Folashade Adebayo, Education Advising Superior, United States Embassy, Abuja to speak at Google CS4HS 2015 Workshop

Do you know what time it is? It's 1:16a.m. and I am still awake trying to wrap things up in preparation for the grande finale of our Google CS4HS 2015 Teacher Training workshop. I really believe that anything worth doing is worth doing well and with that I set some very hairy audacious goals during the organization of this workshop. It's turned out to be a success on every level you can think of and for that I am humbled. To bring things to a close today is an amazing woman from the US Embassy Abuja. I am honored to introduce her to you all.

                                                                            BIO

Folashade Adebayo (Education Advising Superior, United States Embassy, Abuja) Folashade Adebayo describes herself as an original “Naija” woman with her ability to understand and speak several Nigerian languages (she speaks Yoruba, Hausa, Pidgin English and has a basic understanding of Igbo). She holds a degree in Public Administration and a post graduate degree in Business Administration. Before joining the United States Embassy, Shade worked with the American International School Abuja. 

She has attended the United States Based Training Program (USBT) and Professional Advising Leadership (PAL) training, participated in Sub-Saharan Africa advisors conferences, presented and co-chaired sessions at several NAFSA and other international educational conferences. It is Shade’s role of advising indigent and talented students in the United States Achievers Program (USAP) that gives her the most satisfaction. By advising USAP students and sharing their success stories, Shade spreads a message of hope for a brighter future to talented young Nigerians who never believed they could study in the United States on scholarship. 

Shade says “being an advisor is the best job at the Embassy because we are in the business of transforming lives”. She will be speaking as well as facilitating a panel discussion at our closing ceremony tomorrow.

SCHOOL INFORMATION SYSTEM MANAGEMENT PROVIDER, LINKERS KONSULT Ltd. WILL BE PRESENT AT THE CS4HS 2015 WORKSHOP

Happy Sunday Dear readers. In just under a few hours from now we will be sitting in the Conference Hall at the Nigerian Turkish Nile University listening to amazing speakers as they share with us from their wealth of wisdom and experience. Joining us tomorrow will be the MD/CEO of Linkers Konsult, Mr. Jide Ayo-Joledo. His company is responsible for the development of the Cloud Based School Information Management System, Schoolly.net. 

He will be speaking on the topic, Efficient and Effective Management of Data in Nigerian Schools- Case Study: Schoolly.net. Come and here him speak!

Jide Ayo-Joledo BIO

Jide Ayo-Joledo is the CEO of Linkers Konsult Limited- an ICT consultancy services firm based in Abuja whose clientele cuts across both the public and private sectors of the economy.

He holds a B.A in Geography and a Masters in International Affairs and Diplomacy both from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

EDUCATION CONSULTANT, FASHINA, A. ADEBAYO TO SPEAK AT THE GOOGLE CS4HS 2015 WORKSHOP AT NILE UNIVERSITY

It's barely two more days to the kickoff of the long awaited Google CS4HS 2015 Workshop that will running for one week (24th-28th August) at the Nigerian Turkish Nile University, Abuja, Nigeria. We indeed can boast of a very impressive list of speakers who are ready to give their all for the participants. I believe without a shadow of doubt that it will be the best workshop anyone can attend this 2015. We have relaxed on the rules a little bit. Earlier on we tied it down to only Secondary School teachers but due to the volume of genuine requests that came in from Non-Secondary School teachers who are active in STEM and CS initiatives, we decided to relax the rule a little bit and get such people involved.

So if this describes you and you haven't yet filled the online registration form, please endeavor to do so before Sunday evening. With that said, I'll like to introduce to you our third speaker, Mr. Fashina A. Adebayo, an Education Consultant and soon to be PhD holder. Who is this great man? 

FASHINA, A. ADEBAYO BIO

FASHINA, A. Adebayo is a young professional researcher, educator and education consultant with over four years of significant experience working on child education, science research and capacity building at various levels of education. As an Education Consultant for Comprehensive Educational Consult, he conducts teachers’ training and evaluation exercises that help teachers and students identify their strengths and weaknesses. This allows him to adequately provide the teachers and students with the necessary counseling services that include teaching techniques, learning abilities, educational objectives and college choices. 

