- Mariam Mohammed hosts young people at annual birthday forum
The Founder of Maktoub Media, Ms. Mariam Mohammed, has urged Nigerian youths not to jettison their dreams due to challenges.
Ms. Mohammed spoke in Abuja at this year’s edition of the annual Maktoub Youth Forum (MYF) with the theme: Ignite, Inspire, Impact, a part of her yearly birthday celebration.
The yearly event brings together hundreds of youths to rub minds and network about their lives and country.
Mohammed explained that the forum was meant to inspire young people to aspire to personal growth, career advancement, emotional intelligence, leadership, and helping aspiring young ones chart a career road map.
She described it as a call to action for Nigeria’s young people, whom she advised to pursue their dreams with the required passion.
Ms. Mohammed stressed that for the youths to be successful in life, they must be willing to face the downsides and the obstacles that come with personal growth.
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The media founder said part of the objectives of the forum was to help minimise such pitfalls.
“You know there are always downsides to everything. The downside to a programme like this is that it reopens old and buried wounds. People think holding a mentorship programme is fancy. But it isn’t. You’re like a guinea pig when you hold this programme, because you have to tell stories of how you got here.
“I kid you not; those stories are not pretty a lot of the time. A lot of times, you break down telling those stories and not because you’re weak but because you can’t believe you made it this far. If we all had to stand here and tell you our stories of how we got to where we are today, you will understand that.
“You think of times you’ve given up and given down. Sometimes, it goes as far as wanting to end it all. So, we hold a programme like this to let you know we are your guinea pigs, so you don’t make the mistakes we made in life, so you can skip the hurdles, maybe not entirely, but well enough to get through life. This is because life will give you uppercuts.
“These programmes help you to understand that those uppercuts will heal, and all you need are teachers here and there. And you will be fine,” she told the youths.
Also, an Assistant Controller with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Aisha Mohammed, cautioned the youths that although the social media remained a force for good in many respects, it could also be a tool for destruction.
She urged the participants not to imbibe everything they see online to avoid being misled.
“The social media has become an integral part of our lives, but it is essential to distinguish between social media and our reality. There is always a contrast between what we are and what we project to the public on the social media. This contrast is at the root of many social, political, spiritual, and economic crises in the larger society.
“The social media is about perception, projection, and deliberate programming. The pressure to present a perfect online image can lead to a feeling of inadequacy and lack of contentment because you tend to always compare yourself to what other people are posting, but it’s not the reality. Those things are not real. We all know that.
“Somebody can be starving, but the person can post online that he just finished a delicious meal. Then, another person will see it and say: ‘I have to do this.’ Or somebody posts something, like: ‘I just got a Range Rover; I just got a Rolls Royce,’ whereas it’s not true.
“Possibly, the person just went to a place where people were selling cars and then just had a picture and sent it online.
“So, we try to engage the youths to tell them that not everything we see online is the reality. And finding yourself makes you feel that you are not worthy of being alive. This is because we have cases of people committing suicide on social media; there is cyberbullying, and as I mentioned earlier, sexual assault,” Ms. Aisha Mohammed said.