Captain Idahosa Okunbo’s benevolence transcends his achievements in business. As a well-known and celebrated philanthropist in Sub-Sahara Africa, he has contributed immensely towards the development of education and scholarship, the promotion of entrepreneurship and youth development, as well as poverty reduction programmes.
Most recently, he has made large donations to projects aimed at the total annihilation of illegal migration and human trafficking of young Africans.
The menace of irregular migration and trafficking in persons is far more personal to him, because of his understanding of how deep this challenge portends to the economy and the devastating effect it has on families and the society.
It is for this reason that he singlehandedly partnered and sponsored the Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF), which launched an initiative themed: International Action on Illegal Migration and Trafficking in Persons, and whose anchor project, Skills and Entrepreneurship Development Program (SED-P), was designed to identify young Nigerians and redirect them towards self-reliance and strategic development.
With his huge contribution, the programme was able to organise its first International Conference in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, in 2019. It was a huge success, which saw the convergence of representatives from various United Nations, International, and African agencies, as well as several panel experts and other development partners.
The Skills Entrepreneurship Development Programme (SED-P) has thus far trained hundreds of persons in various skill-acquisition drives across Nigeria.
This gesture was made possible with Captain Okunbo’s support.
*Siasia is Chairman, Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF) www.nypf.org.ng
