Blessing Odesola has emerged winner of the Women and Girls Advancements and Resources Centre (WAG-ARC) bi-annual research competition, carried out amongst undergraduates in universities across Nigeria.
Blessing Odesola is a 22-year-old 400 level student of the Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan.
Blessing Odesola, who is the student campus ambassador of a digital company, a co-host on a campus show on Inspiration 100.5 FM Ibadan and a student volunteer, wrote on the topic – Addressing Youth Marginalisation: A Link Between Youth Employment and Capacity Building as a Tool for Youth Development in Nigeria.
The student disclosed that she was very confident in winning the essay competition, saying she focused on how capacity building (skill acquisition) can help bridge the youth unemployment gap in Nigeria.
She lamented the unemployment situation among the Nigerian youth, stressing that they ought not to be sidelined as they are more than half of the population, just as she called on government to be inclusive for this to be addressed.
In the words of Blessing:
“The government cannot do all for youth, even though it is there responsibility to do so. But they can contribute their quota by empowering youths in terms of skill acquisition programs, effective loan policies that allow for the growth of small, medium and micro enterprises.”
First runner-up of the competition, Adewale Olasupo, 22-year-old 300 level student of the university of Abuja studying English and Literary Studies who wrote on the topic “Youth Unemployment in Nigeria: A Ticking Time Bomb” also called for an inclusive government to enable more opportunities for young people in the country.
The second runner-up, 22-year-old 300 level student of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), Okoro Michael Chukwuemeka, lamented the plight of the Nigerian youths, calling on both federal and state governments to create the enabling environment for youth development by providing facilities in the various schools and skill acquisition centres across the country.
