Mini Agenda and Discussions in Progress

[okey]

We\'ve been thinking of different ways we can help and make contributions to GSSO.

We will like all to share their thoughts of the following topics and also feel free to create new ideas.

* GSSO scholarship for current students. This will cover fees and books.
this might require paricipants to write essays through the site and winners will be selected.

* About the proposed reunion, we would like all to propose different locations and why. Also, considering the fact we are in different countries, should we have maybe 3 MAJOR reunions?

* Also, we need ideas of possible activites for the site and future project we might emback on for GSSO in the near future.

[okey]

on the scholarship issue, i think will be a good idea to help some students financially. It will not be too hard to implement

[uapo4]

Very well said.  I like that idea of scholarship to recognize academic and moral excellence!  This will definitely be of great positive impact to the upcoming generation.  Any other good ideas will definitely do as well.  The bottomline is that we\'ve got to be convinced to give back to our school that has helped (along with the family) make us what we are today  

[aq]

What about holding the reunion during the independence wkend? It\'s in the middle of summer and school hasn\'t started.

[riva]

Dear all,

This is about the scholarship or financial aid to students in gsso. Personally I have no confidence either in the institutions in Nigeria or those who occupy those institutions. Almost everybody in Nigeria is on the take, that is why the country is the way it is. The challenge is to find a way to help the students who deserve to be helped but at the time not provide some people in Nigeria another reason to practice the usually bribery and nepotism - just look at the way the short listing works in sports and other areas in Nigeria. This is something we really have to think about before taking the plunge.

Festus

[afrq]

Yea..
I\'m liking the scholarship idea..and like riva said...have to be cautious on how you go about it.

[juice]

Fellow let us all pump our brakes for a momo, listen to Riva and Afrq, nigeria is  not a place you come and start to hand out cookies. If you can find out who need the help that will be so good, but if you give it to one that  dont need the help, not so good.

but what we can do is..... last time i was at the kollarge the boys need their basket ball cout fixed tennis etc. or everyone can donate a computer  and we can put up a computer lab for them.  and  m..a...y...b...e get them internet connection, that might be too much. ha ha.
but what we have to do is  something that no one can abuse or take advantage of , i think sports. donate like jersey, balls, anything you can think and i know were we can get them at resonable price.

and remember the heart of that school was criket and is not even played no more cats now dont know what tha is no nore and that field is  need to be maitained. lots of thing we need talk about .
but what ever you decide to do am down with you anything will help .

[juice]

and fellow dont backoff on any idea,
with almost 80% of  us out that will be like 50cent from everyone \'yello\'

[uapo4]

To Julius and all, thanks for your well-thought ideas.  I was recently reading through the suggestions (e.g. basketball court by Julius) and I thought, even that, in the extreme case is not immune to corruption.  For instance, if you will like to rebuild the court, the money has to be given to someone to manage it.  Can\'t he or she recklessly spend it without giving account?  The answer is YES, they can spend it without giving account of the money.

However, people we have to some elements of trust (to some extent) on a system before you can embark on it.  Not that I am having a no-change-of-mind kind of attitude, but I think that awarding scholarship or simply awards to say the best student in JSS3 will not be too bad to handle.  The bottomline is that we\'ve got to start somewhere reasonable, where excellence, morality, and sportmanship is rewarded...then make changes on manner of administration of such award, if necessary, as time goes on.

That\'s my thought for now :idea: .  What do you think? :?:

[juice]

YOU KNOW IS A WONDERFUL IDEA, I MEAN ALL OF IT.
WHAT IF THE KID YOU GONNA GIVE A SCHOLARCHIP  HIS PEEPS GOT MONEY TO TAKE HIM WHERE EVER HE WANNA GO TO, AND THERE IS AN AVERAGE STUDENT THERE THAT NEED ALL THE HELP IN THE WORLD, HE GETS OUT OF SCHOOL AND GO STRAIGHT TO THE MARKET TO SELL STUFF, AND GET HOME AT MIDNYT ONLY TO GO TO BED AND NOT EVEN A TIME HAVE A DECENT STUDY AND BE THE BEST HE CAN BE. THATS THE ONE THAT NEED THE SCHOLARSHIP. I THINK WE CAN TRY TO HELP THE WEAK TO COME UP, SORRY FELLOW I LIKE THE UNDER DOG.
BUT ANYWAY YOU DO IT IS FINE, NOT MATTER HOW YOU LOOK AT IT, SLOW MOTION, FAST FOWARD, REPLAY , YOU ARE STILL HELPING YOU ALL MAKE THE CALL.

