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.

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.

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. "

WHAT WE ALL NEED- PART 1

It is often said that, “There is no such thing as constant as change itself”. I can still fully picture the year 2008 like it was yesterday with all its hype when billions of people around the world witnessed the election of President Barack Obama as the forty-fourth and first African-American President of the United States of America. History was once again made! That night I sat glued to my TV screen watching CNN as they covered the race to the White House live and reported on every aspect of the voting exercise up until the point when his overwhelming victory was announced. His victory seemed to spell hope to everyone who had lost hope and the dawn of a new era to everyone who had been defeated by the adverse circumstances life sometimes throws at us. One could see people like “The Queen of Talk”, Oprah Winfrey and Rev. Jesse Jackson shed tears of joy in the emotional crowd that gathered in Chicago as they watched their ray of hope mount the podium to deliver his victory speech in some of these words;

“It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day,

     in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.”

                                         -Excerpt Obama acceptance speech, 2008

Famous secular artists like Kanye West, Jay-Z, amongst others and also Grammy Award-winning Gospel singer Yolanda Adams released songs about Obama’s victory all pointing to the birth of a new era for Black America.

It was clearly evident that people were tired and needed a change. They didn’t care whether he was black, white or even purple as long as he “promised” to deliver the goods and his political agenda perfectly blended in with what their hearts longed and cried out for. They saw the change they could believe in lying within the ranks a man who seemed to have a sound mastery of the intricacies into the hidden solutions to all America’s problems. The country was in profound debt, a disheartened people fed up with broken promises on Main Street and the corporate greed exhibited by some of the Gordon Gekko’s on Wall Street, an ailing government battling to the mitigate the effect of failed policies and the closing down of giant Investment Banking Corporations like Lehman Brothers with others screaming out for bail out, unemployment was at an all-time high, soldiers were being killed on a daily basis in Iraq and Afghanistan, two wars that were costing millions of dollars with no definitive end. In fact a lot was going on which had to be remedied. Obama seemed to be America’s and even the world’s man of the hour and thus everyone wanted him on board so that they could finally see “The change they could believe in.”

But again I ask myself, how the most powerful Nation on earth got to such a position to begin with as we know that something like this wouldn’t have happened instantly with the cast of a spell or the wave of a magic wand as we read in the fairy tales but rather as a culmination of a string of events tightly knit together. Let me put it to you then that things had been disintegrating long before this great collapse and the severity of these little cracks were never wholly perceived in the light of the Global Economy. Some individuals were doing certain things they shouldn’t have done or taking oversight of the things they should have taken seriously. The Global financial meltdown and its cronies I would say then were only the fruit (manifestation) of the seeds that had been planted long before this whole thing went off beam. 

                                                                      To be continued...