He has also conducted training workshops and seminars, given speeches/talks/presentations to various audience types on innovative approaches to teaching and class management etc. He is presently a consultant to Voluntary Service Organization (VSO): a UK based International Non-governmental Organization that is presently intervening in the education of Nigerian students in the rural area across the 37 states in Nigeria.

From 2012 to 2015, Adebayo worked as a Researcher/Graduate Teaching Assistant for African University of Science and Technology where he served as a Member of the Editorial Board of A-MRS AUST Chapter and as a Committee Member & Volunteer Fellow of the A-MRS STEM club and Girl in Science and Engineering (GISE) group. His research interests include innovative approaches to teaching, learning abilities, female education, educational planning, solar energy materials, Si-MEMS structures, and organic electronic devices. He has published articles in national and international journals including the Journal of Materials Research, Journal of Applied Physics and Perspective on Global Development and Technology. 

He is also a Professional Member of the Institute of Planning, Nigeria. He is proficient in communication, organization, child mentoring, the use of social media outlets, and the use of Microsoft Office packages such as MS Word, MS Excel, and MS Power point. Adebayo received the B.Tech. degree in Physics/Electronics from the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria in 2008, the M.Sc. degree in Theoretical Physics and a Certificate in Business Innovation from the African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, Nigeria in 2011 and he is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Theoretical and Applied Physics at the African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, Nigeria.

He will be speaking on Enhancing the learning abilities of students via innovative teaching approaches.

GOOGLE DEVELOPER GROUP MANAGER, ABUJA TO SPEAK AT CS4HS 2015 AT NILE UNIVERSITY

As we count down to the D-Day, it is with great joy that I present to you the second speaker for our Google CS4HS 2015 event at the Nigerian Turkish Nile University, Abuja, Nigeria. He is a personal friend of mine and a very smart human being. The first time we met was at the Presidential Villa for the National Youth Online Protection Summit organized by the Office of the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in collaboration with the International Telecommunications Union. He is an amazing person. I present to you Mr. Bulama Yusuf. He will be speaking to the teachers on the topic, Opportunities presented by Mobile Leaning: Transform, Engage, Improve.

His BIO

Mr Bulama Yusuf is an enthusiastic application developer with over 6 years experience in building applications. Currently his core interests are cloud computing and mobile application development. He has built and deployed several cloud connected mobile applications in the past among which is an application that lets users engrave their signatures at places they visit, an application that monitors and reports the electricity status of a given location. Mr. Bulama has entered and won several mobile application building contests such the Google Android Challenge for Sub-Sahara Africa and Samsung Mobile Application Development Challenge. He has also lead several web development teams that built customized solutions for specific clients.

Mr. Bulama has keen interest in understanding how systems work and even more in building systems. He has recently picked up a new hobby which is programming micro-controllers and hopes to build useful things. With certifications such as Sun Certified Web Component Developer, Sun Certified Java Programmer and Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist Bulama has a wide exposure to several technologies and has held numerous training sessions within and outside Quanteq Technology Services. He is the current coordinator for the Google Developer Group and Java User's Group in Abuja which are both groups for technology enthusiast. He is also an Enterprise Application Developer & Solution Architect on the Sun Java Platform. 

Connect with Bulama on G+ https://plus.google.com/+BulsYusuf or visit http://www.bula.ma

ANDELA CO-FOUNDER TO SPEAK AT THE GOOGLE CS4HS 2015 WORKSHOP AT NILE UNIVERSITY, ABUJA

It's 3:42 a.m. and I have been awake since 1:00 a.m (one of the perks of not being married I guess) after a long day of meetings, meetings and more meetings. I don't think I have driven around the city of Abuja in the past one year like I have in the past 2 days. Winning a grant is one thing and I must let you know that execution is ANOTHER THING! However, that's what makes it beautiful. 

