SMPN AWARD: SMPN 13 Delectable Awards

It was yet another delightful evening in the history of Students Media Personalities, Nigeria (SMPN). It was the second edition of the SMPN AWARD Night, tagged: SMPN 13 Delectable Awards. The ceremony held on the 30th of December, 2021. This was done to mark the culmination of activities of SMPN for the year 2021.

The award committee had the ceremony well planned such that everyone that attended the ceremony was carried along. Even though it was done virtually, majorly to avoid the continuous spread of COVID-19, particularly the Omicron variant, the organization was top notch.

SMPN has over 8 chapters across Nigeria and all of them were duly represented in full attendance.

The event was anchored by the terrific Blessing Alasa, the HR of the organization. The program kicked off at exactly 8pm with an opening prayer. That was followed immediately by the welcome address delivered by the convener of the organization, Anthony ‘Devoyce’ Dimnwaka. The speech was backed up with a resounding applause.

Right after, introduction of guests, sponsors and leaders from different chapters was done. The sponsors for this year award night are Mr. Edwin Evbie of Maritime Services Catamaran Group; Mr Lekan Otufodunrin, the Executive Director of Media Career Development Network, Sultan Grey and Ayodeji Rotinwa. Others are Samuel Areo, Samuel Akintan and Oma Areh.

Dixon Damilola Paul, who is the Director of SMPN and doubled as the chairman of the award committee, also delivered his speech.

At about 8:40pm, presentation of the first set awards was done. These are the awards in the non-voting category. A short speech from the awardees followed.

Lekan Otufodunrin, who was the keynote speaker, delivered his address about a few minutes past 9pm. In his address, he urged the members of SMPN to always be focused and be ready to give sacrifices in order to achieve their goal of being a media personality.

Right after the keynote speech, the second set of awards which fall under the voting category were presented. In their acceptance speech, the awardees appreciated the organization for the privilege to serve and to ultimately be recognized.

The guest speaker for the night, Mr Edwin Evbie also delivered his speech.
Presentation of other awards followed, then vote of thanks and closing remarks.
The event was concluded minutes past 10pm.

Below is the full list of the awardees.

Edwin Evbie
THE EDWIN EVBIE SMPN AWARD for Best Executive
(KAMARA UGWUEKE)

THE EDWIN EVBIE SMPN Leadership Award
(SOTUBO AYOMIDE)

THE LEKAN OTUFODURIN SMPN AWARD for REVELATION of The Year Award
(Precious Ewuji)

THE SULTAN GREY SMPN Award for Excellence
(Obega Favour)

THE AYODEJI ROTINWA SMPN AWARD FOR Most Influential Male
(Odeyemi Oluwadamilare)

THE AYODEJI ROTINWA SMPN AWARD FOR Most Influential female
(Opeyemi Owoseni)

THE SAMUEL AREO SMPN Innovation Award
(Adeshina Aminat)

THE SAMUEL AKINTAN SMPN Creativity Award
(Precious IBEH)

THE OMA AREH SMPN AWARD FOR Chapter of The Year
(SMPN OAU)

For pictures and other graphical details, click here

MEMORY-LANE

Written by Dakum Esther

With eyes closed, I drift down the memory lane
A subtle shift of familiarity and my mind recalls; looking through window panes
Pitch blackness, my memories like stars light up the stream
With a useless paddle, I let myself drift
Reliving happy memories in forms of  pink cascading bougainvilleas
With a gradual shade, turns crimson
And then the darker shades light up turning to black petal Ash’s
Like a Canon ball, they consume my boat
Eating all I had to survive
I try to swim but no, the current has a strong grip on me
There in the lake of time
My boat sinks weighed by memories

I can’t change my past
The sudden dawn of realization
Gives me a full surge of energy
Piercing through my memories, defying all odds of the current
I aim at the bright light
With a strong desire to breathe
And I breathe, my past lays like a crumbling mess that needs to be cleaned.

The New Month

New months spell new beginnings.
At least, that’s what they say.
A new slate to start with,
A new truth to behold.
At least, that’s what they say.
But I have found, over the years,
That a new month is just like any other.
Unless you make it, unlike any other.
At least, that’s what I say.
A new month is new if you choose to make it different.
So, when we wish a happy new month,
We indirectly tell ourselves to make this month stand out.

