Former World Bank Vice President & Former Minister of Education for Nigeria, Dr Oby Ezekwesili has announced a partnership between her institution, School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG) and the Dare Adeboye Foundation (DAF). She made this announcement while delivering the keynote address at the maiden edition of the Change and Development Forum organized by the DAF.
She described this partnership as not just her way of contributing to the success of the Foundation, but also as a way of supporting the Foundation to institutionalize the passion and vision of Pastor Dare Adeboye about raising quality young leaders for Nigeria’s transformation.
The Change and Development Forum was organized by DAF to promote productive dialogue as well as partnerships among stakeholders within the social impact sector. The goal of the event was to drive policy and strategic discussions aimed at development with young people as the centre of focus.
The event held on May 4th 2022 at the Redemption Camp to mark the first year memorial of the passing of Pastor Dare Adeboye.
While delivering her keynote address, Dr Ezekwesili eulogized the late Pastor Dare Adeboye and praised him as a silent and unsung driver, promoter and pillar of Sustainable Development and nation building. She also shared memories of their mutual fondness for young people and Nigeria and urged the leadership of the Foundation to sustain and institutionalize the late Pastor Dare’s passion.

The event was well attended by notable personalities including the wife of the governor of Ogun State, Mrs Bamidele Abiodun, the Chairman of His Love Foundation & Special Assistant to the General Overseer of RCCG on CSR, Pastor Idowu Iluyomade; Mrs Tomi Somefun, MD/CEO of Unity Bank, Mr. Emmanuel Emefienim, MD/CEO of Premium Trust Bank and his wife, Mrs Priscilla Emefienim; members of the Adeboye family including Pastor ‘Deolu and his wife, Mrs. Tope Adeboye , the wife of the late Pastor Dare Adeboye, Mrs Temi Adeboye, and Pastor Leke Adeboye and his wife, Mrs. Titi Adeboye. The event also had the leadership of the Young Adults and Youth Affairs of RCCG in attendance.
While speaking at the event, the First Lady of Ogun State, Mrs Bamidele Abiodun called for concerted efforts to drive sustainable development, in order to support and complement the government to drive development agenda. Pastor Idowu Iluyomade also highlighted the reach and impact of the interventions of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in alleviating hunger, poverty as well as in the health sector.
A major highlight of the event was the panel discussion where key industry leaders harped on the need to leverage collaboration and knowledge sharing to drive more impact towards the actualization of sustainable development. The panelists included Mervin Azeta, Lanre Oyegbola, Mojola Ola, Odunayo Sanya, and Pastor Idowu Iluyomade.

The Dare Adeboye Foundation was launched on June 9th 2021, to sustain and entrench the legacies of Pastor Dare Adeboye, a senior Youth Pastor in RCCG and the son of the General Overseer of the Mission. The foundation has four key programs which focus on: youth empowerment, Kingdom expansion, leadership & governance; and Education.
The Foundation also unveiled its five-year plan at the event. In the next five years, the Foundation intends to equip and empower 1000 young leaders in public, private and social sectors, support 100 youth-led businesses, transform 100 communities/organizations/groups, support 500 individuals/families for educational advancement and also empower 5,000 African youths with various digital skills.