The Lagos State Government has officially commenced the Ibile Youth Academy Boot Camp, a leadership training programme for young people in the state. The week-long intensive training is holding at the Digital Bridge Institute (former NITEL Training School), Oshodi.
The programme is designed for 50 participants who emerged as winners from the divisional trainings conducted across the five IBILE divisions — Ikorodu, Badagry, Ikeja, Lagos and Epe. Their names were announced by the Deputy Governor, Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, during the One-Day Leadership Summit and Alumni Launch held at Adeyemi-Bero Auditorium last week.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Honourable Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Mobolaji Abubakre Ogunlende, emphasised the critical role of young people in nation-building.
“We cannot afford to lose ourselves in the search for the Nigeria of our dreams. No nation is built by foreigners. We cannot actualise the lofty dreams of our founding fathers if we do not do away with the ‘japa’ syndrome,” he said.
Ogunlende noted that youths, who make up over 60 per cent of Nigeria’s population, possess the capacity to drive meaningful national development.
“We need to come together and proffer homegrown solutions to the challenges facing us as a nation. Rome was not built in a day. It is one step at a time, because a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step. We must not give up but keep pushing until we get it right across all sectors,” he added.
He urged the participants to see Nigeria as their fatherland, stressing that no one else would develop the country for them. According to him, “Collaboratively, we can build the nation of our dreams because united we stand, divided we fall.”
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Pharm. (Mrs.) Toyin Oke-Osanyintolu, commended the participants for reaching the boot camp stage and encouraged them to maximise the opportunity to deepen the knowledge gained from previous trainings.
She further urged the youths to uphold values that would make them worthy ambassadors of the state, noting that the realities of Nigeria’s youth demography have informed the administration of Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu in prioritising youth empowerment as a key developmental pillar — a mandate being actively driven by the ministry.
