By Olayinka Latona

AHEAD of Nigeria’s 56th independence anniversary just days away, the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG has challenged the nation’s young people harness all their God-given talents to contribute their quota towards the nation’s development and move the nation out of her current economic challenges.

Making the call at a press conference to herald the church’s national youth convention, the church’s National Youth Pastor, Pastor Belemina Obunge said despite the current economic challenges confronting the country, youths can still make positive impact on the country’s fortune.

Stressing the importance of youths in national development, he said: “Nigerian youths should search within and see what they can do in times like this; what giftings they can make manifest to bail the nation out of current economic recession.”

According to him, Nigerian youths should manifest their skills, start small and be the solution in their individual corners, adding that each youth has what it takes to make Nigeria better.  On the youth convention with a theme: “Vessels Unto Honour” scheduled for October 3-7 at the Redemption Camp, along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Obunge explained that the occasion will prepare people who will do exploits, break barriers not just to themselves or their families but also to the country and the world.

He added that the church has provided platforms like The Redeemed Initiative for Skills & Empowerment (RISE) and Nigeria Shift for the youth who are the future leaders to showcase their gifts and put their strength into positive use.

“We are not only developing our youths spiritually, we also focus on their self development and this we do through The Redeemed Initiative for Skills & Empowerment (RISE).

“It’s a two weeks programme which focused on various entrepreneurship training with mandatory teachings some of which include writing of business plan, business ethics and practice, raising and management of capital, leadership, integrity,” he explained.

According to the youth pastor, the programme has graduated more than 3,000 participants who are employable even by organizations that have initially rejected them. While SHIFT is an initiative that is targeted at catching the youths for the Lord with some activities such as dancing, singing, comedy and innovation, he stated.