Over 500 young professionals who participated in the 2014 edition of the Goal Attainment Made Easy (GAME) conference have been charged to make their mark in their chosen careers in the different sectors of the economy.
GAME is an initiative of ‘iamCHAMP’ Limited in partnership with the Department for International Development (DFID) and supported by Access Bank.
The three-day event in Lagos was attended by professionals who spoke on workforce productivity and total wellbeing.
The key facilitators included former Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Christopher Kolade; Professor Pat Utomi; House of Representatives Diaspora Committee Chairman, Abike Dabiri-Erewa; Phillips Consulting Chairman, Foluso Phillips; Access Bank Group Managing Director, Herbert Wigwe; Jimi Agbaje; and Ken Okere.
Utomi told the young professionals, drawn mainly from advertising, marketing, banking, entrepreneurship, and entertainment, that the conference aimed to build workforce productivity and positively influence every sector of the economy through proper exposure of people to the need to make a difference in their engagements.
He commended the initiative to impact the active segment of the population and said the conference should be taken seriously and given support.
Wigwe said the dynamism of today’s society should spur young Nigerians to equip themselves with sound financial knowledge and imbibe healthy financial practices to level up with other nations in investment and development.
The conference also featured the Women Making a Difference Awards which recognise young and top women professionals who have achieved great strides.
The awards also seek to inspire other women to build self confidence to become exceptional in their chosen endeavours.
Awards were given to Dabiri-Erewa in the Media and Political Leadership in Nigeria category and Osun State Deputy Governor, Titilayo Laoye-Tomori, in the Corporate and Political Leadership in Nigeria category.
Another category, Champion of Change Awards, rewarded distinguished young professionals for their contributions to national development.
The recipients included Adewale Owomoyela (Poverty Alleviation and Justice); Debola Deji-Kurumi (Social Enterprise); Halima Abba (Educational Development), and 12-year-old Zuriel Oduwole (Youth Development).
GAME Conference convener, Abiola Salami, said it was designed to empower young professionals for progressive productivity in corporations and communities. He promised that the 2015 edition will expand the mandate to raise champions through The AbiolaChamp Show to be aired on television stations across Africa from January 2015.
Kolade, conference chief host, advised participants to take up the challenge to make Nigeria great, because “if we do not take responsibility now, our children will not have a country in which they can live in the nearest future.”