Youths urged to be catalysts of positive change

From Fred Ezeh, Abuja

Founder of Afárá Africa, Olamilekan Oyebanjo, has urged Nigerian youths to be catalysts of positive change by championing any cause that will promote peaceful co-existence and socio-economic growth and development.

Oyebanjo, who gave the charge during a Pre-Wake Up Youth Conference, in Lagos, reminded the youths that they consist of a larger percentage of Nigerian population, hence they should play a key role in the development of the country.

He said Afárá Africa is not a business but an organisation that aims to make a difference in the lives of young people to impact knowledge, skills and resources in young people for overall growth.

“We want to build people who are not just wise in their heads, but also heavy in their pockets, and the only way we can achieve that is to empower them with skills,” Oyebanjo said.

He noted that it is essential for young people to learn from older people’s mistakes and be awakened early in life to fully maximise their God-given potential to affect change in their families, communities and nation.

Founder of ESHIRYA-Africa, Olakunle Soriyan, in his keynote address, said every individual in the world is enslaved to something, either a person, an idea or a belief system, and stressed that true freedom is the ability to recognise and choose one’s own slavery as a cause of life.

While urging young people to take charge of their lives, he emphasised that the past is not fixed but can be reshaped by one’s present actions and mindset.

“You know that the past is a very static continuity that is created by what you do today. So, I don’t care what your past is; if you start thinking right today and start it right, you begin to create a new past and just like your hard disc, you can put so much information in it,” Soriyan said.

He urged the young people to seek mentors who are spiritually, professionally, and morally qualified, prepared to hold them accountable and stand with them on their best and worst days.

Chief Executive Officer of Identita Brand Concepts, Ugo Ezeagwula, said in his submissions that the life of a ‘catalysis’ extends beyond personal success but one that seeks to nurture a new generation that values contributing to society over individual gain.

He said young people should look beyond being seen as the future but as present change makers who should not wait until they are older to start making impacts.

“Life responds to action, not complaints. The difference between those of us who are able to unleash our potential and those who are unable to do that is just hunger. How hungry are you? It is the hunger that will drive you,” he said.

Group Managing Director of Roudo Group, Chukwuma Nwachukwu, said a catalyst whose output can be described as ‘Catalysis’ is one that is given to learning daily from experience and consistently implementing changes.

“Learn always. Don’t be afraid to try out new things. Have a great mindset with positive expectations because if your mind can conceive it, you can have it.

“You can be anything you want to be as long as you believe there are no limits. You don’t deserve anything you are not willing to fight for. So, fight for your dreams,” he said.