Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you greater than any obstacle.

-Christian D. Larson

We Must Retune Our Curricula To Train Our Youth To Venture Out Early 

Recently, multiple award winning journalist, publisher and CEO, Quicklink International Network, Dele Agekameh, turned 55. One so passionate about how to move the nation forward, he used the occasion to reflect on the state of the nation, sharing ideas on how the polity could become better. In this interview with OLAWUNMI OJO, the National Director Media/Public Affairs of the National Think-Tank, speaks on how best to reduce unemployment among the youth population, resolve the perennial impasse between government and workers, how to resolve the nation’s leadership challenge, things to come in 2015 politically and, of course, the strides and lessons life has taught him thus far.
Looking at the life you have led thus far, with the benefit of hindsight, are you satisfied with the turn of events? Or, given a second chance, you would do some things differently? And what are the lessons the upcoming ones can learn from your strides in life?
Looking back, one is happy that he has come this far. But then, there are some rough edges one would wish he could smoothen but the opportunity is no longer there. For instance, you had friends you trusted so much but who later betrayed you. But we give glory to God that whatever their plans were, they did not succeed. In all, I thank God for what I have been able to achieve to date.
  Again, when you are born, you are innocent and you just keep growing often times without guidance or the direction of anyone, depending on the kind of family you come from. But the fact that one has been able to forge ahead and get to this point is what one should thank God for. The consolation, however, is that we now have a better way of training our children. We constantly guide them on why they should make friends with those who are better than them because it keeps them on their toes and makes them better. We also ensure that they make the best of career choices. The lesson is that, from experience, you can guide them to become better people if you start early enough and devote ample time to their upbringing.
Is it that there were no models for you to look up to or seek advice from while growing up?
  The Nigerian education system does not give you models to look at. You are just there. In those days, we were studying a lot of history about how we came into existence or about the achievements of our progenitors. Of course, there were some few outstanding people here and there, who left indelible footprints on the sand of time. But we also had people like the late Dele Giwa and others who made nice impressions in life and thereby, influenced people like me. That gave us some semblance of models.
  And even nowadays, except for the people who are making money rightfully or wrongfully, Nigeria does not really have heroes, not even in government. And it is a sad development. As alternative, people now look at their parents and probably take after them.
You retired as a journalist and have been in private practice for a decade having quit in January 2004. A lot of experienced journalists do not seem to know when to call it quit. Drawing from your fountain of experience, what advice do you have for such category of people?
 Journalists don’t retire. The only thing that can happen is stepping aside from day-to-day news hunting, to concentrate on other aspects of journalism. The Nigerian society does not have provision for somebody who wants to practice and die in the profession. Besides, if you do not leave and create jobs elsewhere, where would all the people just graduating from school get jobs? By remaining there for so long, it means you are preventing some other people from coming in to perform their own roles and earn a living.
  What you must do is to have a consciousness that there is no job that must be permanent except it is your own. It should be seen that you are passing through a period of stewardship and once you have served in a place for about 15 to 20 years, the best thing is to go and explore new areas, which is why people like us left.
  I think when you are in there, a lot of people seem to have the misconception that, ‘if I leave here, what would I do’? But the truth is that, if you do not start thinking about what to do next, that thought-flow would not come to you. It is either you still remain in journalism, doing some publishing on your own or you move to other professions and excel. Journalists can thrive elsewhere and they must start thinking in that direction early. From hindsight, I can say journalism is not a profession where you make money; you can make fame but not the money. Although things are actually getting better but if you practice journalism according to the books, forget about money, you may be lucky to be able to live an average life with your family. So, journalists need to start thinking early enough about how to match their fame with money thereafter.
What have you been preoccupied with since quitting active journalism?
  I have had the spirit of entrepreneurship in me for long. Now, I do media consultancy and publishing. I am also on the board of some companies. In addition, we would soon unveil our resource centre that would be the first of its kind in this area, probably by the 2nd quarter of this year. I have also been a columnist for a leading newspaper for almost eight years.
