+ How YEES Programme Started 5 Yrs Ago
Youth Economic Empowerment Summit is a yearly empowerment programme organized by the popular General Overseer/Senior Pastor, Christ Livingspring Apostolic Ministry (CLAM), Pastor Wole Oladiyun.
According to the President of CLAM Youth Fellowship, “Yees is designed to empower the youth of various walks life, this year we have about 11 skills ranging from Photography, KT, Soap making, Bead making, Baking & Confectionaries, Fascinator, Makeover, Fashion Designer, Leather works, Music & Voice training and Barbing.
Just for them to be economically empowered, to be independent, I believe if the youths are empowered all of these social vises would be reduced”. CLAM as a church over the years has been saddled with the responsibilities to empower the life of youth.
Pastor Wole Oladiyun is indeed a sincere and a genuine man of God, who desires the progress of youths and that has instituted the idea of Yees that was birthed 5 years ago to empower youths interdenominationally and has been waxing stronger, raising entrepreneurs all over the nation.
In a chit-chat with City People SUNDAY ADIGUN, the coordinator of YEES speaks exclusively on how the vision starts 5 years ago by Pastor Wole Oladiyun, and what the youths have been benefiting so far. Excerpt.
You are the coordinator of YEES programme, what can you say about the programme so far?
YEES means Youth Economic Empowerment Summits, it’s a programme designed to empower the youths, to make the youths become entrepreneuers that is just the purpose, some of them are in school, some have left school, looking for jobs, some just left secondary school graduates awaiting gain admission into Higher Institutions, but the purpose all in all is to raise young entrepreneurs, to give the youths the mindset of becoming an entrepreneurs and to develop themselves now.
And ever since you started, what has been the testimonies of the youths out there?
Honestly, we have tots of testimonies, so many youths that passed through YEES now have their own business, some are still students and they are making money, some of them learnt how to make hair, some learnt how to bake, some learnt how to sew, the testimony is that there is no youth that has attended this programme and hasn’t gotten something substantial.
YEES programme runs for 2 weeks and at the end of the empowerment, the youths will be given starter packs to start their business, if it’s hair dressing, we will give dryers, if it’s ICT we will give them laptops, if it’s soap making, we buy them materials for the production, etc. we provides for them to kick-start what they have learnt.
Although, we have criteria to determines the best students to give the starter packs.
So what has been the impact of the Senior Pastor of CLAM?
He is the visioner, YEES is his vision, I am just the coordinator in-charge of youths in this ministry, my own job is to move the vision forward, by organising the youths, bringing them together, and ever since we started 5 years ago, it has been so wonderful, Pastor Wole has impacted the youths so much, he brings funds, ideas to run and for us to move this programme forward. He also lectures too, on different modules, he has empowered lots of youths financially, so he is been very impactful. As a matter of fact, he is the main source of finance for YEES.
What message do you have for youths out there?
They should stay focused, they should stay dedicated, they should have a vision, they should not relent, and they should not give-up, Nigeria economy is in a challenging state today and that is why many people turned up for the programme this year much. But to youths out there, CLAM is saying that with your hand you can do something with your mouth, you can do something, you can be a voice, you can be used for God, you can use your hands to make money, you can use your brain to think, ideas rules the world, so this is a total package to package Nigerian youths to become young enterpreneurs, to make money, to develop ideas that will help this nation and their family.
