Opebi Junior Grammar School has emerged winner at a ‘City School Programme’ organised by a non-governmental organisation, Narrative 4 Africa, to promote empathy and build leadership skills among youths.
The school came top at the grand finale of the six-month programme in a debate competition, out of 10 schools that took part, with 200 students participating in activities including spoken-word performances and inter-school story exchanges.
Speaking at the grand finale in Lagos, the Director, Africa Operations for Narrative 4 Africa, Buchi Onyegbule, said the programme was designed to help raise leaders of tomorrow and is geared towards promoting good communication and problem-solving skills among secondary school students in Lagos.
Buchi said the organisation is committed to preparing young people for leadership roles by encouraging them to identify and solve problems in their communities.
He maintained that Nigerian students, if given the right mentorship and needed skills, have what it takes to solve problems in their communities and, by extension, the entire country.
“We want leaders of tomorrow to learn empathy today and start leading now. They need to start learning how to fix problems now. Students have no limits when it comes to the scope of things they can do. We should not limit the way young people think. Their creativity and innovation can actually solve problems that we have continued trying to address through our own conventional approaches,” Buchi said.
The representative of the Lagos State Government and District Officer, Education District 4, Sabo-Yaba, Mrs. Adebisi Omolaoye, commended the organisers for such a laudable initiative, describing it as impactful and supportive of efforts to develop young people.
In his charge to the students, a special guest, Dr. Chinonso Egemba, popularly known as ‘Aproko Doctor,’ encouraged the students to believe in themselves to succeed in whatever they put their minds to for the good of humanity.
The climax of the programme was the presentation of awards and cash prizes to Opebi Junior Grammar School and the second runner-up, Lagos City College, as well as consolation prizes to those in third, fourth and fifth positions.
