincerity, makes her a strong voice that connects strongly with her listeners, resonating deeply with their situations and the imminent changes required.

 

Her New Book ‘DREAM. ACT. LEAD’ is one that proves there is nothing like experience, and Justina Kes-Agbosa’s years of working with Nigerian youth gives her an uncommonly clear understanding of the disturbing problems that afflict our young - the generation to whom we must bequeath the future of our country. Even more encouraging is that she also provides compelling solutions to reverse the trend.there is the tendency for us to look outward for blames rather than be introspective about the problems that confront our society. That culture has for many years seen us deflect our complicity in the institution of these problems rather than taking personal responsibility, and now the vast majority of our youth follow in our footsteps.

It is a humongous problem that this book seeks bravely to tackle and hopefully reverse. Going against populist opinion the writer brilliantly brings to our consciousness our role as citizens in the healing of our country. She makes us see why we need to be the change we desire, why our little contributions matter and why we must put the greater good at the fore of our actions..

 

FOLLOW JUSTINA'S BLOG:

Mentoring Africa

 

FOR MORE ON JOSEPH'S PLACE:

Joseph's Place NG

 

KEEP IN TOUCH WITH JUSTINA

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Justina Kes-Agbosa 

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/Tina Agbosa

 

MEDIA & PRESS:

Please direct all book order placement & info, media and press inquiries to Joseph's Place: josephsplaceng@gmail.com

MentorAfrica: AFTER THE CHANTS 2 - APRES LES CHANTS 2

MentorAfrica: AFTER THE CHANTS 2 - APRES LES CHANTS 2: I was traveling in the same vehicle with three guys and for the about 30 minutes I was in that company, I felt so mentally and emotionally ...

AFTER THE CHANTS 2 - APRES LES CHANTS 2

I was traveling in the same vehicle with three guys and for the about 30 minutes I was in that company, I felt so mentally and emotionally disturbed that it was a huge relief when I got out. Sitting there listening to their level of ignorance and thinking about the percentage of Nigerians especially youths that are in that category was very disturbing to me especially as a youth worker. I just sat there listening without contributing anything because apart from the fact that I do not like having conversations in public transportation, it would take so much time and education to make these people come to terms with the truth. They talked about national issues without any clue about what the real situation was, they were talking either from the figment of their imagination or from gross misinformation. This experience helped me to understand more about this topic that I had started looking at in this blog. When people chant “change” do they have a correct picture of the situation and what change they want or they just want a change of the status quo?  Is it just an avenue to vent their frustrations? What is of great concern is that if they do not understand what change entails. Consequently, they might not be able to recognize the indices of change before the real change comes and they will start another round of chants. We need to educate the citizenry on the facts and disabuse their minds of prejudices if we are going to have any meaningful change. Change is a collective responsibility of leadership and citizens, no leader has a magic wand for effective change and development.

This book seeks to help prepare youths for change and make them agents of change themselves. Partner with us to get it into the hands of as many Nigerian youths as possible. josephsplaceng@gmail.com

Je voyageais dans le même véhicule avec trois gars et pour les minutes 30 environ que je étais avec eux, je me sentais tellement mentalement et émotionnellement perturbé qu'il était un énorme soulagement quand je suis sorti. Assis là, écoutant leur niveau de l'ignorance et en me reflechissant sur le pourcentage de Nigérians en particulier les jeunes qui sont dans cette catégorie était très troublant pour moi en particulier en tant que quelqu'un qui travaille avec la jeunesse. Je me suis assis là, à écouter sans rien contribuer car en dehors du fait que je ne veux pas avoir des conversations dans les transports publics, il va falloir beaucoup de temps et d'éducation pour rendre ces gens à se réconcilier avec la vérité. Ils discutaient des questions nationales, sans aucune idée de la situation réelle, ils parlaient soit à partir du produit de leur imagination ou de la désinformation brut. Cette expérience m'a aidé à comprendre plus sur ce sujet que j'avais commencé à exposer dans ce blog. Quand les gens chantent «changement» ont-ils une image correcte de la situation et de la transformation qu'ils veulent ou ils veulent juste un changement du statu quo? Est-ce simplement une avenue pour exprimer leurs frustrations? Ce qui est d'une grande préoccupation est que s'ils ne comprennent pas ce changement entraîne. Par conséquent, ils pourraient ne pas être en mesure de reconnaître les indices de changement avant que le vrai changement arrive et ils vont commencer une autre série de chants. Nous devons éduquer les citoyens sur les faits et de maintenir leur esprit de préjugés si nous allons avoir de changement significatif. La transformation est une responsabilité collective de la direction et les citoyens, aucun leader a une baguette magique pour le changement efficace et le développement.

