After launching her career in Sales and Client Services in the United Kingdom, Mrs. Detoun Ogwo moved back to Lagos, Nigeria to serve as a Human Resources manager in a multinational corporation. Among the many adjustment to be made, one issue stood out: she was shocked by the amount of time and energy needed to recruit recent graduates for entry-level positions. While many of the young professionals she worked with possessed the requisite technical skills, most lacked essential “soft” skills, such as interpersonal and negotiation skills, business etiquette and punctuality.

One day, tired of hearing her complain, her husband suggested that she do something about this problem. In 2007, she decided to take his advice by opening the After-school Graduate Development Centre (AGDC), an organization dedicated to helping the  products of Nigeria’s university system, ease into the corporate sphere. A novel concept at first, as vocational guidance is virtually absent in the Nigerian school system, the demand for AGDC’s training programs in project management, team work, and problem solving, (to name a few topics) has been overwhelming.

For example, over 750 young people applied for 70 seats in one of her career guidance programs last quarter. To meet the rapidly growing demand for AGDC services, Mrs. Ogwo has been working to expand the centre’s capacity and also access local secondary schools, so that the next generation of Nigerian youth, are well equipped with the keys to corporate success.