Pastor Tosin Bakare
Pastor Tosin Bakare of King’s Mandate Ministry, Ibadan, Oyo State, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of TOVA Africa, has been resolute in redefining the lives of youths in and outside the vineyard through his initiative. In this interview with Nigerian Tribune, he catalogued how youths in Africa can excel in a godly way.
How has it been as a cleric and staunch advocate of youth empowerment in Africa?
The need for youth empowerment in Africa is a major part of Kingdom assignment. At Tova Africa, we are on a mission to break the vicious circle of poverty among the youths and indigent women of Africa through requisite trainings and innovative skills acquisition and empowerment. We are only following the template of the Great Master. Isaiah 61:1 says “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me and he has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor.” You will agree with me that Africa has a vast majority of this category of people. With Nigeria currently being ascribed as the poverty capital of the world and with a large youth population, we already have our assignment clearly mapped out for us.
This is why our social entrepreneurship organisation, Tova Africa, is in active collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development to train and empower Nigerian youths with relevant skills, digital marketing, robotics, artificial intelligence and world-class big data solutions. We are working closely with the minister, Sunday Dare, in this regard to play our own role in actualising his giant strides and innovative efforts to empower the Nigerian youth and lift them out of the quagmire of poverty through the Nigerian Youth Investment Fund (NYIF), his Digital skills acquisition, Employability, Entrepreneurship and Leadership (DEEL) initiatives as well as other several public-private intervention and partnership programmes.
Your drive in the re-orientation of the Nigerian youth seems louder than your ministry, why?
The youth ministry is indeed my ministry. I just love to see the youth inspired and empowered to live a dignified life. The motto of my alma mater, the prestigious University of Nigeria is “To Restore the Dignity of Man.” I guess, I am living out that mandate. I have a clear understanding of some of the challenges of the Nigerian youth. I have been there myself. Growing up was tough and rough. I lost my father at the age of two and growing up in poverty was not fun. Deprivation in its entire ramification is a terrible thing. I know what it means not to have a job after graduation or not to have a meal on your table. Life can be pretty tough, especially for the youth in Africa. It can be quite challenging and sometimes the future looks bleak and hopeless. This is why many youths prefer to try their luck crossing the Mediterranean Sea to get to Europe. Many die in the process. It’s that bad.
So, you can see that it’s only natural that at Tova Africa we give attention to the youth population. The Western and Central Africa alone is home to an estimated half a billion people and more than 55 percent of the population is in the youth age bracket. In Nigeria, over 60 percent of the population is in the youth category. According to the United Nations’ projection, this is expected to increase by approximately 60 percent between now and 2030.
If all hands are not on deck, these figures may trigger overwhelming challenges as evident in the last #EndSars demonstration and agitation. Government must be a little more proactive and ensure more robust collaboration with relevant NGOs, social entrepreneurship organisations and the private sector to attend to the need of youths in order to forestall such reoccurrence again. Nigeria should not witness such again. It’s a sad part of our history. Never again!
Considering your exposure, how do you think the church in Africa and even Nigeria can be more effective in tackling some of the youth challenges?
Let me start by saying that some churches have done well in this regard, just that a lot more needs to be done. Churches must begin to get involved and partner with organisations that are structured in this regard. Some churches do not have the structure and manpower to make this happen. Their efforts are not well coordinated. This is why it appears they are not doing much in the areas of empowerment. Also, in the areas of mindset re-engineering, our churches must begin to emphasise the place of diligence, hardwork and creative thinking. Too much emphasis on prayers and spirituality alone to the detriment of hard work, integrity of purpose and creative thinking will not do the work.
Would you say that your mission to Nigeria since you determined to return home has been fruitful?
I never really stayed abroad. I only went abroad to study for an International MBA course that lasted for one year. Before then, I had already established a Marketing Communications consultancy agency in Nigeria where I have been privileged to give communication consultancy services to organisations and government parastatal like NNPC, NIMASA, NDDC and the Lagos State government. So, it’s only natural that I return home. It is just that I never knew I would be coming back to run a social entrepreneurship organisation on a mission to break the vicious circle of poverty in Africa. This idea was birthed in Israel. Together with my expatriate and African partners, we have made some tremendous progress and stride so far.
What has been your greatest challenge so far?
So far, we have been privileged to have the blessing of good partnerships across the globe. The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development have also demonstrated good faith in our vision and efforts. I have personally met with the minister of Youth and Sports Development and his team and we are working together. So, it has been some good initial steps. However, the challenges currently being faced are the usual hurdles any new organisation tends to face. It’s the challenge of communicating a new idea to the people. First you must demonstrate some level of confidence in your own vision for others to take you seriously. Also important is the challenge of getting the youth and indigent women to understand that success in life is no short-cut. It is a product of ‘No pains, no gains.’ Many youths want to have it easy and cool on their way to success. It just doesn’t work that way.
What is your advice for youths?
Nigerian youths should never let anything make them lose their self-confidence. It’s all they’ve got. This is the reason the scripture in Hebrews 10:35 say, “Cast not away, therefore, your confidence, which has a great recompense of rewards.” As long as they believe in themselves, the future is glorious. They just need to look inward and let the champion in them come alive. Trust me; Nigerian youths are champions by nature. They prosper in whatever they put their minds to do. They deserve to be celebrated and encouraged. They are indeed the future of this nation. I so much believe in them. The temporary challenges of the country will not last. We all must put all hands on deck. God bless Nigeria!
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