Be the best, HOW Foundation charges youths

In its bid to unearth great potentials needed to move the country forward as well as providing youths with support to push them closer to achieving greatness in their various fields and future pursuits, The Herbert Onyewumbu Wigwe (HOW) Foundation recently organized a leadership and mentorship seminar for students of over eight secondary schools in Nigeria.

Speaking during the event which held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Lagos, the guest speaker, Joshua Ajitena, the founder Genero Living, noted that Nigeria is approaching the peak of its creative edge, however, the youths who are the leaders of tomorrow lack good platforms where these creativities and innovations could be adequately built and harnessed.

He said: “I deeply appreciate the innovative potentials of the young people of this great generation, they are extremely creative and have the drive and hunger to see an idea right from conception to execution, all they need is a good platform to ensure full utilization of these ideas.

“The young people are the answers to the Nigerian problem; we should sit with them, give them a voice and understand them; only then can we compete favourably with the rest of Africa and the world.

“We believe that when you teach them to be the best at what they do, with the right tools, their future and the future of Nigeria would be the best”, he added.

In his topic titled, Be the Best, he listed eight traits that champions are made of which include being committed, having faith, attitude, enjoying what you do, plan, integrity, organise, and never give up.

“Be yourself, and the best in whatever you want to do, be comfortable in your own skin and don’t run the race of others. You cannot have success without work, as success does not come because of mere desires. Everything you want to achieve is very possible but requires work as life is not about the things that happens to you but the way you react to things that happens to you as youths”, he advised the students.

According to Ms. Antonia Ally, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation, the HOW Foundation is trying to help young people understand their type of leadership potentials and as well develop their skills from a tender age.

“We are helping the young ones develop their skills. We want to enlighten them about how to direct these skills into something that would help to make them great in life. We want to impact in them the characteristics that good leaders possess which would make our country greater if proper utilized.

“A lot of young people have the drive, ambition and passion to be great at whatever they set out to do, but they are being distracted. So what we are doing is to help them shape these skills in them. We want to see them through their different leadership and future challenges, harness their talents and build them stronger for a better tomorrow”, she reiterated.

She explained the theme of the programme: “Be the Best”, was deliberately chosen to help young ones believe in themselves, as the purpose of the seminar surrounds encouraging young Nigerians to embrace innovation and creativity within themselves.

“We believe that in today’s workforce, passion and handwork are the recipes for great financial success. University is the best opportunity to explore a vast option of career paths and opportunities. Everybody cannot be a doctor, engineers; we need diversity that can move this country forward.

“We want to help children be the best artistes, celebrity, professionals, politicians and everything that they feel like becoming. They must strive to be the best in every sector,” she added.

She noted that the HOW Foundation, is a non-profit organisation, with key focus on malaria, prostrate cancer, youth leadership and mentorship which believes education is a key to help raise tomorrow’s leaders.

While addressing the students, founder of the Foundation, Dr. Herbert Wigwe, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank, stated that the HOW foundation believes that every Nigerian youth is a potential leader as all they need is to tap into that inherent ability in them.

“We preach that whatever you want to be, make sure you are the best in it. Do something extra-ordinary to make you stand out in your chosen career,” he said.

The seminar also featured games, Q&A segment and lots more. Closing the event, Ms Ally asked the teachers of all students to send-in their report sheets at the end of the term where Laptops would be given to the deserving ones.