Foluso is a social entrepreneur and the Executive Director of Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN). Passionate about youth development and empowerment, she sits on many business and organisation boards in Nigeria. In this interview by KINGSLEY ALUMONA, she speaks about her organisation, how they are empowering Nigerian students and youths, and the kind of economy she foresees for Nigeria in the next decade.
Briefly tell us about Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN) and its programmes.
Junior Achievement Nigeria runs programmes to empower the Nigerian Youth to own their financial future. We understand that not everyone will finish their education or get a job. Our programmes empower youth in such a way that they think outside the box, become problem solvers and are empowered to start their own businesses. Our programmes are experiential and focus on financial literacy, work readiness, entrepreneurship, leadership and digital literacy.
JA Nigeria is part of Junior Achievement Worldwide, the world’s largest non-profit economic education organisation with a 120-country network. As part of a global network, JA Nigeria leverages resources and expertise to deliver localised in-school and out-of-school programmes to young Nigerians between the ages of 5 to 27. One of our in-school programmes is the flagship of the JA Company Programme, where students come together to form a company, start and run their own business successfully with the support of a volunteer.
There are programmes targeted at young people that are not within the four walls of a classroom. One of such programmes is ITS TYME (Immersion Training Strategy: Targeting Young Marginalised Entrepreneurs), aimed at providing basic business education to young people through a variety of hands-on activities supporting a diverse range of learners.
Gender and social status are pressing factors that affect financial education and inclusion in Nigeria. How does JAN ensure that, even with these factors, everyone is included in the project and empowerment?
While we understand that the youth population is underserved, we understand that the female and low-income population have it even worse. Our programmes target those who, without JAN, will not have the opportunity to participate in the types of programmes we run. These programs expose them to teachings they are unfamiliar with and is usually life changing for them.
How does your organisation reach and educate young people in rural or grassroots communities where financial and ICT resources are rare or absent?
As much as we embrace technology, and it enables a lot, we also understand that there are several young people with no or very low access to it. Due to this, we still run physical programmes in certain communities. We also partner with organisations that have technology facilities in underserved communities.
During the pandemic, when the country was on lockdown, we launched a campaign themed: ‘No Student Left Behind’. The campaign is targeted at raising funds for our students who have little or no access to internet facilities and digital devices for digital learning. Through this campaign, we were able to support students with data subscription to enable them learn online. The fundraising campaign is still on as digital learning is here to stay.
After your organisation’s engagement and empowerment of young people, is there any follow-up system to ensure that, in the future, they are still utilising the skills they have acquired to better their lives and communities?
Yes, we have a database of our alumni and we engage them. We also reach out to them with different opportunities that are available.
What does it take to become a JAN member, and what are the benefits of being a member?
JAN does not run a membership system. You can either volunteer to run programmes with us or you can be a sponsor. We have both corporate and individual sponsors. All details are available on our website https://ja-nigeria.org/get-involved/
In five years, after JAN might have successfully empowered an additional one million young people, what kind of economy do you foresee in Nigeria? And, how could such an economy be sustained in the next decade?
I believe very strongly that if we all play our part, Nigeria will be the kind of country many of us want it to be. We cannot create a sustainable future or economy without the youth. About 62 per cent of Nigerians are below the age of 25! Working overtime to empower the Nigerian youth in the right way is something many of us should be advocating and enabling. We have seen companies started by Nigerian youth achieve so much. In recent times, Flutterwave has achieved Unicorn funding status which is an incredible achievement. I foresee a thriving economy with everyone playing their part to build this great nation.
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