Thursday, June 9, 2016

Nigerian Government Seeks 500,000 Unemployed Youth for N-Power Employment Program

From video on http://npower.gov.ng/
The Federal Government of Nigeria announced on Wednesday, June 8, a new program for unemployed graduates and  non-graduates called N-Power. The program seeks to give 500,000 youth between the ages of 18 and 35 an opportunity to participate in Nigeria's rebuilding and put a dent in the huge joblessness among Nigeria's youth.

N-Power is a two-year paid volunteer training program. Recruitment is in the areas of :


  • N-Power Teacher Corp, which will recruit and train 500,000 teachers in Agriculture, Health, Primary and Secondary Education, and Adult and Civic Education
  • N-Power Knowledge, which will train youth in technology fields including Graphic Design, Animation, Script Writing, Post-Production, Software Development, and Hardware Technicians
  • N-Power Build, which will train 75,000 unemployed youth in the areas of Building Services, Construction, Built Environment Services, Utilities, Automotive, Aluminum and Gas

The video below gives an overview of the program:




The program seems interesting and very promising if indeed the Buhari administration follows though on the grand promise of the program. You can find out more about the program and how to apply on the website, http://npower.gov.ng/. The website and program will launch on Saturday, June 11.

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Oh Em Gee, it's Emma OhMaGod!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj_IY06T93dst_kvD7UmKcw

Sometimes a good laugh is all you need to brighten up your day a little. Laughter is good medicine and it should be taken often, once a day, by Dr. Naija American Girl's order. Haha :)

One of my favorite young Naija comedians is Emma OhMaGod. The guy is hilarious, talented, and very handsome too, lol. The first video I saw by him was this one, Naija Babes Mad at Davido. I watch am, laugh tire!



He has a ton of these kinds of parody videos, including All of Me by John Legend Owambe Cover, Happy by Pharrell (a follow up to Naija Babes Mad at Davido).



Another one of my favorites is Wash Me Nene, a parody of the popular American hip song, Watch me Whip, Watch me Nae Nae. He turns it into an Igbo praise song, and it is quite funny.


He also does straight comedy videos like this recent one, which puts a funny spin on the Nigerian fuel crisis.


Every once in a while he makes a nice praise song video, like Yin Oluwa


Check out the Emma OhMaGod Youtube page to watch some hilarious videos and subscribe to get notified whenever he posts a new video.

Friday, June 3, 2016

Naija Americans on Wikipedia

Did  you know that there is a page on Wikipedia on Nigerian Americans? Yes o my people... Wikipedia has recognized the large population of Nigerians in the United States and someone crated a page. It might have been a Nigerian. Wikipedia is an open source, after all.  That point aside, the page seems pretty interesting and accurate.

Some interesting info from the page is:

1. As of 2012, there were 277,631 Nigerians in the United States; of those, 116,807 were born in Nigeria. As of 2013, there were 299,310 Nigerian Americans. Either there was a lot of immigration or Naija people been popping out a lot of babies between 2012 and 2013!

2. "Based on DNA studies, an estimated 80 percent of African Americans (about 35 million) could have some Igbo or Hausa ancestry. Therefore, 60 percent of them, according to historian Douglas B. Chambers, could have at least one Igbo ancestor."  So for those Afrocentric African Americans who love studying the Zulu kings of South Africa, the Asante of Ghana, Swahili language of East Africa, and ancient Egyptians, hoping to find a connection to their roots, many of them need look no further than good ol' Nigeria, haha!

3. US cities/areas with the highest Nigerian populations are:
  • Washington DC/Maryland/Baltimore area
  • New York City
  • Houston, Texas and Harris County area
  • Atlanta, Georgia and other suburbs in Georgia
  • New Jersey
  • Chicago, Illinois and surrounding areas
  • Los Angeles, California and suburbs
  • Columbus, Ohio and Hamilton and Montgomery counties in Ohio
  • Detroit metro area in Michigan
  • Virginia: Fairfax, Prince William and Loudoun  counties
I found it interesting that the Detroit area was on the list, because that's where I live. I have a saying. "In the Michigan Nigerian community, there's only one degree of separation between you and another person." Meaning, if you don't know someone, it's guaranteed that someone you know knows them, or a family member of theirs.

 Prime example: I met this guy at a party back in my college days. We danced, he asked for my number, I gave it to him. I really didn't think anything of it. In the days that followed, the guy began disturbing me via text message and call. Ah, ah, which kin wahala be dis? I really wasn't into him, so after trying to be nice, I started ignoring him.

A few weeks later, guess who my cousin brings to my house? The same guy I've been avoiding! I didn't know that they knew each other. The two of them were heading to some event and my cousin decided to stop by just to say hi. When I see the guy walk in I wanted to disappear into thin air, but no such luck. My dad, ever the cheerful host, welcomed them in and I had to do the customary Naija serving of drinks and snacks to visitors, all while thinking to myself, "Is this really happening to me?"

As they were leaving, my dad started walking my cousin to his car; the guy lingered behind and was able to corner me and ask me why I hadn't been replying his message or picking his calls. It  was so awkward. I had no real answer except to give him a blank look. Hahaha! After that encounter though, he got the message and left me alone.

Going back to the list of US areas with Nigerian populations, I have been to all of these areas visiting Nigerian friends, family, or attending a Nigerian event.

I think it's cool that we are beginning to have documented information about Nigerians is America. We're definitely being noticed, and mostly for good things, like education, culture, and family values. 

Check out the Wikipedia page to read more about Nigerians in America.




Thursday, June 2, 2016

New Blog Design!

My blog will be 7 years old in December, and I've had the same design for the majority of those years. Well, I felt it was time to switch things up. Below is the old design. What do you think of the change?