18th December, 2013
Peter Akinola, former primate, Anglican Church of Nigeria, establishes a vocational centre to help Nigerian youths
Though he would consider even contemplating such comparison as sacrilegious, Archbishop Peter Akinola, former primate of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, takes after Jesus Christ in two aspects. His first vocation in life was carpentry and second, he has the love of the people at heart.
Beyond his status as former Anglican primate, Akinola believes very strongly in the ability of the youths in Nigeria. Like Jesus who admonished people to allow children to come to him, Akinola’s passion for the youth can be traced to his own upbringing. “I think it has to do with my world view and my perception of the younger generation I see around me and also because of my own background. I see a lot of young people who ought to be useful to themselves and to their nation, just roaming the streets. I feel challenged that whatever I can do in my own little way to better the lot of these young people, I will do,” he says.
To achieve this goal, he has set up the Peter Akinola Foundation, PAF. The foundation has already graduated over 80 students in two semesters. Located on the outskirts of Ota, Ogun State, PAF is a vocational training centre designed to help youths find their path in life. “When I had the vision for the foundation, I was not concerned about any other thing rather taking these young people off the street, giving them an opportunity to learn a trade and be competent in it. If they have that trade and are competent and they have tools to work with, they can become self-employed and what they do will have ripple effect on the economy,” he explains.
PAF, a non-profit-making organisation, is designed to help the youth to be economically independent. The foundation also intends to rescue youths from the stranglehold of Satan by bringing them to the knowledge of God; and encourages the Church to stand for the edification of people’s spiritual well-being. In a nutshell, the four main objectives of the foundation are to reduce unemployment, teach Christ’s genuine doctrine, envangelise the word and ensure self reliance.
Currently, the foundation offers courses in carpentry, catering and housekeeping, driving, electrical installation, fashion designing, refrigerator and air-conditioning repairs, GSM repairs, metal craft, painting and tiling. The trainees are also groomed in entrepreneurial development, use of English, civic responsibility and Information Communication Technology. “The only yardstick for now is that they are trainable. We have not placed any educational requirement for now. If you are a young person, you want to learn a trade, just come in and be trained because the moment we begin to insist on particular academic qualification you are cutting off a large chunk of the youth that want to participate. So for now, there is no requirement,” Akinola says.
For good causes such as this across the country, funding has always been a major problem but Akinola suggests that the foundation will have no problems with funding. It took off on the goodwill generated by the retired archbishop during his official years in the Lord’s service. “I started with my retirement gifts and not benefits.
At my retirement, God raised people to support me and they did so in a way that is highly commendable, in a way I never expected. People were generous; churches, individuals, archdeaconries, dioceses etc. They told me that when I was in office, I never bothered them, I did not ask for levies or put financial burden on them and I did not ask anything for myself either. So it was time for them to help me as well. So in retirement, I will not lack the basic things of life.”
He explains that the people share in the vision of the foundation. “God raised an individual to make a very generous donation; he made a pledge to support us even far beyond what we were even asking for. It’s been God raising people to support us. They can see that what we are doing here is not for ourselves. This place does not bring anything to me or any of the trustees. What we are doing here is for the good of the Nigerian youth and I am not asking for anything in return,” he says.
—Seun Bisuga