Youth empowerment, upskilling in focus as Foundation hosts Thinkation 2024

Empowerment of young Nigerians and up-skilling of talents are the main focus of ‘Thinkation 2024’, an annual event hosted by UBONG King Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, based in Lagos.

The foundation explained to journalists recently that ‘Thinkation’ is a coinage from ‘thinking and education,’ assuring that the event already slated for January 27, 2024, in Lagos will gather experts and business leaders to share insightful and success secrets on career and business growth.

Unyime-Ivy King, the convener and co-founder of Thinkation, said the theme of the event, ‘Switch It On’ was inspired by the need to detect hidden talents among youths and establish them to be impactful to society.

“It is a call to detect and encourage participants to switch on that talent that is hidden inside them. If the talent stays inside without being utilized, then you are robbing both the community and country of impactful value,” she said.

She said the event was inspired by the founders burning pain point, having known and tasted failure, rejection and ridicule, but rising from the ashes of defeat to success and impactful living.

“The life experiences of the founder, Ubong King, birthed a strong passion to raise young entrepreneurs with a mandate to impact their world through creative thinking, in addition to education, and also wean them from a dependency mindset to a productive one as well as influencing the hungry minds in this generation to reposition themselves and get productive,” Ivy King said.

According to her, thinking is a missing component of today’s young minds and businesses which the event aims to address by inculcating the habit of critical thinking in participants.

The convener added that with the economic challenges facing the country, ranging from currency devaluation, unemployment and inflation, there is a need for young Nigerians to fight for their financial freedom without depending on anyone for survival.

Alvin Ikpe, head, events and strategy at Ubong King Foundation added that many entrepreneurs who have made tremendous success will also share their experiences while business owners will also network to aid business growth.

Expected speakers, including Nevers Mumba, former VP of Zambia and Ugochukwu Omeogu, chief visionary officer, Merignos Consulting & Mentorship Limited, will share their wealth of experience and challenges at the event. They will also motivate participants to think in terms of solutions to be resourceful and gain financial freedom.