To commemorate the International Day of the Girl Child, the Priceless Virtues International Initiative inspired hundreds of young girls to chase their dreams and unlock their full potential.
At the “Lagos International Day of the Girl Child Conference” held on October 11, 2024, at First Baptist Church, Ikeja, Lagos, over 500 schoolgirls gathered under the theme “Dream Big: Your Vision Is Your Future.”
Oluwatobi Ola-Adetimole, Founder of Priceless Virtues International Initiative, encouraged the girls to be bold and pursue their passions without hesitation, emphasising that they possess everything needed to achieve their goals.
She said: “Break off that shackle, God has a lot in store for you. And you should not hinder yourself or lose opportunities because you want to cave in, you have a voice, it might be from writing, it might be from drawing. It might be from poetry, it might be from singing a song, it might be from just contributing in the class, doing all of this and before you know it, your light is going to shine.”
Wife of Daniel Olawande, renowned Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) The Envoys Pastor, Pastor Nifemi Olwande pushed for equality between men and women saying women are being degraded and abused which is detrimental because women can do great things.
“From my perspective, the agenda for equality wasn’t because they’re trying to take over it was because the female gender was being underutilized the female gender was being abused the female gender was being made to feel lesser right so if there is any push that I encourage is that people will see the female gender as a beautiful creature of God and that they can also do great things okay so I push for women at the forefront women not being degraded because they are women so that’s what I wish for that’s what I speak for right.
I hope that we’ll see more women being at the forefront and doing great things.”
Fitness professional and dietitian, Bunmi George urged girls to dream big and take steps that push them to their desired greatness.
“You need to dream big because you are forecasting for your future and then you can make necessary steps. If you don’t have a vision and you can’t see where you’re going, you’re not going to be able to take the steps. So I admonish you to dream big, bigger than the stars, shoot for the galaxies, and then take steps every single day and make the right choices that will get them to their goal.”
She further urged girls to ensure they make the right decisions to foster their success in life.
She said: “You are valuable it’s not by your gender or your sex that god has made you be a valuable woman reach for the stars, work hard make the right decisions and because like I said when in my session, your life is a sum of either good or bad decisions your choices make who you become so if you’re going to make good choices you’re going to become good and if you make bad choices it’s inevitable.”
The foundation has been in the business of educating and empowering girls via boot camps and scholarship programs, where they help girls who are from underprivileged homes achieve their dreams.
Stating the foundation’s successes, Oluwatobi Ola-Adetimole, said that it has successfully returned over 50 girls back to school and currently has two girls studying abroad through their MasterCard Foundation scholarship program.
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“We’ve helped over 50 girls return to school, currently, we have two girls from our mentoring program who have won the MasterCard Foundation scholarship, one is studying pharmacy, and the other is studying Software Engineering at United States International University, Nairobi, Kenya. So everything we do in Priceless Virtues is for girls, and by extension, women.
So we hope that in the nearest future, women and girls will be able to stand up for their rights, and perhaps if they no longer have a seat at the table, they can construct the table by themselves, construct chairs, you know, and do everything that God has destined them to.”
The event featured award giving, a spelling bee competition, networking, panel sessions and discussion, and question and answer sessions.
