The one-day sensitisation programme for Lagos State Public Secondary Schools, tagged: SMART TEENS WORKSHOP 2025, was held on Friday, November 14, 2025, at Opebi Senior Grammar School, Ikeja, Lagos.
Organised by the Lagos State Ministry of Education, in collaboration with Masterminds Community Foundation, the event, with the topic ‘Emotional and Social Intelligence,’ aimed to nurture emotionally intelligent and socially aware young minds and featured meaningful learning and self-discovery sessions.
The event began with preliminary activities and a welcome address by the Convener of the Smart Teens Workshop, Vivian Oghene.
Her speech read:
‘’Your Excellency, distinguished guests, partners, teachers, members of the press, and our brilliant Smart Teens — welcome to the Smart Teens Workshop 2025.
Today, we focus on emotional and social intelligence — skills we were rarely taught in school but desperately need in life. We learn many subjects, but understanding our emotions, managing relationships, and communicating with empathy are the lessons that truly shape our future.
In a world powered by Artificial Intelligence, it is our Emotional Intelligence that sets us apart. Machines can think, but they cannot feel. To lead and succeed, we need more than IQ — we need EQ.
At the Masterminds Community Foundation, we are committed to raising emotionally aware, socially responsible young leaders. Through this workshop, we invest in teens who will think deeply, act kindly, and build stronger communities.
To our Smart Teens: your emotions are not weaknesses — they are guides.
To our partners and teachers: thank you for supporting this mission.
Welcome once again, and let’s begin this journey toward real education and inspired leadership.’’
The event became more interesting when the Guest speaker, the General Manager, emPLE General Insurance, Mr Olalekan Oyinlade, shed more light on the theme: ‘Emotional and social intelligence: Key Life Skills for Today’s Teens,’ with a remarkable speech to the kids from different schools who filled the hall.
Capturing the essence of the academic event, his speech, Oynlade said,
‘’The first thing we must develop is emotional intelligence. It begins with knowing yourself — your reflections, your reactions, and who you truly are. When you manage your emotions well, your relationships become easier. You cannot control others, but you can always control yourself.
Today, some students sadly outsource their thinking to AI. But remember: AI was created by humans. It can give answers, but it cannot think, feel, or reason like you. Emotional intelligence is what makes you truly human.
There is a saying: you went through school, but school did not go through you. If you grow emotionally, you can understand people beyond their words or actions. In the 21st century, what we once called “soft skills” are now essential skills. Your degree is important, but character, morals, and your ability to manage people matter even more.
Recently, we saw the incident between the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, and a young military officer. That moment showed what happens when emotional or social intelligence is missing on either side.
In life, emotional intelligence determines whether you react or respond. And that makes all the difference.’’
The excitement from the students continued after each guest came to the podium to carry out their assignment for the day at the workshop.
The Chief People Officer, emPLE & Founder, BTBKind, boosted the excitement amongst the students as she asked the excited students a few questions, which they answered, and she gave some of them prizes after answering the questions.
The Legal Practitioner/Foreign Affairs Analyst also gave his advice to the students, educated them, and interacted with them through meaningful quizzes, especially as he made the kids understand that motive is important whenever one is being extremely or consistently kind.
Another speaker, the Senior Wellness Trainer ‘’The Art of Living’’ Sunkant Pal, did not perform below expectation after mounting the podium. The students exhibited more excitement during Pal’s session as he was able to make the students more aware after they were told to learn their emotions with a few exercises, like clapping, breathing in and breathing out.
The presence of the Rtd. Director of Education, Mr Amodu Olumuyiwa, was also felt as he shared his experience in the academic sector with the audience at the workshop.
In the concluding aspect of the workshop, Mrs Vivian drilled the students with questions from the entire workshop, just to find out if they had been following the event, while Mr Olumiyiwa made his concluding speech first by asking the students to clap for themselves, did a recap of the workshop and encouraged the students not to give up, to let their emotional intelligence to re-energise them did a recap of entire workshop.
