Teen Celebrity

Can we meet you?
My names are Samuel Fatomi also known as Favour Unique. I’m from Abeokuta, Ogun state. I’m twenty years of age; clocked twenty last year November. I’m the second of two boys and fourth born of a family of five.

What is your present status?
I am not yet in school, I’m processing my admission into the University of Lagos.

What has delayed your admission so far?
I`m into teenagers’ empowerment and that has kept me a little busy.

Okay. We’ll come back to that. What church do you attend and what's your involvement there?
I attend Foursquare Gospel Church, Barrier Breakers Chapel, Shobande, Akoka, Lagos. I`m involved in so many activities but the major one is my responsibility as the Teens President.

You said you're into teenagers’ empowerment, what is the name you call it and when did it start?
It’s the Uncommon Teenagers’ Forum. We kicked off in 2007.

How old where you then?
Nineteen years old.

What was the reason for this vision; what was the passion?
I had observed many teenagers around me get pregnant, drop out of school, join cults in schools and so much more. My passion was to speak out the teenagers` minds, help them with the challenges facing them and give adequate information needed to make the most of their lives. I desired to see them become successful people in life, in the future, not minding their family background or the circumstances around them.

That is great. How many programmes have you held so far?
We have held about five programmes in all. We’ve had career seminars in secondary schools, our annual programme tagged ‘discovering your real self’, a success impartation programme, and a teens’ empowerment programme.
In these programmes, we invited counselors in all spheres of life to speak to teenagers. We had representatives from the government, education sector, Christiandom, and we had some parents too.

Could you please mention some of these speakers you've been able to bring to your programmes?
We’ve had with us the CEO of Light Foundation, the CEO of Making The Most Of Life Summit, a representative of the government, Hon Bashir, Teens’ pastors like Pastor Kayode Emmanuel from Foursquare, and Pastor David Johnson.

Have you featured any Christian artistes?
Yes, we have featured Dekunle Fuji, Larah Jatula who sang ‘Iku Oro’, and Jumoke who is a young dynamic teenager.

How many members are in your team?
We are about forty in all.

Are all these people in your team teenagers?
Yes they are all teenagers.

How do you manage them?
With God by my side and with the help of my mentors, it has been a bit easy. And because they all believe in me and the vision of the forum, it has been easy managing them

How do you hope to cope with all these when you enter the university?
We have been able to sell the vision to young folks and we have also been able to build them up to continue the vision even when I resume school.

Do you see yourself going into full-time ministry?
Hmm...Well it will be a very good privilege for me to be called into ministry. Though I am fondly called Pastor Favour, I’ll wait for God’s call and if He calls me, I will make myself available for His use.

In the meanwhile, what do you hope to become in future?
I aspire to be a lawyer. I intend studying law in the University of Lagos.

Why this career?
I’ve always loved to prove a point about what I have a good knowledge of and I see studying Law as a means to sharpen myself and prove to the people around me what I know about the challenges of teenagers.

What are your hobbies?
I love reading, meeting people, singing, talking, and making friends.

Please tell us a little more about yourself.
Well, I am a down-to-earth fellow, godly, if you go by people's opinion, I tend to be patient and not temperamental.

What makes you different from others?
I guess it’s the way I do things. I believe so much in myself and the ability God has given me to be able to face challenges that come my way. Apart from that, I am a very loyal, faithful and sincere in all levels of life and people tend to have confidence in me.

That's impressive. Do you have any advice for teenagers reading this magazine?
This life is very challenging; most especially the society we tend to find ourselves in. So, I strongly challenge teenagers to be hardworking, to strongly believe in their positive abilities to survive the ordeals of our society, and most especially, to be God-Fearing.

Samuel, it was a sincere delight having this interview with you. Thank you so much for your time.
You're welcome sir.



Is there something very unique about you or that you’ve achieved and you want to be interviewed on this magazine or you have a teenage friend who you know is very special and should be interviewed, please send the name(s) and contacts (e-mail and phone number) to us at justaboutmine@yahoo.com We’ll get back to you and after listening to you, you might just be chosen as our next Teen Celebrity.