Chief Executive Officer, Halogen Group, Mr. Wale Olaoye, has challenged Nigerian youths to develop strong national character anchored on courage, commitment and conviction in their pursuit of self-development and career growth.

Olaoye, who spoke with other key national thought leaders at the first-ever National Youth Conference in Abuja, noted that Nigeria is blessed with a huge population of hard-working, creative and innovative youths, who can make a huge difference when their energies are well channelled to productive enterprise.

According to him, “to create an inclusive environment for the Nigerian youth to thrive, leaders at all levels must show commitment, integrity and embrace innovation. The youths must understand that building a life of purpose requires self-awareness, commitment, and conviction.”

He added that respect must be earned by the youths and sustained through economic capacity, cultural depth, innovation, accomplishment and exemplary conduct in all aspects of life.

Olaoye told the youths, who were drawn from all walks of life that despite challenges in the nation’s economy, there are exciting opportunities to be explored by enterprising and goal-oriented youth in new frontiers of technology and in a new open and connected world where traditional borders are no longer a barrier to advancement.

The Halogen boss, after his speech to the youth, announced a youth empowerment scheme in which Halogen will be sponsoring a national cyber security competition among the youths in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Sports and Youth Development. He noted that Halogen had employed thousands of youths in the area of technology, telematics, access control, engineering and technical installations among other opportunities offered by Halogen Group.

The maiden edition of the National Youth Conference organized by the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development was officially opened by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, while Minister, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare was the chief host.

Earlier in his address, the minister saluted Nigerian youths’ exploits in sports, entertainment and the creative industry, adding: “Our movies and music are the biggest Nigerian export today and we have not even scratched the surface yet. The giant strides of our youths in the movie industry popularly referred to as Nollywood, for instance, have placed Nigeria on the global pedestal, contributing at least $7.2 billion to Nigeria’s GDP..”