A tall ambition

Having a handshake with Richard Branson may be an easy one if you are opportune to meet him. But desiring to become an entrepreneur of his caliber is one tall ambition for anybody especially when all you have is a good idea.

Of course, the success story of the chairman of Virgin Atlantic Airways is one full of determination, discipline and self-denial. Probably, that is the reason Branson is a world class entrepreneur worthy of learning under his tutelage.

Well, some young, creative and ambitious Nigerians are leaving no stone unturned in tapping from the wealth of entrepreneurial skills of the Virgin Atlantic owner.

 Eseoghene Ise Odiete, a 24 year old creative director, Hesey Designs and Nasir Abdulquadi, a 24 year old Postgraduate Student (MSc Creative Technology) Middlesex University, London, had the privilege of meeting with Richard Branson in London recently.

The two bright Nigerians beat other 2,000 creative, as well as, ambitious youths in ‘The Enterprise Challenge’, a competition by Virgin Atlantic Airways in partnership with the British Council and Zenith Bank in Nigeria.

The initiative was an online competition seeking to give young entrepreneurial minds the opportunity to present their innovative ideas with the possibility of winning a mentoring meeting with Richard Branson amongst other mind blowing prizes.

The competition proved very popular with almost 2,000 applications received in the first week. Two winners were selected-one based in Nigeria and one Nigerian already studying in London.

Before emerging winners, Ese and Nasir undertook several stages of task including a short article about their entrepreneurial aspirations, a business plan in video format and a pitch to a panel of judges from Virgin Atlantic and the British Council Nigeria.

It was an eight hours presentation that culminated the five weeks competition.  The later meeting with Branson in London was part of the prizes they won.

 They also won a fully-funded scholarship to attend an entrepreneurship foundation course at the Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship in Johannesburg, South Africa, a grant from Zenith Bank in Nigeria to further develop their proposed business idea and two economy class return tickets to the United Kingdom.

However, Ese went further to express how ambitious she was for entrepreneurship by presenting Branson with sneakers she made out of Ankara, Nigerian local fabric. The excited Virgin Atlantic chairman rocked the sneakers and baffled at the quality of the made in Nigeria footwear.

The scenery was more hilarious than one could imagine, as the sneaker was an instant hit for Branson who took off his shoes to wear it.  As fate will have it, the pair of sneakers made it to the Uniform launch event where Richard introduced Ese and invited her on stage showing off his new pair of sneakers. Ese named the exclusive collection ‘Virgin Red’.

For the judges of the competition, Ese and Nasir deserved the victory.

Ese distinguished herself from others with her fashion line that specialises in African inspired fashion accessories. With locally sourced materials and handcrafted products, she is creating jobs, but also imparting her knowledge to empower other African women to develop similar businesses of their own. According to the judges, she has a passion for what she does and in two years has gained global recognition for her brand with distribution in Nigeria, the UK, the US and France.  

Nasir’s mobile application for Nigerian farmers was the reason the judges insisted he must meet Branson as a winner. His application helps Nigerian farmers to make informed decisions based on what is available to them in their local environments. For example they can receive info about the best soil types for their products, weather and its effect on crops among others. The application is still in the developmental stages. 

However, Branson hopes to meet more ambitious and creative Nigerian youths in the next edition of the competition.

 

Funke Osae-Brown