When I won the Google CS4HS grant on behalf of my University, the Nigerian Turkish Nile University, it really didn't occur to me then what it was going to take to pull an event of the kind that I had imagined during the penning down of my proposal. I knew it was going to be tedious but that reality didn't really dawn on me until about a week ago. So far so good I am glad to say that things are going very well. It's been raining cats and dogs here in Abuja but that has not in anyway stopped me from going about to get the things that need to get done before Monday 24th when we kick off. I was so touched when I received emails from a couple of young teachers in Lagos and Katsina State informing me that they will be coming for the program regardless of the distance. It made me want to do more and I know that they won't regret going out of their way to travel such distances to be here. 

My speakers' list is a very impressive one. I am so glad to announce our Keynote Speaker, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji who against his very busy schedule with the software engineers at Andela decided that he was going to clear up his schedule to come speak at our event. He will be speaking to the teachers about the future of education and the role teachers have to play in strategically positioning their students to take advantage of that bright future. He will also be talking about the kind of talent they hire at Andela and why it's important for teachers to get their students deeply engaged in STEM and CS Education (a little bird whispered to me that he will also be telling us why they pay people to learn Computer Science!). So who is this young and smart education technology entrepreneur?

BIO OF IYINOLUWA ABOYEJI

Co-Founder and Director, Recruitment, Andela

Iyinoluwa is a Nigerian serial entrepreneur with several years of experience running social ventures in education technology and publishing. When he was 18, he worked as an intern for the World Youth Alliance in the United Nations Headquarters. He went on to run one of Canada’s largest student-owned publishing houses, Imprint Publications as President of the Board. Iyinoluwa helped found and run Bookneto Inc, a social e-learning platform for university professors to teach online courses. Bookneto Inc. was acquired in 2013.

Iyinoluwa holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Legal Studies from the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Iyinoluwa is a recipient of several awards and honors including the John C Holland Award for Youth Leadership (awarded by JC Holland Foundation in 2010), Nigeria’s top 20 under 20 (awarded by Ynaija! in 2011) and World Economic Forum Global Shaper in 2012.

If you are a Secondary School teacher involved in teaching Computer Science, Information Technology or any other ICT related field and you haven't yet registered for this event, please send an introductory email with the subject CS4HS 2015 to tabotarreytambe@gmail.com. Limited travel support for participants is available. In addition to this, coffee breaks and lunch will be catered for by the Organizers. 

I think there are very few Conferences and Workshops where people get "funding" to attend especially in Nigeria so why don't you jump on the train and let's change the face of education in this Nation together! Can't wait for Monday 24th to come! Please don't miss it. 

GOOGLE CS4HS 2015 AT THE NIGERIAN TURKISH NILE UNIVERSITY (24TH-28TH AUGUST, 2015)

Computer Science for High Schools (CS4HS) is an annual grant program promoting computer science education worldwide by connecting educators to the skills and resources they need to teach computer science & computational thinking concepts in fun and relevant ways. 

It is with pleasure that we would like to invite Secondary School teachers to our Google Computer Science for High Schools (Train-The-Teachers) workshop that will be held on the 24th-28th of August, 2015 at the Nigerian Turkish Nile University, Abuja, Nigeria.

Activities involve;

• Hands-on training on App Development using MIT App Inventor (no programming experience required).
• Game Design using Scratch (no programming experience required).
• Introductory lectures to Python programming.
• Invited talks, panel discussions and much more.

The 5-day workshop is geared towards achieving the following objectives;

• Instilling in teachers the desire to create fun learning experiences for their students with regards to Computer Science and programming which is often perceived as being difficult.
• Cultivate in them the willingness to adapt to the changing needs of today’s learners thereby choosing to pursue a more student-centered learning approach that takes into account the different learning styles of each student.
• Provide hands-on experience in App Development and Game design using App Inventor and Scratch respectively.
• Encourage teachers to become CS champions in their schools as well as assist them in the organization of one Train-The-Students (TTS) event on their campuses.

Limited travel support for participants is available. In addition to this, coffee breaks and lunch will be catered for by the Organizers. 

Participants MUST be secondary school teachers of Computer Science, Information Technology or any ICT related field. Interested persons should please send a brief introductory email with the subject CS4HS 2015 to tabotarreytambe@gmail.com or feel free to call 08133556888. If you would be interested in giving a talk at the workshop, do send an email to the same address or call the aforementioned number. 

