EVERGREEN INITIATIVE FOR EMPOWERMENT AND CONSTRUCTIVE DEVELOPMENT was birthed after the realization of the rising deficit in human capital development among young Nigerians. Registered in Nigeria under the companies and allied matters law of the federation as a Non-Governmental Organisation on the 24th of July 2015, our core interests are leadership, governance and human capital development. Without any doubt, it is no clandestine that young people in contemporary Nigeria and other parts of the world are faced with certain challenges ranging from social, political, legal, economic, emotional and mental facets in everyday Life. This is the primary reason why Evergreen Initiative is dedicated to the struggle for youth empowerment and constructive development via human capital development. In order to achieve our objectives, different brands have been put in place as tools to which we use in accomplishing our set out goal of an Evergreen Nigeria
2.0 VISION & MISSION
We plan to build a solid network of brilliant young minds, credible, willing and committed to being the difference they seek to see in order to bring about an can and together we will make Nigeria Evergreen.
3.0 OBJECTIVES
To bring about empowerment (financial, political, entrepreneurial and intellectual) via human capital development amongst the Nigerian Youths.
Create a valuable network of credible, creative and committed young people
Establish sincere human capital development among young Nigerians.
Bridge the gap between the rich and poor
To Foster unity among youths in Nigeria.
To encourage innovation, enterprise, entrepreneurship, and creativity amongst Nigerian youths and the world at large
To provide support to organizations engaged in similar activities
Prayer of Hope
I look up to a better Nigeria
I look forward to the day the Germans, Americans and Japanese will drive Innoson cars the way we drive their Mercedes Benz, Ford and Toyota,
I look forward to the day when Nigeria will send relief materials to the western world when they encounter insurgencies,
I look forward to the day when we (Nigeria) will rise up to our status as the Giant of Africa and not just live by the ancient myths of past glory,
I look forward to the day when the Nigerian economy will not depend merely on the oil sector to thrive,
I look up to the day when being a Nigerian will not guarantee double scrutiny at International airports,
I look up to the day our leaders will understand leadership is service and not lordship,
Finally I look up to a better Nigeria where you and I can beat our chests and say "I am a Nigerian" with so much pride.
ALLI-BOB CINWON
Overcoming the Tide
{The story of a displaced 12 year old}
He had to run away from school, his parents, friends and a lot of other things due to circumstances of irresponsible people supposed to be offering a service to the people.
At some point it was safe to say he lost almost every but two things his vision and determination, right from his childhood he was told "the future is yours just go to school" and because he wanted to be a doctor, he promised to never play with school.
Unfortunately, some years later Maxwell Finds himself in an IDP {internally displaced person} camp with no school and wasn't really happy but he tried keeping himself productively occupied
One day Maxwell wakes up and hears an Evergreen Initiative {A not for profit organization} is offering to give them education for a month at no cost, he was overwhelmed with this news and started to prepare for the summer school
On his bed one afternoon he heard someone saying if we don't have uniforms and school bags the summer school will be boring and this made the kids quite unhappy.
After a lot of thinking Maxwell decided that instead of waiting for uniform and bag he will make for himself and his friends because he needed to enjoy this privilege. And that's the result we see in this post
I have one question, what is your limitation?
A new perspective
According to the IDMC, over 2.1million people have been victims of communal conflicts, natural disasters and insurgencies by terrorist groups leaving them displaced.
Now, the problem is how do we intend to settle these people outside the camps, because keeping them in these camps is a burden the government and individuals cannot carry forever.
I'm not downplaying the support individuals have shown in taking care of these children and it has indeed showed that there is still hope in humanity.
However, how long are we going to keep taking food and other material things to them? How does that secure/assure a future for them? If no one takes food for a week how will they survive?
I would like to suggest we direct the efforts so far In a more progressive manner. Imagine the 2 million displaced people are equipped with a skill, proper education and other things that will help them generate income for themselves, what do you think the results will be?
