A pro-youth organization, the Youth Advocacy Initiative (YAI), has taken a critical study of the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu’s less two years in office abd declared that his youth development agenda is second to none.
Convener of the group, Comrade Adekunle Akinde, who spoke on behalf his members during a chat with our reporter in Lagos weekend stated that, with the rate at which Sanwo-Olu’s administration is building youth capacity, Lagos State is in for a brighter future, reminding that, only properly groomed youth of today would transform to become better nation builders tomorrow.
Akinde, who said it was not a surprise to learn that the current administration of Sanwo-Olu in Lagos has executed 1,097 projects across state owned public schools in the last two years, pointed out that, “this disclosure points out the fact that Sanwo-Olu appreciate the truism that education is the bedrock of youth development, hence, his administration’s priority on the sector.
In addition, the youthful activist also expressed happiness that the state government still backs up the scheme with the Jobs Initiative Lagos programme that has successfully trained almost 30,000 participants across the eight higher institutions in Lagos State and have placed over 100 successful participants on job Internship which some of the participants have been retained and have jobs today according to the government statistics.
“What makes Sanwo-Olu’s administration a unique one is that, despite global pandemic that brought down activities across the sectors globally, Lagos still remains on top of the situation without taking eyes off the ball,” he wondered, adding, “no wonder he was roundly commended globally for good services he has been rendering to humanity through Lagos State.”
While recalling the Youth Academy for Leadership Training Initiative of the governor which he called a welcome idea, Akinde asserted that, the initiatiave has the tendency for ensuring building the youth towards becoming the real leaders of tomorrow in the state, expressing the delight that, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at every corner, has been convincing even all the doubting Thomases that his commitment towards development of the youth as leaders of tomorrow is intact.
According to him, Sanwo-Olu is walking his talk that his commitment “to build a society of resourceful youths whose potentials will drive the Greater Lagos vision,” in the near future is intact, the initiative was truly a symbolic avenue to inculcate in youth the virtues of citizenship, leadership and volunteerism for the development of the nation.
Akinde restated his earlier conviction that, “with Sanwo-Olu’s dodged resolve to “provide a safe place for the youth living in the State to learn through recreation and leadership activities and also to engage in programmes of generation-changing dimension, would yield fruitful results going by his own leadership quality,” asserting that, “the leadership training agenda would also promote a commitment to learning positive values and healthy habits like the ones embedded in the governor himself.
Against this backdrop, the youthful group leader therefore charged leaders across board in Nigeria to borrow a leaf from Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State on youth monitoring and mentoring, maintaining that, “that is how the country’s future could be secured in the hands of properly mentored and monitored youth of today.”
Mentoring and monitoring the youth, according to him, should not be limited to mere rhetoric but by putting it into practice through Role Model attitudes like, “emulate what I do” and not “do what I say and not what I do,” because a leader that worth his salt would be confident to be proud of his essence publicly for the youth to copy.
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