CODE2SCHOOLS AT SOS HERMANN GMEINER GWAGWALADA

Twas indeed a hectic day.  After having a two hour training session with the Nigerian Turkish International College students, I was later invited for another training session this time with the students of the secondary school, SOS Hermann Gmeiner in Gwagwalada. I had fun with them and at the end of the day we found ourselves taking pictures. 

The students really enjoyed the program and later in the evening that day, I received emails from them asking questions on how to navigate the CS First website. 

With the Google passports in hand, they were well on their way to carrying out the Scratch projects and uploading online for their peers to see around the world.

 

Two clubs were started that day, Fashion & Design and Storytelling. I felt like an uncle indeed as most of them called me that. 

Our overarching goal with the Code2Schools program is to take computer programming from school to school and we are doing so one school at a time.  Sounds like some what of a long shot right? Wrong, we call it a "Moonshot" and that's what keeps the team and I very motivated. It has also helped us to attract just about the right kind of people we want to work with us.

When you are thinking "Moonshot" you need to develop what the Google Founders call, "A healthy disregard for the impossible." That's what we are doing right now. We don't think in terms of days and months, we think in terms of decades. 

Someone once said that if you think of the next year, you will plant seeds. If you think of the next 10 years, you will plant trees. But if you think of the next 100 years, you will educate your teens. That's exactly what we here at the Edu Teens Science Development Foundation are doing. 

I present to you the entrepreneurs and innovators of tomorrow. Young, naive and in school uniforms today but I tell you that I believe in the greatness that lies within each and every one of them. 

I hope we can come together and try to rewrite the African narrative. Early exposure to STEM and CS is the way forward. There are geniuses on this continent and we can't afford to let them waste. These are the people who will build the mobile and web apps as well as other solutions of tomorrow that will solve the problems that have plagued Africa for so many years now.

The economic prosperity of the African Nation lies in these young and untapped minds. Feed them with the right kind of knowledge, provide an enabling environment for the seeds of creativity and innovation to grow and watch them disrupt whole industries. We at the ETSD Foundation are glad to have strategically positioned ourselves to be the gateway through which these kids will be trained.

Arreytambe Tabot is the Founder and CEO of the Edu Teens Science Development Foundation whose overall mission is to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) and Computer Science (CS) through innovative ways that capture learner’s attention, emphasizes relevance, increases motivation and hence participation in these fields. He most recently released his first classic, "Planting The Seeds of Change: Preparing tomorrow's harvest with today's seed." He is a geek gone commercial, a public speaker and writer par excellence.

GOOGLE CS FIRST TRAINING- GSS JABI

CS First is a free program that increases student access and exposure to computer science (CS) education through after-school, in-school, and summer programs. All clubs are run by teachers and/or community volunteers. We launched the Google CS First pilot with the Government Secondary School, Jabi with one club- Storytelling. It was exciting to see the projects the students came up with. The pilot is still on and going strong. Here are a few pictures from the first day at GSS Jabi.

 

Students focused on learning Scratch

                                           Our CS First Guru Lukman Enegi in action

                                                   Working collaboratively in teams

                                                              Getting Serious

                                                 Lukman giving out some hands on stuff

                                                       Arreytambe Tabot talking Scratch

                                                                   Getting interesting

                                                              Students listening intently

 

You can see that they are enjoying it.

Stay tuned for more updates on the Google CS First pilot in Nigeria.

 

 Edu Teens Science Development Foundation is a non-profit organization that aims to prepare today’s teens and young adults for the challenges of post-secondary school and life in general through educative programs, seminars, conferences, books, career talks and other ways that develop their innate abilities thus giving them an edge at succeeding in this uncertain times. This can be summarized using the following four words captured in our slogan, "We help teens win!"

Educate A Child! Better A Nation!

Today we celebrate children's day all over this great country Nigeria and so I write this article in honor of every Nigerian child, residing somewhere on this planet called Earth. The Bible let's us know that children are a blessing from the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward. This therefore tells us that children should not be taken for granted because God himself cares so dearly for them.

