Lagos State Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat, has urged youths in the country to tap into the numerous opportunities available through youth-focused programmes, seek guidance from mentors, and invest in developing their skills.
Hazmat gave this charge at the weekend while speaking at a National Youth Symposium, themed: ‘Nigeria: Guiding the Youth on the Path of Self-Reliance’, which was organised by a group under the aegis of Friends of KOH, in commemoration of his 60th birthday, held at the Victoria Garden Conference and Event Centre, Alausa-Ikeja.
The deputy governor urged the youths should embrace education that combines theories with practical skills, stressing that getting the right education was paramount.
According to him, what matters in the jobs market today is not about what you know but what you can do, adding: “The question now is: what can you do, It is no longer what do you know?”
Speaking further, Hamzat reiterated that what the world demands currently is the true exhibition of natural talents, the display of knowledge and skills that can positively impact and turn the globe around.
While emphasizing that mentorship is very important, as it is where the wisdom of the elders marries the energy and creativity of the youth to produce remarkable results, he called for collaboration between government, private sector, and the youth in creating an environment that nurtures talent and innovation.
The deputy governor, while noting that the future of the country Nigeria was bright, and in the hands of the youth, said he remained optimistic about the country’s future despite the current challenges facing her.
According to him, this is because of the youth, whose creativity has soared to global heights, adding that in science and innovation, they had served notice that the Nigerian youths cannot not be left behind.
“Why my optimism? What is the basis for my being upbeat about Nigeria? Do I know certain things that you don’t know? You, the youth are my reason for being confident about the future.
“In what is seen as a difficult terrain, many of you have been able to explore the possibilities of this land to advance the course of humanity in many significant areas of life. Your music keeps the world singing and dancing, so are your movies. Your creativity has soared to global heights. In science and innovation, you have served notice that we will not be left behind,” he stated.
Speaking further, Hamzat noted that in Lagos, the youths run many hubs where Science and Technology initiatives were used to resolve everyday challenges, adding that they had shown so much potential in cybersecurity, while those in medicine all over the world, had shown how good Nigerians can be.
The deputy governor, while reeling out the different initiatives put in place by the state government in empowering the youths, said youth-oriented programmes of the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration were a testament to its commitment to building a brighter future for young people.
He said that the administration was laying the groundwork for a prosperous and self-reliant generation by focusing on education, entrepreneurship, and leadership development.
Hamzat argued that guiding the youths on the path to self-reliance was not only a national imperative but a generation one, stressing that reforming the educational curriculum, promoting entrepreneurship through mentoring, leveraging technology, cultivating a culture of independence, resilience and promoting the dignity of work, the youths would not only thrive but wou become an asset for not just Africa but the whole world.
Governor Sanwo-Olu, in his remarks at the event, charged youths in the country to always stay around people that would motivate and encourage them, saying that it was crucial to discover their path to self-sustainable and self-reliance.
Besides, the governor, who was represented by his Deputy Chief of Staff (DCOS), Mr. Sam Egube, said the youth should always seize opportunities before them leveraging on technology and the talent they had developed for the benefit of the society which would certainly bring them to limelight.
“We must be prepared for the opportunities that we see. The idea that opportunity exists is true and that we as a people and youth of the nation should be the best that we can be and the gift that we have developed will bring us certainly before kings,” he said.
Speaking further, Governor Sanwo-Olu urged the youth and the citizens of this country to be optimistic and seize opportunities and moments to make Nigeria progress, saying that they must be each other’s’ keeper and responsible partners.
“We must be each other’s’ keeper and responsible partners. This is what it means to be part of a nation. This is what it means to part of a state, community and family,” Governor Sanwo-Olu said.
Former Vice-Chancellor, Lagos State University, Prof. Olanrewaju Faghoun, in his address as Keynote Speaker, stated that a self-reliant youth population would fuel economic growth, reduce poverty levels and contribute immensely to a more stable and prosperous society.
Faghoun argued that it was imperative to help guide the youths towards self-reliance that would create solutions not just to unemployment in the country but also to create a critical pathway to national development.
He stressed that it was easy for government to urge the youths to have a positive and progressive mind, but if it does not give them the required skills and guide them on how they go about it, then, it would becomes difficult to excel.
He described such admonition as challenging them to go to war front without giving them the skills and weapons they would need at the war front.
“Our responsibility today, is to lay the foundation for strategic thinking, quality reforms and cultural shifts that empower the youth to take charge of their destiny, learn to depend not just on the system around them but on their own resourcefulness and resilience,” he said.
The former Don noted that Nigerian had a great population, positing that all she needed to do was empower the youth with required skills in today’s world, adding that if they leave the country for greener pastures, they would be gainfully employed anywhere in the world, while
the country would only be reaping the dividend of the money they would be remitting home from diaspora.
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