DSAP Experience: My Journey, Lessons, and Transformation

The biannual skill acquisition program, widely known as the DayStar Skill Acquisition Program, launched by the DayStar Christian Centre in Lagos, held its first edition in the year 2026 and has come and gone beautifully, but the hindsight will stay for an eternity in the minds of participants.

This skill acquisition program, which started in the year 2009, has the bragging rights of over 21,000 graduates who are well-equipped with knowledge in various skills.

The program, which was slated to run for 2 weeks, started on 11-22nd of May, 2026, saw 461 students awarded certificates in various skills, from film & Documentary, graphic design, shoe and bag making, website design, fashion design, interior design, home economics, and baking.

This year's edition evidently showcased the power at which people within a certain religion settings could uphold the principle of learning and character not only when one is in the spiritual realm amidst agog praise by the choristers on a Sunday morning as the sound permeate the body and soul, or during an inspiration teachings, the message is vividly written on the wall, that people should also be given hands-on skills that can help them earn a living.

My Experience.

After approval from my sponsor at the office, to resume the Documentary & film making training alongside two of my colleagues, namely, Feranmi Okebiyi and Olwaseun Atobajaiye who went for the Interior Design skill. On the first day of lecture, upon our arrival l was astonished by the aesthetically erected buildings of different shapes, but with the same beautiful colour, awaking one's mental alertness to a sane atmosphere that is designed to support one's exploration of the premises for either spiritual or Educational purposes.

A few steps away from where I was, I noticed a very big building in a corner not far from the main gate, as people were going into it in large numbers and coming out. My curiosity got hold of me, before you say Jack Robinson, I had already approached a well-kitted security officer manning that section of the premises, and I was told I was in the right place. The building "Regal Hall" was where all the activities were taking place from online registration, detailing your personal information and the types of skills you were there to learn. After successful registration, you would be directed to your class.

Upon entering the hall, I was greeted with hundreds of Nigerian men and women, both young and middle-aged, who were sorting out their respective registration in order to own that studentship title for the next two weeks as they were prepared to immerse themselves into learning skills that would change their lives.

It's worthy of note that this set of Nigerians was there either to improve on their craft or to learn new skills in order to survive the present harsh economic reality.

Dsap, since its inception, understood the journey over the years as it has continued to nurture and grow people from basic to advanced level using practical methods demanded of  each skill as they become independent financially amidst the economic realities of inflation, unemployment rate, and so much more. The intent to meet the people halfway, making it free, actually paid off as its popularity keeps growing nationwide, thousands of these students after graduation becomes center of reference in their respective ecosystems.

Also, what caught my amazement was the well-organised disposition on the part of a small group of people selected as the team that spearheaded the program, amongst them were facilitators and several others holding administrative positions{PSAs}, who were all volunteers, from different professions, as they carefully guided the program to a great end. The amount of selfless services they put into each session or diet(as they call it) every year is immeasurable. With no mincing of words, the track record of these selected intelligent organisers also must have contributed to many joining the program, as the number of enrollments is always on the rise.

Going further, the organisers made it a composite training program as it came with a balanced schedule of activities from students' compulsory early morning assembly for spiritual connection, and of course, business innovative ideas which saw calibre of intelligentsia, men and women with capacity in their various endeavours scheduled for each day throughout the program.

For the purpose of educational journey, according to the Nigeria Bureau of statistics(NBS), the year 2025 experienced a massive growth in the creative economy up to $15 billion, making it the second largest employer of labour, hence its unprecedented contribution to the nation's GDP from 4% to 12%. What this simply means is that jobs like fashion design, graphic design, web design, show making, and film making now attract so much money for this industry. However, but due to several challenges bedevilling this industry, many of these jobs are still under the informal economy.

As such, the DSAP, with its holistic idea, birthed with precision towards growing level of human capital in the country, exposed these students to the advantages of business registration and its processes, value of services, tax education, business data analysis, and brand storytelling, as ancillaries to getting their skills enterprised.

In turn, the students never failed to reciprocate their gestures as every session often came with robust participation with diverse questions yearning for answers.

The implications of these topics was that it reshaped the minds of every Nigerian in attendance to first create "value"that will attract capital, and not money as "capital" before they can enterprise their talent or skills.

