Edu-Celebrants for July 2020

Here is celebrating all July Birthday Celebrants....And on our maiden edition we celebrate you. Here are some amazing folks you are celebrating with.

Bello Anthony Adekunl, Entrepreneur – July 7

Professor Wole Soyinka, Nigerian Playwright and Poet – July 13

Folorunsho Alakija, Business tycoon – July 15

Imelda Unigwe, Educator, – July 17

Olatunji Asunmo, Consultant – July 19

Princess Adejumobi O. Salmoh, Educator – July 21

And From the Edulight crew, we wish the very best in the remaining year and beyond!

Edulight Teachers Conference-ETC 2020: GREAT TEACHERS

v  Great teachers don’t always have the best lessons. They always have the best relationship with students.

v  Great teachers understand that developing the right classroom climate is a prerequisite to teaching the right lesson. When a lesson does not go as planned, great teachers are not looking around the classroom. They are looking in the mirror.

v  Great teachers always come to class ready to teach. They are mindful of the fact that not all students come to class ready to learn.

v  Great teachers don’t show up for work. They show up for kids! It is a passion....not a job. Great teachers understand the “Golden Rule” for educators. Teach every child the way you would want your child to be taught.

v  Great teachers are not intent on winning “battles” with the students. They understand that if there is a battle in the classroom, nobody wins.

v  Great teachers define their success by the success of their students. They understand it is not about the teaching … it is about the learning.

v  Great teachers are not defined by their lesson plans. They are defined by their passion.

v  Great teachers are in it for the kids. It is not about the lesson plan, the rules or the pay check. It is always about the students.

v  Great teachers will spend holiday time thinking about how they can improve their lessons next term. That’s just what they do. Students leave their class feeling better about themselves. Great teachers understand there is more to teaching than delivering instructions.

v  Great teachers never victimize ‘slacker kids’. They refuse to let those students get away without doing the work great teachers are not driven by courses of study. They are driven by the faces in front of them.

v  Great teachers can look past the bad attitude. They realize there is always something else going on. Great teachers did not become great because they made a decision that being good was not enough.

v  All teachers have bad days. Great teachers never lose perspective and they refuse to let their personal drama undermine the positive energy in the classroom.

v  Great teachers are always in pursuit of a better lesson. They demand the same excellence of themselves that they work in their kids.

Our world is a better place because of the passion and dedication of great teachers everywhere.

Great teachers are an inspiration to their learners and to those who interact with them.

Happy World Teachers’ Day (October 5^th)

EDU-FOCUS: BE BOLD! Put together by Uzoanya Kenneth

On this edition of edulight magazine 2020, the team believes there is no better focus other than to help ignite the boldness in us. Be you a student, teacher, school owner or even parent. This trait is vital to our daily living. One of my favourite quotes goes thus; “the hardest step is the first out of the door” – Anonymous. That is where boldness comes in. In addition to that, I believe that after acquiring knowledge and drawing inspiration, the deciding factor is boldness and that to a large extent has separated achievers from the rest. Now, you would agree with me that as much as we equip ourselves with all the ammunition to succeed in life,we should also remember “BOLDNESS” as we equip our arsenal.

It is important we understand the word in focus (Bold) here by definition. To be bold means to be brave and confident simple and clear definition according to the Oxford Advanced English Dictionary. The two watch words here are “brave” and “confidence”. To be brave means having or showing courage or to face an unpleasant condition with courage, while confidence is a self-assurance arising from a belief in your ability to achieve things or having faith in someone or something. Furthermore, these magic words coming together gives a balanced definition of the word “BOLD”. 

An acronym has also been coined from the magic word “BOLD”: B- Brave, O- Orderly, L- Learned& D- Daring.Well, like the earlier definition, it is imminent that you have to be brave first for anyone to perceive that boldness. Any bold individual certainly is orderly in conduct and way of life. That speak a lot about preparation. Once one is not orderly, it stifles the boldness. Majority who are bold are learned, and now please note, this is an all-round learning even beyond the four walls of school. In the words of Martin Luther King Jnr. “Character and Education is true intelligence.” And that for me is complete learning which in turn ignites boldness in you.

There are several reason we truly need to develop boldness in us. One of the key reasons is that no one will believe in you or what you do if there is no iota of boldness in projecting yourself. Be it in study, in competition, at your place of work, in an interview or even a social gathering. You have to be bold. It is also important I emphasis that being bold is not the same as being loud. In fact, I believe it is those who are dealing with inferiority complex that project boldness by shouting or forcing their views. Bullies also try to communicate boldness by intimidating others. Boldness in clear term signifies believe and courage put together. 