What sort of resource centre are you putting up, which, according to you, has the capacity of being the first of its kind around?
  It is a place where all people could converge and have fun or do business. It is something close to the Civic Centre in Victoria Island. Here, you would have the event centres, seminar rooms, meeting rooms, eatery and an ample car park. The facility is by the Express Road in Igando on your way to Lasu. This is an effort meant to dissuade people from going all the way to VI or Ikeja for ceremonies all the time. It is just to bring the needed facilities for celebrating some good occasions and having classy fun nearer to them. It would be a one-stop resource centre for leisure and business.
What has the journey being like as an entrepreneur?
   As an entrepreneur, you have to open your eyes wide; you have to keep having new innovations. I am a member of the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation, (EO), with headquarters in Virginia, USA. It has about 170 chapters in 65 countries across the continents and still growing. It is an organisation that gives you the knowledge to excel as an entrepreneur. They help to hone your entrepreneurial skills. I am a member of the Nigerian chapter; I am the President-elect and would be taking over as President in a few months time.
  Being an EO member is very challenging. They teach you modern methods of doing business and you are exposed to various result-oriented strategies of doing business elsewhere in the world. This has helped me and other members in our entrepreneurial drive.
In other climes, especially in the west, the curriculum trains the youth to venture early in life, which explains why they have a lot of young entrepreneurs and business owners. How can Nigeria retune its curriculum in this regard?
  I think moves are already being made in this regard. However, I strongly advocate that entrepreneurship be introduced early in the schools so that early in life, students can pick-up and move. The question of people graduating and looking for jobs that are not there would drastically reduce. That is the only way we can move the economy forward, solve the embarrassing unemployment problem and gainfully employ the youth.
  Like you rightly said, when we joined the EO, we discovered that members from other countries, who owned big businesses and were making millions of dollars were either below 30 or were aged between 30 and 40 years. In fact, it was when Nigeria joined the organisation that the age ceiling was increased. We made them understand that in Nigeria, before you can become an entrepreneur, you would be between 45 and 50 years old. So, they were forced to shift.
  But government must provide the enabling environment. After our youth acquire the entrepreneurial skills and get out into the society, who would give them the capital to venture? Capital is one major challenge in this country. For instance, we have been trying to access a loan from a first generation Bank for almost two years now. Every necessary document has been signed but there is one person who seems bent on frustrating our efforts.
  The bank has come to value the property. They saw it was fantastic but the last man, who interestingly, we gathered is not a Nigerian, has refused to put pen to paper. I am sure he must also be doing this to several other Nigerians who are in need of support. Imagine a project that has gulped several millions and only looking for a small fraction of that amount to complete and open shop, and then it gets stuck.
  So, government must look into this area critically. There must be funds accessible for Small and Medium Enterprises. Some of the obnoxious laws, which are stifling entrepreneurship, should be relaxed so people could get fully involved in business. People cannot do that now because there are so many government regulations. Taxes are so high; interest rates are going out of the roof, yet, both the banks and the government are not helping matters.
Considering the litany of industrial actions and strikes by various trade and work groups that have become the order in the country and which threatens our socio-economic development, how best can government address the issues?
  This only calls for sincerity in governance. There is no sincerity in governance in Nigeria, which is why we have the series of problems bedeviling our country. Many times, you hear that certain amount of money has been approved for this and that, but you do not see anything to show. There must be openness in government. A lot of government transactions are transacted in secrecy. It should not be so; it must be open to people. This is a democracy!
To give the openness you advocate, such government must have come into power with established ideologies at the party levels. But this is not so…
   In Nigeria, the people in politics and power, if you will permit me, are more or less operating like associations of gangsters. And what you have at every point in time is like one gangster trying to outdo the other, probably, to take control of the nation’s treasury and commonwealth. And this is why you find politicians who are richer than the country. None of them has any clear ideology.

Source:Guardian Newspapers