Stanbic IBTC’s youth series harps on resilience, skills

The maiden edition of the Stanbic IBTC Bank’s Youth Leadership Series, last week, provided a platform that featured three exceptional Nigerians, who spoke on the imperative of resilience, hardwork and perseverance to achieve individual, corporate and national goals.

The event, with theme “Against The Odds”, attracted huge audience of students and youths, bankers, investors, artists, captains of industry, and the business community.

The Guest speakers- Kechi Okwuchi, a survivor of the ill-fated Sosoliso plane crash of December 2005; Member Feese, survivor of the United Nations’ building bomb blast in Abuja; and Cobhams Asuquo, a renowned music producer, who was born blind, unanimously said that if they could become role models by overcoming the grim challenges they faced, then nobody should give up the quest to succeed.

The Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Yinka Sanni, explained that underlining the youth empowerment motivational series is a mission by the organisation to inspire the youth.He said the youth who are now the “leaders of today,” not tomorrow, and the move is to inspire them to strive to achieve their potential, regardless of the odds, adding that the three lead speakers symbolised the evergreen cliché- “where there is a will, there is a way.”

He said Stanbic IBTC is constantly exploring innovative ways of expanding the scope of its coverage and focus on the youth segment, otherwise known as the millennials, given the importance of the demography to national development, entrepreneurship drive and economic growth and development of the nation.

Member Feese said the concerns of Nigerians made her stronger and more determined to live and succeed, in the aftermath of the Abuja bomb blast, as the easier option would have been to live with the pain and trauma of the experience for the rest of her life.

She pledged to continue with her advocacy work to support and encourage people in similar situations.For Okwuchi, her simple message to anyone faced with any affliction is: “Don’t let your pains stunt you growth and don’t allow the scars to retard you.”After the Sosoliso crash, she went ahead to bag a First Class Degree from the University of Thomas Houston, Texas, and emerged a finalist at America’s Got Talent.

Cobahms Asuquo, the only blind child among seven siblings, said his condition gave him no choice than to live with it and find fulfillment. According to him, the first survival principle he learned early in life was to negotiate, which gave him the room to get what he lacked and to take control of his destiny.

He urged people to always bring something to the table, as “nobody owes you anything. You must work until nobody sees your disability. What they will see is your ability and contributions to society. Your disability simply disappears.”