The Sun News On-line/man in the pulpit

Ladi Shodipo-Davis is a youth minister and counsellor with an uncommon passion and drive for the youths running through his veins. A drive that is almost alien in a world where mentoring teenagers has been overtaken by the craze for materialism. The author, a former missionary to Cote d’Ivoire and an alumnus of Ogun State University, is dedicated to helping the youths retrace their steps from the path of destruction. This he has set out to achieve through his new book entitled, The Diet.

The publication, which dwells on the many problems confronting the younger generation globally, proffers answers to a myriad of questions criss-crossing their minds. Blaming the rise in sexual immorality and loss of future direction on parents, Shodipo-Davids believes the time is ripe for various institutions responsible for laying solid foundation for the society to rise up to their responsibilities.

Though trained as a journalist but does not have the opportunity to apply his pen within the four walls of a newsroom, he feels fulfilled to channel his journalistic passion to a life changing course.

Food for the soul
The word diet is readily associated with food or any other nutrient targeted at achieving a particular goal with the human body. The title Diet connotes what the magazine is out to achieve literarily. The publication is meant to serve the youths with balanced spiritual food that will aid their overall growth.
The concept is well defined and contains materials for the young adult and teenagers in Nigerian. It is packaged in a way that every cadre of teenager that picks it up would have something to benefit. When we look at the world today, we are confronted with moral decadence of the highest level. The thought pattern, future plans and lifestyles of our younger generation are testimonies to the fact that the society is standing on its head. Most of our youths live recklessly and think foolishly.

The Diet came up to tackle the generational crisis experienced by youths. It was initiated because I believe that this generation of young people, who are the hope of this country might be wasted if nothing is done urgently. There are problems to be addressed except we want to continue living in denial. Unless child grooming starts very early stage, corrective measures might be difficult to effect as the child metamorphoses into an adult.

Early correction creates the consciousness of good and evil and leaves children at liberty to make wise decisions about their lives. If a child is left alone and the parents are indifferent about the direction the child’s life is likely to take, when such child grows into a young adult, he would imbibe and exhibit dangerous deviant behaviours that are inimical to the society.

Many beautiful and handsome teenagers have become baseless, lacking values appreciated by the society. This makes nonsense of the education and other skills that might have been acquired over time. It is because of these crises that I believe something must be done urgently to make our young people commit their lives to Christ. I am passionate about directing them in pursuit of worthy goal to improve the quality of their lives. The magazine is truly a diet that would make many hearts burn with sobriety and deep hunger to seek the face of God.

Failed institutions
Three institutions have the duty to do something about the difficulty faced by teenagers because they have failed in their responsibilities. One is the family, but it has failed woefully. This particular one is foremost and was instituted by God. The Bible says, ‘train up a child in the way he should go, when he is old, he won’t depart from it’. Many parents have destroyed the future of their children because of the craze for money. They have neglected this command by delegating their duties to househelps. Most homes have broken up and the product of such union left with nobody to help chart their path in life.
The second one is the church. This is an age-long moral and corrective institution that has also neglected its role of modelling the youths. The church has become obsolete, and the future of our youths is doomed.

This body has failed to cater for the spiritual and material needs of teenagers.
It would be a measure-too-late for the family and church to see prayer as a last resort in this problem. This is because the foundation has been destroyed and godly issue might not be necessary for reformation. This now brings us to the government that is father to everybody. This particular institution recognizes only those who have succeeded internationally or locally. Yes, we are proud of Samuel Peters and others whom the government has been pouring accolades on since they came into international prominence.

But the same government does not know what they went through in their teenage years and the sacrifice they made to become great. Many young talents have been pruned because of government neglect.
This was why I decided in my little way to contribute to societal reformation. I intend to help them commit their ways to God and live rightly by improving the quality of their lives. The Diet is also aimed at instituting leadership and mentoring the younger generation on how to achieve their goals through God.

Inspired to mentor the youths
I was once a teenager and experienced same difficulty many are going through at the moment. Anytime I speak to youths at any forum, I minister to them using myself as a case study. My problem while growing up was alcohol. I was a real drunkard. There was no type of alcohol that passed me unnoticed. The locally brewed gin, popularly known as ogogoro was my favourite brand. I was in that pit of destruction until I gained admission into the university and gave my life to Christ. Many of our youths are battling with such vices today. They are bedevilled by sexual immorality, stealing, cultism and some have turned murderers.

So, my inspiration to mentor the youths stemmed from the experience I earlier mentioned. I knew that if I can come out clean, even though it took the special grace of God, then I have a great assignment to help the younger generation toe the path of life. Nobody can be saved from such predicament without an element of God’s presence. I believe many NGOs are working tirelessly without results because they lack Christ foundation. We are not dealing with flesh and blood, but the spirit. That is where the element of God comes in. We need God’s wisdom to handle supernatural things.

Challenges
I did not face any challenge while producing this book. I believe that when God is at the base of any good thing, He makes sure it works out for good. I was highly favoured by God throughout the stages of production. He brought someone that shared my passion about the youths to provide the needed finance and manpower. I employed my journalistic knowledge to arrange the materials.
This is actually my second magazine. The first one entitled, Complete Youth, received wide acceptance. It addressed many sensitive issues and was distributed free. It is a well rounded discourse for young adults.

Most of the issues addressed in the publication were intellectually high for teenagers to understand. So, in writing The Diet, my team tried to make the topics subtle.
The Diet is new in the market. But few people that have read it have commended its quality. The publication dealt explicitly on relationships, academic, motivational and spiritual issues, as well as sex.

International outlook
What prompted the magazine to adapt an international outlook is that I discovered Nigerians don’t have a good reading habit. I also observed that young people generally love things that are attractive and flashy. So, I said to myself, if I have to get to them, then I need to create a readable attractive material that would be well accepted.

Apart from being a stickler for quality, which is reflected in my first magazines, my focus is also on youths globally. We have gone past the stage of shabby packaging and production. Though as Christians, we are not meant to live by world’s standard, we should still move with the tide and trends. God said in His word that His thought towards us are that of good and not evil, but to give us an expected end.

Based on this, we should aim for His best. The publication is also intended for international perusal. I strongly feel The Diet would go a long way to address the many problems we have in Nigeria. I hope that as many of our teenagers that come across the publication would be repositioned.