‘How we empowered youths in UK’

United Kingdom-based cleric, Pastor Tobi Adegboyega of the SPAC Nation, in this interview with SEYI SOKOYA, speaks on his passion for youths and problem of insecurity in Nigeria.

You have been out of Nigeria for about 14 year, how has life been outside?

My initial plan was to further my studies in the United States. Prior to this, I went to the United Kingdom on a visit to my family and while there, I noticed that there were many youths in need of mentorship. So, I stayed back. It is not as if I disconnected with Nigeria, I am still much committed to making  great impact in the country, especially for the younger generation.

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 How has the church, SPAC Nation, been faring abroad?

To the glory of God, we have been featured on different print and electronic media. That in itself is a sign that God is helping us to do some things right. We have a young man who used to be in prison for about three years. With God’s intervention, he has been able to turn his life round and now owns his own business. We have mentored many youths who are doing well in different areas of endeavour. One of our people now has an employment agency which has given jobs to over 100 people. We have another lady who is involved in the business of fashion accessories. If your product gets the approval and use of the Queen of England, it means you have done something of the very highest quality, and that is what this lady has done. At SPAC Nation, we do more giving than receiving. We are not a church that is focused on conventional tithes and offerings. We are more focused on giving back to our communities through human capital development.

 How do you finance all these projects?

We create businesses. My first job was a kitchen job, which paid me 400 pounds a month. It was from this that I sought to empower the people around me, meeting their needs as little as I could. As time went on, I got into property business with a friend. We later came up with other innovations and we have been giving back to help raise other people too. We have over 40 people in businesses that have also come back to help their communities. Many of our people give back with the mind to also lift others like we have done. With something like this in place, there is always a pool where we can draw to help people reach their heights.

 What is the main focus of your ministry?

I have three main focuses when it comes to Nigerian youths that are not living up to expectations. Our emphasis lay squarely on addressing their problems on job creation, security and providing educational opportunities for them. Over the years, in the United Kingdom, we have created hundreds of jobs by raising funds for young people who have ideas but lack capital. We have been able to connect those who have funds with those who need them to start businesses and the results have been more than 40 businesses created. In a system as regulated as the UK, that is a near impossibility. We created a business hub for many young people to learn and be mentored before any investment is put in to them.

No matter how good an idea is, funding will always be an issue? How would you get funds to execute these?

Many high net-worth individuals and companies have, in the past, wanted to invest in Nigeria. Unfortunately, some got their hands burnt. Despite this, some still feel the need to invest in things that will impact the community more than what will just make money for them alone. Put it this way, they are genuinely interested in Nigeria’s future.

What then are your plans for this project?

We have chosen different mentors and investors for different states in Nigeria. This means that all the 36 states will have certain amounts of money to help certain number of young people, 36 mentors and investors in all, with more than $20 million. This will be divided into projects as we deem fit for each state. So, our strength has been the ability to bring those who have and those who need together and create something and now we have over $20 million in pledges, apart from what we have already started to help with.

 How long can the execution of this project take?

By the special grace of God, we want to create about 1,000 jobs within 24 months of our coming in. We have done a test-run and we know it would work, God helping us. We believe that job provision and empowerment of start-ups will go a long way in reducing insecurity in many states. We did that in the UK. We went to areas that are commonly known for youth violence and changed the narrative until crime reduced. A lot of resources will be spent on this. We want to take young people with talents or academic intelligence to the right universities, college or training school locally or around the world. We have spent a lot to send young people to schools like Harvard. We will dedicate a large part of these funds to train young people through formal and informal channels.