Sadly enough what we see happening in our world today is appalling. Pedophiles carrying out despicable acts with little children, terrorists kidnapping, killing, and sexually abusing young girls, drug lords recruiting young boys as hit men and girls as sex slaves and the list goes on. Even the teens themselves are not left out. Many are engaging in premarital sex and getting pregnant. It's not uncommon to see two kids having a kid these days! How do they take care of the poor child? And so we are left with broken adults who have no clue as to why God created them in the first place. This has led to a marked increase in the number of abortions, suicide cases, drug abuse, and violence just to name a few. Meanwhile, this was never the plan of God to begin with.

In every child is a wonderful adult. The way you train up a child will determine if they grow up to become that great person who impacts their world for good and leaves their footprints in the sands of time or become a nuisance to society and probably die like a dog in the street. We as guardians, parents, mentors, teachers, etc. must take this to heart and do the right thing. Someone once said that, "It's possible for anyone to hit a home run, but an education gives you more swings and more outs in the game." And the Legendary Nelson Mandela crowned it all when he said, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” I strongly believe in the power of Education to transform a child, youth and adult from a peasant into a President, from a mud house to the penthouse, and from no job to a corner office. This education has to be both formal (at school) and informal (at home) so that the child can grow up to be a well balanced individual. An intelligent child who lacks good morals is no different from a thug and like they say charity truly begins at home. Children must be taught respect people at home and then go to school to exercise their minds in their to be careers.

Shockingly according to UNICEF literacy figures in Nigeria,

• 40% of Nigerian children aged 6-11 do not attend any primary school with the Northern region recording the lowest school attendance rate in the country, particularly for girls.
• Despite a significant increase in net enrollment rates in recent years, it is estimated that about 4.7 million children of primary school age are still not in school, many do not complete the primary cycle.
• According to current data, 30% of pupils drop out of primary school and only 54% transit to Junior Secondary Schools. Reasons for this low completion rate include child labor, economic hardship and early marriage for girls.
• More than 200,000 new teachers are needed in Nigeria to ensure that there is one primary level teacher for no more than 40 learners.
• Nigeria alone is home to an estimated 10.5 million out-of-school children.

It is for these reasons that the Edu Teens Science Development Foundation which advocates for STEM and CS training for junior and secondary school students came up with a program called Code2Schools. Through our Code2Schools program we are bringing the power of problem solving and critical thinking to junior and senior secondary school students between the ages of 9 to 18. We do so through an innovative approach to education that merges core technical skills in STEM and CS with entrepreneurial knowledge which will eventually transform these young minds from job seekers to job creators by the time they get to University.

So far we have been able to partner with Google on the CS First program where we teach scratch programming to junior and senior secondary school students using the Google CS First curriculum. It's been amazing and the children are loving it. In most of the classes I have personally taught, I found out that the girls performed far better than the boys and this made me smile considering that these fields are predominantly male dominated.

This Summer we will be organizing a Code Camp for 70 kids in order to teach them how to write their own games instead of merely playing one. We will be teaching Scratch programming, Mobile App development using MIT App inventor and some aspects of responsive web development. The kids will work collaboratively in teams and be tasked to work on real world projects which will build their technical skills. We believe in these kids and no one can tell if the next Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates or Steve Jobs might just be amongst them.

We want you to join us in this movement as we take computer programming (code) from school to school. Follow our campaign on Indiegogo here. Please donate today and help make a child's dream come true. And to all our Nigerian children I say, Happy Children's day!

Arreytambe Tabot is the Founder and CEO of the Edu Teens Science Development Foundation whose overall mission is to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) and Computer Science (CS) through innovative ways that capture learner’s attention, emphasizes relevance, increases motivation and hence participation in these fields. He most recently released his first classic, "Planting The Seeds of Change: Preparing tomorrow's harvest with today's seed." He is a geek gone commercial, a public speaker and writer par excellence.

FROM GOOGLE STUDENT AMBASSADOR TO GOOGLE CS4HS AWARD WINNER!

