How Governor Ishaku is shaping the Future of Taraba School Children through Achieve Your Dreams Initiative

If many adults today had someone who could identify their innate abilities while they were younger, they would have been better off today. The Executive Governor of Taraba State, Arch. Darius Dickson Ishaku has stepped in once again, to support secondary school students of Taraba state in doing just that through the laudable vision of Mr. Tafida Wesley Godfrey, the CEO and Founder of “Achieve Your Dreams Initiative”.  The event was declared open by the Commissioner of Education, Taraba state, on the 25^th of August, 2018.

Here are some of the highlights of the program.

1. The initiative brought participating students from various schools from where they currently are; confused, bored and trying to make sense of life, to where they ought to be. Most students now understand that instead of wasting much time watching films, chatting away or playing, they could invest most of their precious time doing something that will bring them closer to their life’s purpose.
2. Taraba students who participated in the program now understand that a time should come in their life where they suddenly discover that they need to live life to the fullest by clearly stating why they are alive, then write a statement about it, otherwise called purpose statement.
   

   Achieve Your Dreams Initiative

3. Once they know why they are alive and what their life’s purpose is, they need to further analyze it by clearly identifying their unique stories, their gifts and talents, what they are curious about, what they dream to be in life and what they love doing over and over again without getting tired. These were illustrated through well told stories, interactive sessions, questions and answers and use of pictures.
4. The students were not only taught how to find their purpose, they also clearly saw how everyone’s life’s purpose depends on their age bracket. For example, the life purpose of children from 1-9 years old will be different from those of teenagers, young adults, older adults and the elderly. In order words, a teenager could be asking about what they are good at while an adult could be asking about their most important priorities like marriage, job etc.
5. Once they have discovered their life’s purpose based on their age bracket, the next thing is to use it by making a conscious effort to unlock their stories, talents, gifts, curiosity, dreams and passions. They were thoroughly exposed on how to unlock them.
6. One practical and interesting aspect of the initiative was on how to achieve their dreams. It was easy to do as students were taken on a journey from how to dream big, which also involved using their power of imagination, believe in the dream, tell the dream to a trusted person, plan it, work it and enjoy it.
7. Once a purpose has been fully established, the students were now taught how to go about achieving their purpose in life through goal setting. First of all, they need to make a firm and clear decision, write it down clearly and state a deadline for achieving the goal.
8. Next, students were taken through tips on effectively using their current position to move towards their goals. Students were encouraged to be flexible in pursuing their life’s goals, to prevent being disappointed later in life.
9. Once goals were clearly identified and written down, the next thing is to achieve these goals by following 9 practical steps. First of all, they identified current obstacles that could block them. This could either be finances, broken homes, distractions at home or school, peer pressure and the like. Next, they were told to make a list of the knowledge and people needed, then organize them into a plan, tackle the most important tasks while applying self-discipline and visualization.
10. Finally, students were given refreshments during a 30 minutes break period, where they were also allowed to interface with experts based on the profession they wanted to become. They were given worksheets to fill in their purposes, goals and other briefs that helped them internalize the training and made the program successful for both the students and participating experts.

Taraba state will forever remain grateful to a leader who would not spare any opportunity to support, inspire, encourage and increase his people. God bless Gov. Ishaku and the CEO, Achieve Your Dream Initiative, Mr. Tafida Godfrey Wesley for giving our children what hundreds of thousands of other Nigerians are not getting.