By Olawale Olaniyan
In his effort to build, develop and support a new generation of leaders with socio-political culture to catalyse positive change in Nigeria, a member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Shina Abiola Peller in collaboration with Lead Generation Initiate on Friday trained over 80 youth on leadership.
The programme which was held at Jogor Center, Ibadan saw entrepreneurs, politicians, farmers, among others, participate in a one-day training.
The programme is a non-political and non-profit organisation committed to creating opportunities for young people to channel their creativity, energy and aspirations in adding value to their communities.
The lead sponsor of the training, Peller said he wants to develop an interest of the youth in governance, social inclusion and participation in the democratic and political process in Nigeria.
According to him, “The motive behind this project was to call the young people in Nigeria to take responsibility for building their immediate communities. Most of the young people in Nigeria are tired of the present situation and that is why we see most of our young people focusing on ‘Big brother Naija’ and all these entertainment programmes.
“I believe it is high time we set up a sustainable structure which we can be able to ride on in order to achieve a country of our aim and we can do that by building our immediate community, so that is what we are doing here.
“We are aware that the voice of every young Nigerian needs to be heard – our programmes are community targeted to galvanise, train, support, and raise the voices and stake of the Nigerians youth. We are building a new generation of young people that take responsibility for fixing their communities and country through active participation in the socio-political process.
“I believe it is high time for us to re-write the story of our country and that start from building our immediate environment and the leaders in Nigeria are the ones that will make policies that will affect businesses and our personal lives and that why we want to give an opportunity to young people to channel their creativity and aspiration into nation-building.”
One of the participants, Adisa Idris lauded Honourable Peller for the gesture saying it is a memorable day planning for the generation to come.
Also, Ufitfly boss, Evangelist Ajibola Ogunkeyede who also part of the programme said this is high time the younger generation take every opportunity to be part of the governance of the country.