At-e-e-e-nshion! Easy! Ajuwaya! (Nigeria’s military/paramilitary lingo for ‘stay where you are’), Again, at-e-e-e-nshion!
For-ward march! Now, quick march! Left, right! Left, right…. Come to
think of it, what other words do you use when you write about a man from
the Nigeria Police whatever, coming to address students?
If you hear anybody issuing these
commands, tomorrow, to either the matriculating or graduating students
from any institution of higher learning, look well. Your man is likely
to be Mr. Bola Adeboye, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer,
Nigeria Police Mortgage Bank Plc.
He was at McPherson University, Ajebo,
Ogun State, recently, to deliver a pre-matriculation lecture. And the
things he said at that ceremony, the fourth in the history of the young
university, amounted to issuing series of military/paramilitary commands
such as you have at the beginning of this report.
Attention, matriculating/graduating
college/university students, he said, while speaking on the topic
“Entrepreneurship: Panacea to Economic Development in Nigeria.” How you
make your bed, not only of your knowledge, but also, of the opportunity
you have at skill acquisition and development, while you are studying,
he said, will determine how you lie on it, after graduation. In fact, it
will determine not only how well you are going to do but also how far
you are going to go in life!
So? For-ward, no, quick march to
entrepreneurship education! And, please, make as much hays as you can
with it while its sun is shining! Thus said Adeboye! “Entrepreneurship
is the backbone of every nation’s economy and that is the main reason
why every one of us must embrace it as its benefits cannot be
overemphasized,” he observed in the introductory part of the lecture.
“Entrepreneurs are the operators, movers and practitioners of small and
medium scale enterprises.”
The matriculating students and invited guests listened attentively to hear more. And, Adeboye did not disappoint them.
“In this world we live, some great men
have written their names, in gold, in the ‘book of life,’ he remarked.
“Most of these great entrepreneurs started with little or nothing but
they impacted people’s lives greatly while some are still living legends
as we speak. Henry Ford started Ford Motors Company with a humble
beginning. Today, Ford Motors Company is a dominating automobile company
in the world. The product, Ford, is a household name.
“John Pemberton in 1886 started what is
known in the world today as Coca-Cola with the formulation of the
original concentrates. It should be noted that this formulation started
at the back-yard of his house in the United States of America. The
product was initially sold in a three-legged brass kettle in a
pharmaceutical store, as a tonic capable of solving many medical
problems, including headache and other assumed health disorders. It was
named Coca-Cola by Dr. Pemberton’s bookkeeper after the main components
which were cocaine and kola-nut. The first year’s sale was $50, while
cost was put at $70, resulting in a loss of $20, in that year’s
operation. In the second year of operation, the business was sold to Asa
Chandler for the sum of $2,300 who then introduced aggressive marketing
into the business through advertising and promotion of the product all
over the USA. Today, the Coca-Cola Company sells over one billion of its
products per day making it the number one brand in the world in the
soft drinks categories.”
Before Adeboye could bring his lecture to
an end, he mentioned world-business greats like Richard Branson, David
Thompson, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Aliko Dangote and Ibukun-oluwa
Awosika, our son and daughter with whom we are well-pleased.
“Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born
18 July 1950) is an English businessman and investor,” he informed. “He
is best known as the founder of Virgin Group, which comprises more than
400 companies. At the age of sixteen, his first business venture was a
magazine called Student. In 1970, he set up a mail-order record
business. In 1972, he opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records,
later known as Virgin Megastores. Branson’s Virgin brand grew rapidly
during the 1980s, as he set up Virgin Atlantic and expanded the Virgin
Records music label. In July 2015, Forbes listed Branson’s estimated net worth at US $5 billion.”
He said further: “David Thompson, one of
United Kingdom’s top ten millionaires worth over 300 million pounds as
at 1995 started as a meat seller in Smithfield but eventually rose to
become a big name in finance. Bill William Henry Gates III on October
28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington, began to show interest in computer
programming at the age of 13 at the Lakeside School. He pursued his
passion through college. Striking out on his own with his friend and
business partner, Paul Allen, Gates found himself at the right place at
the right time. Through technological innovation, keen business strategy
and aggressive business tactics, he built the world’s largest software
business, Microsoft. In the process, Gates became the richest man in the
world and the second richest man in the world at some points in time.”
