Mrs Funke Oga, a seasoned journalist, has called on youths to engage in skill acquisition in order to develop themselves and overcome the recession facing the country.
Oga said this while speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Saturday on the sidelines of a two-day Media training for youths organised by the Excellent Television Team of the Foursquare Gospel Church, Asokoro.
She encouraged the youths to ensure they took the right steps to fulfilling their life dreams.
“ I seriously want to advice youths that they should learn one or two skills which they will find useful in future, even now.
“For example if a youth is taught hair dressing , beauty therapy, carpentry , those are skills and nobody can take the knowledge from them.
“From time to time they will find it useful anywhere they find themselves, plus their education that they are gaining from the corners of the university, secondary school or the primary school.
“Skills acquisition is germane to development, is germane to nipping economic recession in the bud.
“I want to encourage youths that whatever dreams they have, they should ensure they fulfil it and in fulfilling it they have to do it through the right way through the right path.
“Taking necessary steps because there are steps to any progress you want to achieve in life.
“There are steps to any dream you want to come to pass in your life and what are the steps; acquisition of skills, training, retraining, research, commitment and focus.”
Ogar said that the purpose of the training was to catch the children young and teach them the rudiments of the media which would help those interested in pursuing a career in that field.
“This training was organised to catch our children young, at a very tender age, so that they can have a good career progression.
“We have noted over the years that some of these children find it difficult to choose a career, they find it difficult to know exactly what they want to do in life, they find it difficult on how to go about it,” she said.
Oga, who is also the Director, Television Ministry of the church, said the training was the second of its kind and there were plans to extend the training to youths outside the church.
The participants were taught on how to write good tracts, the use of English, good scripting, gesticulation of presenters, mode of dressing and etiquette for television on air personalities.
Princess Famous, a nine-year-old participant who spoke to NAN, said she had learnt how to be a good writer from the training.
“Now I know to be a good writer you have to read what others have written, be focused and understand the concept of it,” Famous said.
Another participant, eighteen-year-old Anu Rosaline, said she learnt that leaders were good readers.
“I learnt for you to be a writer you have to read what other people write and for you to be a leader you have to be a reader.
“For you to write you must be interested in what you are writing about, so you can’t just bring up a topic and you do not know what you are writing about.
“You don’t just put something that is awful as your topic or as your first page, like someone that says “all sinners will die”, it’s not good.
“You have to say something like “for you to go to heaven you have to repent”. That is presentable for your readers. That is what I learnt.” (NAN)