AIYEDATIWA'S AIDE, OLAMIDE FALANA, FUTA VC PROF. OLADIJI, CHARGE YOUTHS ON SELF DEVELOPMENT FOR POSITIVE IMPACT ON SOCIETY

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AIYEDATIWA’S AIDE, OLAMIDE FALANA, FUTA VC PROF. OLADIJI, CHARGE YOUTHS ON SELF DEVELOPMENT FOR POSITIVE IMPACT ON SOCIETY

The Special Adviser to Governor Aiyedatiwa on Gender Matters, Chief (Mrs) Olamide Falana has called on youths in the state to cultivate a growth mindset to enable them realize their full potentials as they metamorphose into young adults towards capacity building.

Chief Falana made the call during a zoom meeting which was hosted by the office of Gender Matters in Akure, to commemorate the 2024 International Youths Day, in collaboration with Ondo State Young Women Stakeholders.

While welcoming the participants, the Gender boss gave a brief address on the topic of discussion, titled: Young Women Leadership: “Navigating Challenges to Success” even as she emphasized that the purpose of the interactive session was to help young women step out of their comfort zone, become more resilient and develop the mental capacity to cope with leadership roles, later in life.

In her words, “Programs like these have a ripple effect on young minds and more importantly, it is crucial to help in closing the gender gap that still persists in the labor force whereby power and decision making remain overwhelmingly dominated by men; Women in leadership positions must ensure that these young ladies who would later grow into women, can find it less tasking to navigate through life, having been equipped with the right tools early”.

The Guest Speaker and the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Prof. Adenike Oladiji, delivered an informative presentation within the context of the topic to enable the participants have an open mind for growth and to enable them relate with real-life scenarios.

According to Prof. Oladiji, “Young women can never decide what they want in life by just thinking about it; They need to put themselves out there to be able to make a difference, meet up with the demands of public leadership and scale up under-representation in various sectors to enable them transform the society as co-leaders and not cheer-leeaders”. Female youths must be prepared to grow and aspire to attain leadership positions, she said.

While narrating her personal journey as a motivation to the participants from her youth days to becoming a Vice Chancellor, she detailed salient points which served as an eye opener on the concepts of planning, leadership, self organization, self confidence and determination as well as being positively motivated for them to be able to attain life goals.

Furthermore, the Vice Chancellor advised the young women to build relationships with mentors, embrace innovations and remain undeterred by obvious challenges that may arise, even as they take proactive steps to being able to impact on their generation.

The Special Adviser and host, Chief Mrs. Olamide Falana appreciated the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Adenike Oladiji and encouraged the participants to bear in mind the knowledge gained for future use.

According to a statement signed by the Press Officer in the Office of Gender Matters, Debbie Funmilayo, the meeting concluded with an interactive session on question and answers.