ACTDF partners UN for tourism promotion, talent Hunt

In a bid to promote domestic tourism in Nigeria and reach out to young minds through scholarship, training and mentorship, African Children Talent Discovery Foundation(ACTDF) has concluded arrangements for its maiden edition of a talent hunt show coming up soon.

Targeting the youths, the talent hunt is part of ACTDF’s plan to cue into this year’s United Nation’s General Assembly Summit tagged “The International Year of Sustainable Tourism development.

As part of their vision, ACTDF believes such platform, is one way of encouraging youths to showcase their God given talents which in the long run is tailored to expose them locally and internationally.

Speaking at the unveiling event, ACTDF president Engr. Noah Dallaji said that harnessing these human resources could help to improve tourism such as sporting tourism, entertainment tourism among others.

The event tagged “Unleash Your Talent 2017” held recently at Sheraton Hotels & Towers, Ikeja, Lagos attracted the presence of entertainment stakeholders including, Alex Usifo, Kate Henshaw, Thelma Ojiji, Emeka Rollas, Julius Osuagwu, Segun Arinze, Tonto Dike among others.

Speaking further, Dallaji added that “the United Nation’s summit tag of this year is about tourism. We key into it, although it is not part of this program but we engaging ourselves to the United Nation’s program so we can help to promote tourism in Africa, especially in Nigeria”.

To him, ACTDF was a big opportunity to expose raw talents in singing, acting and dancing, reiterating that this year’s event would be used by the foundation to drive the tourism industry.

According to Engr. Dallaji, the non-governmental organization designed the platform to enable children and youths to showcase talents and most people in the rural areas are looking for a platform like this.

There are greatest talents that have not been exploited in this country and they are looking for platforms, like this to showcase their talents in the rural area. They greatest footballers, actresses and actors have not been discovered yet. So such people are looking for such platform to be able to showcase their talent and for us to know at least it will be to the benefit not just to the Nigeria but to the whole world because talent is not just for individual”, Dallaji added.

Engr. Dallaji pointed out that they are the only NGO in Africa apart from government sector that has been approved for this year summit. It recently held its zonal auditions in cities cut across Nigeria, including cities like Enugu, Lagos, Bauchi, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Ekiti and FCT.

To this end, president of the ACTDF, Engr. Dallaji, stated that the organization has recorded tremendous achievements in the area of provision of humanitarian services to the less-privileged and for which reason it was recognized by the United Nations as a Grade C non-governmental organization.

Speaking further, he noted that “one of the biggest thing is the Sister-City linkage program between Oakland City in the United States and Bauchi State in Nigeria and where it’s given a lot of scholarship and package coming home, he noted.

ACTDF boss further explained how this led to 1000 student got scholarship to study both in the United States and here in Nigeria. Those students, he said cut across Bauchi State and other states of the Federation.

To buttress this, he further outstretched the people-oriented projects that have been carried out by the organization which most importantly include providing boreholes for rural communities, and putting up relevant infrastructure for the people.

“In Kurudu community, a suburb of Abuja, an empowerment scheme we launched few yard aggressive has continued to see us help that community with bountiful talents through provision of boreholes and some basic infrastructure. Presently, not less than 2,500 Nigeria students are on scholarship on the bills of the ACTDF across the country and beyond. Whether in scholarship, community health care services, talent discoveries and infrastructural empowerment across states in Nigeria, we have continued through thick and thin to uplift human lives,” Dallaji informed.

On challenges, he said, “Some parents are fond of forcing careers on their children; because a neighbor’s child is a medical doctor and you want your own child to do same, while your child would has done better in playing football.

Advising, parents not to choose career for the teens to enable them determine the course of their lives, he added “Sit with the child, discuss with the child and find out what he or she want to do, not what you want. It is a big mistake to impose that on them.

Again he noted, that “talent is the greatest knowledge anyone can have. Most people they take advantage of them because they haven’t discovered their talent, explaining talent is resources.

He said on the same hand, first prize winners at the grand finale in Port Harcourt in each category in the category of singing, dancing and acting would win respective contracts of one million makes. In addition cash prizes and also join us on the trip to New York for the UN Summit.

On the flip side, World Tourism Day has been celebrated since 1980 on September 27, the day in which the Statutes of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) entered into force. Peace and Dialogue, Energy, Accessibility, World Heritage and Water and Tourism have been some of the topics tackled on the 37 previous editions of World Tourism Day, Engr. Dallaji concluded.