The Rose of Sharon Foundation (ROSF) hosted the 6th edition of its Youth Empowerment Program (YEP) on the 15th of August 2020. The virtual meeting served as a platform to empower Nigeria’s youth with information that will enable them to stand out and succeed in their businesses, careers and professions especially in response to the current global economic outlook resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was themed: ‘Building Personal Competence to Harness Existing Opportunities in the Time of Change’
The meeting was hosted by the Founder of The Rose of Sharon Foundation, Apostle Folorunso Alakija. The Speakers at the event included; Business Development, Procurement & Human Resources Expert, Adeoti Adeleke Temitayo; Lead Consultant at Epic Joy Consulting, Nkechi Joy Owo and The Head of Partners Relations, Christian Broadcasting Network Africa, Enoch Adewunmi Oyeduntan.
The program had youth in attendance from across the country. The meeting was anchored by Nkem Udechukwu, The Senior Coordinator of the Rose of Sharon Foundation.
During the welcome message, ROSF Founder, Alakija spoke on the importance of technology and its role as society adjusts to the new normal presented by the Coronavirus. In addressing the audience, she said:
“For any individual or organization to stay relevant, they must be ready to adapt quickly to the changes presented by the COVID-19 pandemic”.
“A major landmark of our current environment is the high dependency on technology to transact business, carry out social interactions and conduct religious services. Today, the Rose of Sharon Foundation is not left out as we are adapting to the new normal by holding our Youth Empowerment Program virtually”.
While speaking, Adeoti described competency as a never-ending cycle that must be updated to remain relevant in the 21st century. He further stated that “by the year 2022, at least 54% of the global workforce would need to update or entirely change their skills to remain relevant in their careers, businesses and professions due to technological advancement and digitalization. Therefore, the future does not belong to the well-meaning, it belongs to those who are very good at what they do.”
Owo spoke on the human ability to adapt to change despite the magnitude of any challenge faced by mankind. She said “Life is being reshaped by major trends and events such as globalization, terrorism, climate change and in recent times COVID-19.
Consequently, life will not give you what you deserve but what you demand. Understanding your area of specialization and building skills that will enable you to grow as well as succeed in your chosen profession is essential. Youth must build digital skills, emotional intelligence, leadership and innovative skills to enable them to access the available opportunities presented by the recent change.”
In addressing the audience, Oyeduntan stressed on the need for youth to identify their strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats to enable them to employ available technology to develop as well as leverage on their competencies and stand out. Similarly, he advised youth on the importance of developing customer relationship skills as this is essential for succeeding in any career, business or profession. The talk show ended with a questions and answers session.
The YEP is the Rose of Sharon Foundation’s career development and capacity building program for graduates, job seekers, working-class and self-employed youths. Since 2017, the ROSF Youth Empowerment Program has served to re-orientate the minds of Nigeria’s youth, motivating them on the need to be diligent in their dealings as this will cause them to succeed in their chosen professions.
