Powered by Lonadek Oil and Gas Limited, the youth programme was aimed at empowering the youths for the future, in line with Nigeria’s quest to become one of the developed countries in the world by the year 2020.
According to the Project Consultant, Dr Ibilola Amao, the Youth Empowerment and Restoration Initiative is a Youth and National Development Initiative inaugurated in May, 2006. It is aimed at addressing some of the problems in our society such as the deteriorating educational standard and poor value system.
The initiative is keen on engaging the support of Nigerian Content, Human Resources Development, Sustainable Development and Public Affairs Departments of Organizations with a commitment to capacity, capability and competence and development of Nigeria.
The workshop recoded a total number of 1, 219 registered participants in attendance and was sponsored by some of blue chip organizations. In the keynote address delivered by Mr. Valentine Agwu, General Manager, Supply Chain\Nigeria Content, Addax Petroleum Development (Nigeria), he poured encomiums on Vision 2020 for organizing a workshop like this to meet students’ educational needs and to guide their career paths. He also encouraged them (students) to take advantage of this opportunity by practising all they learnt so that it does not slip away from them.
In his good will message, Dr. Umar Bindir, the Director-General (DG), National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotions (NOTAP) recognized the effort of the organizers of Vision 2020 and said he was proud of Dr Amao – the Project Consultant – for achieving her PhD in her early 20’s. He stated that Nigeria currently has 129 universities, 125 polytechnics, over 300 research and innovation organizations and nearly 100 colleges of education and “yet ironically we are still consumer and not a producer nation.”
He explained that his responsibility as the DG of NOTAP is to sensitize young Nigerians on the urgent need to move away from consumer to producer status. To achieve this, he said, there must be synergy between NOTAP and Vision 2020’s whose goal is for Nigeria to be among the 20 developed economies in the world by the year 2020.
Mr. Soji Oyawoye, Chief Executive Officer, Resource Intermediaries Limited, delivered a motivational lecture titled: “Character and Attitude for Entrepreneurship Development” in which he emphasized the need for youth to form good character and attitude as they climb the ladder of success in their various pursuits. Mr. Chima Akanno of JAMB and Mrs. C.O. Agwu, Directo\Zonal Coordinator West African Examination Council (WAEC) advised the students on how to pass their exams easily while Shell Education- Peer Health Educators(SNEPCO) gave a presentation on HIV\AIDS in which they advised the youths to be wary of their relationship with the opposite sex as HIV\AIDS pandemic is real, stating that they should avoid premarital sex and unprotected sex. They advised them to adopt abstinence to avoid AIDS scourge which could rubbish their dreams in life.
The climax of the event was science competition\young transformers and innovators projects and display of top projects by the participating schools. After the completion, three schools emerged winners.
The first position was won by Lagos State Model Senior College, Kankon, Badagry, Lagos, with its invention of four-way intruder detector while Laureates College came second with its project, Aerial Surveillance Balloon. The third position went to Federal Government College, Ijanikin, Lagos, with its project, Sound Activated Audio Amplifier.
In the vote of thanks rendered by the Project Coordinator, Juliet Kai, she thanked the sponsors of the event. The sponsors among others included MTN, Shell, Exxonmobil, Total, Addax Chevron and Globstar. She enjoined the youths to imbibe all they have been exposed to so that by the year 2020, they would have contributed to Nigeria becoming one of the 20 developed economies in the world.
 |
Vision 2020 empowers secondary school students with career workshop |
No comments:
Post a Comment