According to one of the speakers, a young intelligent pastor at the Daystar Church in charge of their online church programs, he dutifully challenged this set of students on the need to first offer value that brings real solutions to people's problems.  For illustration purposes, he then threw a question to the audience as he asked: "Who is a fashion designer here?" What followed was many who are into the craft raising up their hands. So he said that the scalability of every skill learnt during the course of the training hinges on its value, and the uniqueness of its offering upon graduation.

As business owners, one can agree that referrals from acquaintances, or past customers, social media is now one of the major marketplaces where sellers and buyers meet; however, despite a broad spectrum to get the attention of prospective customers to achieve expected returns on investment, things still won't work, hence the need for conscious brand storytelling.

Another young female speaker(storyteller) came through for the topic as she educated the students on the need for brand storytelling. Her delivery never tilted towards the conservatives of beautiful brand logo or colour, but telling stories more attractively and innovatively, which comes with conscientious actions that speak to the customer's emotions,  consequently registering one's brand in the memory of every customer in the long run. She dissected the topic by telling the students that brand storytelling starts from when the customer is in the process of buying to the eventual delivery of the service or product. Meaning that fake or poor products and services, several business disappointments or delays are telling stories, but in a negative way.

Also, the practical nature in educating the students about what data analysis is, by another young astute data analyst professional of the Daystar Centre,  provided a balanced approach to how every subtle and salient actions and reactions from every customer and the result of market gain or loss in transactions is entitled to be referred to, as data. He went further, saying, " if any customer comes to your shop to buy, and instead refuses to buy, something must have gone wrong.

Aside the aforementioned, he also extended it to the need for every business, regardless of its size, to keep sales records as every transaction should being dutifully recorded. He advised against the use of WhatsApp as the only medium for transactional history, but rather making use of tools to create proper invoices and send them via official mail.

The speaker did not fail in his assignment as he schooled the students on the importance for any prospective or already established business to embrace data analysis by employing a professional in that regard in order to measure growth and identify causes of challenges to its smooth running.

The emotional attachment.

As an introvert, I've trained myself on how to crawl out of my temperament anytime l deemed fit, so seeing an opportunity to move out of my sedentary lifestyle is something l often look forward to.

I truly enjoyed every bit of it, as new friends were made, and it was as if we had been together for years. As each day went by, so also my new friendship, knowledge, and business ideas gained either from my facilitator, Mr Timi Pudie or through classmates. At first, I was often entertained by my facilitator's career stories he shared during lectures, and thereafter, I found interest in some friends like, Daniel Nwagbogwu, Esther Olaitan, Adesuwa, Raimot, Taiwo Wasiu and others, as we all became open to one another. As a fact, our sitting arrangement does not changed for every lecture that we had. This season helped me to build relationships outside my comfort zone. As days went by, l found it so comfortable to do despite waking up at 5 am to struggle for public transportation from a close suburb, Ota, precisely in Ogun state to Lagos. The reality of graduating and leaving the kind-hearted and beautiful, and handsome faces of friends behind did not get my attention until the evening of Thursday, the 21st of May, 2026.

The Character: Mr Timi Pudie & company.

My attendance at the first class allowed me to watch a man teach intelligently, from inside and out sharing his wealth of knowledge, and without holding back the secrets that made him who he is for over 2 decades. The sacrifices and innovative ideas to achieve scalability in one's job in the industry, both within and outside the shores of the country, were dropped on our laps for free to use as a catalyst for our own growth.

The Penultimate Day

The conversation then changed to bringing out the fashion sense in us with the approved colours, hence prepared many for their pink or royal blue signatures.

The Graduation Day

So upon graduation day, the mood was set for celebrations as everyone was happy to witness the day gracefully. The universe clearly made a strong message approving the day with a heavy downpour of rain.

Entering the hall, the colours were not the only thing glowing, but happiness on the faces of many graduands as chit-chat from all corners ensued!

It will be worthy of note that Documentary and filmmaking class names held sway in the mouths of many as the light of the show. In street parlance, we say  "Talent na water" from Master of Ceremony, to poet delivery and winning a branded prize, I had no regret of being part of this history.

After the event came to an end, the photo section ensued between acquaintances and mates as everyone was still basking in the euphoria of the moment amidst camera flashes.

Lesson learnt. Knowledge gained. Relationship built. Memories live on.

 

Author: Olatunji Olasehan

Olatunji Olasehan is an educationist by profession, but is currently a Merchant recruiter & Affiliate manager at HOG- Home. Office. Garden online marketplace. He just regained his long-time love for writing as he expresses himself in the mood of Art that stylishly depicts his nature, towards appreciating his evolving environment.