By Lanre Oloyede
Another feather was Wednesday added to the cap of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Special Needs and Equal Opportunities, Hon Mohammed Abba Isa, as he bags yet another award of excellence, this time around, from the Youth Assembly of Nigeria (YAN) for his meritorious service and contributions to the cause of youth development and emancipation in Nigeria.
The award presentation, which took place at the 2024 National Youth Symposium organized by YAN and held at the prestigious RMRDC Auditorium, Maitama, Abuja, had as its theme, “Mutual Prosperity, Interdependence, and Shared Values for Medium Economic Growth,”.
The symposium had business experts and professionals in attendance discuss accessible opportunities for the youths and address pressing issues faced by youth in today’s fast-paced and ever-changing economic and security landscape.
Presenting the award, the National Speaker of YAN, Comrade Shuaibu Sani, maintained that the award was in recognition of the immense contributions of Hon. Abba Isa towards youth development, nation building and societal development.
Earlier in his special remarks, the SSAP who was represented by his Director Media and Communications, Lanre Oloyede, alluded that no doubt Nigerian youths face numerous challenges in today’s fast-paced and ever-changing landscape, he however believe that with the right support and resources, they can overcome these obstacles and achieve greatness.
The senior presidential aide urged the youths to embrace available opportunities, take risks, and navigate the challenges with resilience and determination.
Hon. Abba Isa noted that the theme of the day, “Mutual Prosperity, Interdependence, and Shared Values for Medium Economic Growth,” perfectly resonates with the ideals and objectives of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
During the panel discussion, the SSAP shared his valuable insights, experiences and recommendations relating to Youth entrepreneurship, Agriculture, Ict, industrialization and accessible opportunities for the youths in real estate so as to motivate the young participants to navigate the challenges they face in the economic and security domains.
The presidential aide stated that this is more so given that if we are to make any meaningful progress in our journey towards prosperity, we must acknowledge the pivotal role of our young people in shaping the destiny of our nation bearing in mind that we cannot achieve the giant economic status we so desire without their contributions.
“As we gather at this National Youth Symposium, I want to acknowledge the incredible potential and energy that fills this room.
“And I’ll like to say categorically that today’s youth are not just the leaders of tomorrow; they are the architects of our present reality, and it’s crucial that we empower you with accessible opportunities to thrive.
“As a youth myself, I can easily relate with these challenges having encountered them on several occasions. However, my appointment as the Senior Special Assistant by President Tinubu is a clear testimony of the commitment and readiness of the present administration to change the narratives and harness the untapped potentials of the teeming Nigerian Young population for national growth and socio-economic development.
“In my capacity as the SSA on Special Needs and Equal Opportunities, my office places premium on development of the skills and talents of young Nigerians with disabilities. This we have showcased through several training, skill acquisition and empowerment programs we have organized in the last six months of being in office.
“Recently, we signed an MOU with a partner on Beyond Disability Project which is a project designed to discover and nurture talents among Persons With Disabilities across the 36 states of the federation and the FCT.
“This is in line with the mandate given to me by Mr President to create avenues of opportunities, particularly, for young Nigerians with disabilities by laiasing with MDAs and sub-national authorities as well as development partners to inculcate disability requirements and perspectives in their policies, plans and programs,” the presidential aide stated.
In his opening remarks, chairman of the occasion, Salihu Abdulhamid Dembos, Director General of NTA, who was represented by G.M NTA Channel 5, Paul Atte, advised the youths to shun all social vices while urging them to be law abiding and obedient to the laws of the land.
Also speaking, the keynote speaker, Chief Lai Labode, C.E.O, Cash Token Rewards Africa, noted that the youth possessed enormous power and potentialities than they ever think of and as such cannot be taken for granted.
While advising the youths to always rally round and support any of their colleagues who is in position of authority, the successful entrepreneur urged them to maintain a comprehensive credible database of young people in power across the country and build a mechanism to measure their performance and put this in the public so that they will know the youths are watching them.
Chief Ladipo promised to invest heavily in the youths if they are ready to undertake big initiatives and business ideas that can place the Nigerian youths in vantage position in the global business community and major players in the economy.
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