“The youth should always be our focus of attention because they are the future of the society we all yearn for. If we are the bridge between yesterday and today, they are the bridge between our today and tomorrow”.
-Prof. Jeremiah Ojediran (VC, Bells university of Technology, Ota).
The noble idea of inculcating in our youth a mindset of self-dependence through owning and running their businesses, while still at school is highly commendable. In the light of this, the decision by the Bells University Parents Forum (BUPF)to host an annual lecture to address critical issues affecting the students’ all-round development and the larger society is worthy of note. Good enough, the body is aimed at fostering a cordial relationship between the parents/guardians and the university management to provide a conducive environment for learning.
Similarly, it is instructive it chose the thematically relevant topic of “Youth and Entrepreneurial Mindset: Being Self-Sustained” as the seventh in its Annual Seminar series. It is meant to break the odious jinx and the recurring ugly decimal of “certificate and no job” as aptly described by the committed BUPF Chairman, Rotimi Dosunmu (FCA). And with seven standing for perfection, virtually every aspect of the lecture sailed so smoothly that it encapsulated perfection!
For a country still grappling with startling statistics of the ever-escalating youth unemployment rate, that has jumped from13.72percent (2018) through 13.96percent (2019),14.17percent (2020) to an estimated 32.5percent in 2021there is cause for serious concern.Worrisome too is that 62percent of such youth population fall into the under-25 years bracket (www.statista.com).
Compounding these indices is the fact thatmost entrepreneurs in this same country battle daily with poor electric power supply, widespread decrepit infrastructure including pot-hole-ridden roads and analarming insecurity situation, threatening to tear the very fabric of the unity of the Nigerian state into shreds!
So good toothat the two young, brilliant minds-who the students could easily relate with-were on hand to do justice to the lecture. The persons so involved were Ms. Greatness Olorunfemi, a management consultant, motivational speaker and Founder of‘Greatness Unleashed’ as well as Dr. Stephen Oluwatobi, an acclaimed expert in the areas of entrepreneurship, innovation and Founder of ‘Edustart Global Foundation’.
The critical questions they had to provide credible answers to included who really are the youth? What is an entrepreneurial mindset? How is it sustained? What would you do without being paid for it? How is prosperity created? How is that related to finding solutions to existing problems? What relationship exists between self-discovery, entrepreneurship and building a start-up?
Interestingly, both Olorunfemi and Oluwatobibegan their business ventures by providing free services, of catering and computer training respectively and therefore, knew their onions. Incidentally, the latter was a student who once hated to read but took the important decision to relate well with some brilliant minds, to make the desired change while he was at Covenant University, Ota.
According to the former, who kick-started the lecture with verve and gusto, the lecture is meant to provoke the students to move away from their comfort zone and mediocrity mind-set and aim to achieve greatness. They should come to terms with the fact that “life is full of problems and the wealthy are those that consistently solve problems and meet needs”.
Similarly, the size of the challenges one is able to provide solutions to would determine one’s earnings.The decisions the students make today would determine how far they would go in life. So, now is the time to wake up to the reality of building a thinking faculty similar to that of billionaires.
As youths, who have the energy and time; who are adaptable and flexible and from who come creative and innovative ideas, now is the time to maximize the opportunities available to them, as solution-providers. Should they wait until they get married and begin to raise kids, as parents it will be toolate in the day.
That explains why as Oluwatobi emphasises that now is the moment for the students to understand that entrepreneurship begins from the mind. They should therefore, master the mind to create prosperity and leverage on opportunities to do so. Though “ideas rule the world” as often said, it is important to know what you want to achieve with such ideas, when, where and how?
Touching tellingly on this significant aspect, Olurunfemi reiterates the importance of self-sustenance. In her inspiring words, “being self-sustained means being able to continue to make wealth consistently without your active involvements.” That is an entrepreneurial mindset. It is a collection of thoughts and beliefs that shape one’s behaviour and habits. All these affect how one thinks, feels and what they decide to do.
With that entrepreneurial mindset you begin to challenge the status quo,rise up above the crowd and find better way of doing things, instead of listening to those who have capitulated and given up on their dreams and want others to settle for a mediocre status.
Eventually, the students will be able to imagine what impact their revenues would make on the economy of the nation,the number of jobs their businesses would create, the outcome of their implementation and of course, the quantum of families who will benefit, to get their means of livelihood from their actions.
These would positively impact on the capacity of the students to identify the problems, the resources required to solve them and their abilities to execute local projects in harmony with the needs of global sustainability developments.They begin to develop initiatives to discern on and take advantage of inputs that suit their conditions and those that do not.
Building on that, Oluwatobi explains that starting-up is one of the ways of creating prosperity or building wealth. But the best approach is to have the mindset to take up challenges as raw materials to create prosperity. It takes guts,a unique and exceptional perspective and a level of thinking to see challenges as breakfast.
To succeed at this the students have to find themselves, have a clear understanding of what they are capable of, muster the desire to experiment and learn and have disrespect for the fear of failure. As Olorunfemi rightly notes, “oh yes, you are ready to fail and fail again but each time you learn from such failures”.
As Greatness Olorunfemi insists, the student now sees opportunities where others see problems. He/she thinks about creating jobs instead of waiting for white-collared jobs. That mindset imbues in them the refusal to join the crowd of those who complain but seek solutions and opportunities to build wealth.
With the benefit of technology the world has become a global village. Anyone, anywhere in the whole wide world can make other people’s livesbetter at the click of a button, assisted with the catalysts of critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving attitude and innovation.
Essentially, the more you understand who you really are, the more confidence you have; the more actions you take and the more you attract the right people and repel the wrong ones. These also build you into a beautiful brand to become a propellant, an asset, increasing your value so that more people pay for your worthy-ness to make you richer.And when you become a success you remember to give back to the community that raised you, through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
All said, the laudable initiative of the Annual BUPF Seminar series as well as the Dr. John Daramola-led Bells Entrepreneur Club (BEC) that has some undergraduates already running their businesses-from cake making and fashion design to computer business- is highly commendable and should be emulated by other citadels of knowledge.
