The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in collaboration with Unilever Nigeria PLC has organised ‘Future-X Campus Ambassadors Programme’ (FUCAP) for young people to succeed in workplaces.

Speaking at the event held on Thursday in University of Lagos (UNILAG), Auditorium Hall, Bharat Kundra, Programme Specialist at UNICEF Nigeria, said that the initiative was to equip young people with 21^st-century skills to thrive as successful professionals and entrepreneurs.

Kundra said that the objective was to expose the Nigeria youths to 21^st-century skills, in order for them to transform the society and establish themselves as professionals and entrepreneurs.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 10 of the seminars have been conducted in different universities across the country.

It aims to reach three million Nigerian youths and equip 700,000 with essential skills.

According to him, the extensive global research and government collaborations is aimed at ensuring youths acquire essential skills for a secured future, such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking, digital and financial literacy, and resilience.

“In spite of future challenges like technological changes, access to devices and the internet, climate issues, or pandemics, young people with 21^st-century skills will thrive as successful professionals and entrepreneurs.

“Nigeria is the first country to benefit from this initiative, the programme focuses on four key areas: career seminars, entrepreneurship courses, work experience, and youth challenges.

“We aim to connect 700,000 young people in Nigeria to meaningful opportunities by 2026, and we have already established strong connections with universities to facilitate their transition into the workplaces.

“UNICEF works with trained volunteers to mentor others in acquiring these skills.

“And the goal is to mentor 20 million youths by 2026, ensuring that FUCAP participants can meaningfully utilise their skills to build their careers and mentor others,” he added.

The UNICEF official, however, encouraged the youth comprising university undergraduates to be optimistic and proactive, leveraging the skills learned from such seminars to share ideas and lessons with a broader audience.

On her part, Zainab Ajadi, People Partner at Unilever Nigeria and Lead Project Coordinator of the FUCAP seminar, said that the entrepreneurship concept was targeted to groom future entrepreneurs, employers who are willing to take risks to grow their businesses.

Ajadi noted that the collaboration with UNICEF was to create awareness about the opportunities, equipping youths for the future and enabling them to lead purposeful lives.

She mentioned that one of the challenges faced was changing youths’ mindsets and helping them envision the future so they can adapt accordingly.

In her remarks, Prof. Ayodele Atsenuwa, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development Services) UNILAG, said that the institution, through its entrepreneurship programmes, was developing opportunities and preparing students to have an edge in the workplace upon graduation.

Atsenuwa urged the students to make maximum use of the FUCAP to prepare themselves for the blue economy.

“You students of this great institution and our alumni are our pride”.

Mr Elijah Olubiyi, a 200 level student of faculty of Law, UNILAG and s participant at the seminar, said the presentations had inspired and helped to direct his passion to the right side.

Olubiyi, however, commended UNICEF and Unilever for putting up the seminar, which according to him, has added more valuable knowledge to the students choice of career.

He described the programme as laudable and topnotch.

“I have the passion to be a human rights activist, hence my choice to study law.

“Today, I have listened to speakers from UNICEF and Unilever and have gained more knowledge on setting my priority right.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that no fewer than 4,000 students from Faculty of Arts, Social Sciences, Management Science, Sciences among other faculties participated at the programme, which is the last campus seminar. (The Guardian)

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