The Nation Newspaper

Tag: youths

  • Lawmakers urge youths to use time wisely

    Lawmakers urge youths to use time wisely

    Youths have been advised not to be discouraged by the nation’s economic situation. But rather they should avail themselves of opportunities in it.

     Lawmaker representing Ikorodu Federal Constituency in House of Representatives, Jimi Benson, spoke during an engagement with Fellows of Lateef Jakande Leadership Academy.

    Benson, who chairs House Committee on Defence, advised the Fellows to take serious the confidence Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu reposed in them by giving them such opportunity.

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    He said: “Some youths told me my time as a youth was easier than theirs, but they have forgotten they have something we did not have technology back then. It is possible to turn chaos into opportunities, see opportunities in chaos.”

    Academy Executive Secretary, Mrs. Ayisat Agbaje-Okunade, said it was created to fill the leadership vacuum by baking transformative leaders. 

    She said to become a participant is by merit and non-partisanship.

    A Fellow, Mrs. Orifunke Lawal, advised the youth to study hard to fit into leadership positions.

  • 150 youths, 50 SMEs to get digital skills

    150 youths, 50 SMEs to get digital skills

    One hundred and fifty youths are set to get digital skills in graphic design, digital marketing, front-end web development, networking and security.

     In addition, 50 small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) will also be equipped with digital knowledge in business management.

     The initiator of this empowernent is Rack Centre, “carrier and cloud-neutral data centre”, in partnership with The Workplace Centre (TWPC) and United Way Greater Nigeria (UWGN).

    Through the Skills to Employment Programme (STEP) and Digital Enablement Workshop, beneficiaries will become the next generation of tech-savvy professionals.

     Chief Operating Officer of Rack Centre, Ezekiel Egboye, said the eighth-week STEP will begin on October 9.

     The digital workshop for SMEs, designed to enhance operational efficiency, widen their market reach, and contribute to sustainable growth of will commence on November 6 and run for four weeks.

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     He said: “We are excited to partner TWPC and UWGN to launch this initiative. This would bridge the skill deficit prevalent among youths and SMEs…

     “We believe we can uplift communities, transform lives, and contribute to a brighter, more inclusive future.”

     Executive Director of UWGN, Deola Durodola, noted most businesses and operations have gone digital.

     “We’ll give young people the skills to succeed in the digital age.

     “This training is an opportunity to learn skills and gain practical experience,” she said.

    Professionals in the digital industry will deliver the training.   Participants will receive certificates and access internship opportunities.

  • Group to mentor youths

    Group to mentor youths

    A group of young Nigerians is set to connect youths across the country with mentors who will help them to achieve their potential.

     In a statement, the leader of the group and Managing Director, Jadegate Nigeria Limited, Jadesola Lagoke, explained that the mentorship programme scheduled for virtual launch today is committed to fostering personal and professional growth, developing a supportive community, and promoting continuous learning.

    She explained that the group would connect mentors and mentees and offer ‘relevant resources aimed at empowering individuals to realise their full potential, achieve their goals, and make a positive impact in their chosen fields.’

    “Our mentorship programme aims to connect experienced professionals with ambitious individuals to foster personal and professional growth.

     “Through our mentorship, we believe in empowering individuals to achieve their goals, develop new skills, gain confidence, and contribute positively to society.”

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     “Our vision is to provide a supportive and enriching platform for individuals, enabling them to capitalise on their true potential, become leaders in their respective fields, and positively impact the world around them,” Lagoke said.

     She said the group would strive to enhance opportunities for collaboration and knowledge exchange, empowering individuals to achieve their personal and professional aspirations.

     According to her, the group primary objective is to facilitate the pairing of experienced mentors with motivated mentees who can benefit from their guidance and expertise.

      Lagoke said the seminar will provide opportunities and link with guidance support for young people to nurture, adding that the platform will cultivate essential skills, expand networks, and encourage self-reflection.

    “Our mentorship programme will offer regular workshops, seminars, and webinars focused on relevant topics to encourage continuous learning and skill enhancement for both mentors and mentees.

    “We strive to create a supportive community of mentors and mentees, encouraging peer-to-peer collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and networking opportunities through organized events and online platforms,” Lagoke said.

       On the modalities for selection, Lagoke said aspiring mentees would be required to complete an application, which includes a resume and statement of purpose.

     The group will then select suitable candidates based on their goals, values, and compatibility with potential mentors. Mentees would be monitored while regular surveys, feedback, and periodic assessments would be conducted to measure the success of the programme.

  • Nigeria needs effective leadership, youths’ reorientation, say governors, eminent Nigerians

    Nigeria needs effective leadership, youths’ reorientation, say governors, eminent Nigerians

    • Gambari, Akinyemi, Onu, Irukwu honoured with book on national service

    Governors and other eminent Nigerians have called for a more effective leadership and refocusing of the youths for national unity, progress, and development of the country.

