Steve Agbota
General Superintendent, Deeper Life Bible Church, Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi, has said that capacity building is panacea to unemployment in the country as he also urged young professionals to steer clear of unpatriotic and dishonourable practices that can hinder their careers and the progress of the country.
He stated this during the maiden edition of the Young Professional Forum (YPF) of the Church’s Mega Summit, tagged: Gaining the Edge, held at its headquarters in Lagos. He said: “Young people are very important in God’s programme and plan and as such must live a transformed life so that they can make progress in their chosen careers.
“If you are a reader of the scriptures, you will agree with me that in
I John 2:12-14, the scripture acknowledge young people to be strong and with the presence of the Grace of God which comes through repentance and transformation of life they are able to overcome the wicked one, that is; the devil.”
Represented by the Lagos State Moderator of the church, Pastor Kenneth Nwosu, he stated that due to the current global economic turndown that has produced hardship in many countries in the world including Nigeria, “there is a problem of unemployment; moreover there are only few white collar jobs now available for the huge population of qualified young people to vie for.
“The need to become self-employed and create businesses and enterprises that eventually will generate jobs that will reduce the problem of unemployment becomes very necessary, hence the church felt the need to, as part of her social responsibility, organise the Skill Acquisition Programme (SAP) through its in-house YPF as a vital capacity building event to assist young people gain the required skills needed to enhance their employability and equally empower them in the quest for self-employment and also become employers themselves.
“As part of efforts to assist in reducing the congestion in government owned universities, the church established Anchor University as a way of contributing its quota to the development of the young people with character and leadership skills for the advancement of the nation.”
The keynote speaker at the mega summit, Dr Famuyiwa Abiodun, of First Bank, charged the participants to remain focused to remain at the top
in life: “To win in life, attitude is everything.” President of the YPF, Mr Daniel Bamigbayan, expressed optimism that “there is hope for Nigeria and for Africa at large.”
YPF is a non-profit and inter-denominational initiative of Kumuyi. It was conceived to help youths discover the essence of purposeful living through diligence and hard work, honesty and integrity, which will prepare them for excellence in their chosen fields. It has a large network of over 2,500 members in Lagos and other neighbouring states in Nigeria.