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Vivian Oghene Abraham is the Convener and President of The Mastermind Community Foundation. Her organization recently reached out to 170 students from five secondary schools in Maryland, Lagos, through a program tagged the Emotional and Social Intelligence Workshop. She explained the motivation behind the initiative to DAYO EMMANUEL, emphasizing the importance of introducing emotional and social intelligence to children at an early stage. She also called for government and organizational collaboration to expand the reach of the program across Lagos and beyond.
Excerpts:
What is The Mastermind Community Foundation all about, and why focus on emotional intelligence with young students?
It is obvious, based on what is going on in society, that most teenagers are not socially and emotionally prepared for what awaits them out there. These values are actually lacking in many homes. The whole essence of emotional and social intelligence is to provide skills that they require to survive and thrive in the 21st century. That’s why we are catching them young—nurturing them and creating awareness that they must understand their own emotions, manage those emotions, and also relate well with others. People management is very key to success. You need to have emotional resilience and the stability to work with others, show empathy, and express motivation where needed.
You reached students in only five schools today. What’s the plan going forward, given the limitations your foundation might face?
We are calling on the government, corporate bodies, and concerned individuals to collaborate with us on this initiative. This is our first flagship project, and we still have five more schools to go. We’re happy to deploy people to different schools to educate students on emotional intelligence. We are calling on corporate bodies to support and encourage the initiative. One for all is truly one for all.
We noticed only public schools were present today. Are there plans to engage private schools as well?
Yes, we have plans to include private schools. Although it’s not happening yet, this is just our first initiative and we are passionate about it. We even developed a workbook that will serve as a platform for engaging the students. We’re open to collaborating with private schools that are interested in having us speak with their pupils on emotional and social intelligence.
What is the total number of students you’re engaging today, and why did you choose Lagos?
We had a total of 170 students present today. I am the Convener and President of The Mastermind Community Foundation. Lagos has been kind to me. This is my way of giving back. It’s a small gesture to say, “Lagos State, thank you.” This is a collective effort—we believe we can do this together. We also plan to expand the initiative to other states, with the collaboration of their respective governments.