At least, that’s what we mean.

The new month
@wonderousimaginations.

THE LEKKI ANTHEM

Arise O’ compatriots,
Nigeria’s call we choose to obey
Dutifully serving our father’s land
Until
On the twentieth of October,
Twenty-twenty,
An invisible gave an order to the visible
To be carried out on the Visible
Leading to a massacre
The labour of our Heroes past,
Our Heroes who fell at Lekki
Shall never be in vain.

Twentieth of October, twenty-twenty
The day when our shield became the thorn and Pierced us
Patriots with uniform
who swore to serve and protect Patriots without uniform
Forgetting that we have a common pride
Our pride meant to be green and white,
Was tainted with a fatal red colour
With no one to hold accountable for it.

For it is written: One nation bound in freedom.
And when tomorrow tried to exercise
freedom,
She only saw thraldom
Today was nowhere to be found
When Tomorrow suffers injustice in his
hands
On that chilly night,
With a cloudburst of blood
The living bled, the dead bled
The blood of the fallen heroes
Washed down with the blood of the standing heroes
Causing a massive flood at Lekki Tollgate.

O God of creation
Direct our Noble cause
Guide our leaders right
Help our Today the truth to know
To End Police Brutality
To End bad Governance
To save our next generation
From injustice and negligence
Again, we say,
the Labour
of our Heroes past
Shall never be in vain
Great lofty height attain,
Then maybe we can really build a nation
Where peace and justice shall reign

©Gabriel Joyce

The Labours of Heroes past shall never be in Vain.

Written by Esther Dakum

The candle keeps shining bright for all to see — to see that when push came to shove, we fought — we are still fighting. Like a relay race, we have taken the baton from pacesetters and the race continues.

Never taught to give our freedom on a platter, souls laid as a price but what can I say? Freedom is expensive so as I walk the streets, I think about freedom and how greed demands a large sacrifice before our quest is fulfilled.

But as long as our youth stands, no matter how frail our body becomes, afterall our youth is undying and will live on even when we are no more. The circle of life brings you backbiting yourself, because you thought you were someone else, and thus you are the receptor of your evil acts, never giving thoughts to the pleas of justice even at the cost of lives makes you a victim and one day, it all makes sense that the evil you support will have you for its meal.

To the souls we lost, you’re no longer a regular friend someone lost, you’ve become our reason to carry on this fight. The last moments you lived defined everything you stood for, even in our darkest paths, may your soul light up the path so we could follow and see that at the end of every tunnel there’s a light.

To the ones running the race; We are vibrant spirits, doggedly fighting, may the spark in our hearts burn stronger consuming everything that stands in our way yet still be kind enough to warm the meal of hope and make us realize that united we stand and divided we will fall.

20.10.20

#EndSARS


#EndPoliceBrutality

EWA

At first glance, it was breathtaking.
A second glance totally captivated me to the soul, and at the third, fourth glance… No matter how many times, you were flawless.
There was a tender side of you that caused my heart to melt when I looked at you.
Her crystal clear black eye were exceptionally unforgettable.

©DavAjit

STRIKE AND PROTEST: TOOLS TO MAKE GOVERNMENT EFFICIENT?

Written by Olaniran Aishat D.

Strike as we know, is a weakness to any administration. Strike and protest can only ginger the government in power to do what is right, at the right time.
Excess strike can lead to lot of damages in a country. Nigeria as a case study, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and National Association of Resident Doctor’s (NARD) strike– where students tend to be the sufferer of the former and patients for the latter. Strike is not in any way a friendly element to any government administration, it does lots of bad than good.

Strike is a concerted stoppage of work by men, done with a view to improving their wages or condition of employment, or giving vent to a grievance or making a protest about situation they are not comfortable with, or otherwise supporting or sympathizing with other workmen in such endeavour.

Looking into education sector, incessant strikes can dwindle the academic performances of students in examinations and make them engage in exam malpractice. Since learning is suspended for a long period, the students reading abilities fall too. This mostly turns some students into certificate seekers more than knowledge seekers.

