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Supporting Youth in Nigeria   
February 24, 2011 -“Youth empowerment is the only guarantee for our future,” said Chief Victor Ikot (pictured below), Better Life Options Esit Eket project support committee member and retired educator. “[Better Life Options] has provided educational opportunities for our youth, not just through the [project] and the Choose a Future! Training, but through the innovative work-study scholarship awards where school books, uniforms and other school materials have been provided for at least 30 program graduates.” Chief Victor delivered these words to an audience of over 150 community leaders, dignitaries, graduates and community members at the Better Life Options end of project event in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria on February 17. As a project support committee member, Chief Victor knows first hand the challenges youth in his community face to achieve a brighter future. Reports show that in Nigeria only 68 percent of children who are primary-school age attend school, and in secondary school, the number drops as low as 27 percent. This is especially true in Akwa Ibom state where the CEDPA implemented the Better Life Option program thanks to funding by the ExxonMobil Foundation. The project used CEDPA’s flagship Choose a Future! curriculum to prepare participants to make healthy and productive choices regarding their education, reproductive health and civic participation. The curriculum was adapted using input from girls, boys, parents, stakeholders and community and traditional leaders to incorporate the specific needs of adolescents in Nigeria. The project worked with community members, local nongovernmental organizations and youth in the four local government areas (LGAs) of Eket, Esit Eket, Ibeno and Onna. The program began in 2006 and reached over 2600 youth ages 10-19. Results from the second phase of the project, which began in 2008, show that out of the 1440 participants enrolled during this phase at least 51 percent returned to formal or vocational school.
Chief Victor joined the Better Life Options project in 2007 when the program first came to Esit Eket. Community members were recruited to join project support committees that were responsible for promoting the project within the communities, following up with youth to encourage their participation and supporting them in continuing their education. The four communities embrace the project thanks to the dedication and hard work the project support committees, the local partner organizations, the facilitators and the youth participants. Other speakers who joined Chief Victor in commending the project were community leaders from the other LGAs including Her Eminence Patience Ukpa of Onna, Hon. Matilda Edohoeket of Ekit and Chief John Eshiet Ipom of Ibeno. The community leaders told stories of graduates from their areas who turned their lives around because of the project. They told of young girls who became young single mothers, but through the program learned about reproductive health and how to postpone future pregnancies until they are ready. They spoke of children who dropped out of school to hawk goods in the streets of their village, but who, through the program, began to understand the importance of education and have re-enrolled. Also speaking at the event was ExxonMobil external affairs manager, Susan Eshett, and CEDPA project director, Offiong Enang. They spoke of the impact the program made on these communities and the lives of the young program graduates. In addition, to the delight of the crowd, a group of Better Life Option graduates presented a skit that depicted the obstacles and choices of a young girl who decided she wanted to attend school even though her parents chose to send her brother instead. In the skit, she appealed to Better Life Options facilitators who encouraged her to join the classes. By the end of the performance, the girl returned to school and became an engineer. The participants developed the skit on their own based on the lessons they learned in the classes, but the story rang true for many of the graduates of the Better Life Options project. CEDPA has improved the lives of youths in communities around the world through the Better Life Options and Opportunity Model for over 20 years. Learn more about CEDPA’s youth programs. |
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