Towards providing creative and talented children between age 7-13 with mentorship and guidance that contributes to their personal and educational development whilst exposing them to leadership opportunities, 11-year-old Chidinma Angel Ogba who is a student of Command Day Secondary School, Ojo, Lagos has been made a one-day Managing Director (MD) of ‘The EmpowerMD’ 2.0 initiative by Design Protocol Nigeria Limited, a real estate construction company during the week in Lagos.
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Recall that the maiden edition of The EmpowerMD, got nine-year old Chimamanda Isiakpona to fill in the shoes of Design Protocol’s MD Mr. Bayo Adalemo for one day only a few months ago.
Aside the exposure from the The EmpowerMD 2.0 platform, the winner Miss Ogba was given a sum of N100,000, a goodie bag, gift box that contains items that would help develop her talent. She was also given a mandate to ensure she take back all she had learnt and gained from the platform to other children and expose them to the ideals the programme has inculcated in her.
When asked how she feels about taking up the leadership position of Design Protocol for one day, young Miss Ogba who said she would like to become a medical doctor to save lives said: “This means a lot and I feel elated. Practice make perfect, I practiced and studied possible questions. I believe I won because I displayed confidence, answered my questions efficiently and interacted well. I feel very good and honoured.”
Speaking at the event, Managing Director Design Protocol Nigeria Limited Bayo Adalemo said this edition as the first, is about the children, teaching them leadership, civics and responsibilities. “But the first edition was in-house and we essentially selected one person but this time we selected about 20 children and had a panel where one winner eventually emerged. The criterion for choosing the winner includes smartness, confidence, ability to answer questions under pressure, thoughtfulness, general affairs, others. It was done virtually by zoom and we chose the winner. Also for this edition we partnered The Children’s Art Gallery (TCAG). We also introduced a whole lot of activities such as painting, raffle draws and so many other interesting things for the kids to do.”
When asked why a girl won this edition again, Adalemo said the young girl Chidinma won hands down as she was very confident, smart and self-assured. “She understood what it meant to have a vision and a mission and she proved to be a very strategic person when it comes to planning – she knows what she wants. However, I believe it just happened that it’s another girl that won and I hope it’s going to prompt the boys to do better for The EmpowerMD next edition.
On why Design Protocol is relentless on the initiative regardless of decline in the Nigerian economy, Adalemo said: “I am investing in my future. This is because children are the future of Nigeria whether they are my biological children or anyone else’s they are the future so the more we invest our resources on them the better the lot of the country in the near future. Although there is an economic downturn in Nigeria but that doesn’t mean everything should stop, it just means people need to be more prudent but you can’t even be prudent when it comes to investing in the future of the children, you have to keep going regardless. This is really important to us at Design Protocol, the future of the children, giving them the tools soft and hard skills, empowerment, leadership, the platform to ensure that they have a better chance of succeeding in the future.”
Also remarking Chidinma’s mother Mercy Ogba who appreciated Design Protocol for the wonderful initiative to groom children to become leaders said her daughter is an exceptionally intelligent child which is why she enrolled her to participate in the Empower MD 2.0 programme. She however advised parents to ensure their presence in the lives of their children so as to groom them appropriately for the future.
Also speaking the Director of The Children’s Art Gallery (TCAG)
Phoebe Giffey-Brohaugh, who said, “we partnered with Design Protocol because the brand has been supportive of children’s wellbeing through arts. The sense of community with the brand is why we partnered the Empowered MD initiative, which is a fantastic initiative as it allows us have the children come together to express themselves through their paintings.
Multiple children work on one piece, they paint whatever they like and we sell the paintings from this series and the proceeds goes towards the children’s art fund. This fund helps us source art supplies for children across Nigeria as well as Ghana and Zimbabwe. All children’s artworks are fascinating; it opens up a window for you to understand the world from a child’s perspective.”
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