Our young ones are our future

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The Odu’a Investment Foundation Advisory Council was inaugurated here three months ago (July 27, 2023, to be precise) with my humble self as the Chairman and other eminent sons and daughters of the owner states as members. I appreciate the opportunity to be the council’s chairman at this point in the developmental history of the people of the South-West. I also thank my worthy colleagues,fellow sojourners on the Foundation’s Advisory Council immensely for electing to join hands with me to birth a new dawn of progress and development in the South-West. I must publicly acknowledge the wonderful cooperation I have received in the last three months from every member of the Advisory council and also from the board and management of the parent organisation, the Odu’a Investment Company Ltd.

At the inauguration of the advisory council in July this year, we made a solemn pledge to hit the ground running and make the Foundation work optimally for the good of our people. We knew from the beginning that for the South-West to continue to set the pace in Nigeria, we must focus on formulating and implementing cutting-edge ideas and programmes that will speak directly to the needs of our people’s present and future while consolidating on the gains of the past.

Today, we are taking a significant step in achieving the mandate of the foundation with the formal launch of what has been christened the DEFINED project – that is an acronym for: Digital Education for Innovation and Economic Development. Along with the DEFINED project is the introduction of Byte Busters coding clubs in all our primary and secondary schools across the south west. This, we believe, will be another significant digital step towards having a smart, globally competitive youth population.

Our young ones are our future. The youth are the drivers of development all over the world. A well-trained and properly kitted youth population will not only birth an economically viable society but will also engender the safety of all. As the foundation grows, we pray that we are able to harness the talents and enthusiasm of all well-meaning members of the South-West towards accomplishing the best from this developmental initiative.

As we can see from the name of the initiative we are launching today, it is about using education and innovation to drive economic development for the good of all. Our young ones cannot hunt the bird of tomorrow with yesterday’s stones. This is the age of digital learning and smart jobs. We need to ensure that our youths are equipped with the right education and the right skills which, we believe, will make them not only relevant but competitive in an increasingly technology-driven world. You must have what the market needs before you can sell. That is why we must give our young ones the skills and the opportunity to compete and excel on the global stage. That is the whole essence of today’s event.

The initiative targets pupils and students but also, quite naturally, incorporates the potential for the creation of tech hubs for appropriate skills acquisition for young adults. The entire project focuses more on children within the public school system and the less-privileged.

The journey of the foundation in these first three months has been remarkable. And what a revelation it has been! We have discovered enormous, yet untapped support from persons and groups within and outside the country. We have also discovered incredible eagerness to contribute, and selfless commitment to our nation’s development. Even our advance scouting team has discovered forty functional locations across the states that are ideal hubs for nearby schools as well as tech skills acquisition centres for young adults!

At this point, I must specially acknowledge the goodwill we have been enjoying from our compatriots in the diaspora. I thank, in particular, Professor Seun Kolade for the richness of his ideas and suggestions which have contributed substantially, not only to the initiative that we are launching today but also to its future growth, diversification and sustainability. He has not asked for, or been paid a kobo in fees. I thank, through him, all his expert colleagues who have been willingly co-opted to assist,one way or the other, in driving the project thus far.

I should also thank today’s Director of Events, Mr Yanju Adegbite, immensely, for his selfless commitment to this initiative. He volunteered his time and talent for this event at zero cost to us.

Your Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, we look forward to more collaborations or this high impact project, in terms of mentorship support for our young ones from stakeholders, particularly tech organisations, as part of their corporate social responsibility.

We, most certainly, look forward to the support and close collaboration of all the owner-states of Odu’a Group, at all levels but particularly at the highest level, to ensure the success of this and other initiatives that are incorporated in the foundation’s mandate. Some preliminary consultations are already on-going, particularly in the healthcare sector and these projects will also be rolled out in due course.

We at the advisory council see ourselves as facilitators and expediters’ in the crucial matter of the development in the South West. It has been a delight to embark on this journey together so far. You can continue to count on us to give our best to this historic task.

Once again, on behalf of the other members of the Odu’a Foundation Advisory Council, I thank your excellencies, the board and management of Odu’a Investment Company Ltd and the staff of the company for your support and hard work.

Together, we will achieve more, to the glory of God, the progress and development of the South West and the well-being of our people.

Your excellencies, royal fathers, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you all, most sincerely, for honouring us with your presence today and I thank you for your kind attention.

Speech delivered by Ambassador Dr. Olatokunbo Awolowo Dosumu (Chairman, Odu’a Investment Foundation)at the formal launch of the DEFINED Project (Digital Education for Innovation and Economic Development) at Lagos Airport Hotel, Lagos, on Tuesday, October 24, 2023.

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