By Dipo Olowookere
The Ogun State government has concluded plans to host a Youth Convention between February 7 and 8, 2017.
The programme, scheduled to hold at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta is being organized by the state government in collaboration with the organized private sector, civil society and international agencies.
With the theme, ‘Ogun Youths: Exploring New Frontiers’, the convention is a direct response of the Governor Ibikunle Amosun-led administration to the challenge of youth unemployment and under-employment.
The 2016 National Youth Survey Report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicates that approximately 56 percent of youths, defined as between the ages 15 and 34 are unemployed.
The implication of this statistics is that 70 million out of Nigeria’s population of 165 million are either unemployed or under-employed.
To effectively tackle this challenge, the Mr Amosun-led administration seeks to use the platform of the Youth Convention to expose the teeming youth population of the State to opportunities in various vocations as well as employment and entrepreneurship initiatives.
Participants were drawn from the 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) of the State.
The convention, which comes at no cost to the participants promises to open Ogun State youths to life-changing trainings and mentorship from the likes of the Founder, SOKOA Chair Centre and Chairman, First Bank Plc, Mrs Ibukun Awosika; Founder, FATE Foundation, Mr Fola Adeola and Acting Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BoI), Mr Waheed Olagunju among others.
Breakout sessions are to be held on Agriculture, Technical Vocation, Sports, Entertainment and Entrepreneurship.
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Adedapo Adesanya