MentorAfrica: AFTER THE CHANTS - APRES LES CHANTS

MentorAfrica: AFTER THE CHANTS - APRES LES CHANTS: All over the world we hear chants of change and at times leaders of the said change are brought into power. What is however interesting is t...

AFTER THE CHANTS - APRES LES CHANTS

All over the world we hear chants of change and at times leaders of the said change are brought into power. What is however interesting is that in most cases, no sooner these leaders take over governance do we hear rumblings of the same chant which at times develop into another loud noise. My question is, “what do we expect when we ask for change?” Is it just to see something different even if we do not understand how that is going to make things better or do we really have parameters to judge change? In my opinion, many times people just want to get rid of the status quo, they do not really understand what they want. Many have joined to ask for change without looking at how they themselves are going to contribute to this change. Against this backdrop, they expect to carry on living like they have been doing and expect others to bring about the change; when this does not happen, they are back in the streets asking for another change.

Are you just seeking change or you want to an agent of change? This book helps us answer this question; let us get it into the hands of as many Nigerian youths as possible. Contact us josephsplaceng@gmail.com

Partout dans le monde, nous entendons les chants de changement et des fois les soient-disant dirigeants de changement sont amenés au pouvoir. Mais ce qui est intéressant est le fait que dans la plupart des cas, plus tôt que ces dirigeants prennent le relais de la gouvernance nous entendons des rumeurs de la même chant qui, parfois, se développent dans un autre bruit. Ma question est, "qu'est-ce que nous nous attendons quand nous demandons pour le changement?" Est-il juste pour voir quelque chose de différent, même si nous ne comprenons pas comment cela va améliorer les choses ou avions-nous vraiment paramètres pour juger de changement? À mon avis, beaucoup de fois les gens veulent simplement se débarrasser du statu quo, ils ne comprennent pas vraiment ce qu'ils veulent. Beaucoup ont rejoint pour demander le changement sans regarder comment ils vont contribuer à ce changement. Dans ce contexte, ils continuent à vivre comme ils l'ont fait et attendent que les autres provoquent le changement; quand cela ne se produit pas, ils sont de retour dans les rues pour demander un autre changement.

MentorAfrica: WE THE CITIZENS...ENGAGING CITIZENS 4 - NOUS LES C...

MentorAfrica: WE THE CITIZENS...ENGAGING CITIZENS 4 - NOUS LES C...: Communication is the main stay for all kinds of relationships and the one between government and the people is no different. When the avenu...

WE THE CITIZENS...ENGAGING CITIZENS 4 - NOUS LES CITOYENS...ENGAGER LES CITOYENS 4

Communication is the main stay for all kinds of relationships and the one between government and the people is no different. When the avenues for communication are not open, mistrust is bred because room is given for assumptions from both sides that are most times not correct. Empowering citizens helps them to communicate with government in such a way that some trust can be established through information dissemination. When battle lines are drawn through improper communication, it often results in protests and violence which normally do not solve the problems. Citizen empowerment is not a fix all solutions to the problems of governance but if relationships are built through exchange of information, trust on both sides can result to openness. Openness on the part of government helps citizens to know what is happening in government and enables government to involve citizens in the affairs through social accountability and budget auditing. This should be an ongoing process not a crisis management issue.

Let's get this book into the hands of as many Nigerian youths as possible.contact us josephsplaceng.gmail.com

La communication est l'élément principal pour tous types de relations et celui entre le gouvernement et le peuple n'est pas différent. Lorsque les voies de communication ne sont pas ouverts, la méfiance est élevé parce qu'on donne lieu aux hypothèses prevenant des deux côtés qui sont la plupart du temps pas correctes. Habiliter les citoyens les aide à communiquer avec le gouvernement d'une manière telle que certains niveaux de confiance peut être établie grâce à la diffusion de l'information. Lorsque les lignes de bataille sont tracées par une mauvaise communication, il en résulte souvent des protestations et des violences qui, normalement, ne résolvent pas les problèmes. Autonomie du citoyen n'est pas une solution à tout aux problèmes de gouvernance mais si les relations sont construites à travers l'échange d'informations, la confiance des deux côtés peut entraîner à l'ouverture. L'ouverture de la part de gouvernement aide les citoyens de savoir ce qui se passe au sein du gouvernement et permet au gouvernement d'impliquer les citoyens dans les affaires grâce à la responsabilité sociale et l'audit du budget. Cela devrait être un processus continu et non un problème de gestion de crise.

MentorAfrica: WE THE CITIZENS...ENGAGING CITIZENS 3 - NOUS LES C...

MentorAfrica: WE THE CITIZENS...ENGAGING CITIZENS 3 - NOUS LES C...: Empowered citizens are the strength of any society because they help to contribute to improved governance. In whatever sphere of life, one ...