    They said these are attributes that are essential for the nation’s cohesion but have been in short supply.

    The eminent Nigerians said it would be difficult for the country to actualise the gains of its plans, if it does not concentrate on the development of its human potential to foster an innovative culture for individual and societal benefits.

    They spoke yesterday at the public presentation of a book, titled: Hallmarks of Labour Book 11, written by the Executive Secretary of Hallmarks of Labour Foundation, Mrs. Patricia Utuedon-Arawore, at the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) on Victoria Island in Lagos.

    Dignitaries at the event included Governors Babagana Zulum (Borno); Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Bimbola Salu-Hundeyin; Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa) and Seyi Makinde (Oyo), who was represented by his deputy, Adebayo Lawal.

    Others included former Secretary of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and President of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), Izoma Philip Asiodu; former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh; publisher of Vanguard Newspapers and life patron of the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Sam Amuka.

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    The book’s 574 pages, divided into four chapters, were written in honour of the former Chief of Staff to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari; former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi; former Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu and former Ohaneze Ndigbo President, Prof. Joseph Ogbonnaya Irukwu.

    Dignitaries took turns to extol the virtues of the honourees.

    Asiodu, who chaired the event, called for the liberation of the nation’s youths through development of a long-term strategy to elevate Nigeria’s reputation on the world stage.

    He said this could be achieved through a merit-driven system.

    Echoing what Rwandan President Paul Kagame said during a recent United Nations (UN) retreat for Nigerian governors in the Central African country, Governor Sule urged fellow governors to take decisive steps in their states for the growth and development of the country.

    He described Gambari as his father, stressing the the need for Nigerians to unite for the nation’s development and progress.

    Governor Zulum described Gambari as a humble man, a man of integrity and humility, whom he had learnt a lot from.

    The book, according to Governor Abiodun, encourages hard work, prosperity, humility, leadership, and quality service.

    Governor Makinde said Nigerian youths no longer value labour, honesty, and integrity.

    Governor Sanwo-Olu described the honourees as outstanding Nigerians, saying their contributions to national development remained unmatchable.

    Prof. Akinyemi, who spoke on behalf of the honourees, recalled his relationship with Prof. Gambari.

    “In this country, where people who occupy offices are often in competition with one another, Prof. Gambari and I – even though we followed each other, whether here at the institute or in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – have remained friends. We have remained colleagues, and we continue to share the passion for the growth of this country,” he said.

  • Youths get training on relationship skills

    Youths get training on relationship skills

    United Way Greater Nigeria, a body focused on health, education, and income generation, has partnered Jass Academy, a training institute, to empower beneficiaries of Promoting Inclusive Economic Growth and Development through Sustainable Project (a United States Embassy, Abuja, initiative).

     This effort equipped participants with work etiquette and client relationship management skills for millennial workers.

     The training took place at American Corner, University of Maiduguri. It was divided into two sessions.

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     Executive Director of United Way, Deola Durodola, said global workforce is evolving, and non-profit and relevant bodies should empower youths to succeed.

     ” We have helped these young people to gain insight into workplace etiquette; effective communication, professional appearance, time management, and workplace decorum …” she said.

    A representative of Jass Academy, Olamide Olayemi said:  “We are thrilled to lead a training in the northern community that embraced diversity and inclusivity.’’

  • 112 youths in Oshodi get ICT training

    112 youths in Oshodi get ICT training

    ACommissioner-designate in Lagos State, Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, is making moves to give youths in Oshodi a prosperous direction.

    The Oshodi-born former lawmaker has partnered with the LightHouse Innovation Foundation, an information communication technology (ICT) hub, to train 112 youths on how to utilise ICT.

    The training, Akinderu-Fatai said, would reduce juvenile delinquency and ensure the youths harnessed their potential.

    The former Commissioner for Housing said the initiative would instill hope in the youths who have lost hope in their country by empowering them with digital skills.

    “As a product of Oshodi, I felt that there is a need to intervene in the challenges that I discovered that are impeding the growth of the youths within my community from their early lives up to the time that we throw them into society. Though, it is not peculiar to only my community, it cut across the state,” he said.

    Akinderu-Fatai noted that apart from empowering youths, he had been assisting widows and the elderly, many years back.

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    He added: “I’ve been doing this secretly on my own, after the last election, I discovered that most of the youths lack proper knowledge, and many of them have lost hope in the country; they see nothing good in the country.

