Ibadan: Nigerian youths have been advised to seize opportunities beyond their academic fields and channel their creativity toward nation-building. The advice was given by Mr. Oluwademilade Oluokun, the winner of the 2025 Policy Challenge Competition, in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Oluokun, alongside his teammate, Isaiah Elemubayo, both students of Adeleke University, Osun State, won the competition with a proposal on using technology to promote national unity. Their project explored how social media platforms, collaboration tools, and other digital innovations could be harnessed to strengthen cohesion among Nigerians.
Oluokun emphasized that young people should take advantage of opportunities that come their way and not limit themselves to their chosen fields alone. He noted that while their proposal earned them a N2 million prize, the team was already researching to develop a mobile application to put their ideas into practice.
The challenge, organized by Future Pathways Development Initiatives, required participants to create a policy aimed at fostering national unity. Oluokun stated that their project focused on using technology to achieve this because many people today are actively engaged on their phones and online platforms. The team is determined to ensure the proposal does not remain only on paper but is fully actualized.
NAN reports that the 2025 Policy Challenge, themed ‘Rethinking Governance for National Unity’, brought together young innovators from across the country to design policy ideas that could promote peace and unity.