WE THE CITIZENS...ENGAGING CITIZENS 3 - NOUS LES CITOYENS...ENGAGER LES CITOYENS 3

Empowered citizens are the strength of any society because they help to contribute to improved governance. In whatever sphere of life, one notices that people behave more responsibly when they know they can be held accountable; governance is not different. Whenever we know that there are checks and balances, we tend to think deeply before making decisions so that we are not indicted or in some other instances, so we can be appreciated. Recklessness is a result of not having anyone to be accountable to. When the first hold to accountability, elections, are scuttled, individuals get into power via the survival of the fittest; it makes them to have a kind of affront that is unimagined. Citizens’ empowerment is a task that must be done. Citizens have to take their destiny in their hands by looking for avenues to empower themselves and demand accountability. However, we must understand that demands for accountability should not be confrontational. What we have noticed in parts of Africa is that due to the levels of frustration with government, most demands for social accountability are confrontational. This has not produced desired results so in my opinion, citizens should be educated on how to approach social accountability in such a manner that some degree of trust is built and also in way to prepare them for leadership roles should they be presented with such opportunities.

Les citoyens responsabilisés sont la force de toute société, car ils aident à contribuer à l'amélioration de la gouvernance. Quelle que soit la sphère de la vie, on remarque que les gens se comportent de façon plus responsable quand ils savent qu'ils peuvent être tenus responsables; la gouvernance n'est pas différent. Chaque fois que nous savons qu'il ya des freins et contrepoids, nous avons la tendance à réfléchir profondément avant de prendre des décisions afin que nous ne sommes pas formellement accusés ou, dans certains autres cas, pour que nous puissions être appréciés. L'mprudence est un résultat de n'avoir quiconque à être responsable. Lorsque la première prise de responsabilité, les élections, sont sabordé, les individus prennent le pouvoir par la survie du plus fort; cela leur permet d'avoir une sorte de affront qui est inimaginable. L'autonomisation des citoyens est une tâche qui doit être fait. Les citoyens doivent prendre leur destin dans leurs mains par la recherche de pistes de se responsabiliser et de demander des comptes. Toutefois, nous devons comprendre que les demandes de reddition de comptes ne devraient pas être conflictuel. Ce que nous avons remarqué dans certaines parties de l'Afrique est qu'en raison des niveaux de frustration avec le gouvernement, la plupart des exigences de responsabilité sociale est conflictuelle. Cela n'a pas produit les résultats escomptés donc, à mon avis, les citoyens doivent être éduqués sur la façon d'aborder la responsabilité sociale de telle manière qu'un certain degré de confiance est construit et aussi d'une manière à les préparer pour des rôles de leadership quand ces occasions se présentent.

WE THE CITIZENS...ENGAGING CITIZENS 2 - NOUS LES CITOYENS...ENGAGER LES CITOYENS 2

Engaging citizens is something that most people agree would help develop better societies through social accountability. Even from ancient African societies, members of communities came together to discuss and make decisions about matters of welfare in the communities; family and clan heads met to look at issues that affect the community. These were not democracies but input from group heads were considered by community leaders when making important decisions that affect the community. Good governance would generally have two dimensions; the demand side and the supply side. Citizens have expectations of what they need in order to have the kind of society they want where they have an enabling environment to live a fulfilled life. These demands are expected to be supplied by their leaders who have the authority to take decisions on their behalf. Against this backdrop, in modern societies where most of the leaders are elected representatives, the citizens have the right to demand accountability from their representatives in order to make sure that their demands are met. However, we discover that because of the levels of corruption in most African societies, accountability is almost nonexistence and any attempt to demand it is met by stiff opposition and some cases, it can be life threatening. Consequently, most African citizens are not interested in issues about good governance, all they want is just get by with their everyday lives. Be that as it may, due to constant education about the rights of citizens to be involved in governance, civil society groups are springing up all over the continent and citizen engagement is beginning to make inroads one little step at a time.