     “What spurred me was on the day of the presidential election, I saw some of these youths playing football. While trying to talk them, to go and vote. I realised 60 percent of them had Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in their pockets which they showed me. They said they are not going to vote that all the leaders are bad people. This got me thinking and I made up my mind that I will start engaging and empowering them. So, I called on people that are made in Oshodi home and abroad to join me in the journey. The initiative is to give hope back to the young ones. There are so many opportunities out there. The world is a global village now. One of my sons was recruited by the Amazon from my bedroom. It is because he was privileged to make himself competitive.

    “While I was in the House of Representatives, we had about six computer centres in Oshodi and the aim then was to ensure every youth in Oshodi was computer literate. So, by the time they are out of secondary school, they are already certified as a web designer. Some of the students that benefited from this initiative were making use of it now. We have been able to teach the children how to use their smartphones positively instead of engaging in betting.”

    The initiator of the foundation, Mayowa Magbagbeola, said the foundation sought to address the high rate of juvenile delinquency in the country.

    Magbagbeola, also born in Oshodi, said: “Looking at the vices we have in the country, crime statistics, it is obvious that 60 per cent of Nigeria’s population are under 25 years, which is the critical age where youths are moulded to be economically valuable.”

     To build a community that is so valuable, this is the age where we are supposed to be grooming them for future leadership positions. This would let us have a society with responsible citizens who know what to do and when to do it.”

    He added that Lighthouse is a place that gives navigation and direction to young people.

    “Our core objectives are to provide mentorship, support and train the youths. We realised that our youths don’t have the right skill to harness their potentials, so we decided to empower them with digital skills and technical skills,” he said.

    He noted the training is targeted at ages 13 to 25 and they will be learning all the rudiments of graphic designing.

  • Jobs mentorship for youths coming

    Jobs mentorship for youths coming

    • By Victoria Bobade and Irede Okoroafor

    Engage Youth Africa Initiative (EYAi) – a pan-African, non-governmental organisation – has launched a 10-week mentorship for youths.

    Founder, Gbolahan Oyelakin, said the programme will groom 1,000 persons between 15 and 40 years in technical and power skills, to make them work-and leadership-ready.

    Oyelakin spoke at University of Lagos during an EYAi event to mark 2023 International Youth Day.

     “We feel skill acquisition is a way by which they can productively live a purposeful life. So, we created this event to create awareness and enable consciousness that they need to acquire skills and competencies to give them leverage whether as students or young adult seeking jobs or a career path,” he said.

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     On the mentorship, Oyelakin hoped the programme will transition participants to smart, work-ready leaders to  become employers.  He said the mentorship “which comprises 10 courses will span project management, emotional intelligence, vocational training, and technical skills.

     “Within each course, we have skills associated with those courses. For instance, in project management, we have up to 12 or 15 knowledge areas; you have leadership skills, you have critical thinking skills, you have communication skills, and emotional intelligence.”

     The programme features  past president of The Project Management Institute (PMI) in Nigeria, Paul Omugbe; lecturer at Department of Architecture, UNILAG, David Adio-Moses; and artist, Fiyinfoluwa Ogunnaike, and others.

  • Foundation train youths on ‘Green Skills’

    Foundation train youths on ‘Green Skills’

    To mark this year’s International Youths Day (IYD), Succour for Nations Development Initiatives (SFN), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) has trained 200 youths with the right skills to help them thrive in life at Ipaja, Lagos State.

       Founded by Solape Adesuyi,  the conference was designed for young individuals between 18 and  35 years, to equip the minds of young people with skills, knowledge, and support to create a positive impact on their communities and beyond.

       Adesuyi urged youths to have hope, to be resilient and use the challenges they face as opportunities to create better versions of themselves instead of seeking the easy way out.   

       She explained that she aimed to correct the wrong notion youths have about the nation, adding the work of national development is not only for the government to do but youths have a part to play.

      “The Thrive 4.0 conference aims to encourage young people. As we can observe the environment is tough, and with the state of the economy a lot of people are frustrated.

        ‘’We want to give young people hope so they can thrive no matter the situation they find themselves in. These young people can take advantage of opportunities around them and make a better version of themselves.

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      “We cannot ask youths to stop relocation outside the country, however, we counsel them there are opportunities locally and internationally. We encourage young people to relocate legally, build the capacity and bring the resources and knowledge to impact your nation and people.”

    Going further she stated that opportunities abound for learning, skills acquisition, and building capacity. “If the  youth can rise with the application of the principles of adversity quotient they have, we will see them gather momentum and do exploits.”

    Another facilitator at the event, Youth Advocate/Chief Executive Officer, Value Publishing, Mr. Tolulope Ahmed, called for the participation of more youths in initiatives like this to build the capacity for the next generation. “We want to sensitise young people and help them build capacity for whatever they aim to do or achieve in life. This is an event no youth can afford to meet. If we can equip young people, they will thrive in any environment they find themselves,” Ahmed said. In her take, a Guidance Coach/ Educationist, Mrs Blessing Alagbe, tasked the youth with a change of mindset for a successful future.

