Nigeria’s Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas are expected to interface with over 300 Nigerian Students drawn from the 36 States of the Federation and FCT.
Founder/President of Children of Africa Leadership and Values Development Initiative (CALDEV), Rep. Bamidele Salam disclosed this in Abuja on Monday, during the Media briefing on the 5-day National Children Leadership Conference (NCLC) with the theme: ‘Empowering young voices, building a legacy for sustainable development’, organized by CALDEV.
While reeling out some of the initiatives embarked on by the Organization, Rep. Bamidele who doubles as Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts unveiled plans to engage State Governments in the bid to reduce over 20 million out-of-school Children menace in Nigeria.
Rep. Salam who expressed concern over the development, underscored the urgent need to put necessary measures in place towards improving child education across the country, as part of efforts geared toward addressing myriad of socioeconomic and security challenges facing the country.
Speaking on the objectives of the Conference, Rep. Salam explained that: “The underpinning philosophy of the programme is hinged on the necessity to again, convoke the largest and most diverse gathering of children leaders across Nigeria to promote national cohesion, loyalty, unity, integration as well as foster patriotism among the participants who cut across the North, South, East and West of the country.
“The 2024 conference has been designed and internationally curated to be impactful. This is part of the global efforts to bring to the front burner issues bothering on the plight of children all over the globe. CALDEV is also using this conference to commemorate the 2024 Universal Children’s Day which normally holds on 20th November of each year.
“This NCLC is scheduled to hold from Sunday, 17th to Thursday, 21st of November, 2024. This event is a testament to our collective commitment to shaping the leaders of tomorrow and empowering the next generation of Nigerian youths.
“It will feature a series of sessions on Leadership, Values Orientation, panel sessions, skills acquisition, child rights advocacy, talent shows, awards to Early Achievers (the talented young persons who have excelled in various fields of human endeavours), mentorship sessions, educational tour to the National Assembly and others places of attraction, parliamentary mock session among others.
“It gives me great pleasure to lead this initiative, which aims to provide a platform for young Nigerians, particularly children aged between 12-17 years, to develop leadership skills, engage with decision-makers, and understand the intricacies of national governance and civic responsibility.
“The 2024 edition of the NCLC promises to be especially impactful with the participation of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Sen. Kashim Shettima, who is gracing the event as the Distinguished Special Guest of Honour. We thank him for the commitment and support for the last year’s NCLC. In fact, his participation inspired the children and we look forward to another momentous occasion.
“Rt. Hon. Speaker Dr. Tajudeen Abbass will be having a mentorship session with the participants. He is a man who has demonstrated sufficient capacity in expeditiously tackling issues that have bearing on the welfare and development of the Nigeria child and their inclusion in public policy making and implementation.
“We are privileged to have the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, as one of our key speakers. Hon. Kalu, who has been an ardent advocate for youth empowerment and legislative reforms, will speak to the importance of young people in shaping Nigeria’s legislative future. His presence is a powerful reminder that youth leadership goes hand-in-hand with civic engagement and policy-making.
“We are excited to have the Honorable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, as the Chief Host, will join us to address the participants. His deep experience in governance and his commitment to societal progress will provide invaluable lessons on the practicalities of leadership in the public sector, especially for young Nigerians looking to make an impact in their communities and beyond.
“Mr. Charles Usie, the Country Director of Plan International will be our Guest Speaker during the conference.
“Some of the spectacular activities we have lined up include: an evening with the Vice President; mentorship with the Speaker of the House of Representatives; plenaries on topical issues like leadership; financial literacy; child rights advocacy; skills acquisition; educational tours to National Assembly; observation of plenary; talent shows etc.
“The participation of other notable Nigerians, leadership, entrepreneurship, social change, value orientation experts among others underscores the importance of engaging youth in the national conversation and investing in their future leadership potential,” he noted.
According to him, the Organisation is also expected to confer awards on Early Achievers, including: Ashezi Akwashiki- the 10-year-old founder of Book Buddies, published author, poet and passionate education and girl-child advocate who is internationally recognized; Master Sheun Ayomide Samuel-a 16 years old JSS 3 student of the Junior Secondary School, Kadokuchi, Abuja. He currently fabricates rechargeable lights, rechargeable hand fan, radio, electric toy cars with improvised materials, and
“Maxwell Anyanwu Munachinso – a 15 years old SS3 student of Early Spring College, Lagos. He is an ICT consultant who specializes in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Coding Instructor, animatist, fulls tack developer, solutions architect among other notable attainments in the space.
“Gentlemen of the press, we are happy to inform you that, the activities are carefully crafted in a manner that would stimulate critical thinking, strategic decision making abilities, skills development, and imbue leadership qualities among the participants. This event is not just a conference, but a call to action—an invitation for Nigerian children to become active participants in shaping the future of our country in particular and our continent in general.”
On his part, Chairman, Conference Planning Committee, Ambassador Chibuzor Okeke, disclosed that over 1,000 Nigerian youths have benefitted from CALDEV programmes over the past two series of the National Children Leadership Conference.
He averred that CALDEV’s initiative has “recorded very monumental impacts both in Nigeria and across the world, described the feedback from the participants as inspiring.
“Some of the features of the programme is also a Mock Parliamentary session where young Nigerians are to be trained on legislative practices and proceedings on how to engage in quality discuss, how to debate national issues.”
According to him, during the last three editions, “we have a number of children who contributed very significantly to issues of National importance and resolutions were reached that were sent to government quarters.
“This year also, children will be selected to engage in a Mock Parliamentary session, more like deepening their interests and participation in legislative governance process in Nigeria; so that their in policy design, policy process, policy implementation are also stimulated through this programme.
“Like the Global President said, this is the biggest and the largest most diverse children leadership programme in Africa.”
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