The Story of My Pet

Youth Focus Initiative is my pet project which I started when I was 24, an age by which most students have already completed their first degree and for some their PhDs. After completing secondary school, financial meltdown at the family level put a temporary cap on my thirst for a higher education. As fate would have it, it was in between the struggling eight years of self-help, selling petrol as a pump attendant, teaching pupils in private schools, and working

as a community newspaper reporter that I started Youth Focus Media (later renamed Youth Focus Initiative) in Lagos.

The idea was (and still is) to motivate and engage the youths, wherever they are. I believe that some of the ideas that were packaged into those modest editions of the Youth Focus magazine had the same impact as the regular talks I gave along with the marketing of the publication. I made the magazine so simple that even the busiest person in the world would still find it ‘unputdownable!’ My sister and I were the company and we ‘hired’ some ad hoc distributors. It was not easy in the beginning, but we later found it very exciting.

In August 2001, we went to a massive programme called the Youth Empowerment Scheme at the National Stadium, Surulere in Lagos. The whole stadium was full and we had armed ourselves with 100 copies of Youth Focus magazine to test run the sales. In ten minutes all of our copies had been mopped up and we had to restock with an extra 200 copies, which also sold out within a few hours. It was then that it dawned on us that our Ghanaian cotenant

(Mr. Adoo) was right when he had told us to take ‘everything’ to the programme. We were surprised by the number of sales that we made in four consecutive days.

Since then much has come to pass, I have gone on and pursued my academic dreams obtaining a BSc (first class at Ibadan), MSc (at Oxford) and capping it with a PhD (at Exeter). In between, I have received several scholarships including the Oxford Nigeria Scholarship from the African Studies Centre which helped me to complete my MSc, have done research; taught in Nigeria and the UK, and interacted with people from all over the world. However, the Youth Focus has been with me all the way. What we are doing is simple but huge in terms of the impact we are making in building leaders. We are enhancing people’s potential, irrespective of their social status or level of education and connecting people locally, nationally, continentally and globally.

The Youth Focus Initiative has now become part of a bigger dream and has transformed into the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) division of Upward BAO Consulting. Generally, at Upward BAO Consulting and the Youth Focus Initiative, we strongly believe that young people can realize their potential and maximize their intellectual and social development if given positive education, empowerment and encouragement, including identifying for them individuals who have distinguished themselves in their chosen career and In 2011 we organised a book launch Youth Focus Role Model Award where we gave free copies of My London Poems to several young people (with the financial assistance of a Member of the Nigeria’s House of Representatives and some public spirited individuals and institutions). In the same year we organized a well-executed Entrepreneurship Seminar, in which 55 young professionals and five guest speakers participated. In 2012, we have started allocating about 100 e-mentees (aged 16 to 25) to globally connected e-mentors on career development and professional enhancement. We will also soon be launching a Leadership Academy in which young professionals, entrepreneurs and activists will be trained on how to make a positive impact in their community, country and continent. All of these efforts will be complemented with the direct and indirect contributions from our Associate Resource Fellows (some of whom I met in Ibadan, Oxford and Exeter). We are also networking with like minds in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, UK and USA.

The Youth Focus Initiative rests upon what we call the MERITS (Magazine, E-Mentoring, Role Modeling, International Exposure, Training and Community Service).The MERITS of the YFI are carefully targeted at orientating young people towards positive, productive and progressive lifestyles for personal development and societal advancement. Some of our Community Service projects include the My-Alma-Mata-Matters Initiative (MAMMI), All Girls for Education (AGE) and Anti-Corruption Club (ACC). Whatever we add to this initiative in the nearest future, we

will strive to sustain what we started with the Youth Focus Magazine.