La plupart des gens sont d'accord que la participation des citoyens aiderait à développer de meilleures sociétés par le biais de la responsabilité sociale. Même dans des anciennes sociétés africaines, les membres des communautés se sont réunis pour discuter et prendre des décisions sur les questions de bien-être des communautés; les chefs de famille et de clans se réunissent des pour considerer les questions qui touchent la communauté. Ce n'étaient pas des démocraties, mais l'entrée des chefs de groupe ont été considérées par les dirigeants de la communauté lors de la prise des décisions importantes qui affectent la communauté. La bonne gouvernance aurait généralement deux dimensions; du côté de la demande et de l'offre. Les citoyens ont des attentes de ce dont ils ont besoin afin d'avoir le genre de société qu'ils veulent où  ils ont un environnement permettant de vivre une vie bien remplie. On attend que ces exigences doivent être fourni par leurs dirigeants qui ont le pouvoir de prendre des décisions en leur nom. Dans ce contexte, dans les sociétés modernes où la plupart des dirigeants sont des représentants élus, les citoyens ont le droit de demander des comptes à leurs représentants afin de veiller à ce que leurs demandes soient satisfaites. Cependant, nous découvrons que, a cause des niveaux de corruption dans la plupart des sociétés africaines, la responsabilité est presque inexistence et toute tentative de demande, est accueilli par une vive opposition et dans certains cas, il peut être la vie en danger. Par conséquent, la plupart des citoyens africains ne sont pas intéressés par les questions de bonne gouvernance, tout ce qu'ils veulent c'est de vivre tout simplement leur vie quotidienne. Quoi qu'il en soit, en raison de l'éducation constante sur les droits des citoyens de participer à la gouvernance, les groupes de la société civile ont surgit un peu partout sur le continent et l'engagement citoyen commence à faire des incursions une petite étape à la fois. 

MentorAfrica: WE THE CITIZENS...ENGAGING CITIZENS - NOUS LES C...

MentorAfrica: WE THE CITIZENS...ENGAGING CITIZENS - NOUS LES C...: In April I finished a one month Massive Open Online Course floated by the World Bank on Citizens Engagement which tried to answer the quest...

WE THE CITIZENS...ENGAGING CITIZENS - NOUS LES CITOYENS...ENGAGER LES CITOYENS

In April I finished a one month Massive Open Online Course floated by the World Bank on Citizens Engagement which tried to answer the question “Is it a game changer? I would like to share some thoughts from that training. It was clear that with the participation of citizens, governance would function better. Like I always tell the youths I work with, those in government were once citizens and I believe that we cannot produce good leadership from bad citizens. One of the major points that was raised in that training was the fact that we need to have social accountability. From my personal interaction with a few African youths, most of them do not believe that social accountability can work in this continent because of the high levels of corruption. Trying to make them see that with determination and education corruption can be reduced like it has been done in other parts of the world, is like thinking the impossible. What makes this a hard sell is the degree of mistrust in these societies which makes people to look at those even with the best intention like they were frauds. This is also fueled by the fact that some civil society groups who should be helping with social accountability have been compromised. There are those who have come into advocacy because they could not get another job or who are looking for avenues for cheap popularity to help them get noticed by those in the corridors of power. This is very unfortunate because like we were made to understand, civil society groups act as bridge between the leaders and the citizens. For us to have good citizen participation, Citizens have to be educated and driven by people who have a passion for good governance and better societies.

En Avril, je fini un Cours sur l'Internet lancée par la Banque mondiale pour un mois sur l'Engagement des Citoyens qui a essayé de répondre à la question «Est-ce un changeur de jeu? Je voudrais partager quelques réflexions de cette formation. Il était clair qu'avec la participation des citoyens, la gouvernance fonctionnerait mieux. Comme je dis toujours aux jeunes avec qui je travaille, les membres du gouvernement ont été une fois des citoyens et je crois que nous ne pouvons pas produire un bon leadership à partie des mauvais citoyens. Un des principaux points qui ont été soulevées au cours de cette formation est le fait que nous avons besoin de la responsabilité sociale. De mon interaction personnelle avec quelques jeunes Africains, la plupart d'entre eux ne croient pas que la responsabilité sociale peut fonctionner dans ce continent en raison des niveaux élevés de corruption. Essayer de leur faire voir qu'avec de la détermination et de l'éducation la corruption peut être réduite, comme cela a été fait dans d'autres parties du monde, est comme penser l'impossible. Ce qui rend cette idée difficile à vendre est le degré de méfiance dans ces sociétés qui pousse les gens à considerer ceux qui, même avec la meilleure intention comme ils étaient fraudes. Ceci est également alimentée par le fait que certains groupes de la société civile qui devrait aider à la responsabilisation sociale ont été compromises. Il ya ceux qui sont entrés dans le plaidoyer parce qu'ils n'ont pas pu obtenir un autre emploi ou qui sont à la recherche de pistes de popularité pas cher pour les aider à se faire remarquer par ceux dans les couloirs du pouvoir. Ceci est très regrettable parce que la formation nous a faits comprendre que les groupes de la société civile agissent comme des ponts entre les dirigeants et les citoyens. Pour que nous ayons une bonne participation des citoyens, les citoyens doivent être éduqués et entraînés par des gens qui ont une passion pour la bonne gouvernance et les meilleures sociétés.