Get Guardian on Google… visits Oyo secretariat, Police headquarters, IITA
The National Youth Affairs of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), led by its National Youth Pastor, Pastor Oluwafemi Oyetunde, has visited the Oyo State Secretariat, the state Police Command headquarters and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to discuss areas of collaboration on youth development, security and agriculture.
Pastor Oyetunde’s three-day visit to Oyo State comprised an executive meeting with the leadership of the Mission’s Youth Affairs in Oyo on the first day, official visits to key institutions on the second day and a 24-hour Prayer and Word Retreat, themed ‘BUILDUP’, on the third day.
At the Oyo State Secretariat, the delegation met the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Students’ Affairs, Victor Olojede, who pledged the state government’s support for the proposed programmes.
Olojede said the state government wanted to be involved in the initiative, noting that it could create opportunities for young people and students.
“The Oyo State Government wants to be involved in this project,” he said.
He disclosed that he would submit a memo to the state government to facilitate students’ participation and assured the delegation that his office would work with RCCG.
During the meeting, the national youth pastor outlined plans for a free three-month technology skills programme targeting about 10,000 young people in Oyo State. The programme would combine virtual and physical classes.
The delegation also visited the Oyo State Police Command headquarters, where it met the Commissioner of Police, Abimbola Ayodeji Olugbenga.
Pastor Oyetunde said the church was interested in working with the police on crime prevention and improving relations between young people and law enforcement officers.
“We are here to also talk about crime prevention. How can we prevent crime, and how can we also build trust between young people and the police?” he said.
He also sought information on police career opportunities, including short-service entry pathways, to enable young people to understand the available options.
Responding, CP Olugbenga stressed the importance of respect for the rule of law and community policing in relations between the police and young people.
He said community policing would enable the police and members of the public to identify common problems and discuss possible solutions.
“Community policing makes it possible for us to identify a common problem and discuss the way forward. It will not be the police alone solving that problem,” he said.
The commissioner advised young people to familiarise themselves with the country’s laws and engage public institutions peacefully when expressing grievances.
At IITA, the delegation discussed a proposed partnership to expand agricultural opportunities for young people and support the church’s farming activities.
Oyetunde said RCCG’s General Overseer, Pastor E.A. Adeboye, had directed provinces and regions of the church to embrace farming as part of efforts to contribute to food production.
He disclosed that the church had about 165 hectares of land at Redemption Camp, as well as other arable land around Ijebu earmarked for agricultural activities.
According to him, RCCG has more than 50,000 parishes in Nigeria and runs feeding programmes that serve more than two million people every August and fewer than one million in December.
Pastor Oyetunde said the church wanted to establish an agricultural empowerment programme to help young people become food producers, entrepreneurs and employers of labour.
“We want to establish a sustainable agricultural empowerment programme that will transform young adults and youths in RCCG from job seekers to food producers, entrepreneurs and employers of labour,” he said.
He added that the church required technical expertise, agricultural technology, business incubation and institutional support to implement its agricultural plans.
Adetola Adenmosun, IITA’s Country Coordinator of Youths in Agribusiness, identified access to land and markets as major challenges facing young people interested in agriculture.
She said access to land was particularly difficult for women in some parts of the country, adding that women accounted for about 80 per cent of participation in some IITA programmes.
Adenmosun also stressed the need to connect agricultural training with market opportunities to enable young people to establish sustainable businesses.
She said IITA considered market demand when organising training programmes to ensure that participants produced goods for which there were established markets.
Another IITA representative from the business development unit advised RCCG to adopt a phased approach to the proposed programme, noting that the church’s 165 hectares of land would require careful planning.
The representative also recommended that the programme should include mentorship, practical support and marketing arrangements.
The delegation included Pastor Fabulous Oluwabusiwa, Pastor-in-Charge of Province (PICP), Youth Province 4; Pastor Wole Akindele, Assistant Pastor-in-Charge of Province (APICP); Pastor Oyesanmi James, Regional Youth Evangelist, Region 21; Pastor Oluwafemi Oladele, Central Operations Officer; and Pastor Daniel Nwoji, Director of Programs, and Victory Adudu, Director of Prayer.
Others were Pastor Moses Oladimeji, Regional Youth Pastor, Region 42; Pastor David Olagunju, Regional Youth Pastor, Region 21; Pastor Enoch Olatunji, Area Coordinator, Youth Province, C12; and Ayotunde Folahan, Assistant Director of Media, NYAYA.