Furthermore, most protracted strikes destabilize the school programme and operations. The after-effect is prolonged school year that exceeds stipulated period. Most academic activities for the school year are destabilized. This is one major causes of producing half-baked graduates who are deficient in knowledge in their fields of study. In the same vein, students who are supposed to do a four-year course end up spending six years or more, in the school for a simple programme.

Recently, the Nigerian medical doctors who threatened to go on strike, giving government ultimatum before embarking fully on the strike action was done to draw attention of the government to their pitiable sight while they can no longer afford the necessities of life, taking strike as their last resort. Patients are the primary victims affected by the strike action, also raising the concerns as Nigeria confront a third wave (or fourth) of covid-19.

The solution to major strike on Nigeria lies in the hands of the government. The government has to wake from its slumber and take strike action very seriously. The need to approach strike actions with proactiveness rather than reactiveness thus;

Collective bargaining can be seen from different perspective though, but, it is the negotiating and concluding process of collective agreements regarding workers’ demands and working conditions and collective agreements are reached on issue related to work.
While in the collective bargaining process, employers (government inclusive) should ensure the agreements they are reaching are implementable. It is not administratively wise to agree to do what is beyond their capacity at a given time.

There should be a review of the minimum wage policy as per the current inflation, the high cost of living in the country. This will ensure that citizens’ purchasing power is not affected by the escalating prices of goods and services. When the economic welfare of the citizens are well taken care of, there would be no need for the citizens (who are mostly workers and union members) to organise and embark on a strike.

There also should be a repealing and replacing of the current Nigerian labour law. A new law which addresses the issue of breach of
collective agreements should be implemented and strictly enforced; starting from the government. Any party responsible for the breach in collective agreements should be severely penalized.

E-Naira: The digitalization of Nigerian Currency


Written by Elizabeth Akinjole

On 5th February, 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria issued a ruling directing all financial institutions to stop the facilitation of transactions involving cryptocurrencies and instructed them to shut down all accounts engaging in cryptocurrency activities. On 24th June, 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced that to the public ‘Project Giant’; a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) project to produce and issue a government-controlled digital currency after four years of development.

On 27th August, 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced that the first Nigerian Digital Currency ‘e-Naira’ will be pilot-launched on 1st of October 2021, the same day Nigeria will be celebrating her Independence. This has however since changed. The launch is now postponed till further notice.

What is E-Naira?

The e-Naira is a digital representation of the Nigerian Naira. It is a digital currency issued by the Nigerian Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria with the same value as the paper naira notes. Just like the paper currency, it also serves the function of a medium of exchange and store of wealth. Thus, it can be used to facilitate C2C, B2C, or B2B transactions.

Why e-Naira?

According to Rakitya Muhammed, the Director, Information and Technology, CBN, the establishment of the e-Naira can accelerate the Nigerian digital economy, enable better macroeconomic policy formulation and also, boost cross-border transactions.

The main reason for the introduction of the e-Naira is to ensure payment efficiency. It ensures a faster transaction process.

Moreover, e-Naira possesses a low-cost advantage in comparison with paper currency. There is no cost of transfer associated with daily transfers between account holders. Unlike digital banking, transacting with e-Naira does not require the involvement of intermediaries. Therefore, it reduces transfer costs and saves time.

Also, it helps the CBN saves cost in printing paper currency in terms of paper and ink used.

How Safe is the E-Naira?

The Central Bank of Nigeria partners with Bitt Incorporated to create the e-Naira. Bitt Inc., is a Barbados-based fintech company that uses Blockchain and distributed leather technology that enables safe P2P transactions with seamless mobile money. Their main objective is to develop payment systems for people, companies, banks, and in this case, the government using their blockchain technology.

Having experience with the national digital space, Bitt Inc., alongside 14 other companies, passed through a rigorous evaluation process. These companies were accessed based on different criteria including, technological efficiency, Anti Money Laundering protocols, platform security, efficiency, CBDC implementation experience e.t.c.

However, data security is an important issue that should not be taken lightly. Since the Central Bank will have a major stake in Bitt Inc., any major decisions as to the usage of the data collected on the citizens will include the CBN. Therefore, the misuse of vital information of the citizen by a foreigner is limited to an extent.