Now that we understand why we truly need to be bold, it is important we examine what it takes to build boldness in us. Below are some key secrets;

Knowledge is number one on the list, remain hungry for knowledge and be meek. Keep learning, unlearning and relearning, as that at every stage will help boost that boldness within.

Your look, smell and charisma is another. We must have noticed that when someone looking good and smells good walks into a gathering all attention shifts to such person. To be bold we have to pay particular attention to that aspect. Please don’t misquote me,we can always do this depending on the individual’s income but remain neat and a bit stylish.

Boldness comes with experience on your part and from others. That in itself helps you stamp your feet firmly. The experience from others could be a motivation or lesson that will urge you to summon courage.

The importance of being bold can be stretched beyond this magazine space but I believe that to really make a statement in life’s history, you have to be bold! Believe me ONLY THE BOLD CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Have a fabulous remaining 2020!

Please write us anytime: edulightmagazine@gmail.com

10 QUOTES BY PROFESSOR WOLE SOYINKA

“And I believe that the best learning process of any kind of craft is just to look at the work of others.” Wole Soyinka

“The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism.” Wole Soyinka

“But the ultimate lesson is just sit down and write. That's all.” Wole Soyinka

“And gradually they're beginning to recognize the fact that there's nothing more secure than a democratic, accountable, and participatory form of government. But it's sunk in only theoretically, it has not yet sunk in completely in practical terms.” Wole Soyinka

“But when you're deprived of it for a lengthy period then you value human companionship. But you have to survive and so you devise all kinds of mental exercises and it's amazing.” Wole Soyinka

“Even when I'm writing plays I enjoy having company and mentally I think of that company as the company I'm writing for.” Wole Soyinka

“I consider the process of gestation just as important as when you're actually sitting down putting words to the paper.” Wole Soyinka

“I think that feeling that if one believed absolutely in any cause, then one must have the confidence, the self-certainty, to go through with that particular course of action.” Wole Soyinka

“I'm not one of those writers I learned about who get up in the morning, put a piece of paper in their typewriter machine and start writing. That I've never understood.” Wole Soyinka

“My horizon on humanity is enlarged by reading the writers of poems, seeing a painting, listening to some music, some opera, which has nothing at all to do with a volatile human condition or struggle or whatever. It enriches me as a human being.” Wole Soyinka

10 Quotes by Professor Wole Soyinka’s

“And I believe that the best learning process of any kind of craft is just to look at the work of others.” Wole Soyinka

“The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism.” Wole Soyinka

“But the ultimate lesson is just sit down and write. That's all.” Wole Soyinka

“And gradually they're beginning to recognize the fact that there's nothing more secure than a democratic, accountable, and participatory form of government. But it's sunk in only theoretically, it has not yet sunk in completely in practical terms.” Wole Soyinka

“But when you're deprived of it for a lengthy period then you value human companionship. But you have to survive and so you devise all kinds of mental exercises and it's amazing.” Wole Soyinka

“Even when I'm writing plays I enjoy having company and mentally I think of that company as the company I'm writing for.” Wole Soyinka

“I consider the process of gestation just as important as when you're actually sitting down putting words to the paper.” Wole Soyinka

“I think that feeling that if one believed absolutely in any cause, then one must have the confidence, the self-certainty, to go through with that particular course of action.” Wole Soyinka

“I'm not one of those writers I learned about who get up in the morning, put a piece of paper in their typewriter machine and start writing. That I've never understood.” Wole Soyinka

“My horizon on humanity is enlarged by reading the writers of poems, seeing a painting, listening to some music, some opera, which has nothing at all to do with a volatile human condition or struggle or whatever. It enriches me as a human being.” Wole Soyinka

STATE IN FOCUS: BENUE STATE

Benue State is one of the South Eastern states in Nigeria with a population of about 4,253,641 in 2006 census. It is inhabited predominantly by the Tiv, Idoma and Igede peoples, who speak Tiv, Idoma, and Igede languages respectively. The Tivs comprise the Etulos while the Idomas comprise the Ufia's (Utonkon) to Orokam at the west border of the state.3 February 1976

