Stop the search for greener pastures (PART 2)

The challenge is this, if I could work hard to make ends meet, in the western world, why wouldn't I do same here in my country? I remember as a young lad, preparing for university, I had plans to school in Europe and my plans involved schooling and working so as to survive and be able to meet up with expenses. I observed this was the standard for most Nigerians who travelled to Europe to study. Plans didn't work so I had to attend university in Nigeria, after my first year in the university, I asked myself a very important question; what stops me from schooling and working? If I had plans to do so in Europe, now that I'm here, why can’t I do it? And that’s how I started my first business; from installing software to tutoring, repair and sales of computer and accessories. At a point in the business, I had four employees on my pay roll monthly and paying tuition was never a problem, my parent were also relieved from paying my fees through their nose and after graduation from university, I didn't have reasons to hunt for job because I’d my hands full and now, after several years, I remain a vibrant entrepreneur taking giant strides.

The problem of illegal migration to the developed countries is becoming over whelming and I do not think you should contribute to it, all in an attempt to escape poverty. If you must migrate, there are legitimate ways to go about it and you must be responsible.

Whatever your hand finds doing, do it well. The truth is; your success in life has nothing to do with your location, it has every thing to do with who you are; your personality. An author once wrote “Success is not a citizen of any country”, so stop the search for greener pastures, Africa is full of wealth, look inward and make yourself productive. Some one once said “a lizard in Nigeria, will not become an alligator in America” It will remain a lizard except that it may become fresher because of the weather condition over there. It’s not all about the country you live in, it’s all about you, because, if you have in you the yeast to rise and live your dream of success, you will not be in search of greener pastures, but you will create green pastures wherever you find yourself.

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Stop the search for greener pastures (PART 1)

Too many people from developing countries have come to believe that they can not make it good in their country except they migrate to the developed countries with robust economy and good standard of living. In most cases, some people just want to check out; either they have what to do there or not. Some go as far as taking life threatening risk to travel through the desert and on the sea all in an attempt to escape what they termed poverty in their country in search of greener pastures in developed countries.

The first thing you must settle in your mind is this; in the country where you live, there are people who are successful and living good life without stealing or engaging in fraud or embezzlement of public fund. The question is how are they able to achieve that and what can I do to be successful where I am?

I believe in “hard work” and it does not kill, you must learn to work hard, if you do not have a job, get one, it may not be your dream job but start from there. As long as you have a vision and plan for success, you will definitely achieve your goals.

Another thing you must ensure in your life is contentment, be satisfied with whatever you find yourself doing and whichever level you are at every point in time. It’s not as though you should not aspire for the next level but you must not allow greed or jealousy be your motivation. Things may take longer than expected or planned but it’s only a matter of time, things will get better. As much as good life and money do not grow on trees in the western world (where Africans termed greener pasture), it is expected that, if you happen to find your way to any of the developed countries, you will still need to find a job to make ends meet and you should not expect to have a smooth ride in your quest to find a job because you remain a second citizen as far as the host country is concern. As a result of this, it has been observed that most immigrants had to opt for menial jobs. I still wonder how an able body adult will leave everything behind, only to go and take up menial jobs in another country, considering the fact that the amount of money required to process travel document and flight is more than enough to start a small scale business in most developing countries.

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You are permitted to make mistakes

In life, we learn each passing day, there are things we know that we try to improve on and there are things we do not know that we try to learn. As much as you are always willing to improve on yourself and open to learn new things, you are bound to sometimes make mistakes; it is part of the learning process. The fact that you have the opportunity to make mistakes and accept correction is a proof that you are making effort and your effort over time will be crowned with success. So in life, mistakes are allowed but you must learn from every mistake so as not to repeat it self, the ability to minimize your mistakes is proportional to your success rate on your journey towards perfection in your life or on any project.

Do not let any one talk you out of that business or kill that big idea of yours, it does not matter how many times you get it wrong, the opportunity to get it right is coming closer. You need to be determined and persistent in your pursuit for excellence.

The fact that you made a mistake does not make you a failure, what makes you one is if you remain down and accept defeat. You must prepare for the top life because it’s easy, the down life is more difficult with so many obstacles to surmount, but the top is free and you can fly as high as you so desire.

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You are permitted to start small

Every thing great in this life, started small, you are permitted to start small but do not remain small, you may make mistakes but don’t throw in the towel, explore your mistakes and see how you can convert them to opportunities. Rise up to the challenge, you can be great and the truth is; you will be great. The best time to start is now, and the best place to start from is where you are. So stop complaining and get up to work.

I read of a youth corps member in the newspapers, who was posted to serve in “Abeokuta Ogun State” (Western Nigeria) for one year under the compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme for all high institution graduates in Nigeria. This young man identified a need within his host community and met it. From his one room apartment, he decided to start after school lesson for school children at a fee, after some few month, it was observed that children that attended his classes performed better in school and he had several parent in the neighbourhood enrolled their children and in returns, he was making some income. Some fellow corps member around him probably got motivated by him and also started their after school class for student in the community, but it was observed that they did not last long in the venture. For the pioneer youth corps member, his story was different, after his one year service, he got an uncompleted building in the community through the assistance of some members of the community and he started a regular school. By this time, he had so many students at his call, he kept at it, doing what he knows how to do best and today; he owns one of the leading private schools in “Abeokuta” with several employees on his pay roll. This young man probably did not go to university to learn how to teach or start a school but he took advantage of the academic challenges in his host community and made success out of it.

