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Activate Success International Foundation Empowers Corps Members With Grants

Published

3 years ago

February 23, 2022

By Joel Ajayi

The Chief Executive Officer of Activate Success International Foundation, Mrs Love Idoko-Uloko has disclosed the foundation’s readiness to help Corps Members maximize their potentials as job creators and employers of labour.

She stated this on Wednesday at the NYSC National Directorate Headquarters, Abuja while presenting cheques to some Corps Members that participated in the Youth Entrepreneurship and Empowerment Programme, in which Corps Members were asked to submit business proposals.

However, each of the beneficiaries received Four Hundred Thousand Naira.

She said Activate Success International Foundation is focused on helping people discover their talents and purpose in life, noting that her Youth Entrepreneurship and Empowerment Programme (YEEP) has inspired and empowered Corps Members across several states of the federation.

According to him, Corps Members were asked to submit their business ideas and our team went through all of them. Successful applicants were trained and will be presented with cheques this morning”, Love Udoko-Iloko said.

“Everyone is born with talents and gifts, and our mandate is to inspire such persons to succeed by maximizing their potentials and thereby impacting the society.

In the past ten years, Activate Success International has been at the forefront of youth empowerment across the country by reaching out to thousands of young people through our inspirational television programme, “Activating Success”.

We took our Youth Entrepreneurship and Empowerment programme severally to Lagos, Abuja, lmo and Benue States Orientation Camps since 2018″, She said.

The CEO of Activate Success International who said the foundation was poised to sustain the initiatives, as well as continue in her goal of impacting the society positively, added that the foundation had previously given grants to thirty-six Corps Members.

NYSC Director-General, Major General Shuaibu Ibrahim in his remarks commended Activate Success International for assisting Corps Members to become job creators with business grants.

He disclosed that NYSC Management introduced Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme in 2012, adding that many of the ex-Corps Members that keyed into the Scheme are today employers of labour in different skills.

DG reiterated his call for public support for the actualization of the proposed NYSC Trust Fund which would expand the scope and quality of the skill acquisition programme of the Scheme, address infrastructural deficits and also provide start-up capitals to Corps Members as they exit service for the pursuit of their business initiatives.

“We want our Corps Members to be job creators and employers of labour as they exit service”, Ibrahim added.

He appealed to other stakeholders to assist the Scheme in strenghtening the skill acquisition programme, while promising that the Scheme would thoroughly monitor the judicious utilisation of the funds given to the Corps Members through its internal monitoring mechanism.

Speaking earlier, the Director, Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development Department, Mr. Hilary Nasamu thanked Activate Success International Foundation and Nestle plc for finding it worthy to support the NYSC skill acquisition programme, which he said was a gateway to self-reliance by the youths

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RMRDC: Making Giant Strides Under Prof. Nnanyelugo Martins Ike-Muonso

Published

2 days ago

September 19, 2024

The Gleamer

By Joel Ajayi

As we embark on a journey, we always pray for an able, experienced, and courageous driver, pilot, or sailor depending on the means of transportation.

This is because the captain will have enough experience and boldness to navigate out of turbulence and to bring all the passengers and crew to the intended destination.

Interestingly, these fine qualities of ability, experience, boldness, and many more, abound in the man, Prof. Nnanyelugo Martins Ike-Muonso, who we all are pleased was appointed the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, RMRDC, the Director General/CEO by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu a few months ago. This is because he has brought his knowledge, ability, experience, and doggedness to bear in carrying out his assignment in charge of the Council.

The RMRDC, operating under the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology, is pivotal in driving Nigeria’s industrial growth by optimizing local raw materials exploitation, development, and utilization. RMRDC, ab initio, was conceived as a child of necessity when Nigeria was reeling from the throes of global recession and plummeting crude oil prices.

Without an iota of doubt, today, the council is experiencing a transformation with massive innovation in raw material exploitation, development, and utilization, supporting business and industrial growth, and contributing to Nigeria’s economic prosperity.

Speaking during a press briefing on Tuesday, in Abuja to commemorate his 100 days in office, he said the council is laying a solid foundation through numerous innovations that will further enhance growth in the country.

According to him, “In the past 100 days, my strategic pursuits have been to lay solid foundations for enduring success in these goals.

“Upon assuming this position, I set five crucial deliverables which include, refocusing the Council as a premier research institution; Strengthening the Council’s productivity and operational efficiency; and Significantly improving the staff welfare to be the best in the class of similar organizations.

“Others include, Boosting the Council’s visibility and instituting remarkable culture change that encourages ownership and productivity as well as Strengthening and deepening the Council’s place in the international arena.”While speaking on his Achievements so far, the DG revealed further: “My first task, therefore, was to implement a strategic goal-setting for the Council’s staff to define and set out clear objectives and targets to be achieved by the Council within a specified period towards refocusing on this historical mandate. We unleashed five significant initiatives in that regard.

“The nationwide raw material data collection exercise that focused on technical and investment information to drive our mission forward.

“The restructuring and renaming of the former Technology Innovation Complex (TIC), at the Obasanjo Space Center at Airport Road, Abuja, to a Research and Demonstration Plants Complex (RDPC). This complex will be Africa’s first center of excellence in raw material research, featuring state-of-the-art laboratories, technology development workshops, and proof of concept demonstrations.

“We have reactivated the Council’s Journal and repositioned it internationally. The repositioned Journal of Raw Material Research (JORMAR) will host RMRDC’s researchers’ publications, which are crucial in promoting awareness, facilitating knowledge sharing, and informing stakeholders about the opportunities and challenges in Nigeria’s raw materials sector. “The collaboration with universities and academies will strengthen our capacity for conducting market-guided research, ensuring sustained workforce training while deepening our orientation in science.

“The council has reformulated a new template for all our research proposals to ensure and sustain a clear departure from the old culture of blue-sky and deliberately endless research.”Speaking further, Prof Nwanyelugo Martins Ike-Muonso stated that Staff welfare remains a top priority as an issue of unpaid salaries is settled as well as set up a comprehensive welfare program. “Similarly, we established the RMRDC Training School to sustainably build our staff and stakeholders’ capacity to further the staff welfare improvement goal.

“We are committed to openness, inclusiveness, and performance management and have initiated steps to continuously improve staff ownership, orchestrate transformative culture change, boost our corporate visibility, and enhance.

“To further strengthen our visibility and communication strategies, we are upgrading our media infrastructure, which includes the launch of the RMRDC online media platform, The RMRDC TV Online.

“Additionally, we are working hard to effectively enhance the intellectual property and patent portfolio of RMRDC from its current 40 to approximately 200 new patents within the next 24 months. This proactive approach secures valuable IP assets and positions the Council as a leader in innovation within the raw materials sector, contributing to Nigeria’s overall economic growth.“As well as launching an e-registration and certification portal to enhance transparency in the raw materials sector,” DG revealed.

He however reaffirmed his commitment to reshape the future of research, technology, and innovation, driving Nigeria towards an industrially vibrant and technologically resilient economy.

“As I mark 100 days in office, I boldly say that the Council is on the verge of rewriting its history.

“I believe that in no distant future, RMRDC will play a leading role in enhancing raw materials’ development to boost raw materials’ industrial trial processing and attain sustainable industrial growth in Nigeria.

The DG, however, applauded the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Chief Uche Geoffrey Nnaji, for his unwavering support and mentorship, saying the Minister’s leadership has been instrumental in the progress made so far.

In his opening remarks, the Directorate of Corporate Affairs, Mr Chucks Ngaha commended the hard-working DG who has weathered the storm further to put the Council on the ladder of more prosperity.

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