Fidelis David in Akure
Nigerians, most especially the youths, have been advised to build their careers and shun desperate and needles emigration to seek greener pastures overseas.
These were the submission of panelists yesterday in Akure, the Ondo State capital, at a mentorship training for secondary school students organised by a non-governmental organisation, ‘We Aspire Mentorship Initiative’.
The President and Founder of ‘We Aspire Mentorship Initiative’, Dr. Ifeoluwa Osundare, said young people across Nigeria need more orientation that it is not always greener overseas as believed by Nigerians, and that one can make it big in Nigeria.
According to her, “We can build a society that we can be proud of; it is not just about going to Europe, it’s about creating value in them and creating value in their environment. Our main dream is to open a research foundation in Nigeria where these same things the people are looking for abroad are in their environment.
“The group started during my service year in Akure. I served at the Federal Medical Centre in Owo, and I found out that young people came into the hospital with sickle cell and it just broke my heart seeing people in pain. So, I sat down and ask what I could do to help my society; so there is a secondary school in Oda road, I went to the principal and introduced myself, and I started sickle cell awareness. It was basically creating awareness for the young ones and getting to know their genotype. Not only that, the mortality rate in our society was also high, so, a whole lot of that made me to go into awareness creation.
“We Aspire Mentorship Initiative is an NGO dedicated to innovating an inventing pragmatic solutions to educational and vocational challenges in Nigeria and beyond. We are so passionate about young persons all over the world, and we started doing this project since 2015. We go to secondary schools, talk to young people, and challenge them about their dreams, letting them know that the dreams are valid. We know that the environment has a lot to do in what we become in life but we are still encouraging them that even in this environment, they can still make it. That is why you see plant, the succulent, the cactus grow in places that are hard.”
Also, an Associate Professor of Law and Head of Department of Private and Business Law, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Ifeoluwayimika Bamidele, admonished Nigerian youths to believe in Nigeria and stop regarding foreign countries as their paradise.
He said: “For illegal migration, it a cancer that has eaten deep into the society and that is because the people are not guided by aspirations and that is why sessions like ‘we inspire initiative’ is good to be able to show people the way. If you know the right way, you may not need to go through the wrong way.”