Someone may ask; so what do I start? Anything! Yes, anything you know how to do best. It does not have to be what you study in school. Let me tell you some thing about school, is a means to an end, it’s not the school itself that matters, but what you can do with what you learn from school. The school helps to prepare you for the task ahead of you in life, so it is not all about your course of study; it is expected of you to be vast in knowledge so that you can take up anything and make success out of it. That’s the difference between you that went to school and the other person who didn't.

If you get a job in your field, fine, if you do not, explore other opportunities around you; don’t be discouraged if it appears you don’t know much about the job, if you get a job today, you may be the best student from school, but the company will still have to train you, so it makes no difference how good you are, what matters at this point is your ability to adapt, learn fast and interpersonal skills that will determine your success in that company. More so, this is the time for you to be creative in your thinking and improve on the things you know how to do best.

There are millions of student who attempted to gain admission into university when you did but couldn't, but you did successfully, there are several others who gained admission with you but couldn't graduate, but you did successfully, if you could get this far, there is hope for you because you have not come this far to be jobless, you are on your journey of success and there is no stopping you.

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The pyramid of life

In the pyramid of life, at the bottom (the down life), there are too many people struggling for limited resources but at the top, there are a few competing for unlimited resources. This explains the reason the rich keeps increasing in riches while the poor struggles for survival. It’s all your choice to make, refuse the down life, don’t let any thing or any one keep you down and no matter how many times you fall, just keep moving until you get to your desired destination.

You may loss something or someone you hold so dearly, it may be very painful and difficult to bear but you must ensure you keep standing, do not let the situation keep you down, maintain your positive attitude and keep your eyes on the big picture (your goal in life). For instance, you may loss your job and it appears like you are down to zero, don’t be afraid, the zero point is always a good place to start all over. There is nothing wrong with starting afresh but there is everything wrong with wallowing in self pity, complaining and looking for who to blame for your predicament; this is what makes you a failure, because you are looking for help where it does not exist. What can I do? You may ask; if you ever find yourself in a position as this, what you need to do is to make up your mind to do it right in an attempt to start all over. If you need to get another job, do it but this time, with a different mentality. Say this, “any company that has me in their establishment is fortunate because I've got what it takes to make them great”, repackage your CV (curriculum Vitae) and move on. If your interest is in entrepreneurship, say this, “I'm going to be the best at whatever I set out to do”, see your job loss as an opportunity to demonstrate all the knowledge and skills you have acquired from your previous job. It’s time to reposition you for the task ahead. To be an entrepreneur could be very challenging but you are more than equal to the task.

If no one encourages you, encourage yourself, say this; “I've done it before and I can do it again, even better”. Remember your past successes and use it to encourage yourself but don’t be tempted to dwell too long on them so it won’t become a limitation. This is also the time for you to cut down the excesses; those things that easily distract you from your set goals and other things that are not very necessary. This will enable you focus and position yourself for the new height of your aspiration.

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Celebration of Knowledge

On 14^th July 2010, at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp in Kaduna state (Northern Nigeria), I had the opportunity to address about 2000 Corp members for some few minutes on “How to make the best of their service year”. I said to them “Your graduation from university should be for you an opportunity to give back to the society” as a graduate, this is not the time for you to look up to the society to give you a job but time to create jobs for the society. Your society is looking up to you for help, not too many had the opportunity to go to school and finish well. There is so much joblessness out there, economic downturns, poverty, corruption and so on… It is obvious the society does not have much to offer, other than these things. You must be smart and get the best out of school so you can be in a position to help others. What I'm saying in essence is; don’t have the mind set of graduating from school and have you join the labour market “job hunting”, rather, make up your mind to make a difference and help the situation of things in your society.

If the society refuses to give you a job or the government refuses to create the enabling environment for small scale business to thrive, create one for yourself. This could be very challenging because I have been there, but you have what it takes to harness all the potentials you've got to make your life better. It is a celebration of knowledge, you have learnt so much in school than for you to stay jobless. The many challenges around you are your opportunities to make a difference. Don’t blame the government, it won’t change your status; more often than not, governments world over only pay lip service to overturning unemployment and job creation, so it will not be the wise thing to do; blaming the government and do nothing to make a change. The truth is; the government itself needs help, so I encourage you to take responsibility for your life.

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The Certificate and my success

Certificate is wonderful, but does not guarantee permanent success. You can have all the degrees in the world and not be successful, certificate is just paper, what gives it value is the bearer. You can have all the “A” (distinction) on paper, but if you are not an “A” personality, permanent success will elude you. This is the reason I wonder at students who subscribe to cheating in an attempt to have good grades. You must become more interested in developing yourself and see good grades as icing on the cake; this will help you a great deal in your quest for a distinctive life.

How many graduates do we have that put to work what they learnt in school? Most times, it is not the issue of opportunity as it is the case of incompetence. The worst thing that can happen to anyone is to go to school for the sake of attendance, its all about knowledge acquisition and application. It is unfortunate that we find ourselves in an environment that attached so much importance to certificate and good grades, so much that without certain high grades, you can not get a good job or you probably do not have the opportunity to apply for a job. I feel this only encourages student to do everything possible to have good grades even at the expense of not acquiring any knowledge. Get good grades, but beyond grades, go for knowledge, know your onions and be the best at whatever you do. Do not blame your environment for your inability to excel in life, challenge yourself to make a difference.

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