A cross-section of students, fresh school leavers, undergraduates and adolescents shared their visions of a better Nigeria, as they gathered en mass for this year’s youth leadership camp sponsored and organised by Rotary Club.
The annual camp, known as Rotary Youth Leadership Academy (RYLA), will formally begin on Sunday, with what is expected to be an elaborate opening ceremony, but all the attendees are already talking big about their expectations.
Such was the enthusiasm, amidst a beehive of activities early Saturday, as attendees sponsored by various Rotary Club chapters in Lagos State, as well as Arepo LongBridge, Sagamu, Ijebu Ode and Abeokuta, in Ogun State trooped into Liverpool Jetty, off Creek Road, Apapa.
Looking flashy and exuberant, they all patiently went through the documentation process, as marshalled expertly by the registration sub-committee chair, Rotarian Akinwale Odutola and other members.
As the registration procedure went along, many of the lads and lasses used the opportunity to interact with new friends whom they met on arrival at the jetty.
They were all afterwards separated into several groups, based on their various Rotary Club sponsors, and then ushered into different ferries for a short cruise on the waters and into the camp venue at Lagos State Leadership Training Centre (Sea School).
On landing, it was a beehive of activity and excitement, as the boys and girls expressed glee with the cool ambience and natural environment that radiates on the serene island of aquatic opulence.
Twelve leaders of tomorrow were sponsored by the Rotary Club of Arepo Longbridge to join their counterparts from other parts of Nigeria.
The incoming President of the Rotary Club of Arepo Longbridge, Dr. Olufunke Ayeni, said the sponsorship was consistent with the club’s commitment to building capacity and improving the leadership skills of Nigerian youths.
Four of the attendees – Damian Adeshina, Oyewunmi Esther, Okeowo Christiana and Aminat Adeyemi – said they were happy with the cordial reception, sound advice, wise guidance and precise instructions given them by the officials.
The quartet, all immediate past students of Will-B Excellence Secondary School, Ikotun, Lagos, enthused that they will learn new ideas during the week-long camp, while also hoping to get useful tips on how to become great leaders of Nigeria.
They were joined in expressing such lofty aspirations by their school’s current assistant head boy, Seyi Olupitan, and his older sister, Mirabel, who is now in a higher institution.
The delegation, which is sponsored to RYLA 2024 by the Rotary Club of Ikeja-Alausa, was led by the school’s vice-principal, Mrs Noreen Olupitan, who spent several hours waiting for the boys and girls to be cleared by the officials, during which she enthused that they will all get lifetime experiences at the camp.
“This week will truly be very memorable for them,” affirmed the lady fondly called ‘Mummy O’ by her students and friends.
“Those who attended last year returned with sweet stories about RYLA Camp, and I am sure it will not be anything less this time out.”
Other attendees spoken to before boarding ferries that took them across the sea into the camp base revealed that they aim to be involved in academic, social, physical, scientific, sports and cultural activities all through this week; up till when the camp will end next Sunday, August 18th.
