Stanbic IBTC tips youth on leadership skills
Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc has tutored some in youth in Lagos on how to become successful leaders in their various fields.
Its maiden edition of the Youth Leadership Series provided a platform for three exceptional Nigerians who spoke on the imperative of resilience, hard work and perseverance to achieve individual, corporate and national goals.
Guest speakers, Kechi Okwuchi, a survivor of the ill-fated Sosoliso plane crash of December 2005; Member Feese, survivor of the United Nations Building bomb blast in Abuja; and Cobhams Asuquo, renowned music producer who was born blind, said if they could become role models by overcoming the grim challenges they faced, then nobody should give up in their quest to succeed.
In his address, Chief Executive of the Holdings, Mr Yinka Sanni, said underlining the youth empowerment motivational series is a mission by the organization to inspire the youth, who are the leaders of today, not tomorrow, to strive to achieve their potential, regardless of the odds.
He said, “The popular saying that children are the leaders of tomorrow, as cliché as it may sound, for us at Stanbic IBTC, we believe that the youth are the leaders for today and because we understand just how easily one can get distracted or discouraged by the different challenges we face in our lives; our youth therefore need to be aptly and constantly guided.”
Feese on her part, said God’s grace made her stronger and more determined to live and succeed, in the aftermath of the Abuja bomb blast, as the easier option would have been to live with the pain and trauma of the experience.
For Okwuchi, she later bagged a First Class Degree from the University of Thomas in the US shortly after the plane crash and emerged a finalist at America’s Got Talent. In any affliction, “don’t let your pains stunt your growth” and ‘don’t allow the scars to retard you,” she advised.
Mr Asuquo who is the only blind child among seven siblings, said his condition gave him no choice than to live with it and find fulfilment. The first survival principle he learned early in life was to negotiate, which gave him the room to get what he lacked and to take control of his destiny. He urged people to always bring something to the table as “nobody owes you anything. You must work until nobody sees your disability. What they will see is your ability and contributions to society. Your disability simply cdisappears.”