Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) has called on corporate organisations to join the Nigeria Business League for Youth, a coalition committed to deepening the youth development agenda in Nigeria.
This call is coming ahead of the 2020 edition of the youth summit organised by the consumer-packaged-goods company, which aims to help the young at heart in Nigeria to take advantage of the new global economy.
The event, which is expected to have dignitaries and stakeholders in attendance, will hold virtually in compliance with social distancing measures put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The Director, Public Affairs and Communications, NBC, Mr Ekuma Eze, who affirmed the company’s commitment to youth development in Nigeria through its various youth-focused initiatives, urged corporate organisations to come together in a bid to eliminate the obstacles that impede the development of youth in Nigeria by signing on to the league, which will be launched at the summit.
He said, “The youth of any nation are its future and at NBC we are aware that this demography constitutes a disproportionately large percentage of the Nigerian population. It is disturbing to note that for diverse reasons, several young people in the country are unable to realize their goals and shape themselves into strong contributors to the development of the nation.”
“The Nigeria Business League for Youth is a proprietary call-to-action initiative aimed at uniting private sector organisations that are already contributing immensely in the Youth Empowerment space, to consolidate efforts, drive critical interventions and work towards positive policy actions aimed at improving the overall outlook for the millions of youth we have in the country,” Mr Eze said further.
The summit will feature the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare; Chairman, First Bank of Nigeria, Mrs Ibukun Awosika, and CEO of The Jimi Tewe Company, Mr Jimi Tewe, as keynote speakers.
Mr Dare will speak on Strategic Roadmap for Youth Development Post-COVID-19, while Mrs Awosika, a renowned entrepreneur, will discuss on Nigerian Youth: Reskilling for Self and National Development, with Mr Tewe speaking on Positioning Yourself for Personal and Career Growth.
The NBC Youth Summit is an offshoot of NBC’s Youth Empowered Programme which launched in 2017 and has since then reached over 17,000 Nigerian youths with training and mentoring sessions on life skills, business skills and guidance on entrepreneurship.
