A National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member serving in Odo-Otin Local Government Area of Osun State, Ibrahim Anoba, has vowed to promote skill acquisition and entrepreneurship among young people in the state. In achieving his aim, Ibrahim organised a free enterprise contest for pupils of five secondary schools, tagged: How entrepreneurship promotes community peace, prosperity and justice.
The contest was held at St. Peters Anglican Middle School in Inisa. Five schools, including Odo-Otin High School, Inisa High School, Igbaye Community High School, Government Technical College and Okua Community High School participated in the contest.
Ibrahim said his seven-month stay in Inisa town gave him opportunity to gauge young people’s mood towards business. Inisa youths, he said, are industrious and have flare for business.
“I noticed youngsters here have strong passion for trade. In the local markets, they are either owners of small businesses or assisting their parents. Some even skip schools for market days,” Ibrahim said.
The Corps member collaborated with African Liberty Organisation for Development (ALOD) to equip the pupils with ideas to transform their small businesses to big enterprises.
The pupils were taken through entrepreneurship trainings before the contest. Mr Bolarinwa Olabode, a development expert and Director of Refuge of Life Foundation, enlightened the pupils on the benefits of volunteerism.
During the contest, each participating school was represented by two pupils. After the engaging debate, Inisa Grammar School, represented by Caleb Fabowale and Abdul-Rasaq Abdul-Akeem, came first.
Isaac Bolarinwa and Oladayo Ajiboye of Government Technical School took second position, while Mayowa Oluwaremi and Olubukola Iyiola of Odo-Otin High School came third.
ALOD Executive Director, Adedayo Thomas, praised the Corps members for the project, encouraging the pupils to work harder to attain their dreams. Thomas said the project was supported by ALOD in conjunction with Kids4Biz, Acton Institute and Language of Liberty Institute.
He said: “It is a great joy taking these young Africans through the principles of free market system. I am glad to see them coming out with understanding ideas to improve their business skills.”
During the competition, hundreds of copies of a book titled Johnny Profit and 250 copies of Ideas For A Free Society compact discs were distributed to the pupils.
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