Rewind! It's June 2013 and I get that joyous email I had been patiently waiting for informing me that I had been selected to serve as a Google Student Ambassador for my University, The African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, Nigeria. I get my things ready, air ticket's been paid for so I head off to the Airport to board my flight to Kenya for the Google Summit. I returned back to Nigeria after a mind-blowing Summit and my work begins. The experiences from that venture had been highlighted in an earlier post so just Click here to read about it

Fast forward, it's now April 2015, two years later and a lot has happened within this period. I put on some weight (90kg to 96.4kg which is a lot of course), had my friends change my nickname from Slim-T to Fat-T (And now I am working on being somewhere in the middle by hitting the gym more regularly and eating healthy) and I also added a new title "Former" to my previous title "Lead Google Student Ambassador, AUST, Abuja." Wow! What an accomplishment right? Wrong! 

It's been an exciting two year period since my last official assignment as a Google Student Ambassador. Upon finishing my tenure as an Ambassador in 2014, I was promoted within my Office at the Nigerian Turkish Nile University, Abuja, Nigeria where I was serving as an Assistant Lecturer in the Computer Science Department to now co-leading as the Deputy Head of Department (with a Lecturer II status).

Sometime in August 2014, I happened to be returning back to Nigeria from Cameroon through Ethiopia with Ethiopian Airlines (a journey of about 4hrs 30mins from Ethiopia to Nigeria). I was trying calm my nerves after battling for a long time with the immigration authorities at the Douala International Airport in Cameroon. My mind was not ready to think about any other thing except how to get back at the folks who tried ripping me off in my own country. But as I lay back in my seat trying to get some rest in my mind all of a sudden an avalanche of ideas came gushing in from every direction. I took out my notebook and began writing them down. I began to see with absolute clarity something I had pondered on for a long time and later abandoned-How to build enthusiasm in High School teachers so that their students could get a richer experience in the classroom. Upon landing in Abuja, I went home developed these ideas and the next thing was "How do I get the funding for it?" Then the CS4HS popped into my mind. 

I waited for the application period to open up and submitted my application for the Google CS4HS 2015 grant. It was with immense joy when I received the kind of email I received two years ago, this time informing me that my application was successful and that I had been awarded the Google CS4HS grant to carry out my project. The application process this year was very competitive as the email read and we happened to be one of the few Institutions that received the funding globally. Am I excited about this? Of course I am! And you can see the smile on my face. 

Now it's time to go to work to ensure that through this grant local Computer Science teachers in Secondary Schools and Universities will be empowered to teach  CS in a way that's fun, engaging and motivating to students. The trained teachers will then be assisted in organizing a Train-The-Students (TTS) event on their various campuses. This will encourage the students to pursue future careers in CS and STEM related fields as well as motivate them to become life-long learners. This is how I became the first individual to transition from being a former Google Student Ambassador to now a Google CS4HS 2015 Award Winner!

Arreytambe Tabot is currently a final year Ph.D. Candidate (Computer Science) at the African University of Science and Technology (Abuja, Nigeria), and the Deputy Head of the Computer Science Department at the Nigerian Turkish Nile University, Abuja, Nigeria. He also heads the overall operations of OpenKollabo Group as its Founder and CEO. You can follow us here on LinkedIn by visiting our Company Page. He has held senior level management positions at various start-ups and Non-Profit Organizations in the past. He is a geek gone commercial, a public speaker and writer par excellence.

FIVE LESSONS I LEARNT FROM MEGAMIND

Isn't it funny that I would be writing about a blue, bald-headed guy from an animated movie? But that's exactly what I would be doing in this post. Megamind voiced over by Will Ferrell happens to be one of those animated superhero action comedy films I have watched for more than six to seven times. The story is about a guy who decides to become a villain and not just any kind of villain but the "baddest" of them all in the place where he lived called Metro City. He possesses unique gifts and abilities but was always treated as an outcast by his peers at school. He grew up in a prison where he was taught that evil was good and good was evil. He tried so hard to please his teachers and friends but every effort was met with rejection which made him feel worse about himself. On the other hand his arch rival, a handsome hunk called Metro Man was treated to much fanfare while Megamind was sent to quiet corner. But the movie ends with Megamind, the much hated villain dedicating a museum that had been built to his honor for defeating a ruthless villain he mistakenly created called Titan. Of course, he also got the girl Roxanne Ritchie too. After all don't they say the good guy gets it all?

