Travel & Business News (TBN), a leading air transport magazine, recently partnered with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to organize the 2018 edition of its Youth Empowerment Seminar (YES) to admonish Nigerian youths against the dangers and challenges of Illegal Migration.
The gathering which attracted youths from Secondary Schools and Tertiary Institutions across the country was part of activities to mark this year’s Children and Youth Day Celebrations and also witnessed the Grand Finale of the 9th National Travel Essay Competition (NTEC 2018) held on Saturday May 26, 2018 at the Training Centre of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Annex, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos Nigeria.
The forum opened with a minute silence in honour of the demise of Apostle Samuel Owolabi Akerele, husband of NTEC’s National Matron & Member of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Princess Titilayo Owolabi Akerele, which occurred barely few days to the event.
Speaking at the epoch making event which has grown to become a regular feature on the annual aviation industry calendar, the Founder and National Coordinator of NTEC, Mr. Ewos Iroro, said that over the years, the National Travel Essay Competition and Youth Empowerment Seminar has gradually succeeded in not only stimulating the interests of many young Nigerians to learn about the aviation and travel and tourism sectors, but to also follow a career in the sectors.
Mrs. Kolawole Opeyemi, Senior Programme Assistant, IOM, delivered the Keynote Paper titled: “EMBRACING REGULAR MIGRATION.” She stated that regular or orderly migration is the movement of a person from his or her usual place of residence to a new place of residence, in keeping with the laws and regulations governing exit of the country of origin and travel, transit and entry into the destination or host country. Conversely, she noted that irregular migration is the Movement that takes place outside the regulatory norms of the sending, transit and receiving countries.
She disclosed that Trafficking In Persons and Smuggling were two major types of irregular migration with serious dangers such as Sexual and other forms of Abuse, Forced Labour, Slavery, Detention, Theft, Kidnap leading to exploitation of family members and ultimately Death. She added that it has become a global issue for the international community and for specific governments as well as poses concerns for national security and contributes to the possibility of aggravated diplomatic relations with other countries. She said some of the causes of Trafficking and Smuggling include poverty, unemployment, and lack of opportunities among others.
As part of the IOM’s efforts to address the problem, Mrs. Kolawole said that: “To date IOM has assisted 7,362 stranded Nigerian migrants to voluntarily return from Libya under the EUTF-IOM Joint Initiative for migrant protection and reintegration. Of this number 4,387 are males and 2,975 females.
The forum was blessed to have in attendance one of the Libya Returnees currently undergoing rehabilitation, reintegration and empowerment by IOM in the person of Miss Owolabi Mary. She used the gathering to tell her story of the harrowing ordeal she experienced and passionately admonished the youths to desist from all forms of illegal migration, stressing that she and her family spent a fortune on her journey to Europe through Libya, but in the end she suffered untold hardship, grave losses of her freedom and resources and was only grateful to God that she did not lose her life in the process.
In line with the subject of the day, the grand finale of NTEC 2018 got underway with oral assessments of the top ten shortlisted finalists in defense of their entries in both Secondary Schools and Tertiary Institutions categories.
“This year we thought it was necessary to beam a searchlight on the subject of illegal migration in the light of recent disturbing developments in Libya where many of our young Nigerian citizens lost their dignity, freedom and in some cases their very lives due to the menace,” said Mr. Iroro.
Hence the topics chosen for NTEC 2018 were: “The Role of Economic Insecurity In Illegal Migration,” for Secondary Schools; and “Illegal Migration And Modern Day Slavery: Which Way To Go?” in the Tertiary Institutions Category.
Entries were assessed by an Independent Panel of Assessors Chaired by Captain Dele Ore, erstwhile President of Aviation Round Table. Others include Mr. Basil Agboarumi, GM, Corporate Communications, Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL); Mr. Ibrahim Haske, GM, Airspace Planning, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA); Mr. Felix Anyanwu, AGM, Aerodrome Standards, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
Also assisting with the oral defense were Mr. Shittu Babatunde, erstwhile President, Aeronautical Information Management Association of Nigeria (AIMAN); Mr. Oladunni Paul, Founder, Space Society In Africa; and Mrs. Kolawole Opeyemi of IOM.
At the end of a robust session of oral presentations Miss Yinka-Banjo Victory of Princeton College, Surulere, Lagos emerged as the Grand Prize Winner of N100,000 cash and a free ticket to Dubai courtesy of Kenya Airways in the Secondary schools category. 2nd place went to Ojo Purpose Oluwapelumi of Liz International College, Olambe, Ogun State with a cash prize of N60,000 and a free ticket to Accra courtesy of Africa World Airlines (AWA); while in 3rd place was Obianwu Ofunneka Vivian of His Grace Academy, Olambe, Ogun State with a cash prize of N40,000 and a free ticket to any destination in Nigeria courtesy of DANA Air. The last time Princeton College won the competition was in 2015.
In the Tertiary Institutions Category, Miss Igbokwe Mesoma Andrea, a student of University of Nigeria, Nsuka came first with a cash prize of N150,000 and a free ticket to South Africa sponsored by South African Airways (SAA). Alade Bisola Naomi of University of Lagos came 2nd with a cash prize of N100,000 and a free ticket to Accra courtesy of AWA; and 3rd place went to Asogwa Chijioke Peter, also a student of University of Nigeria, Nsuka with a cash prize of N50,000 and a free ticket to any destination in Nigeria sponsored by DANA Air.
As part of the Youth Empowerment initiative of the youth forum, Five (5) Training Scholarships in Ticketing & Reservation was also given to young graduates courtesy of Sabre Travel Network West Africa, a foremost travel technology solutions company. Beneficiaries include Miss Udotong Happiness, Miss Yusuf Olamide, Mrs. Ologbon Remilekun, Miss Okpodu Emuejevoke, and Mr. Oshinbanjo Olasunkanmi.
Special Recognition Awards were also presented to Alhaji Ibrahim Haske, one of the Assessors for his contributions to the success of NTEC 2018; as well as to the immediate past winners of the contest for serving creditably as Industry Ambassadors for the past one year. They include Miss Daikpor Immaculata, Winner NTEC 2017 in the Secondary Schools Category; and Miss Lawson Peace, Winner, NTEC 2017 in the Tertiary Institutions Category.
Many thanks go to the proud sponsors of NTEC 2018. They include Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), and Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB). Others are South African Airways (SAA), Kenya Airways, Africa World Airlines (AWA), DANA Air, Sabre Travel Network, and Output Coefficient Proprietaries (OCP) International.
The National Travel Essay Competition is a Future Workforce Development Initiative (FWDI) of Travel & Business News that is aimed at discovering hidden talents and encouraging young Nigerians to follow a career in the aviation and travel & tourism sectors. Its goal is to drum up greater awareness and support for the air transport industry and is geared towards Raising Future Aviation Professionals in an effort to address the challenges of ageing workforce and skilled manpower shortage in the sector.
