The wife of the Anambra governor, Nonye Soludo, has called for renewed investment in youth mentorship and value-based guidance, saying it’s the surest way to raise responsible leaders for Nigeria’s future.

Ms Soludo made the call at the 2025 Teens Career Conference, organised by The Everlasting Arms Parish, Redeemed Christian Church of God, in Abuja.

She urged parents, especially mothers, to play an active role in guiding their children towards purposeful living in today’s fast-changing society.

According to her, being parents requires hard work, and coming together from different backgrounds also requires time and patience to learn and to tolerate each other.

Fela Durotoye, a public speaker and business consultant, said that the teenage years were the time when the heart was most vulnerable to receiving concepts and running with them.

Mr Durotoye said that most of the unhealthy vices he had and had to drop were picked up during his teenage years, from friends and people that he thought were good. He said that if anyone had exposed him to such conferences, his path would have been easier, smoother, and more successful.

“There are three levels of engagement with the young people; there is the master relationship when you command them.

“You have the model relationship, where you show them what they are supposed to be and do. The challenge here is that they think it is because you are older, and that’s why you tell them what to do.

“Mentoring is also one, and it’s by far the greatest gift you can give a teenager; when you mentor them, you do not give instructions, you’ll be available to ask questions and be more concerned about what they care about than what you care about,” he said.

Mr Durotoye urged parents and other stakeholders to always set good examples for their children and younger ones, stressing that “there is somebody who is looking up to you and thinking that, this is what my future can be like.

Also speaking, Adebowale Olujimi, the Chief Executive Officer of Emadeb Energy Services, stated that the days when parents alone determined their children’s life paths or academic pursuits were gone.

He said that children in recent times want to be a determining factor in what they become in the future, which is not always in line with the dreams of many parents.

(NAN)