AND ABOUT THE BASKET BALL WE HAVE PEOPLE AT HOME WE CAN TRUST BELIVE ME. AND WHAT EVER YOU DECIDE TO DO WILL GET DONE.
AND WITH THIS SITE WHEN SOMEONE GO HOME HE CAN GO THERE eg MAKE SURE THAT OUR SCHOLARSHIP MAN IS DOING WELL OR WHATEVER IS  TO DO WAS DONE.

IS JUICE MEN , \"AMA BE WHERE AM AT\"

[festus]

Exactly Juice ma man, the scholarship has to be means tested otherwise we might as well be taking coal to new castle or donating sperm to correctional facilities or giving loan to HSBC bank. We have to make sure we are part of a solution not part of the problem.

[Anonymous]

abeg post master, why is it that a very good topic like this only 4 people dey get involve and after  the  so yeye people go come say na  bad idea when they no even wan participate haba, or na fear  of say they go ask them to bring money.
 that is why i dey talk about computer lab, everyone that danated a computer, on the side of the computer it will say the name of  the person and his class
and everyone that go there will like  make people see his own computer.
just like when people donate a building each brick will have a print of there name on it.

that way when  you go reunion people will see there name there others will love there names there too then they go wanna get involve, shame go catch  who  e wan catch, and when people come on the site talk you go ask them to shot up, who u  be self  where your name dey for kollage abeg we no no you oh

\"ama be where am at\"

[q]

hi,
Just passing through and noticed that more peeps are replying to this here thread. Just a reminder that this is the early stage of the decision making and these are just ideas being thrown about.
If I was to choose, I would choose something that will benefit the school as a whole to start off.  I think Juice said something about computers..that will benefit the whole instead of an individual.
Putting up a scholarship is also not a bad idea, but also..I still say there should be caution on how the scholarship is administered.  It should be decided on what basis, need or merit based? YOu can create two scholarships, one for need and one for merit.  You might require that both maintain a set good academic standing and also be an exemplary (spchk) student. Those can all be put into the works...but I still think creating/donating something which benefits the school as a whole will be great.

[LCPLNACHO]

i have read what everybody is saying and a lot of it sounds good but i am just being skeptic about a couple of things. trusting peole in nigeria these days is just a long shot, like trying to trust a monkey with a banana. the scholarship deal is good but like already pointed out how do we determine who deserves it and (if we do provide sholarships), will it be only for secodary school? these i just the questions that came to mind as i read through the posts.
 about the sports issue, i was a student when the houston chapter donated the football equipment for the school, and when the time came for the school to put the new equipment to use, ie we had a football match against emanuel college, the students were not allowed to use the equipment. what i am trying to say is that if we embark on a project like this we must make sure we have supervisors to oversee these projects. and also make sure we get the results we are striving for. these are my thioughts.
also about donating computers, common guys we gotta really put the brakes on right there. before we can start something like that, we will have to resolve the trust issue. don\'t get me wrong, it is s good idea but it is a decision that should not be made hastily. i know you all will understand. :roll:

[uapo4]

To all you beloved fellows, thanks for sharing your opinions.  Personally, I am very enlightened by the posts.  On a different gear, I completely believe in LCPLNACHO\'s opinion.  Come on guys, let\'s be very realistic given what we have: donation of computers doesn\'t look like a good idea at the moment (NEPA is there to add to the bottleneck).  Who will operate them, safeguard them, make sure it\'s not used for personal/business purpse BUT for the students and staff.  Maybe another 5 years, things could be better...I say MAYBE.

On the other hand, my opinion on group stuff (I mean basketball field/equipment etc) is that things like that normally cost enormous amount of money AND there is NEED for maintenance.  You can\'t just build something like that and then let it decay...you\'ve got to maintain it.  That is the big reason why we have TERRIBLE roads in Nigeria, especially in the South and West.  To embark on something like that means that there is need for constant devotion which begs the question: \"is it possible to consistently provide an inflow of money over the long-term?\"

Now, I don\'t want to sound discouraging at all.  It\'s just that I may not be enlightened enough in which case I ask for better clarification.  However, if we go into things to do with scholarship (secondary school only) on need-based or merit-based, there\'s better chance of funding it...it\'s not too expensive at the moment.

Alright people of good will, take care and have a great week!