Won the U.S Consul General's Award as the 2018 Best Carrington Youth Fellowship Initiative - CYFI Fellow of the Year

MY CYFI SPEECH! 

It was really a great honor to represent my colleagues to deliver the CYFI Speech as I received the U.S Consul General's Award as the 2018 best Carrington Youth Fellowship Initiative (CYFI) Fellow of the Year  . I can't thank them enough for trusting me.. Find the speech below.

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The Carrington Youth Fellowship Initiative (CYFI) came as a great blessing to me and to be honored by my colleagues mean a lot and I would not take it for granted. 

I don’t know what you all find deserving about me to have received this award but I want you all to know that you are the true MVPs. Indeed, I am very privileged to join CYFI and to learn from all of you. Starting with my team, the Education Team, I want to appreciate all of you. We saw a problem, which was the deficiency in contemporary teaching methods which affects millions of children in low income schools and we did something about it. We created Teaching Edge Ng that empowered 240 teachers in Agege with contemporary pedagogy and innovative teaching methodologies. And we created the first learning management system for teachers in Nigeria. We started as teammates but ended as co-founders. It also started as a project but today it’s a movement geared towards restoring the educational promise. 

You all taught me resilience; you taught me hard work, commitment and you made me understand that there is nothing wrong in doing too much. So far it will benefit us and our community. You also taught me that there is nothing wrong in making mistakes. I made a whole lot of mistakes but you forgave me. You taught me to be vulnerable and to be human. Yes I am human and I can make mistakes.  

CYFI is a place where you will meet people who are more passionate than you are. Moyosoreoluwa Eleso is that one person in the team who is more passionate about the educational sector. Today I can ball around and boast that I know how to design communication plans. Moyo was my teacher. 

Abraham Femi Abraham, the tall dark man, he isn’t here. Femi is a program developer at Leap Africa and brought all his expertise to CYFI. I must confess that I can now design programmes in the social development space.

Hannah Afia taught me diplomacy. She made me to understand that there is nothing wrong in saying no! I can say no now. Thank you Hannah! Toluwanimi Afolayan, who will soon get married to Femi in Kenya. Thank you for teaching me love. Its love that truly makes the world goes round. 

Guys we fought but at everytime we did, we understood our indifferences and accepted it. We found our strength and focused on it.  To confirm this, Pierre Crocquet said, “the purpose of life today is that we must all realize that we are like different flowers in a garden. The absence of even one flower deprives the garden of its full beauty, while the presence of all gives the garden its splendid color,” Today, our teachers could proudly call themselves 21st century teachers because of you all. 

To my CYFI family I love you all, Yusuf Shittu, Williams Elizabeth, Mofolashade Boyejo, Bunmi Oluwasade, Emmanuel Osinaike, Oyewale, Olutimehin Adegbeye, Tochukwu,  Nafisa Emmanuella Atiku, Oshinojo Adedeji , Adeoye Mary, Lucille Onazi, Abiodun Rufus Unegbu, Toyosi Bakare and Olajumoke Adebayo. I mean I missed all the moments at American GQ. The doughnuts, muffins and the corrections. To my mentors Patrick and Omozino, thank you for the unwavering support. To all CYFI board members, thank you for creating change makers who will change the face of sustainable development in Nigeria. From project Alaafia to Recycle for Benefits to My V Card. These are amazing projects. And to the new set of changemakers coming in, CYFI 2019 set. Guys make it count. I was 5% in Project Management before I join CYFI but now I am 90%. I am 0.5% in monitoring and evaluation but today I am 97%. 

Guys my experience shaped the work that I do today. I grew up in the slum and today I am representing those group of people. If I can, they can. I strongly believe in the education of children living in underserved communities, because it is only true access to quality education that they can change the circumstances they inherit. If I can be here, they can be here. Those children! Yes those children. 

I have also realized that the best way to receive is to give. And the best way to lead is to give more people the opportunity to lead. It is not always about you but in the end it’s about you. 

Permit me to shine the spotlights on some amazing people, my parents. I mean! I mean! I mean! Despite all the hardship, you still gave me the best education. You made me understand that I matter. I can't be here without you. I am always on the scene but these are people working day and night behind the scenes. 

I will like to end this speech, with one of my favorite quote by Maya Angelou; Maya said, “My mission in life is not merely to survive but to thrive, and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour and some style. I thought I was good but CYFI made me better. And I promise I wouldn’t stop in my pursuit of becoming. 

As much as I also want to be the best, achieve greatness and make history. I don't want to do it alone, I want to make it happen with all of you. 

caption: Receiving my Award from the US Consulate General John F. Bray

I am because we are! 

Thank you. 

Thank you so much! 

Thank you!