By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
As part of celebrating the 82nd birthday of the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the church on Saturday, through its Continent 3s digital transformation drive, themed ‘A World of Unlimited Possibilities’ future boot camp valued at over N400 million has imparted over 1,000 Nigerian youths.
Fielding questions from the newsmen yesterday, Personal Assistant and Son of the General Overseer, Pastor Oluwagbemileke Adeboye, disclosed that the initiative is the first of its kind in Africa and aims to alleviate poverty through the ripple effect of digital knowledge.
He said, “I am part of the incubator team in this movement. Its aim is to assist the average Nigerian youth. It started off with 12 thousand youths applying; 5 thousand and above were able to do the online test, but we ended up with 1 thousand people making up for the physical meeting.
“Basically, what we are trying to push is the agenda of helping the Nigerian youth from age 15 to 45 understand what will count in the future of work and what they need to equip themselves with to succeed. It is the first of its kind in Africa, and we are hopefully going to do more. We have done seven days, and there would be a need for continuity for them to be able to give feedback on areas they don’t understand yet because it takes a while to re-engineer anyone’s mind to achieve the success to which we want access. On average, it should have cost N400,000 per person; if 100 people had come here, it would have cost about N400 million, but God has helped us to subsidise it.
“We are hoping that in nine months, people that have come will give birth to their own businesses and companies along that line, but with the mindset of “ A World of Unlimited Possibilities,” they will help support the economy. If everybody is able to create jobs, the ripple effect would help alleviate poverty across our great nation called Nigeria. because if one person is doing okay in a family, they would be able to support other people, and such an individual would come out to help his or her community.
Asked if the church would employ these youths, he added, “The game plan is that they would start up their own business and also end up employing other people. We have shown them the link, the bait for the fish, how to catch the fish, and how to store the fish. So the game plan is to get them to the door and remain inside the door of success.”
On her part, CEO of Africa Mission Global, a faith-based charity organization with the aim of impacting 100 million lives globally, Fatai Williams, added that “the initiative would be extremely impactful for the youth as it would reach a larger number of people in society based on what the digital initiative offers. So when you scale up young people with digital knowledge, they can fit into any sector based on their digital skills,” she said.