Stakeholders have urged Nigerian youths to embrace leadership, innovation and digital skills to drive transformational change and social impact in their communities.

The stakeholders made the call on Friday in Abuja at the “Unleash Your Leadership Potential Conference,” organised by IV LEAD.

IV LEAD is a leadership development organisation focusing on raising transformational leaders through digital solutions and social innovation.

The Founder and Executive Director of IV LEAD, Mr Mayowa Odetayo, said the conference was designed to help youths discover and maximise their hidden potentials and leadership abilities.

Odetayo said the programme aimed at equipping participants with innovative and digital skills needed to solve societal problems and create positive impacts in their communities.

According to him, Nigerian youths should see themselves as solutions to the nation’s challenges rather than problems.

“The goal is to ensure that everyone here can express their hidden potential and skills and use digital solutions to make social impacts in their communities.

“We want youths to become innovative, creative and problem solvers because once you wear the cap of a problem solver, you already carry value.

“As social entrepreneurs, we pursue passion and impact first, while profit comes later.

“If Nigerian youths become problem solvers, then they are the new mineral resources Nigeria is looking for,” he said.

Odetayo advised youths not to underestimate themselves but to pursue self-development, mentorship and meaningful collaborations that would help them achieve their full potential.

Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of Herald Leadership Consult, Mr Osagie Itamah, described the conference as a balanced platform for leadership and innovation development.

Itamah said leadership remained critical to success in every sphere of life, while urging youths to become adaptable and future-ready in a rapidly changing world.

“The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.

“If you do not change positively and become flexible in your approach to life and work, you may be left behind.

“Leadership is not just about title or position, it is about being flexible enough to fit into what is happening and leading through it,” he said.

Similarly, the Head of Digital, OCP Africa, Mr Akintunde Akinwande, said youths must move beyond having ideas to developing innovative and market-driven solutions.

Akinwande said many ideas failed because they were not feasible, practical or bankable.

“It is very easy to have ideas, but young people must learn how to innovate those ideas into solutions that create value.

“What we discussed today is how inventions can be transformed into innovative solutions that are practical, feasible and marketable,” he said.