Under the aegis of CampusLabs Nigeria, career coaches have trained and charged Oyo youths to be creative change-makers and solution providers in the work they do and anywhere they find themselves.
They made this call on Saturday, in Ibadan, during the graduation ceremony of the cohorts who participated in the 2022 Employability Incubator programme organised by CampuLabs Nigeria and supported by the 234 Project.
Delivering the opening remarks, the founder of CampusLabs Nigeria, Emeka Ossai, noted that the Employability Incubator programme is an eight-week training designed to help youths and young people get skills that will help them to excel in today’s global workplace.
He mentioned that there are five components of the programme: knowledge and classroom sessions, mentorships, business case study (the goal is for the participants to work on real-life business challenges to build their problem-solving, critical thinking, and presentation skills), community impact project (where the class proffer solutions to social challenges in the society), and Internships and job shadowing.
He said CampusLabs Nigeria has been designing and implementing employability, entrepreneurship, and technology skills projects for young people for 14 years now and is currently focused on launching innovation spaces on university campuses, but the Employability Incubator program started three years ago.
He further said that three hundred people applied for this year’s edition of the programme, but they only accepted 70 people for the training.
He also said there are long-term follow-up programmes and benefits for the cohorts after graduation.
About the long-term follow-up programmes, Ossai, said, “We have an alumni network, a six-month mentorship programme, once in two months checks, referrals, and internship programmes for them.”
While delivering his keynote address, the executive assistant to the Oyo State governor on administration and capital development, Reverend Idowu Ogedengbe, said the governor was happy with the vision of CampusLabs Nigeria, adding that youth development is one of the focus areas of the government.
He noted that one of the aims of the Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, is to have the greatest number of educated people and to deliberately develop the youths through policies that will enhance human capital development and job creation.
While charging the cohorts to be change-makers and solution providers, he added that the government is ready to partner with young people who are ready to create value in the society.
“Constantly develop yourself with the skills you have learned,” Ogedengbe said. “You should not think of making a living alone and how to help someone out of poverty.”
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Ademola Osigbesan, a Geneva-based healthcare supply chain professional, while delivering his keynote address, told the graduands that the first and best investment, no matter how small it might be, should be in themselves.
He noted that crossroads and rejections are inevitable in all stages of career-building, but with consistency, vision, determination, and self-development they will succeed in what they do.
He urged the cohorts to put to use what they have been taught in the programme, to look for job titles that match their skills, and to maximise opportunities that come their way.
“There is no value in the things we do if graduates cannot deliver value in the things they do,” Osigbesan said. “Career is about adding value. When you are good in solving problems, it is impossible for anybody or organisation to turn you down.”
In the course of the event, some of the graduands, grouped into three groups, participated in two contests: the Community Impact pitch and the Business Pitch Contest.
The community impact contest aimed at exposing the cohorts to social challenges in the society, each of the groups worked on how to proffer solutions to domestic violence in society, period/menstrual poverty among young girls, and using design thinking to equip secondary school students.
On the other hand, the business pitch contest aimed to equip them with a business presentation, negotiation, and persuasion skills. For this contest, each group of the cohorts work on a business case study and pitched their ideas on how to increase market adoption for the Wakanda app amongst young people.
In the course of the event, the country manager of the 234 Project, Ifeoluwa Oyebisi, stated that they are happy to support the Employability Incubator programme.
She said the 234 Project is a pro-Nigeria organisation aimed at empowering Nigerian youths to greatness through education, and business empowerment, among others.
The 234 Project was co-founded by Texas-based Nigerian-Americans, Mobolaji Sokunbi and Akin Akinboro, who are senior executives of technology companies Dell computers and Indeed, with the goal of highlighting the under-reported good news coming out of Nigeria.
Ugochukwu Uwaegbu, Excel Akinade, Emmanuel Ayodele, Wonderful Eva Osalor, and Adeola Adelakun are some of the graduands who spoke at the event. They expressed gratitude to CampusLabs and the facilitators who took them through sessions on emotional intelligence, them during the eight-week programme.
The valedictory speech was delivered by Omotolani Ademolue. After thanking CampusLabs Nigerian and her follow cohort members for the experience they shared together, she said the last eight weeks have taught them networking, communication skills, emotional intelligence, teamwork, policymaking, problem-solving, leadership, and character-building, among others.
“I had learned that there is dignity in labour and in what we work for,” Ademolue said. “Let us continue making a difference in our lives and in the lives of those within our circles.”
Other prominent people at the event include Christian Keller, Kayode Adebayo, Dr Bisi Olawuyi, Biodun Makinde, Karen Nwulu, and Ibiyemi Ifatuiroti amongst others.
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