1. We promised to give the public a feedback on the first application and selection process of the CEED 1 grant. It was an illuminating experience. Please read along:/

2. As an organisation we strive to see the positive in many things, but we must be honest in our appraisal & transparent in our views. We found that many Nigerian youths (from those who applied for the grant) do not take things seriously. There were a total of 1,041 applications/

3. received within the period of 7 days. We shortlisted ONLY 43 and out of those 43, at least 25 of them were shortlisted to make up numbers and not because they deserved the shortlist. The main problems with the applications were:

(a) Nonchalant answers. To a question that deserved reflection and a serious answer like "why do you think you deserve the grant?" many answered thus "because I need the money", "because I want God to bless me", "because I am in need of it". Many told us live stories of poverty/

(b) Many could not follow simple instructions: Twitter handle, many did not include.
(c) Many had no business names.
(d) Many could not be contacted in anyway because of mistakes in emails, phones, SM handles etc.
Our conclusion on all these is that many youths do not see/

life as a serious business. They are not ready to take their situations in their hands and chart a course of victory for themselves. With the lackadaisical attitude displayed in the application process, many Nigerian youths are not ready for the world of gainful employment.

4. Life is a war and youths must approach it with seriousness. If you cannot even articulate why you should be considered for a grant of N250,000.00, how do you expect anyone to trust you with N50,000.00.

5. After the shortlist of 43 persons, the next stage was to ask for Business plans to be submitted. At this stage there was voluntary attrition as only about 17 persons submitted Business Plans. This sadly confirms that some youths do not even have the energy of consistency./

6. They have no staying power. They have no desire to contend for their success. They allow themselves to be beaten without even fighting. Why would one be shortlisted and fail to take the next step. At all times CEED4YOUTHS offered guidance. The format for the Business Plans../

7. was provided. The internet is there as a research tool, yet over 24 persons took themselves voluntarily out of the competition. They did not even attempt to fight. Would those ones say that providence offered them no attempt at a break? No, they looked providence in the eye &/

8. they rejected providence's help.
9. To those who submitted Business Plans and did not make it to the Pitching stage, it was because some of you had financials that did not make sense. Some seemed copied from some other business proposals and had no relationship with your own/

10. Some financials had no nexus with the business ideas, some were a mere wish list and many were filled with overreaching. For example, you were applying for a 250K grant and you could not situate that amount within your current business needs./

11. Why would you expect to be given a 250k grant if what you required as a whole is N2M and you could show no sign that you had the balance of N1.75M either in equity or in loan. Many just needed to be given "give away"/

12. To the remaining 2 finalists but who did not get the grant, you did well but for one person the financials did not tell a compelling story and to the last person, good business idea but the pandemic era did not give a compelling case that the business would be viable now/

13. We wish the 2 finalists (non -winners) the very best of luck in the future.

14. We thank ALL out donors for their generosity and love for Nigeria. This is why the winners must be good ambassadors, so as to encourage more generosity from the current and future donors. If we can showcase you as performers, we will convince more people to give to the cause/

15. Finally we thank all the Selection Committee members for their diligence. But for you, this dream would not have come to fruition:
@yinkanubi
@wFalabede
@WoleOluyemiCo
@tolutaiwoashaju
@DesolaAw
Many thanks indeed/

16. We will commence another round of fundraising for CEED Grant 2. Remember this is a crowd-funding organisation to empower Nigerian youths. The more money we raise, the more people we empower.

Mrs. Iyabo Ifeoma Arinola Awokoya @iyaboawokoya