Anyway what was Megamind's beginning like and what are the five lessons I learnt from his story? Megamind, a super intelligent extraterrestrial mastermind was born on a dying planet and sent off to earth in a capsule accompanied by his minion when he was barely a few months old. His father and mother remained behind and died with the other inhabitants of their planet during the explosion. But before he was sent off, he heard his father telling him what he was destined for. Unfortunately, all he could remember were the very first lines, "you were destined for...." because his little capsule's door closed up, setting his capsule off at lightning speed on a long journey to earth. It also happened that as he set off to discover his glorious destiny, a little handsome looking baby with great hair did the same too from another planet and they were all headed for the same destination, Earth. This little baby's name was Metro Man and it was on that day that their long lasting rivalry was born.

The 5 key lessons I learned from this...

1. When the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is imminent.

I have heard this phrase a countless number of times yet many do not truly understand how potent this statement is to set them free to pursue their calling. Megamind was destined for good not evil. But because he didn't get what his father told him, he spent his teenage years trying to gain acceptance amongst his peers and everyone else to no avail. He tried many times to be good but kept on getting bad results. Every attempt at doing something was met with contempt and at the end of the day because he didn't truly know what his purpose was he began to feel dejected and the next thing he resorted to was full scale evil.

There are many people today who are living the kind of phony lifestyles they have adopted because they felt as if being the guy or girl who didn't conform wasn't the "in thing" anymore. Every guy/girl is losing their virginity so why keep mine. Everybody is shagging around so who cares if I do it too. Hollywood marriages don't last therefore marriage must be old-fashioned. A couple of flings around is good for me. And I can go on and on. Like Megamind we came from a Kingdom above with clear instructions on how to live life down here on planet earth. But we have forgotten all that because we don't spend time with our Bibles which is our manual for living and instead we look to Celebrities, Billionaires, Athletes, TV commercials, Soap Opera's for how to live the abundant life in Christ. Christian Rapper Da Truth says it's like "Looking to Bruce Banner (Hulk) for anger management classes." Megamind misused his gifts and abilities because he didn't know what his purpose was.

2. Don't compete with anybody

Megamind spent his early years trying to out do his rival Metro Man and this was the major reason why he gave up doing good in favor of evil because he really couldn't measure up even though he too was extremely talented. Some people are naturally gifted at certain things. I mean if I try to compete with a Lionel Messi on the soccer pitch today, I will always feel inadequate and untalented meanwhile that isn't the case. God has blessed each and everyone of us with unique gifts and abilities and things that only we alone can do excellently well. Our job here on earth is to find out what those things are and do them to best of our ability. In that way we get to enjoy each others gift rather than trying to compete or out do one another. I love Lionel Messi and I enjoy watching him play soccer. I equally know that there are things I am naturally good at in other areas and everyday I work at becoming excellent at what I do. Never compare yourself with anybody rather work at being the best you year in year out.

3. Take responsibility for your life

Don't play the blame game. It doesn't help in anyway and neither should you adopt a victim mentality. You will be on the same spot till God knows when. I know someone who back in my University days told me the story of her life and lamented why so and so happened to her. I met her 4 years later and I was surprised that she sat me down and told me the same story I mean without missing a beat that she had told me 4 years earlier. What I then figured out was that she had told this story so many times it had become a rhyme to her. Megamind was disappointed about the fact that life had dealt him some very hard blows. Metro Man his arch rival was adopted by a rich family while he was adopted by prisoners. Metro Man went to school with the rich kids while he was brought in every day to school from prison. Metro man was given awards while he was sent to quiet corner. Was this his lot in life? Was he meant to be an underdog? There are certain things you can't change in life like where you were born or the family you were born into and a host of others. But you can determine to a very large extent how your life pans out because tomorrow is always better than yesterday for those who will take care of their today. Don't use excuses to stay in a rut. Get out of that rut and make something meaningful out of your life. Megamind finally got this message and in the end got the girl he loved and a stature of honor to his name.