Nonetheless, vital information about citizens will be uploaded necessary measures should be taken to avoid stolen identity or identity being compromised.

E-Naira Vs. Cryptocurrency

While e-Naira and cryptocurrencies are digital currencies, they are also very different.

A cryptocurrency is a decentralized form of encrypted digital currency based on blockchain technology whilst e-Naira is a government-controlled digital currency envisaged to be more stable than cryptocurrency as its value is to be at parity with the country’s official currency. This stability, however, can be questioned given the volatility of the Nigerian Naira in the foreign exchange market.

Unlike Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, the e-Naira is not autonomous and is being regulated by the Federal Government.

Launch Stages of The e-Naira

Stage 1: At the first stage of launching, the Central Bank of Nigeria will be responsible for the issuing, distribution, redemption of the e-Naira currency.

Stage 2: Subsequently, the licensed financial institutions will become involved. They will be able to request and issue the e-Naira currency.

How will e-Naira Operate?

For the e-Naira pilot launch, the system will be rolled out in Abuja, Lagos, Kano, and Port-Harcourt.

The e-Naira will be provided on Spead Wallet (an interim e-wallet) for customers. There are three tiers of wallets with each having its requirements. They include:

Tier 1: Consumers with no existing bank account, with a daily transaction and cumulative balance limit of N50,000 and N300,000 respectively, the KYC requirement for this tier of e-wallet is the validation of phone number using NIN. No existing Bank account is needed.

Tier 2: Consumers with an existing bank account, with the transaction and cumulative balance limit of N200,000 and N500,000 respectively. Here, the KYC requirement is the validation of BVN (Bank Verification Number).

Tier 3: Consumers with an existing bank account, with the transaction and cumulative balance limit of N1,000,000 and N5,000,000, the validation requirement is also BVN (Bank Verification Number).

Tier 4: Merchants, the last tier of e-wallet, would have a daily transaction send and receive a limit of N1,000,000 with no cumulative balance limit. This tier of wallet requires physical verification and compliance with all KYC (Know Your Customer) procedures provided under the CBN Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Regulations, 2013.

Conclusion
While the introduction of e-Naira is a big step towards achieving a cashless economy, its success is likely to be hindered by several different factors currently affecting the Nigerian economy including lack of internet, shortage of power, illiteracy, and most importantly, the volatility of the Nigerian currency.

INDEPENDENT @ 61

Written by adesanya Deborah

Our leaders have fought greatly for the right of the citizens, during the leadership of Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe, they fought for the freedom of the country, they have been good examples of a great leaders!

The citizens were enslaved by the British, they worked for the white men for several years and were suffering in their father’s land. The above-mentioned leaders stood for their freedom, they overcame and they also brought back the dignity of our country! A land filled with honey and numerous resources for the growth and welfare of the country ‘NIGERIA’.

Life has been very lovely and peaceful for the citizens, the three tribes had always lived with love, the government has lived with peace with the people, there was a lot of facilities in our country ‘NIGERIA’ and all their promises were fulfilled.

NIGERIA @ 61 but people never achieved something meaningful because of the bad leadership and corruption among themselves, they complained about the indulgence of their leaders at the top!

Corruption has been the order of the year, death today, kidnappers tomorrow. Our leaders have not been faithful, they have turned their back against the voice of their citizens! Why now?

Poor electricity, poor water supply, bad roads, bad leadership, people are suffering, the citizens are complaining about the increase in their daily expenses, insecurity has been the tone of the air!

Why are our leaders seek not the welfare of their citizens rather than taking up false cases, several graduates have been on the streets for them to survive because the government has failed to make jobs easier and better for them, bribery has been the illness that has no cure in the country.

The citizens can no longer differentiate between themselves and their leaders, they have lost that respect because of the salt that destroys the food!

All we ask for is good leadership and security for our lives as a citizen, we are ready to join our hands together to build the wall that has fallen!

When we gained. our independence from our captives, that was the beginning of our freedom, therefore, let us not separate ourselves for we not to be enslaved the second time!

We are a great nation, we are one, we’ll always be good leaders for our followers, we promise to be good citizens and leaders.

We hope and pray for the restoration of peace and unity for our great nation, we are ready to walk and stand in love to build back our father’s land.

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started