PROJECT_INSPIRE: Can we meet you? Valentine: Valentine Tobechukwu Okafor is my name. I am 26 years old and from Imo State Nigeria.
PROJECT_INSPIRE:Tell us about your childhood?
Valentine: I used to be a very shy person when I was younger. I had many aspirations including the desire to become a medical doctor. I just loved to switch professions that tickled my fancy. It is so funny that as a child, I loved to do amazing things but couldn’t do them because of timidity. I wasn’t a very bright student as I was always behind others. I remember the time I came 14th out of 16th, my father almost killed me that day. Because of my shy nature, I was reserved and quiet. I didn’t look for trouble (smiles) . I just loved being on my own lane, doing my thing. I loved watching and playing football, writing stories and listening to music.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: What is your educational background like?
Valentine: Like I said, I wasn’t a bright student especially in my primary school. I couldn’t read or write like my mates. I was shy, and at the same time didn’t do well in school. It was devastating. When I got into secondary school, I continued that way until SS1. That was the time I decided that I had to do something to change my current state. As a result, I began to read voraciously. A lot changed after that decision and I was elected to be the deputy senior prefect and was made to handle so many other responsibilities. My grade improved tremendously even as an undergraduate in the university. Today, I am a graduate of social work from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: What contribution are you giving to make Nigeria a better place?
Valentine: I am an effective leadership crusader, transformational speaker, social innovator and peak performance strategist. With an incredible passion to help individuals and corporations become the best version of themselves and achieve exponential results, I design and spearhead the implementation of personal development and service excellence series for corporations, youths, adolescents and children across Nigeria.
Through academic symposiums organized in several primary, secondary and tertiary schools, I have helped over 2000 students improve their performance.
I sit as the executive director of the Val Okafor Company ( a human capital development institution that helps people become the best version of themselves). One of the most effective services we offer is the leadership clinic which helps people become better leaders. I started this movement back in 2014 right in my church, working with the teenagers and youths. Today, I have moved beyond my church to touching the lives of other persons across Nigeria and beyond.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: What motivated you into doing what you are doing?
Valentine :I have always desired to live a life of impact, help people become the best version of themselves and lift millions out of poverty. This is my motivation and why I do what I do.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: Tell us more about what you are doing and how it will help our nation realize it's full potential?
Valentine: I am an effective leadership crusader and what I do is to help individuals and corporations achieve exponential results by utilizing their unique potentials. This is a new approach to education and I am so sure it will go a long way to shape the behaviour of our teens. If the Nigerian education sector can incorporate self-leadership skill development and character building as well as entrepreneurship in her curriculum, what we do would have a ripple effect on our nation's developmental process.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: What has been your challenges since you began your career ?
Valentine: Well, the truth is that innovation and change is difficult. People love change but fail to take the necessary action that will eventually lead to change. Sometimes, people feel this whole thing is rocket science and meant for some specific kind of people. Another challenge is finance. Most of the programs I have organized were free and so I needed funds to execute them. I still run social impact projects which require huge amount of money. As an individual, I don’t have the financial muscle to carry out these projects at least for now.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: Share with us one or two experiences that you have had in your journey that has really impacted you.
Valentine: In my journey as a leader, I have been faced with numerous challenges especially while working with children and adolescents in underserved communities in Nigeria. In December 2019, I flagged off a leadership and character building program for children aged between 10-17 years. I pegged the training fee at $5 which covered study pack, refreshment and certificate. Few days to the deadline for registration, less than 10 children had registered. The reason was financial constraint. I didn’t want lack of finance to hinder any child from attending the event and at the same time, I needed the registration fees to provide refreshment and take care of logistics. It appeared I was in a dilemma until I started scouting for sponsors. Fortunately, I was able to convince five persons who sponsored a significant number of children. I was resilient in my desire to host such an invaluable event in a community where a vast majority of its population were low-income earners. That experience taught the value of resilience and creative thinking as I continue to advocate for a saner nation.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: Many young people have great ideas but the finances are always a stumbling block, what will your advice be in this regard?
Valentine: My advice is for them is to keep developing themselves, keep gathering knowledge until that idea matures fully. When it’s fully matured, they should start from their sphere of influence e.g. family, friends, school and church while leveraging on social media and other relevant technologies for fundraising.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: How has the reaction of people especially fellow young people being like when they see you doing what you do and how have you always responded to them?
Valentine: Anywhere I go especially after speaking engagements, those in attendance always want to have my contact, book a meeting with me or link up with me on social media. My response to them has been positive and affirmative. I believe that the future of any nation depends on the capacity of her youth. So I tell them to invest their energy towards actualizing their dreams as well as the dream of their nation.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: How have you been able to raise money for your projects?Valentine: I use personal finance and I also crowd fund. Each time I have a project to execute, I put it out on the public space for people to see and be part of.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: What do you think has been the major cause of unemployment among youths today and how can we get of this?
Valentine: There are several reasons but I will focus on two.
Poor system of education
Bad governance.
It is sad to say that we run an unproductive system of education in Nigeria. The things that are churned out are old and outdated and that makes our youths unemployable. Bad governance encourages nepotism and corruption. This explains why a qualified and employable youth would be denied employment just because he/she is not from the employer’s state of origin or local government area.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: What are your prospects for the next 5- 10?
Valentine: To grow my organization to be able to employ up to 50 persons and expand our social impact project to reach 50,000 persons annually.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: Final words to the Nigerian youth.
Valentine: You are the future. Nigeria depends so much on you, therefore you cannot afford to be useless.
PROJECT_INSPIRE: Thank you Valentine for sharing your story with us. We do hope and pray that many will be inspired to action as they read.
Valentine: It's my pleasure!
Follow and Like Us on Facebook and Instagram:
Comments
Post a Comment