Ooni Of Ife Set To Honour Nigerian Youths, See Why

Ooni of Ife, Enitan Adewusi Adeyeye Ojaja ll has initiated a royal awards ceremony for 100 Nigerian youths.

Ekohotblog reports the award will recognise and celebrate hardworking Nigerian youths who have distinguished themselves in various endeavours.

“We are nurturing the self-esteem of the average youth so that leadership can register with them as something that they have to demand. We are giving this award so that they can be closer to leadership in public and private sectors.” Ooni said

The monarch advised that young ones keep to mentorship which is key to growth.

“If you don’t have it, it is like they don’t know where they are going. Mentorship is very key. You can’t just wake up and say I want to hammer. “Nigerian youths have social media as their biggest tool so we want to hear the success stories and prepare the grounds for those coming behind.”

Ekohotblog gathered that the highly profiled selected awardees between the ages of 19 and 39 were picked from across all tribes and professions following their campaign trail and how impactful they have been locally and globally.

Speaking on the sustainability of the initiative, Ooni of Ife said he would empower the awardees by creating a forum that will run for a year long. With this model he can keep in touch, enabling follow up on the progress and further development of each awardee.

“I will use my office to open doors for them with other monarchs. We will see how we can add value and improve them until a year after when they hand over to the next set.

The essence of the ceremony is to project Nigerian youth as ground- breaking success stories who according to the monarch are been sold in a negative light.

The monarch stated that many of the youths are doing well and need to be celebrated for their achievements.

“We want the world to know about their accomplishments because they are strategically placed all over the universe. I will champion how to take them to political leaders and professionals in the private sectors. They must see and know what these young ones are doing,” he stated.

Commencing the week-long celebrations in Lagos, he urged the youths to continue to strive for great things with a positive mind that will leave behind legacies for the African continent.