MyNigerianDream 2.0
Beauty Brains & Brawns
Starting in October, 2020 last year, the I Choose Life Foundation organized an event to commemorate the Independence Day Anniversary of Nigeria. This event, which was tagged #MyNigerianDream has become an annual event and on the two occasions it was marked, last year and this year, themes were deliberately picked to touch on specific areas serving to promote mental health and general wellbeing of young people, while harnessing Nigerian talents. Last year's MyNigerianDream Event was held on 2nd October, 2020, with a focus on #TimeToBlow
This year, MyNigerianDream 2.0 was bigger and better. Themed "Beauty, Brains and Brawn" and targeted at spotlighting the fashion and sports Industries, the I Choose Life Foundation held a fashion contest to showcase the ingeniousness of young creatives in the fashion industry. The winners of this contest will bag a massive cash prize of 1 million naira. In addition to the cash prizes to be given out, some of the contestants randomly selected were provided a platform to showcase their works and also, got the opportunity to interact with other professionals in their field.
And that wasn't nearly all of it! The Foundation went ahead to host and celebrate the WU20 Nigerian Athletes who represented the country. Like the young athletes had never seen before, the I Choose Life Foundation not only celebrated them on a grand scale by hosting them to a dinner held in Abuja, but also, pledged a support of ₦100,000 each to every single one of the thirty-four athletes, both medaled and non-medaled.
Staying true to its word and modeling its message to the Nigerian Government - to invest more in young Nigeria talents - the Foundation sent out 34 bank drafts of N1,000,000 each to the Athletics Federation of Nigeria to be given to the 34 athletes who represented the Nation in the WU20 Nairobi 2021.
The Minister of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare, lauded the I Choose Life Foundation on its steady stream of innovative initiatives which consistently produces massive transformational results among Nigerian young people. He expressed, at the dinner held to celebrate the young athletes, that he was impressed at every turn of event by the Foundation, and noted that such was the reason he would always endeavor to be present at events organized by the Foundation.
He further went on to commit his support to the cause that the Foundation had hit the ground running with by assuring the fashion designers of their inclusion in the Nigerian Youth Investment Fund (NYIF), an initiative of the Ministry.
Another notable feather in the cap of the I Choose Life Foundation is the publication of a children's book series called The Heroes Series highlighting heroic deeds and periods in recent Nigerian history. The first publication was released last year, October 2020 to commemorate the passing of the first female air combat pilot of the Nigerian Air Force; the book was titled Look Mum, I Can Fly. The second published book in the Heroes series was released this year, Godson Brume; The Story of a True Patriot.
Godson Brume was the captain of the Nigerian representative at the World U20 Championship in Kenya where they came 3rd out of 116 countries. He was surprised and honoured to be made the subject of the second edition of the I Choose Life Heroes Series.
The story goes on and on but the message of the I Choose Life Foundation remains the same.
"We young and we are for all young people; life gets hard but you don't have to do it all alone. We will continually work hard to provide initiatives and innovations which will serve our ultimate goal - promoting mental health among young people. The welcoming arms of the I Choose Life Foundation will always be open to all!"
God bless the I Choose Life Foundation. God bless Nigeria.
