A Convention to Inspire

By Jide Courage

Anthony Chinedu Emeribe cherishes the title of global changemaker and is determined to live up to it. This restless but focused young man has pumped up enough passion to propel an energy that fires him to overcome hurdles on his way to building what he calls “a solution mindset in teenagers.”

His goal? To motivate every teenager in Nigeria to “become a person of value.”

Last month, Anthony tested his pet idea by organizing a High School Leadership Convention in Enugu, capital of Enugu State. He was able to draw in an impressive 600 students from different secondary schools in the State capital to the spacious new hall of College of Immaculate Conception (CIC) in Enugu, the State capital.

The teenagers who attended his convention were aged 14-18. They were engaged in public speaking contests, “international debates” and roundtable panel discussions from seasoned professionals. At the end of it all, awards and prizes were given to winners at the Convention who showed the best potential of becoming solution providers to the world.

The  theme of the Convention was appropriately captioned “Building a Solution Mindset” by the organisers known as Transformed Leaders, a youth-led organization founded by Anthony.

“Our aim is to  raise value driven and purposeful leaders out of multitude of young people in different sectors, equipping them to chart unique trajectories for themselves while solving peculiar challenges in our world with the instrument of education, advocacy and mentorship,” he told eMetro News.

How was he able to foot the bill for such a big event when he neither owns a thriving business nor is he working in a high-paying job?

“The High School Leadership Convention 2020 was chiefly sponsored by the Global Changemakers, our official international partners, with great support from  GLO mobile, UAC Foods and Pepsi,”  he said, betraying his marketing skills as well.

The solution mindset theme that he is pursuing played out prominently all through the convention. The subject of the debates between schools was “Nigeria and the 4th Industrial Revolution”. Every public speaking topic was also anchored on finding solutions to the various SDG goals.

The overarching goal of the meeting, he said, was to build an innovative mindset in the participating teenagers towards solving problems related to sustainable development.

“It is also to harness them to a more meaningful focus that will promote value creation, enhance intellectual capacity and cause a positive mind shift, shifting a mindset driven by mediocrity to a mindset driven by value, impact and excellence.”

Did he succeed with the Convention?

Yes, he answered without hesitation and gave key highlights of the event to support his position. He mentioned the powerful keynote speech from a former Commissioner of Health in Enugu, Dr. Fintan Ekochin, to the panel discussion by experts that focused on the  importance of value driven mindset in the pursuit different career paths that can create social impact, as some of the key takeaways from the Convention.

“Also, the public speaking contests on solutions to the various SDG goals and the debate on Nigeria and the 4th industrial revolution helped to achieve our aim of engaging the students and exceeding their expectations at the Convention” he said.

The convention was also successful in other ways, he said.

“The attendance at the Convention exceeded our expectation, we anticipated 600 individuals, but we had 700 people in attendance including students and adult guests. Out of 16 schools that were supposed to attend the Convention, 13 schools  turned up for the Convention, recording over 81% of invited  schools attendance.

“It was so amazing seeing how enthusiastic and inspired the students were to take up challenges and embrace that solution mindset.”

What next? Young Anthony Emeribe said he still has post-convention plans for participating schools. “We are now visiting the schools individually to continue in our target plans for the students; the Convention is not just a one-off event.” he concluded.

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