Today, we flag-off the celebration of unique achievements recorded by a group of young Nigerians and Kogites who very early in their lives set out to impact the society in many positive ways.
The story of this association, Corps D’ Progressives formally known as Association for Youths Educational Advancement (AYEA), is the story of the resilience and the can-do spirit of Nigerian and humanity itself.
In November, 1999, a group of friends who had just completed their secondary school education met under a tree somewhere in Ogaminana, Adavi Local Government Area of Kogi State, having schooled and lived around the area, to mute the idea of an association of like minds with which they planned to empower themselves and to impact humanity.
20 years on, we are here to flag-off the celebration of what has become a fairytale as we celebrate the group that has grown both in numbers and our impact on the society. It is on record that from 1999 when we started this organization, no group of young Nigerians from this part of the country have been more focused, determined, cohesive and impactful despite our limited resources. As such we have therefore carefully selected a theme for the 20th anniversary celebration to resonate with the present reality of our national life.
The theme of the 20th anniversary celebration of the Corps D’ Progressives is: “Creating a New Narrative in Youth Empowerment in Nigeria”.
At a time when our value orientation has been turned on its head; when only money now talks; when good men and women do not matter in any society; when the only form of youth empowerment is to arm thugs and give them motor cycles or buy their votes with bags of rice and money; when some of our role models are now thieves, thugs, internet fraudsters and other criminal elements in our society, you would agree with me that there can be no better time for this theme of the anniversary celebration.
From 1999 to date, Corps the progressive in her early has organized inter secondary school quiz competition, inter secondary school debates, guidance and counseling talks, campaign against examination malpractices, advocacy on dangers of drugs abuse, to mention but few.
We have created a new generation of young professionals with critical skill sets and values to transform our communities, our state and our country.
This group has inspired over 100 people to seek and attain post-secondary or higher education and they have added to the pool of human resources available all over Nigeria today.
We have also supported 10 schools in Kogi State through the provision of instructional materials such as text books, board markers and teaching other teaching aides.
A few years back we launched a programme to adopt orphans. That programme has seen us support over 200 orphans in the last five years at various stages of their education in collaboration with some established orphanage homes.
Our Education Support Programme has also provided bursary and tuition fees for several indigent students in secondary schools and some of them are currently studying various higher institutions in the country. Some of these students still enjoy our financial support in the pursuit of their tertiary institution program.
In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Corps D’ Progressives, we have put together a year-long celebration with intermittent media engagements to tell our story and announce our plans for the future. Our line up activities in the next one year is to begin with a broader vision to see our members grow into positions of higher responsibilities in the public and private sectors to enable us make greater impact in our communities.
We shall expand our the roster of membership and partners to reputable individuals and corporate bodies who may buy into our vision of a greater and better Nigeria where our time-tested values such as Conscience, Altruism, Respect, Education and Integrity (CAREIN) will be given higher priorities and stronger expression.
In the next one year, our Education Support Programme through which we have been providing instructional materials to schools in addition to our tuition support for students will be reinvigorated to reach more schools and students.
In furtherance of this, 20 schools in Kogi State will be selected to benefit from this programme in the next one year.
We hope to have 20 indigent students selected as the first set of full-time beneficiaries of our Secondary School Tuition Support Programme.
In the next one year, we shall also embark on a Mentoring Tour of 20 Schools across the state. The tour will see us and some of our friends come together to build a new set of Genuine Role Models to inspire the next generation of youth leaders in the country. One student from each school to be visited will be put through our year-long mentoring programme as they go from secondary school through higher education to their career choices in life. This will be done in collaboration with the Guidance and Counseling unit of the schools.
We shall also be scaling up our Adopt-an-Orphan programme by seeking more involvement by individuals, the government and corporate organisations to reach more orphans in the state.
Going by our achievements in the last 20 years and the lineup of activities in the next one year and beyond, we are indeed set to create a new narrative in youth empowerment in Kogi state and Nigeria.
We therefore want to use this opportunity to call on the media and all well-meaning Kogites and Nigerians to join us on this journey as we partner to change the narrative in youth empowerment to make our society a better place for all of us.
Signed:
Comrade Bashir Salawudeen
President.
