REAL estate entrepreneur, Dr Babatunde Adeyemo, has advised the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) members serving in Ogun State to immediately kick-start their entrepreneurship journeys rather than waiting on white-collar jobs.
He disclosed that waiting on white-collar jobs is one error that many graduates fall into just like he did about 20 years ago when he served the fatherland in Niger State.
The realtor, who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pelican Valley Nigeria Limited, said this when he received some corps members at the Pelican Valley Estate, Laderin.
The visiting corps members were led by the state coordinator of Organisation of Peoples Voice and a member of the ICPC National Anti-Corruption Coalition, Mr Idris Abu.
The visit also afforded the corps members the opportunity to seek a collaboration with Adeyemo on initiating a community-based project for the villagers within the area.
Speaking during the meeting, Adeyemo lamented that the N400,000 he saved during his service year was spent on printing CVs for jobs that were nowhere to be found.
He noted that if the money had been rather deployed into any worthwhile business or entrepreneurship venture, his success story would have been more fast-paced today.
“You know once you graduate, what will be on top of your head is to use your certificate to look for white-collar jobs. That is sometimes a very wrong impression and I got it wrong. I don’t want you guys to get such an impression or fall into such a situation.
“Would you believe that I spent that N400,000 hunting for jobs? I spent everything hunting for a job from Lagos to Abuja, the job that was not there to be found. I got the journalism job through my late dad, after spending all that money.
“I don’t want to bore you guys with a long story. What I realised is that had it been that I didn’t squander that money printing CVs and looking for jobs that were not there, my success story would have been more fast-tracked today. My only regret is that I didn’t start this real estate business so early.
“Now, you guys have a wonderful opportunity to start something; the earlier the better for you. The earlier you start your journey of entrepreneurship, the better for you,” he said.
Explaining how to start entrepreneurship early, Adeyemo said: “If you are a university graduate and you are telling me that within a month you can’t convince someone to buy a product and get your commission on that product, it shows that you went through the university but the university didn’t pass through you. That is a fact. It shows you are not employable.
“All you need to do is to have integrity and liaise with someone who has a good product. I’m not trying to convert you to Pelican Valley marketers, it could be any product and there are many people with products looking for someone to market products for them. Just put that to the test. Before you know it, you are there.”
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