DRUG ABUSE
What do you think about substance abuse? Our fight is not with drugs; rather it is with abuse of it. Drug abuse in simple terms can be described as the improper use of drugs. Given this context it can be construed to mean using something unfairly in a way that causes damage. In recent times drug abuse has become a global phenomenon as it affects most societies, states and countries. The abuse of drugs has become rampant especially amongst our young people. We at evergreen know our country is not fully absolved of this menace and so with the realisation of this came the actualisation of the YEADA program {Youth empowerment against drug abuse} a brand under the Evergreen Initiative.
THE TRUTH ABOUT DRUGS
There is a lot of talk about drug abuse in the world – on the streets, in schools, on the internet and television. Drugs have trickled into our system becoming part of our culture since the middle of the last century. It was popularized in the late 90s and early 2000s by the entertainment industry and the new media. This situation can be likened to a canker worm and has eaten deep into the fabrics of our society so much so even overwhelming our values as even the leaders of tomorrow are being exposed, perhaps even much earlier in contemporary times. It is against this backdrop that such a programme is imperative. Studies have shown that 50 per cent of teenagers will abuse at least one drug substance before they graduate school.
Most young people take drugs because they feel it can help them escape from the harsh realities of life, thus altering their perception on reality forgetting that when the drugs wear out reality kicks right back in, and this is probably one of the reasons for addiction.
There are common problems which occur due to the abuse of drugs and this doesn’t depend on a particular drug as they all affect the mind. Drugs distorts the user’s perspective on life issues and consequently, the actions of such persons may be odd, irrational, lackadaisical, inappropriate and even destructive.
At some point drugs create a brain dependency where the brain cannot function properly without the presence of the abused substance, the body’s physical strength begins to weaken frequently as an individual may experience strong withdrawal symptoms when trying to stop the use of drugs and these include vomiting, sweating, nausea, shaking or seizures and emotional instability such as depression, anxiousness and sudden anger. The Abuse of drugs also blurs the mind by causing blank spaces/spots in one’s memory. Some commonly abused drugs include; Alcohol, Marijuana, Codeine, Rophynol, Crack-Cocaine, and Cocaine.
We have noticed the increasing rate of drug abuse amongst our youth population is alarming and we believe if we can save especially our youths we will be saving our country in the long run.
THE NIGERIAN YOUTH AND DRUG ABUSE
The twin problem of availability and abuse of illicit drugs in Nigeria dates back many years. Data compiled from law enforcement agencies and hospitals show that many young people in large metropolitan areas especially in the northern part of Nigeria are involved in the deliberate abuse of drugs. This has become societal hazard as it has led to many cases of mental illness and loss of focus.
According to statistics by National Epidemiological Network on Drug use the most abused drugs in Nigeria are Cannabis 36.2% Opiates 28.3%, Alcohol 17.1%, tobacco 79%. Over 60% of Nigerian youths are involved in the abuse of drugs knowingly and are ignorant about it. On the surface level to them, they are living in the moment and just want to “have fun” and it does not directly affect the society meanwhile, the abuse of drugs seriously cripples various aspects of the society because the youth population is the driving force of any society. For instance, the economic sector bears a risk of being stagnant as the youth otherwise known as the future leaders who are supposed to contribute in building a brighter future for our Nation have adopted a laid back, lackadaisical and uninterested mind-set as they waste precious time relaxing instead of channelling such energy towards the benefit of the Nation.
Socially, it has been reported that in most cases, drug abusers are usually introverts and are not interested in the affairs of their environment.
CONCLUSION
In light of the above, Evergreen Initiative in partnership with the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Youth and Student Affairs, the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Development and National Youth Service Corps Organized a one-day sensitization program themed “YOUTH EMPOWERMENT AGAINST DRUG ABUSE” to create Awareness on the effects of drug abuse and also, offer help/counselling to victims of this societal problem.
In order to follow up on this just cause, we seek to raise funds to continue this awareness campaign in other parts of the country and also following up on totally counselling the victims of drug abuse till they achieve 100% withdrawal from substance abuse thereby attaining our ultimate goal of drastically reducing Drug and Substance Abuse in Nigeria.
Evergreen initiative has a big dream of changing Nigeria, Africa and the world but we cant do it alone.
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