The Strategy for Mentoring Initiative and Leadership Empowerment (SMILE) has strengthened its youth development programme with a year-long mentorship and accountability framework.
This is aimed to help young Nigerians to translate their potential into measurable impact.
The Founder of SMILE, Mrs Bimpe Bamgbose-Martins, gave the assurance on Saturday in Lagos during the 2026 International Youth Day commemoration and the fourth SMILE Youth Leadership Summit.
The event was organized by SMILE, in collaboration with the United Nations Information Centre.
Bamgbose-Martins said that SMILE had partnered with the United Nations for the past 14 years to commemorate International Youth Day because both organizations shared a common vision of promoting youth development.
She said that SMILE and United Nations also shared the vision of raising awareness on the importance of investing in young people.
The founder said that the 2026 edition of the programme was designed to provide participants with practical direction through specialized mentorship in career development, business and social enterprise.
According to her, participants will benefit from workshops, mentorship sessions and practical workbooks to help them to develop clear action plans beyond.
She said unlike previous editions, the 2026 edition placed greater emphasis on sustained engagement through a structured mentorship and accountability framework.
Bamgbose-Martins said that participants would also undertake community-based social impact projects in the next one year by identifying challenges within their communities and implementing practical solutions with support from SMILE and its partners.
Bamgbose-Martins urged young people aspiring for leadership to build a strong character, remain teachable and maximize opportunities available to them.
According to her, mentorship often begins when young people demonstrate commitment, integrity and willingness to learn.
The Executive Director, Retail and Digital Banking, Wema Bank, Mr Tunde Mabawonku, urged participants to move beyond dreams and activate their potential through intentional learning, disciplined action and courageous leadership.
Mabawonku, who delivered the keynote address, said that possessing talent and ambition alone would not be enough to transform lives and communities.
According to him, impact begins when potential is activated through intentional learning, disciplined action, consistent execution and courage to lead.
He encouraged participants to embrace lifelong learning, ask questions, build meaningful relationships and seize opportunities that would stretch their abilities.
“The future will not be shaped by those with great potential alone, but by those who choose to activate it,” he said.
Some graduates of the organization’s 2025/2026 Executive Mentoring Programme for Youths (EMPY) said the initiative had encouraged them to pursue their goals with greater confidence.
The valedictorian, Mr Blessing Oyebamiji, said the programme challenged the participants to step outside their comfort zones and discover abilities they never knew they possessed.
He said the greatest challenge facing many Nigerian youths was not lack of ideas or potential but inadequate access to mentors and sponsors willing to help them to transform ideas into reality.
“I don’t think the problem of Nigerian youths is lack of potential or ideas. It is about finding people who believe in them and can help to move them from ideas to execution,” he said.
Another graduate, Miss Aminat Babatunde, described the programme’s one-on-one mentoring sessions as very impactful.
She said the mentorship helped the participants to reflect deeply on their purposes and motivation, giving them greater clarity in pursuing their goals.
Mr Eniola Oloyede, also an EMPY graduate, said the programme’s interactive and intentional learning approach distinguished it from conventional classroom education.
He urged more organizations to establish mentorship initiatives that would help young people to discover and develop their purposes beyond formal education.
The graduates called for wider access to quality mentorship programmes across Nigeria.
They said that sustained guidance, practical support and opportunities to learn would enable more young people to realize their potential and contribute meaningfully to national development. (NAN).
