By Victor Gotevbe
Maxwell Ogaga is  actively involved in youth development activities both within and outside the country. He has impacted positively a lot of young people in Africa and he is passionate about sustainable visionary leadership in Africa. He serves as a mentor, facilitator and chair of several youth projects and programmes in Nigeria and globally. This 28 years old change agent interacts with Saturday Youthful Vibes. Excerpts.

Motivation for youth development activities.

My inspiration came from watching young people around my city, Warri. I realized many of  them complained bitterly about what they don’t have, and what the government is not doing for them, thereby refusing to take action for their lives.

*Maxwell Ogaga

Having read  widely, I know that many people who initiated change did that at a very young  age, because of either their response to circumstances around them or the information they had. This was what prompted me to focus on youth development.

The birth and growth of Dare 2 Dream Youth Initiative.

In 2006, after the completion of my National Youth Service Corps in Zamfara State, I returned to Warri where I decided to organize a conference.  I had read about and met some interesting young people. One of them was Gbenga Sesan who I had a dream to bring to Warri to inspire youths living in Warri.

I did not know which name to call the event so I tagged it “Dare 2 Dream Youth Summit” with the kind support of Dr Brown Ogbeifun as resource person and my Dad, Dr Ogaga O. David who gave us technical support. We saw the need to continue to hold various workshops, seminars and mini projects to build the momentum.

That is how Dare 2 Dream Youth Initiative came to be and since then we have done a lot of work with young people in secondary schools in Delta State. We have also hosted several youth camps and free seminars aimed at empowering the mind of young people, including hosting you (Victor Gotevbe), the editor of this column as a speaker to inspire more young people around the region.

Growing up in the Niger Delta region.

It was fun growing up. I spent the first 16 years of my life in the Isoko villages of Iyede, Ozoro and Oleh where I had my primary and secondary school education. I am a graduate of Social Studies Education from Delta State University and I hold a few online certificates from Youth Action for Change, Italy and CLCLWA West Africa.

I grew up with strict ethical values imparted into me by my parents who up till date are guiding lights in a dark world.  One of the greatest virtues was love for books, the Bible and prayer; these  three remain the cardinal points in my life.

My role as URI Youth Ambassador for Africa

United Religions Initiative (URI) is a global grassroots interfaith network that cultivates peace and justice by engaging people to bridge religious and cultural differences and work together for the good of their communities and the world.

The purpose of the URI Youth Ambassadors program is to develop the leadership capacities of selected young people from the URI network and likeminded organizations, and to grow and strengthen the movement by building up this new generation of interfaith leaders.

Over the course of one year, the ambassadors will receive training, tools, mentorship and opportunities to participate in interfaith activities and events.

In exchange, these leaders will commit to organize an interfaith service project in their community, set up a Cooperation Circle in their locality or around a specific topic, and utilize social networks and media to publicize the ideals and vision of the URI.

Ambassadors are selected through an application and shortlisted. There is a phone interview; and candidates are chosen based on either their knowledge and commitment to interfaith work or the quality of the project they present in their application.

This project will receive funding and support to enable it to happen. Ambassadors are also given scholarships to attend a leadership training program in their region, where they can collaborate with other ambassadors, past and present; and connect to the wider work of URI in their region.

I passed through all this stages and was selected in 2011. In Africa right now,I am helping to form the URI Africa Youth Network and also working on my “1plate project”

Mentors and Role Models

Mentorship for me is both a guidance and a guarding process for any young person. I have four mentors in my life. Most young people change their mentors too often and also always go for very popular figures. My Dad, Tony Atie, Dr Brown Ogbeifun and Kingsley N.T Bangwell are the four people who have shaped me and are still shaping me today in order to be fit for the assignment. Truly, every football star no matter how skillful, he is like Lionel Messi who still needs a Pep Guadiola.

My current work

Presently, I am working on a Youth Camp scheduled for August, 2012 to train and empower teens and youths. Also as URI African Ambassador I am mobilizing funds to purchase food for starving women and children in Somalia called the “1plateproject”. I came up with this project when I visited Uganda last year and met with the Somali Ambassador who gave us the situation report of the refugees.

Young people can

We should believe first of all in our nation, build the right ethics and values, find our life mission and pursue it with all our heart. If we all pursue our life mission we would not have time to create trouble rather we would be contributing positively to nation building.

The youths of our nation should attend seminars and workshops  that organization such as ours and others provide. The turning point for me was when I attended DESPLAY, a leadership and democratic training programme.

YOUNG NIGERIANS MAKING THE DIFFERENCE

OLAYINKA JOHN KOLEADE (a.k.a. J.O.H.N)

OGUN STATE

Olayinka whose stage name is J.O.H.N, is a graduate of Business Administration from Olabisi Onabanjo University.  His undying love for music amidst the economic recession has helped to establish the PICK N PLAY entertainment, a music production and artiste management company.

However, he started music professionally in 2010, but he is  rising fast, with amazing speed though while he is competing very well with the game changers in the Music industry.  J.O.H.N’s creativity and online presence have helped him in  a particular single to gain an incredible fan acceptance when it recorded one thousand (1000) downloads from an online music website.

In another ten years, J.O.H.N sees a future where he would inspire millions of youths locally and globally through his songs and benefits concerts. He is very optimistic he would clinched several local and international awards for his music. Until then, his  energy and enterprising virtues will continually create a space for him at the top .J.O.H.N while thinking big.

OLUWATOSIN AJIBADE (OLORISUPERGAL) LAGOS  STATE

Tosin is fast becoming one of the nation’s emerging publicists, known as Olori Tosin Super gal on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. She is the Chief Executive Officer of Media Exposure, a Public Relations/Social Media outfit.

She uses social media to drive public relations/media campaigns for organizations and individuals. Tosin with an Accounting degree from Lagos State University has been able to work with notable names/brands. She maintains a personal blog where she writes on the latest news, events, and trends in the entertainment industry.

She is famous for being on twitter and using twitter to make the difference for brands and enterprises. She runs her marketing and internet PR campaigns for businesses mostly via the micro-blogging site. She performs her personal  social responsibility through  her speaking engagements  at youth seminars, encouraging youngsters to be epitome of impact and diligence.