    “The programme is tailored to young people to go over and above the storm and troubles of life because they need a total mind orientation, and whatever change we hope to see in young people will have to start from their minds.”

    She urged young people to believe in themselves and their country because according to her, Nigeria is not a lost cause. Fitness Coach at Eco-fitness, Mr. Martin Odey called for physical capacity building as well as intelligence and financial empowerment for the youth revealing that physical capacity is just as key as financial capacity or intelligence. Present at the event includes Dr Segun Adaju, CEO of Consistent Energy; Mrs Adenike Adepeji, Creative Director Renee Multi Ventures Limited among others.

  •  Expert charges youths on creativity

    THE co-Founder Next Leaders Initiative for Sustainability (NELIS), Peter Pedersen, has advised youths to look for creative and innovative ways to solve problems facing Africa.

    Pedersen spoke at the Next Leaders’ Africa Summit organised by NELIS at Afe Babalola Hall, University of Lagos.

    The three-day event tagged Connecting for change: Transforming Africa for better was attended by hundreds of young leaders and social entrepreneurs from five countries in Africa. It featured lecture series, panel discussions and breakout sessions.

    Pederson said by 2030, there would be 10 billion people on the planet and it was expected that 80 per cent of the new people would live in Africa and Asia. Thus, ‘’we have to find new ways of coping with the change. I think is that the issue of innovation is important.’’

    He said the youth make up 65 per cent of Africans, adding that this portends great opportunities for youths to look for more creative ways to address the continent’s socio-economic needs.

    Pedersen, represented by founder Anthropulse Limited Mauritius/Barcelona, Meelan Thondo, noted:  “Youths in Africa are the ones exposed to climate change, unemployment, maternal mortality, poverty, inequalities, malaria and Ebola, migration to corruption and lack of essential infrastructure.

    “I firmly believe that issues around health and well-being need to be at the heart of a sustainability transition and, therefore, deserve more attention. We need to find new ways of addressing health impacts of climate change and urbanisation, and of finding synergies with environmental sustainability,” he said.

    Petersen stressed that sustainable development could not be assured with abundant resources alone, but requires the capacity to convert available resources into new value-added products and services.

    Country Coordinator, NELIS Primer, Lawrence Afere said the event was aimed at gathering Africa’s social entrepreneurs and key players to learn and share on the latest of social entrepreneurship trends, on the skills needed to make social change happen on a broad scale, and to make new connections to collaborate for greater positive change on the continent.

  • Youths protest Imo Polytechnic relocation

    Protesters from Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State yesterday barricaded the exit and entrance gates to the Imo State Polytechnic Umuagwo to stop the planned relocation of the school by the government.

    Students and workers were trapped as they could neither enter nor leave the school premises while the protest lasted.

    The government recently upgraded the polytechnic to a university and subsequently got the approval of the National University Commission (NUC).

    Thereafter, the government ordered the polytechnic, now known as the University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, be relocated to its new site at Ehime Mbano Local Government Area.

    The protesters, mainly youths, vowed to continue until the government rescinds the relocation plans.

    But the government has dismissed the protesters as a bunch of misinformed and misguided youths.

    A statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, reads: “The attention of the Rescue Mission Government has been drawn to a misleading protest by few misinformed youths who claimed to be indigenes of Ohaji against the new University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Aboh/Ngor/Umuagwo.

    “It is unfortunate that some enemies of the state have decided to play politics with everything, including the development and progress of the state and her people, otherwise why would any group sponsor needless protest against the university, after its operational licence has been gotten and everything needed for its take-off put in place?

    “The government, few days ago, explained that, following the establishment of the Imo State University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at the premises of the Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo, with campus at Aboh/Ngor, the polytechnic has been relocated to Ehime Mbano with a campus at the site of Ahiara Polytechnic, Ahiazu Mbaise.

    “The government’s interest has been the even development of all parts of the state. Indigenes who love the state and its development have been congratulating the governor for this feat.

    “It is therefore surprising that some youths should allow themselves to become tools of needless protest in the hands of those who have no love for the progress and prosperity of the state and its people.

    “Why should youths, in their right senses, protest the citing of a university in their area? Our people should always detach petty politics from the lofty ideal of developing the state and prospering the people.

    “The leaders of Ohaji should take the bull by the horn by correcting the impression this wrong move has created, especially when workers of the polytechnic have nothing to lose. We have also heard that the owners of the private hostels in the area, working with some soul-less politicians were behind the protesting youths. It is unfortunate that few individuals, because of their personal interest, could rise against the overall interest of the state and Ohaji people in particular.”