RCCG youth wing plans free tech training for 10,000 in Oyo

The youth arm of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) is seeking partnerships in Oyo State to train young people in technology, work with the police on crime prevention and open up farming to youths.

The church's National Youth Affairs team, led by National Youth Pastor Oluwafemi Oyetunde, visited the Oyo State Secretariat, the state police command headquarters and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) during a three-day trip that ended with a 24-hour Prayer and Word Retreat themed "BUILDUP".

At the secretariat, the delegation met Victor Olojede, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Students' Affairs, and proposed a free three-month technology training programme for about 10,000 young people in the state. The classes would hold both online and in person.

Olojede said the state government wants to be part of the project, which he said could open opportunities for young people and students. He said he would send a memo to the state government so students can take part, and promised that his office would work with the church.

Police, farming talks

At the police command headquarters, the delegation met Commissioner of Police Abimbola Ayodeji Olugbenga. The youth pastor said the church wanted to discuss crime prevention and how to build trust between young people and officers, and also asked about police career paths, including short-service entry.

Olugbenga stressed respect for the rule of law and community policing, saying the approach lets the police and the public identify problems together. "It will not be the police alone solving that problem," he said. He advised young people to know the country's laws and to raise grievances peacefully.

At IITA, the talks focused on a possible partnership to expand farming opportunities for young people and support the church's own farms. Oyetunde said the church's General Overseer, Pastor E.A. Adeboye, had directed provinces and regions to embrace farming to help food production.

He said the church has about 165 hectares of land at Redemption Camp and other arable land around Ijebu for agriculture, and that RCCG has more than 50,000 parishes in Nigeria. He said the church wants a programme that turns young members from job seekers into food producers and employers.

Adetola Adenmosun, IITA's Country Coordinator of Youths in Agribusiness, said access to land and markets are the biggest hurdles for young farmers, with land especially hard for women in some areas. She said training must be tied to real market demand. Another IITA official advised the church to roll out the programme in phases given the size of the land involved.

No dates or costs for the technology training or the farming programme were announced.