COMMISSIONING OF THE RAAOFAT (REVD. AKINYEMI A. O. FATUSI YOUTH DEVELOPMENT RESOURCE CENTRE) CENTRE, LAGOS

The RAAOFAT (Revd. Akinyemi A. O. Fatusi Youth Development Resource) Centre, Lagos was commissioned on the 13th of December, 2019. It is a youth development resource centre affiliated with the Paaneah Foundation, Ota, and serves as her outreach centre in Lagos. The Centre is named after the late Revd. Akinyemi Fatusi – an educationist, youth advocate, Christian Minister, and community leader in his lifetime. The vision of the Centre is to produce healthy, productive, proactive, engaged and godly youth empowered to reach full potential and positively transform the society. While her mission is to support and empower adolescents and young people for a successful future. Simply put, the Centre is geared towards “Transforming the Future”…the future of our young people and the future of our society through empowered, well-equipped and godly adolescents and youths.

The commissioning was done by the Bishop of Lagos West (Anglican Communion) – Rt Revd James Odedeji. Also in attendance were the Tutor General of Education in the District, Principals and teachers of schools in the community, as well as their students (adolescents/young people), and adult representatives from the community.

The event featured a focused group discussion session with the teachers and the students with the objective of understanding the peculiarities around youth development and wellbeing in the community. The participants also suggested interventions which the Centre could carry out for the development of adolescents, young people and youth in the community.

The Centre sets to unlock the potentials of young by building young people’s capacities, empowering them with resources and opportunities, strengthening their supportive structures, and facilitating supportive environment. The strategic interventions which the Centre targets include:

• Advocacy for supportive policies and safe environment for adolescents and youths
• Building the capacity of young people, youth-related personnel and institutions to enhance youth development
• Connecting young people with supportive and life-enhancing resources, including counselling services, positive peer networks, nurturing environment, and educational materials
• Developing youth-friendly structures including a resource centre and reading facility, youth clubs and youth networking opportunities for holistic youth development
• Strengthening the capacity and capabilities of youth-related structures (schools, religious institutions and community-based organisations) to support optimal youth development

The management of the Centre is co-led by Mrs. Arike Adeniyi (Nee Fatusi) and Prof Adesegun Fatusi.