Capital:Makurdi

Slogan:Food Basket of the Nation

Estimated population (2006 Census):4,253,641

Local Government Area:Twenty-three (23)

Governor:Samuel Ortom (APC)

Deputy Governor:Benson Abounu

Commissioner for Education:AbubakarAudu

Higher institution: Universities include; University of Agriculture Makurdi, Benue State University, University of Mkar

OUR ROLE MODEL, KINGSLEY CHIEDU MOGHALU

Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu is a Nigerian political economist, lawyer, former United Nations official, and professor in international business and public policy at the Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.Kingsley is the founder of Sogato Strategies LLC and a senior adviser of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum. In 2016, Moghalu founded the Institute for Governance and Economic Transformation. He is the 2019 Young Progressive Party (YPP) presidential candidate for the 2019 presidential elections.

Moghalu was born in Lagos in 1963 to Isaac Moghalu, a Nigerian foreign service officer and VidahMoghalu, a schoolteacher. Moghalu spent his early childhood in Switzerland and Washington, DC, where his father was posted. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Kingsley was enrolled in the Federal Government College Enugu.He earned a degree in law from the University of Nigeria in 1986, and the Barrister at Law from the Nigerian Law School, Lagos. Moghalu married Maryanne OnyinyechiMoghalu in 1994. They have four children.

Moghalu obtained a master's degree in 1992 at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he was the Joan Gillespie Fellow and a research assistant in the International Political Economy program. Moghalu later obtained a PhD in international relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science at the University of London. He also earned the International Certificate in Risk Management from the Institute of Risk Management in London. He is also an alumnus of advanced executive education programs in macroeconomics and financial sector management, corporate governance, and global strategic leadership at the International Monetary Fund Institute, Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Business School, and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Moghalu served as deputy governor of financial system stability and the director of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from 2009 to 2014; he led the implementation of reforms to Nigeria's failing banking sector. He is a member of the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation and non-executive director of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria

Moghalu joined the United Nations in 1992. His first assignment was in Cambodia as a UN human rights and elections officer with the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia. A year later, he was appointed political affairs officer in the department of peacekeeping operations at the UN Headquarters in New York. From 1996 to 1997, he served in the former Yugoslavia as political advisor to the special representative of the UN Secretary-General in Croatia. Kingsley was then assigned as legal adviser to the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (UNICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania, in 1997 and later promoted to the role of the international tribunal's spokesman. As special counsel and spokesman, he was responsible for policy development, strategic planning and external relations. The UNICTR delivered the first-ever judgement by an international court on genocide.

In 2002, Moghalu was appointed to the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, as head of global partnerships and resource mobilization at The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), a public-private international development finance organization and social investment fund with $20 billion in assets and investments in 140 developing and middle income countries. He was a member of the Global Fund's senior management group that set corporate strategy, a member of the risk management committee, and was promoted to the rank of director in 2006.

In 2006, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Moghalu to the redesign panel of the United Nations Internal Justice System. Working at the UN Headquarters in New York for six months in the first half of 2006, the redesign panel reviewed and made recommendations on how to improve the system of administration of justice at the United Nations

In February 2018, Moghalu declared his interest to run for the presidency of Nigeria.Kingsley chose to run under the platform of the Young Progressive Party.

On 4 February 2019, Maghalu paid a courtesy visit to the Ooni of Ife ahead of February 16 Presidential election. He declared his interest to run for presidency under the political party of Youth Progressive Party (YPP). Ooni of Ife spoke on how passionate Moghalu was during his presidential campaign. He further said he likes the courage, the passion and his selfless control to serve his father land

Books written: Emerging Africa: How the Globa...2013,Build, Innovate and Grow...2018,Rwanda's genocide2005,Global justice2006

THOUGHT CORNER: 11 MENTAL HEALTH QUOTES TO COMFORT YOU WHEN YOU’RE STRUGGLING

1. “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” –Jimmy Dean

2. “Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.” –Nido Qubein

3. “The best way out is always through.” –Robert Frost

4. “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” –Khalil Gibran

5. “My dark days made me strong. Or maybe I already was strong, and they made me prove it.” –Emery Lord

6. “Normality is a paved road: It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow.” –Vincent van Gogh

7. “Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.” –Rabindranath Tagore

8. “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

9. “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” ― J.K. Rowling

10. “When we deny our stories, they define us; when we own our stories, we get to write a brave new ending.” –Brené Brown

11. “Your now is not your forever.” –John Green