Chairman of The Dome Entertainment Limited, Dr. Obiora Okonkwo (in suit), with members of Rotary District 9125 during a courtesy call on him in Abuja. Dr. Okonkwo was nominated as Face of Rotary Youth Leadership, 2019.
Chairman of The Dome Entertainment Limited, Dr. Obiora Okonkwo, Friday, called for more concerted efforts towards youth development in the country.
Speaking after he was nominated as Face of Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) 2019 in Abuja, Dr. Okonkwo, who lauded the ideals of Rotary International, said he was concerned about the trend youth development had taken in the country.
He said that Nigeria’s youth no longer have role models to look up to and as such, are left to the whims of society which often derails them.
According to him, a society that does not take the development of its youth serious is a country that is doomed to fail.
He noted that Nigeria’s youth must be properly guided, trained and prepared to take up the challenges of leadership adding that leading youths through self-sustaining ideals and virtues is something Nigerians must take seriously.
“Any country without a youth development programme, one that prepares youths for leadership with self-sustaining ideals is a country that is doomed to fail.
“We therefore must inculcate in our youths those positive values that will sustain them either in business or politics, in public or private service, to become better persons that will help build the country.
“However, we know that our youths no longer have role models. When we were growing up, we had role models we looked up to, persons we worked hard to emulate. Today, we no longer have them and this has left the youth to the effects of social realities around them, like cultism”, Okonkwo said.
He urged Rotary not to relent in its effort to build youths around the world noting that “society must begin to create heroes and heroines that our youths will emulate in their quest to become better persons”.
Dr. Okonkwo accepted the nomination of Rotary to be its Face at the 2019 edition of the Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA), which will bring youths from across the world together for leadership formation.
Speaking earlier, a past District Governor of Rotary, Engr. Mbanefo Ositadimma Nnoka; said Dr. Okonkwo was chosen for the honour given his outstanding contributions to society and laudable efforts in youth development.
“We know Dr. Okonkwo. We know what he represents. We know what he has been doing. We are aware of what he stands for in terms of youth development and we also know what he is capable of doing in this regard. For this reason, we nominated him as the Face of Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) 2019.
“We know that he is capable of inspiring our youths to greater heights. He has demonstrated it in different ways. So, we are bringing him to motivate our youths during the event”, Nnoka said.
He explained that the event is “organized to energize the next generation of young community leaders and provide them with the ample opportunity to be trained, inspired, motivated and educated while also allowing them to connect with youths from other places, exchange ideas and take action in their schools and communities”.
