Miss Insurance empowers youths

Chuks Udo Okonta

The 2012 Insurance Queen, Miss Onyeka Adigwe recently held an event tagged ‘Youth Empowerment Day’ at CMS Grammar School, Bariga, Lagos as the grand finale of her pet project themed "Youth Empowerment: Functional Education and the Dangers of Drug Abuse".
Miss Adigwe visited secondary schools with her team which comprises officials of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), educationists and Insurance practitioners. They have held series of interactive sessions with the students on various issues contributing to failure in their academics, dangers of drug abuse as well as benefits of Insurance as a profession and a way of life. This, they believed would help to build their immunity against negative
influences.
Adigwe said her pet project was instigated by her passion to see students focus more on their education and disallow distraction from peer pressure and social vices depriving them of the
opportunity to build a future beneficial to them and the country. She targeted the secondary school students "because they are more prone to negative influences that can jeopardise their future as well as that of the nation; and also to bring about veritable change among the
upcoming leaders of tomorrow."
She believed that such enlightenment should not be left to the government alone; hence she sourced for support from insurance companies to join hands in combating one of the major menaces of our society – Drug Abuse.
In the course of her project, Miss Insurance engaged the students in an inter-school essay competition titled, "Benefits of Insurance to a Nigerian Child". This she did in order to entrench the gospel of insurance in them and to serve as a platform of ‘catching them young’.
With this, the students were able to carry out a research on Insurance and its significance to individuals, families and nations.
On the Youth Empowerment Day, students and school-representatives were awarded prizes and plaques for their participation in the essay competition. The winner of the essay-writing competition took a HP laptop while his school took a HP desktop computer. The second
position took a mini laptop and her school, three-in-one scanner and a white board. The third position won a digital camera and a cash of N20,000.00 while his school took a water dispenser.
The speakers at the event were Mrs. Modupeola Dallas-Olusanya, Managing Director of Gombot Insurance Brokers Limited; NDLEA officials led by Mrs. Bolanle Adekunle; Mr. Joseph Oba from the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria; and Mr. Tunde Badmus from Regency Alliance Plc. The day was graced by teachers, students of secondary schools in Lagos and representatives of her sponsors: NEM Insurance Plc, Regency Alliance Plc Goldlink Insurance Plc, FBN Insurance Brokers, UBA Metropolitan, Law, Union & Rock Insurance Plc, and Mutual Benefits Plc.