4. Beware of your closest associates.

One thing you need to be careful about is who you associate with. There are people who have lost lucrative jobs and deals because the people they hung around with gave off a strong negative vibe. Some have even been jailed because their friends committed a crime and they were innocently arrested too since they hung out together a lot. If you know where you are going in life and what you hope to accomplish then begin to choose carefully the people you hang out with. Preferably your closest associates should be people who share the same values with you and who motivate you. Megamind's closest associate was his minion who felt that he was destined to be an evil genius and praised him for being so. The moment he began to realize that Megamind was becoming soft, he rebuked him sharply and told him that evil was all he was good at. He eventually fell out with Megamind and left him because he was becoming good. Doesn't that sound like you? Bad friends never want to see you climb out of the pit. They will either pull you down with them or insult you from afar. Stay away from people who don't add value to your life.

5. Be Real

One of the reasons why Megamind almost lost the love of his life Roxanne Ritchie was because he deceived her into thinking that he was Metro Man's Museum Curator who went by the name of Bernard. He didn't see himself as good enough as he was to attract the beautiful Roxanne. There are many people today who spend their entire lives living like other people. They spend an awful amount of money on designer stuff, hair, makeup and all what not trying to fit into an acceptable social mold or what the media has defined to be the epitome of true success. Just be yourself and people would accept you the way you are. I once heard a man say, "What you compromise to keep, you will eventually lose." And the truth is every lie always need another lie to cover it up. That is why there are no successful liars for one day the hidden truth would eventually be revealed. Let people know who you are and if they accept you that way then good if not they can bounce right along. God's arms are wide open to receive you. When Megamind was discovered, he finally came out with the truth about himself and surprisingly enough the lady loved the real him more than the fake identity he had been carrying along for a while. Some people are paying the price today for the lies they told yesterday or the personalities they adopted just so they could belong to a certain clique or keep up with the joneses. It's not worth it. In the words of John Mason, author of An Enemy Called Average, "You were born an original don't die a copy. "

EFFECTIVE TIME MANAGEMENT

You may be skilled at the art of planning but without effective time management skills your plans will fall to the ground like a two dollar suit case. So what is time and why must we manage it efficiently?

Time is defined as a point or period at which things occur.

Now listen, to this Time is an equal opportunity employer. Meaning that we all have the same amount given to us on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. But what you make of it determines where you stand at the end of your sojourn here on earth. There are certain things that are inequitably distributed for example some people were born into rich homes while others into poor homes. Some people go to Ivy League schools while others studied in the village. Some people earn millions every year while others struggle to make ends meet. Some countries have more sunlight than others. Some places are colder or hotter than others. But one thing is common to all men on planet earth irrespective of their time zones, they all use the same currency called Time which once spent can never be regained. So we need to spend it wisely. We have to begin treating time like money as the old saying goes, “Time is money.” Well, that is half true. The mere passage of time doesn’t make anyone rich but rather the effective use of time brings about a sense of fulfillment, joy, laughter, confidence and rest. We all have 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, and 365 days in a year. So why is it that some people achieve a lot given the same time while others go around wishing they had more time? It is because they are poor time managers. Now answer the following questions;

·        Are you usually punctual or late?

·        Do you finish things within the time you stipulate?

·        Do you hand in your reports/work on time?

·        Are you able to accomplish what you want to do before deadlines?

·        Are you a good time manager?

If your answer to these questions was “No” then it implies that you are poor at time management and I am here to help you become good at it. Even if you can say with absolute certainty right away that you are a good time manager, I know that there is always room for improvement.

Effective time management tips.

•  Create a daily plan

• Make up your mind to be early no matter what

• Peg a time limit unto each task

• Prioritize tasks (Do the A tasks before the Bs and Cs)

• Always have a jotter with you.

• Track your time spent

• Eliminate time wasters

• Learn to say “No”

• Focus

• Don’t sweat the small stuff

Things to Remember

• He who fails to plan; plans to fail. Your life wouldn’t run on autopilot. You have to make a conscious effort to take the reins and direct it in the way you want it to go.

• If you don’t manage your time wisely, someone else will use your time, skills and abilities to help them achieve their own desires.

• Learn to delay gratification. Pay now and play later not the other way round. If you will invest your time wisely now that you are young, the time will come when you will have more time for leisure and to enjoy the finer things of life.

• There is more time than you think you have. Stop complaining about the fact that you need more time. What you need rather is better management of it.