At-e-e-e-nshion,
matriculating/graduating students in all institutions of higher
learning, for Adeboye is not yet done with his inspirational talk!
“Businessman and investor Warren Buffett was born on August 30, 1930, in
Omaha, Nebraska. Investing by age 11, Buffett was running a small
business at 13,” he noted. “Buffett later started the firm, Buffett
Partnership in Omaha, with huge success. In 2006, Buffett announced that
he would give his entire fortune away to charity (est. $62 billion),
the largest act of charitable giving in United States history.”
For-ward march! “Alhaji Aliko Dangote, a
northerner from Kano State, Nigeria, was born on 10th April 1957 into a
wealthy Muslim family,” he said. “From the time he was young Dangote had
an eye on business.” At this point, Adeboye brought in a direct quote
from Dangote: “I can remember when I was in primary school. I would go
and buy cartons of sweets [sugar boxes]and I would start selling them
just to make money. I was so interested in business, even at that time.”
Then he continued with his biographical sketch. “He studied Business
Administration at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt and thereafter
returned to Nigeria to borrow from his uncle, Sanusi Abdulkadir
Dantata, who provided him with a loan of ₦500,000 when Aliko was 21 years old, in order to start a business.”
He rounded off this session of his
lecture with reference to our own IbukunOluwa Awosika.
A graduate of
Chemistry from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, she started her
working career with Akintola Williams & Co. as an Audit Trainee,
Adeboye said. “Shortly thereafter, she moved to Alibert Nigeria Ltd, a
furniture company, as Showroom Manager. It was from there she launched
out to fulfill her entrepreneurial learning by establishing Quebees Ltd,
a furniture manufacturing company, from which The Chair Centre Ltd
later evolved.”
Quick march! “She was the Managing
Director of The Chair Centre Ltd, a market leader in the office
furniture and banking security systems industry, until recently when she
was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of Sokoa Chair Centre Ltd, a
joint-venture company of Sokoa S.A of France, Guaranty Trust Bank, The
Chair Centre Ltd, and some other local investors. She is the host of the
popular TV programme, BUSINESS – HIS WAY, where she teaches the
business community ethical business principles based on the Word of God.
“She is the Founder of Christian
Missionary Fund, a non-governmental body dedicated to raising support
for Christian missionaries across the country. She is also the Chairman,
Board of Trustees of Women in Management and Business (WIMBIZ), as well
as the Chairman of Intermac, the organisers of SmartCard Conference in
Nigeria. She is also an alumnus of the Chief Executive Programme of
Lagos Business School and the Global Executive MBA Programme of IESE
Business School, Barcelona, Spain. The list of these great entrepreneurs
and world giants are endless. It also includes Richard and Maurice
Donalds (that started McDonalds), Donald Trump and Sam Walton.”
Listing the benefits of entrepreneurship
education, he noted that it, among other things, helps to create
employment opportunities and to reduce social crises and crime. “I
recommend further reading on the autobiographies of the entrepreneurs
cited above,” he counseled. “It will be noted that they were all focused
and started venturing into business at tender ages. You should not see
yourselves as being too young. You should be strong-willed and
determined. As an up-coming entrepreneur, you should be
solution-oriented and always look around for what people need and rush
to meet their demands. The timing for entrepreneurship orientation can
never be better than now that Nigeria is experiencing dwindling revenue
due to monolithic nature of our economy.”
Left, right, left, right…! That is
definitely the way Prof. Adeniyi Agunbiade, the Vice Chancellor of the
university wants every student to walk. Hence he thanked the
distinguished guest lecturer and counseled the matriculating students to
keep closer to their chests the kernels of the lecture. “It is my
belief and hope that this lecture will contribute in no small measure in
raising a generation of problem-solvers for our nation, Nigeria, and
assists in the realization of our philosophy of producing highly skilled
and motivated graduates,” he said.
In all, 102 fresh students, 37 from the
College of Social and Management Sciences (COSMAS), 44 from the College
of Natural and Applied Sciences (COLNAS) and 21 from the College of
Humanities (COLHUM), took part in the matriculation ceremony while 29
old students (nine from the 300 level; three and 17 from the 200 and 100
levels, respectively), were honoured with a special dinner organised
for them in the Vice Chancellor’s office for emerging with a cumulative
GPA of 4.5 at the end of the second semester of the 2014/15 academic
session.
Source: Daily Post
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