By Amarachi Amarachukwu, Remi Oluwoye and Ifunaya Duru

For the president/founder, African Children Talent Discovery Foundation (ACTDF), Noah Dallaji, youth mentorship is a key factor to national development. Fielding questions from a group of journalists recently, the philanthropist cum promoter of numerous talent hunt projects discusses ‘ACTDF Unleash Your Talent’ which grand finale is taking place in Port Harcourt, Rivers State today. He also talks about his next project, a reality show that will greatly impact the Africa youths. Enjoy it.

What is ‘ACTDF Unleash Your Talent’ all about?

It is a programme aimed at developing and discovering talents. The primary objective is to showcase the talents of young people who are full of sadness because of hopelessness, and here we are making hope come their way. We are trying to see how we can integrate and incorporate them into the mainstream society for the purpose of nation building.

Having concluded the zonal auditions, how ready are you for the grand finale holding in Port Harcourt on September 8?

We are very much set to have the grand finale in Port Harcourt, which would have held on September 1, but because of the Sallah holiday, we decided to move it by one week. So, everything is set for September 8 when we would have three winners emerge from three different categories: music, dancing and acting.

At the launch of the project, you spoke about taking the winners to the United States, which means the initiative has international dimension to it. Can you add flesh to that?

First, ACTDF is a non-profit international organisation and registered with a seal at the United Nations, as regards to NGO status. We have been organising a lot of things with the UN. We did one in Brazil in 2012. This year, we are also involved in organising a side event at the UN General Assembly. It is actually the primary target but we have to organise lots of programmes such as ‘Unleash Your Talent 2017’ so that when we get to the US, we’ll have something to show in projecting our own people.

For example, you might think that in African Children Talent Discovery Foundation, we are limiting ourselves to Nigeria. But we are trying to project a particular programme, it could be in one state, but this time around, about nine states are involved from which one winner will emerge. But then, immediately after this, we are embarking on another project that will extend to other African countries. It will be in the areas of leadership, sports and entertainment. There will also be a reality show to cap it all. The idea behind all these is to make sure that each of these young people is being taught the rudiments of positivity in life, as well as give them hope because of the challenges we face collectively as a country. That is what we are doing to contribute our own quota to humanity.

How many youths are you thinking of in terms of this international exposure?

We have a winner from each of the categories; we are talking of three winners from singing, acting and dance categories. Each of these winners will follow us to the United States just for exposure. Each of them will have a contract with regard to their field and they will have someone who will be there to sign them on.

The grand finale of this event comes up in Port Harcourt, what is the extent of involvement of the Rivers State government in this project?

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This is a non-governmental organisation; it is non-political or religious or ethnic organisation. We chose Rivers State not because they are helping or supporting us, but we have done auditioning there; next time it could be Jigawa State or any other state. For example, I come from Bauchi State, it could have been held in Bauchi but it is holding in Rivers State because that is where we have decided to do it. So far, nobody, apart from public-spirited individuals, has been supporting us. No government has stepped in. I believe that, as the host, they will at some point see where they can help us.

What prizes await the winners?

Winners will go home with a contract of N1 million for one year, for all the three categories, and some cash prizes.

Can you give us an idea of the personalities from the entertainment industry that you are expecting?

So many of them are coming to help and see how we can come together to help these young lads. Talking about people from the music industry, we have Faze, Blackface, Chidinma, Olamide and many others. For comedians, we have AY and Okey Bakassi. In the movie industry, we have the likes of Pete Edochie, Richard Mofe Damijo, Ramsey Nouah, Patience Ozokwor, Kate Henshaw and a lot others.

Did the contestants have to pay or was this voluntary?

Nobody paid a dime. In fact, it is our responsibility to transport them from their various destinations, to accommodate and feed them. We will make sure that they are there and that they come back safely. This is just our own package. Nobody paid a dime; everything is being taken care of by the NGO.

What challenges were peculiar to this project?

In a big project like this, you will always expect challenges especially when you talk about something that involves money. A lot of things happened. You will have budget for some particular things and later discover that you need some other things to add up. It is part of the sacrifice anyway and you cannot take away some of these challenges. We had challenges but we have been able to conquer them, and we are focusing now on the grand finale.

You said that immediately after this, you are planning a reality show. Is it going to be connected to the United Nations General Assembly as well?

These are part of our objectives to create a lot of platforms for young people. It is our next project really and we are planning something unique. It is something that has not been seen before, because we intend to have at least 45 housemates in different places. Fifteen persons for each category like sports, leadership and others. Each of these will stand a chance to win N30 million. For the leadership category, the winner gets a leadership scholarship into Harvard University. We intend to bring dignitaries like former Presidents of specific countries to come and visit the housemates for mentorship.