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.. As Caverra domesticates World Teenagers Day, hands out awards
By Enyeribe Ejiogu
• ANIJEKWE
By the time the Chief Executive of Caverra World Organisation, Mrs Roseline Anijekwe, sat down with close family members, at about 4.45 pm, to rest her feet, take a few sips of very cold Maltina and a bite of small chops, it was evident from her pleasant mien and the banters with the “inner caucus” that the World Teenagers Day 2024, celebrated for the first time in Nigeria, had turned out to be a huge success.
• DCN CHINYEREM (NDLEA)
It had taken four months of hard work and tasking efforts to successfully market the event to the 31 private schools that eventually registered and committed to sending delegations of their teenage students, to participate in the beautiful event organised to formally institute the annual celebration of the Teenagers Day, marked globally on March 21 of every year.
• CAVERRA MR TEEN
Caverra World collaborated with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Lagos Command, and the OCI Foundation, which has offices in Australia, Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
In her keynote address, Anijekwe noted that the organisation had for eight years been at the forefront of helping teenagers to “discover their true self by creating a positive orientation around them, through constant motivation and inspiration to enable them to become responsible adults, who will add value to themselves, the Society and the world at large.”
The theme for this year’s celebration, “You Are The Future” aptly captured the fact that teenagers are next to the 20-30 age bracket.
Caverra World, Anijekwe said, has been consistent, intentional, and committed to her vision of building responsible teenagers.
Her words: “The teenagers are not classified as children, they are not youths, neither are they adults, but they are in their stage and phase. They constitute 30 percent of the population and 100 percent in the future.
“The stage they are in is a very radical and challenging stage, a stage of uncertainties and confusion that requires adequate care, nurturing, and constant motivation and inspiration.
“The teenage stage is the right time to build, revamp, shape, and inculcate the right norms and values. Due to the negative circumstances, many teenagers are so scared of the future. Some believe that the future does not exist for them, and their hopes are jeopardised.
Caverra World Organisation creates a positive orientation for teenagers, which helps them to discover their true self, cultivate healthy habits, make the right choices, and have a clearer self-realization that they are the future.”
Anijekwe explained further: “Teenagers are like the catalyst for a positive change. The more we continue to empower, motivate and inspire them, the more responsible they will be and that slogan of being the future leaders will be gratified.”
Noting that her organisation wants the best for the country, and the process of achieving that goal starts with teenagers, she said that in line with this realisation, Caverra World decided to partner with the NDLEA, to sensitize them on the dangers of drugs and drug addiction which stand as a threat to their future.
To have a healthy future, she said, starts by having healthy teenagers, stressing that teenagers are the foundation, adding that it is of maximal importance that the foundation is laid right.
“They really need to be inspired because a teenager with a poor mindset cannot offer any positive contribution to life,”
She assured that her organization would continue to give the teenagers the right orientation to help them discover the inherent strength embedded in them, because it believes that teenagers are the future.
Anijekwe advised teenagers to always do something that would bring them closer to their goals, saying, “your future is created by what you do today, not tomorrow. Always remember that you have got all it takes to exploit, overcome every self-defeating plot, and know that you are the future and the future is in you.”
On the specific role of the OCI Foundation which operates in Australia, Nigeria and the United Kingdom, she commended the humanitarian service organisation, saying that Caverra World has been in partnership with the organisation for seven years.
“OCI is focused on health, education and social welfare. In the area of health, it is engaged in breast and cervical cancer awareness and prevention. So we are working with them to create massive awareness about cancer among teenagers. Cancer is a major health threat that is preventable with public health education, screening and early detection. We want teenagers to be more conscious of the deadly disease and spread awareness about it, to their parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, neighbours and school mates.”
Echoing the points made by Anijekwe, in a brief chat on the sideline of the event, School Counsellor, Mater Dei School, Satellite Town, Mrs. Chinenye Akpunonu, noted that the teenage age is characterized by rebelliousness and the youngsters wanting to do what they want.
“In the teenage age, parents more or less scold the young people. Parents should rather encourage them to understand that what they are manifesting is driven by the significant hormonal changes in their body, which also produce fundamental physical changes that give the feelings of adulthood.
“Parents should rather talk to them and advise them not to let the wrong things they do today mark their tomorrow. They should encourage them to keep doing the right things despite their emotions wanting them to go the other way. Make them recognize that if they don’t do well today, it is going to affect their tomorrow. That is the message we want them to imbibe and use it to guide their lives going forward.”
Deputy State Commander, in-charge of Drug Demand Reduction, DCN Chinyerem Eziaghighana, who represented the State Commander, NDLEA Lagos Command, in her presentation on the impact of drug addiction on teenagers and ways to curb it, took the assemblage of teens, their teachers and other guests through a brief teaching on drugs and substance abuse.
On why the NDLEA is particular about creating awareness among teenagers, she explained that the teenage or adolescent age is regarded as “the period of growth confusion, the age of storm and stress, the formative stage, the stage of adventure when young people want to experiment.”
Given the important role of the teenagers as the future of the nation, she posited that the present teenage generation is expected to right tomorrow the wrongs being committed by the present adult generation.
Drug abuse is the harmful or hazardous use of drugs and substances. Also subject to abuse are socially accepted substances like alcohol and caffeine.
Delving into her topic, she revealed that drug or substance abuse has become a pandemic, stating that the effect cuts across all ages and races. She said that the most worrisome is the involvement of youths, the future of the nation, in drug or substance abuse.
“Both the young and old, the rich and the poor, the professionals and artisans are affected by substance abuse. It is not restricted to robbers, miscreants/hoodlums motor-park touts and the like. It affects the family, the workplace, the community and the society at large.
“In Nigeria, the drug situation has become very alarming. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, in a survey found that one out of every seven persons had used an illicit drug, ranging from marijuana to hard drugs (cocaine, heroin, meth). One out of every four persons was a woman, thereby showing the alarming rate of growth of drug abuse.”
DCN Eziaghighana said that drug abuse often leads to drug dependence, which means that the person has reached the point of no return, except by divine intervention. The reason, she said, is that “drug dependence is a complex, relapsing, and chronic disease which gradually destroys the brain and can lead to death in the case of overdose.”
To stem the tide of drug and substance, she stressed that the effort must involve everyone from the parents at home, members of the extended family, faith-based organisations, civil society organisations, communities, churches, schools and just about everyone else that desires to see a better society should get involved in the fight against drug abuse and trafficking.
She commended the leadership of Caverra World for the partnership with NDLEA, to broaden and deepen the awareness campaign against drugs and specific focus on teenagers who can be a veritable and effective voice of restraint on their peers, to prevent them from falling for the devil’s tricks to get them to experiment with drugs, and thereby to avoid destroying their lives.
The lively event featured intellectual activities (SpeakOut, quiz) and cultural competitions as well as a pageant to select winners for both male and female awards.
The high point was the crowning of the winners of the Mr Teen (Michael Obi) and Miss Teen (Precious Chioma Chukwuakuo). Other teens won awards in different categories (Male/FemaleTeen Ambassadors, Teen Prince, Teen Princess, among others).
