A carnival of ideas for the young

Cooking practical

BY GREGORY AUSTIN NWAKUNOR
IT is evening after the South West zone screening of Ideas Carnival — The first stage of selection of top 10 most talented and highly skilled Nigerian youths. The Banquet Hall of Etal Hotels and Halls, Apapa, is buzzing with naked human voices reeling out hope and expectation. However, the poolside of the hotel is calm, as judges, organisers and sponsors of the event sit out to unwind.
Participants at the screening include Ifeoluwa Bello (Event Management); Nnanta Paul (Song Writing); Fridamahon Eseoghene (Music); Ngozi Ugwu (Cooking); Ezenwa Okoro (Fish farming); Ogunkola Ibukun (Baking); Oladepo-Jesuloba Kayode (Anti-forgery Software Device): Adaobi Souzey (Baking); Blue Cloud (Hip Hop Artistes); Kelechi Ime (Electrical Engineering): Tosin Ogunsanya (Engineering); Uzoechi Emeka (Accounting); Ofuasia Hope (Catering); Olisa Kayode Adewale (Engineering) and Atuegbe Emmanuel (Banking) among many others.
Among the judges were Majekodunmi of Kresta Laurel, Demola Adedoyin of Messages Inc, Tunde Fasanya of Bold Ark Limited, Ms. Esther Ileogben of ESTITO, Afolabi of Unilag FM Radio.
There was practical session where the applicants in the catering department went to Etal kitchen to do their beat.
One of the participants came up with an anti-forgery device, which he claimed would be helpful to financial institutions.
He showcased his device and was able to show that he has an ace up his sleeves. Another exciting display at the screening was the showcasing of creativity in the agricultural sector by one of the applicants.
This promising young man was able to field questions by the judges constructively and he also has the pedigree and training to help put his vision into fruition with the right funding.
There were also live performances by musician/applicants; they were made to sing live with and without backup to help showcase the real talent within them.
One of the caterer/applicant was particularly singled out by members of the audience for a very tasty African porridge and was promised a catering job in an upcoming event.

According to Kemi Otegbade, the CEO of Heartlink Ventures Ltd, the marketing consultants for the project, “Ideas Carnival is a child of necessity, which came upon me while rendering H.R Services. I realised that so many graduates cannot defend their certificates, and at the same time, some talented youths are not being given job opportunities because they did not go to school.”
While lamenting this situation, says, “everybody born is born to be employed, however, some are born to be employers of labour through their God given skills, which must be harnessed and encouraged through adequate funding, mentoring and guidance.”
She explains, “once a life is touched, a whole family is affected hence her zeal for ideas carnival.”
In the words of Otegbade, there are now six vacant positions on the platform of the carnival for applicants with second class upper degree or three years audit experience or a CISA at Hysit Tyj Ltd, a financial services company. Kresta Laurel Ltd also pledged three employment positions for three Engineers/Technicians.
She reveals that some of the carnival’s aims are being met by sponsors such as the Lagos State government (financial), employment opportunities from some blue chip firms, Close Up (Subtle Branding) and the media.
While lamenting the capital intensive nature of the project, says a lot of financial pledges are yet to be redeemed.
She also discloses that arrangement has been concluded with a bank for credit facilities towards adequate empowerment for those who excel in catering with zero percent interest while a music production outfit is set to produce the works of those who excel in music.
She says the grand finale is weeks away, and “the organisers of this empowerment initiative is encouraging other industries to support through financial aid, employment opportunities in all industries, exposure and training of talented upcoming youths who displayed great skill at the screening.”
In her words, “our financial leaders should take note of one of the applicants who displayed an anti-forgery software device, which could help change the image of Nigeria at home and abroad if properly developed.”
Otegbada notes that production and marketing companies should also look the way of the youths, who have the potentials of becoming great hits in the nearest future.
John Oluwagbemiga of Pratix Consulting Ltd and Ademola Adedoyin of MessagesInc Ltd, two seasoned professionals, delivered thought-provoking and inspiring motivational lectures to help the youths realize their potentials.
The chairman of Igando-Ikotun, Comrade Ola who is well known for his support of youths in his neighborhood sponsored 20 youths in his ward to take a shot at showcasing their skills and probably earn employment through the carnival.

IDEAS Carnival, a brainchild of Ideas Warehouse Ltd in partnership with Talent Associates and Bold Ark Ltd., was berthed to encourage and support youths with skills but no empowerment to showcase it to the point of earning income from it. The Advisory Board Members of Ideas Carnival are Ambassador Segun Olusola, (Chairman), Professor Ahmed Yerima, Dideolu Falobi, Jonathan Alabede, Tunde Alabi-Hundeyin, John-Bede Anthonio, Segun Labiyi, among others.
Ideas Carnival screening for Northern zone holds in Abuja while the grand finale is billed for the MUSON Centre on Friday, July 17, in Lagos.