Nigeria Centenary: President Jonathan to unveil only centenary youth book on international youth day

President Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan will on August 12, 2014 unveil a youth book.

Titled: ‘In Our Minds: Reflections of the Youth at Nigeria’s Centenary,’ it is the International Youth Day Celebration.

Since this year's youth celebration falls under the Centenary year, according to a statement made available to Daily Newswatch, it will be tagged as one of the activities to mark the Centenary Celebration.

The statement further revealed that: “The book is a compilation by the social media unit of the Nigeria Centenary secretariat, and it is based on the series of essays, quiz competitions and other activities created and managed during the year-long anniversary.
“The essay and quiz competitions ran for two seasons and they were administered under the acronym ‘TGIC,’ which in full means Thank God It’s Centenary; and both seasons attracted participation from hundreds of thousands of Nigerian youths across the federation and the in the Diaspora, who sent in their thoughts on the theme: ‘The Nigeria Of My Dreams’.
‘In Our Minds’ is a compendium of all the activities on social media that engaged with the Nigerian youth during the centenary celebrations, a record of how the social media unit, using various online platforms, helped to re-orientate the youths--at home and in the Diaspora--from fault-finding to problem solving, while also tapping into their creative and intellectual acumen; it also includes a collection of essays by the youths tackling various national and leadership issues. Some of the subjects include: corruption, healthcare, child marriage, welfare for senior citizens, pollution and the environment,traffic snarl, political_thuggery, unemployment, insecurity, kidnapping, mob action/ jungle justice, the media and Nigeria's image abroad, Migration and the Nigerian Diaspora, strikes in the academia, corporal punishment and so much more.”
According to Angela Onuko-Nmoh, the coordinator of the Centenary Social Media Platforms, ‘In Our Minds’ "is a book that shows how one can transform an entirely disconnected and angry youths to very positive  and patriotic youths that are solution providers and problem solvers." 

This is a major achievement, however one looks at it. 

At the onset, the Nigeria Centenary celebrations had lots of political/partisan sides to it; the media also had its own take on the subject, a section supporting the project and another against it. But what most people didn't know was that there was a solid, deep-rooted youth-based angle to the project, an angle that sought to test the intellect of the country's youths, at home and in the Diaspora. and, thanks to the team in the social media unit, that youth angle is still active till date, long after the celebrations have officially would up.
‘In Our Minds’ is a book that will delight many who read it. And more importantly, it is a book for posterity, one that is going to be recommended reading for another 100 years.” 

--