The year 2020 edition of the annual youth development summit organized by Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) came to a grand close recently with a clarion call to corporate organisations to lend their support and cooperation to the course of Nigeria Business League for Youth, a coalition committed to deepening youth development agenda in the country.
It was the third in series of the annual youth summit been organized by the consumer-packaged-goods company, with the objective to help the young at heart in Nigeria to reposition and take advantage of the new global economy.
The event, which had in attendance top dignitaries and stakeholders from across business sectors and industry was held virtually in compliance with social distancing measures put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19.Speaking on the event, the Director, Public Affairs and Communications, NBC, Mr Ekuma Eze, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to youth development in Nigeria through its various youth-focused initiatives while urging corporate organisations in the country to come together in a bid to eliminate obstacles that impede the development of youth in Nigeria through signing on to the league.
He said, “The youth of any nation are its future and at NBC we are aware that this demography constitutes a disproportionately large percentage of the Nigerian population. It is disturbing to note that for diverse reasons, several young people in the country are unable to realize their goals and shape themselves into strong contributors to the development of the nation.
”The Nigeria Business League for Youth is a proprietary call-to-action initiative aimed at uniting private sector organisations that are already contributing immensely in the Youth Empowerment space, to consolidate efforts, drive critical interventions and work towards positive policy actions aimed at improving the overall outlook for the millions of youth we have in the country,” Mr Eze said.
While other Keynote speakers at the summit included the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare; renowned enterprenuer and Chairman, First Bank of Nigeria, Mrs Ibukun Awosika, and the CEO, Jimi Tewe Organization, Mr Jimi Tewe.
While Mr Dare spoke on the topic : Strategic Roadmap for Youth Development Post-COVID-19, Mrs Awosika addressed Nigerian Youth: Reskilling for Self and National Development. Mr Tewe addressed the topic : Positioning Yourself for Personal and Career Growth.The NBC Youth Summit is an offshoot of NBC’s Youth Empowered Programme.
The program which was launched in 2017 has since then reached over 17,000 youths across Nigeria through training and mentoring sessions on life skills, business skills and guidance on entrepreneurship.
