Group Canvasses Intentional Capacity Building for Youth Population

An alternative church group of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Youth and Young Adults (YAYA) Fellowship, have canvassed intentional capacity building for the youth population.

The Provincial and Regional Youth pastor, Lagos Province 19, Mr. Femi Aminu, made the call at the just concluded RECALP Conference.

RECALP an acronym for Relationship, Entrepreneurship, Career, Arts and Entertainment, Leadership and Politics aims to inspire the youth population towards taking up leadership roles in Nigeria’s budding economy. This year’s conference also marks a decade of grooming young people for the future with the theme “From Zero to Hero”.

Aminu while speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the event emphasized the need for intention capacity building for young people to become players in the Nigerian economy.

He stated that a reeducation is needed to curb ignorance and distraction of the internet thus equipping young people with knowledge and confidence to drive positive social change.

“One of the challenges that youth face is distraction. In our own days it wasn’t really the internet. With RECALP, we are letting them know that if they build and open up their mindset, they can make it. There is hope and there is a future and most times, you don’t need to wait for a future that people have created, you can create the future now.

“So we discuss things like relationship, education, and we feel these are opportunities to lay the foundation. So regarding politics, there is this notion that politics is dirty. We are saying, let’s try to re-educate young people. Even if you are a Christian, you won’t fly to heaven. You still need to live on Earth. You can only make the change if you have capacity for change so you must build capacity to participate in politics.”

Speaking on the importance of talent development, he said: “I see talent from the build of originality and authenticity. Yes, we can talk about intellectual property later because really, if somebody steals your idea, he can’t replicate it the way you would. There is something distinctive about you. So you need to first understand that people cannot steal your idea.

“If you are original and you keep doing what you are doing, you’d be improving and you’d be getting better and better. There is a path that is unique for everyone. You may be in obscurity for a while but it’s just matter of time. When the time comes, God makes everything beautiful.”

On his part, Guinness World Record holder for the longest Chess marathon, Mr. Tunde Onakoya, charged young people to persevered and approach life with courage to reach the peak of their chosen careers.

Onakoya explained that regardless of the odds, traversing the world has shown that young Nigerians the world over continue to excel in their chosen fields of endeavour.

He noted that chosing to do the hard things is what distinguishes heroes in the journey of life.

“I think the real plight of young people in Nigeria is the lack of opportunity. I’ve been travelling quite a bit in the last couple of months and I’ve had the chance to interact with a lot of young Nigerians in diaspora.

“At every level, Nigerians are excellent and they are doing really well and thriving in societies and it makes me wonder how the struggle just feels very palpable for a lot of young people.

“So, the first thing is to really have faith in your own ideas. I think it’s important that you have complete faith. It’s usually in a place where everyone is telling you that this is not possible, that it is too hard, that Nigeria is irredeemable and that it is only easy, to get jaded and more accepting in the way that this country is.

“But this country belongs to us, every single one of us and we represent the future of what this country can be. It’s the ability to solve these problems in the face of so much adversity that helps us become.”

Continuing, he added that the youth need to have more faith in themselves, their dreams and aspirations. “Have faith in your ideas and have the courage to do hard things. Hards things come with tremendous reward but it’s hard for a reason.

“If you do hard things, Nigeria would be better for it but if you choose the easy things, things are going to remain that way for a really long time. So, all the education that you are getting while in school is to prepare you to do the hard things because that is what society demands.”

Former Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Toyin Ogundipe, highlighted six important steps for success.

“Young people must study and get information about what is happening all over the world. They must get information about the disciplines that are going to be evolving in the next five to 10 years. It’s all over the place now. They must think outside the box. They must think about solving problems. They must have God. They need to serve God and finally, they need to believe in themselves.

“It is when you believe in yourselves that you have faith. If you don’t believe in yourself, you cannot have faith. Believe that you can get there. You can achieve what you want despite all that is happening in the country. You continue to hear the noise all over the place. It’s not only in Nigeria. It’s a global thing. You must be focused. Don’t listen to the noise. I always tell people, if you are money driven, you can’t get far but if you are passion driven, the noise will always be there, distraction will always be there, but you will go on with your passion. If you start by saying you want to be a billionaire, at the end of the day, just like a vapour, you’ll get tired on the way.”