By: Manoah Kikekon
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| Ashade Abdulsalam NYCN coordinator Olorunda LCDA and CSP Agosile Folajimi, DPO Badagry police station |
Ashade Abdulsalam, the coordinator National Youth Council of Nigeria, Olorunda LCDA, Badagry Local Government, has said he is dedicated to empowering the youths of his LCDA on digital skills as his administration comes to an end.
He disclosed this on Saturday at the commemoration of International Youth Day, with the theme, From Click to Progress: Youth Digital Pathways for Sustainable Development, held at the LCDA secretariat.
Ashade said despite the hardship in the country, the youths were still present at the event.
It has been tremendous and very encouraging with the current condition of society, we can't deny that we have economic hardship. Despite the distance of this location, we still have the number of people here, we have people that have come all the way from Ibadan to this event. It's also a landmark event for me, as it marks the end of my tenure as the NYCN coordinator.
Ashade, who just returned from the United States of America from the Mandela Fellowship, said "I went to the US to go and study and to explore it was actually possible because of what we do here in Nigeria that we started by impacting lives in our community in Badagry towards environmental sustainability. We applied for Mandela Washington Fellowship, close to 6,500 applicants in Nigeria. I was preveleglled to be part of the first 10 that were selected for the fellowship in the United States, and I was placed in the Quins State University School of Public Service, which is intandem with the vision and mission that I also had personally, which is to contest for the post of Executive Chairman of Olorunda LCDA in Badagry. It's a platform to understand how to manage public finances and give community services. I was there to represent Nigeria and also to showcase the culture and tourism of Badagry.
"You can see the reflection in what we are doing today. I was able to facilitate two of those that we attended the fellowship together in the United States who are doing well when it comes to digital technologies for them to come and impact the knowledge into our youths here in Badagry," he said.
Afiz Olalekon, the guest speaker, said, "Like I used to say, the future is no more in the future, the future is now, so I'm telling every youth to maximise digital platforms to become better. There is a need to be more efficient, resilient, and understand that they are going to fail, when they fail, it will only make them stronger, so I will ask the youths to start embracing failure as a way of making them better and not depressing them.
"I'm seeing here today that there is potential in the youths of Olorunda we believe so much in the youths, and seeing the support here today, I can say the youths have so much to offer.
There is a need to have an innovative hub here in Badagry, that will comprise equipment to train youths on how to use the Internet to solve problems and other profitable businesses.
Michael Ogabi, who talks to the participants on the need to be progressive in the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT), said, "You have to be self-disciplined to be committed to the use of these technologies so that you can be progressive; without this, you won't improve." He also educated the youth on the importance of using social media platforms profitably and constructively.
CSP Agosile Folajimi, the DPO Badagry police station, said in his closing remarks, "I always commend the youth in Badagry, since I came to Badagry, the youths have been accommodating, and Badagry still maintains its traditional way of policing. They know themselves in the community some people are addicted to crimes and drugs which will not profit the community", he encouraged the youths to make sure they are engaged as the idle hands is the devil's workshop.