By Femi Fani-Kayode, NNP – October 16, 2011 –

If he says that he ”is not a lion” how can he overwhelm the animals in our jungle that seek to destroy and ravage our land? The lion is a noble and courageous animal that defends it’s pride and family and protects it’s own. That is why it is known as the ”king of the jungle” and that is why our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Himself is known as the ”Lion of the Tribe of Judah”. Every king worth his salt must have the spirit of the lion and the warrior in him to a certain extent. It is a fundamental pre-qualification for good quality and inspirational leadership and that is what distinguishes the pretender and the usurper from a real king. May the spirit and weakness of Ahab not be our President’s portion even though his words seem to have ensnared him.

History proves that weak kings and weak leaders always pull down and destroy great empires and strong kingdoms. If you have any doubt about that consider what happened to the Roman Empire under Nero, Claudius or Caligula. If you still have any doubts after that then read up on Russian history or watch an excellent old film called ”Nicholas and Alexander” about Tsar Nicholas the 1st, the last Tsar of Russia and how his strong-willed wife and his consistent display of weakness shamed and brought down imperial Russia, destroyed the 300 year old royal dynasty of the Romanovs, led directly to the First World War (which in turn led to the Second World War and then later the Cold War), caused the communist revolution, led to the Russian civil war, resulted in the murder of his whole family and ended in the establishment and creation of the most evil and godless empire that has ever ruled half of the world- the cold and all-powerful Soviet empire.

That is what weakness, prevarication, inconsistency, cowardice, emotional slavery, inexplicable fear and the celebration of indecision can do. Worst still you don’t boast about such qualities because there is nothing to be proud of in them. Always remember, whether you are a king or a subject, that courage is the greatest of all the virtues. This is wisdom. Would someone please tell our President.

Chief Femi Fani-Kayode was the spokesperson to President Olusegun Obasanjo; he subsequently became Minister of Tourism & Culture & later served as Aviation Minister for Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Speaking with journalists at the Leyton Marsh Fields, London, venue of the 2011 Nigerian Carnival United Kingdom (NCUK) at the weekend, the wife of the Biafran warlord thanked Nigerians for their prayers and support so far, adding, “we hope to be back home soon.” She expressed joy over the carnival, urging the organisers not to rest on their oars in organising various programmes that would foster the unity of Nigerians in diaspora.

Also speaking at the event, Hajia Zainab Maina, minister of women affairs and social development, who represented the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, urged Nigerians living abroad to be of good conduct as they were also ambassadors of the country. Hajia Maina also thanked the organisers of the programme for attracting thousands of Nigerian youths to share in their country’s rich culture and tradition.

He said such unity was important especially now the country was passing through various ethnic and security challenges. Maina also urged Nigerian women in the UK to ensure their children and wards were well trained to contribute positively to the development of their host country and their fatherland. “This carnival is an opportunity with Nigerian culture and tradition. We’re known for peace and hardwork and we must radiate this at all times,” she said.

Also speaking at the event, Chairman of the Central Association of Nigerians in the UK (CANUK), Bimbo Folayan said the programme was born out of the need to have an umbrella body of Nigerians in the UK.
“We have over two million Nigerians in the UK. We must always come together. In the past, NCUK held the carnival alone and this is the first time CANUK is collaborating.

CANUK is the collection of all other individual associations in the UK. We’re working as one because we believe that when we work together as one, we can do exploits. Next year, we hope to have a massive show’, he said.

-Sun

By Godwin O. Airuoyuwa,  B.Eng. P.Eng., PMP , Toronto, Canada – Feb. 2, 2011 - Many African immigrant engineers are in this country today either working as factory workers or are engaged in some less dignifying jobs not related to engineering. This is not a choice many of them would have made if the option of being registered as engineers did not seem so difficult to them. But how difficult is it really?

There are two main factors that tend to make the entire process look difficult for a lot of us; the first is the rigor of going back to the classroom which many are required to do when their qualifications are deemed inadequate. They are compelled to go through some engineering courses in some designated universities in order to improve their qualifications. Many usually get very discouraged when asked to do this and become very reluctant to continue with the process.

Honestly I understand how difficult it is for a mature individual sometimes in his/her fifties or even forties being asked to go to the classroom to study for examinations. This is not easy. Unfortunately however, this is the reality. In fairness to the regulatory authorities, like the Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO), for example, they have a standard to maintain and no one should expect that this standard will be lowered simply because it is not convenient for a group of people.

The second factor is the time it takes for one to successfully go through the process. I agree that it takes a while for one to successfully go through the process but this period can be considerably reduced if applicants are well informed. For instance, the federal government of Canada has come up with a plan to speed up the credential recognition process for internationally educated professionals including engineers. Under this plan, by December 31, 2010 internationally trained engineers who submit applications for licensing are to be advised within one year if their qualifications are recognized. In addition, I am sure many are not aware that since 2003, the PEO has allowed prospective immigrants to begin the licensing process from outside Canada, even before they finalize their immigration plans and they are allowed to continue with the process when they arrive in the province. This has actually provided some head start for many newcomers who by the time they arrive in the country already have full knowledge of the licensing requirements. In some cases, some of the applicants may already have their qualifications assessed and recognized even before they come here.

Applicants wishing to be licensed in Ontario province should be informed that there is a program referred to as the Engineering Intern Training (EIT) credit program. This program enables eligible international engineering graduates with a Bachelor of engineering (B.Eng) or a Bachelor of applied science degree to apply for a professional engineer license at no cost. In fact I am a beneficiary of this program. My application for the license did not cost me any money.

Please note also that in addition to having your qualifications verified and recognized, there are two other conditions you must satisfy before you are licensed to practice engineering here in Canada; 1) You must take and pass the Professional Practice Examination (PPE), which tests your knowledge of their laws and ethics. Every profession has laws and ethics guarding its professional practice. 2) You must have at least 12 months of Canadian engineering experience. This means that you must work in an engineering outfit for a period of at least one year. One way of going about this second condition is for the immigrant engineer to enroll for the EIT program as soon as he/she submits an application and then go ahead to look for a job as a technician in a firm that has registered professional engineers working in it. This usually turns out to be a wise decision at the end.

Records show that only about 1/3 of Ontario’s 73,000 engineers are trained outside of Canada. I honestly do not have the record of what proportions of this number are African immigrants, but I can tell you that the number must be very small. So let’s make more efforts and be more determined.

I am not going to tell you that becoming a registered engineer is easy; neither will I tell you that it is difficult. But like they say, no good thing comes easy. My advice is, seek information from the right sources and never rely on hearsay – it just might be easier than you think