Oluwapelumi Adedotun Ashiru is a business strategist, branding consultant and the founder of Ibadan-based ADT Foundation. In this interview with KANGMWA GOFWEN he spoke about how the government can encourage young entrepreneurs among other issues. Excerpts;
You studied Agricultural Engineering but you’re now a branding consultant. Why that switch?
First, I love creativity and it increases my passion for things I really want to do. I’ve always wanted to be a civil engineer but due to so many circumstances, it did not come through. No disrespect to agriculture as a whole, it also has its own creativity but I feel I’m part of the few that saw creativity in human, materials and also passion. The passion in me to create long-lasting creativity dragged me to become a brand strategist, Though it was never an easy ride but I was able to move along it step by step. Asides that, it was the creativity that dragged me to what I do today with all my events and gatherings, it has always been spelt out. I love it a lot.
With your knowledge of agriculture, do you think that Nigeria can depend solely on agriculture to drive our economy?
We really cannot depend on agriculture alone to move the economy of the country. Yes, we have so many tribes or so many people that go into farming a lot but there are so many basic amenities that the country lacks and it is not encouraging farmers to venture into farming fully from the start. We have different occupations; youths are doing extraordinary things to cater for themselves. God has blessed us a lot in this country with different methods to move the economy but maybe our leaders are the one starving us of the basic amenities. We have different modules which can help us to move the country forward and also invest heavily in them.
What is the inspiration behind your two books Thrive and Fearless?
At first, I never wanted to be a writer, I only want to go out there to talk to people, make people learn from me and my pasts and I kept on reading books but after a while I realised people need something to sustain them and also help them in achieving their purpose. So, I wrote the first book, THRIVE, that centres on redefining your purpose, developing yourself and a practical guide for living successfully. After launching the book, I got a low turnout in sales then I gave it out to some people for free because I realised it’s not about money, it’s about the values. I wrote the second book which is FEARLESS and it centred on eradicating fear in whatever we do and how we can eradicate the fear of the unknown in us. Presently I’m working on another one to be released soon.
With the growing economic hassle in the country, how have you managed to stay in business?
The only reason I’m still in business is God and my personal conviction to keep going irrespective of anything that might be happening. Truthfully, it has not been easy to say and God has been helping. I look for more from God and his promises.
What can the government do to encourage more youths to bring their dreams to fruition as entrepreneurs?
Like I said earlier, God has blessed us in this country but maybe our government are the ones siphoning it. Above all, the government should bring all youths together and help them achieve their purpose, ask them to share ideas and also be ready to acquaint themselves with it. The tech guys are really doing wonderfully well with ideas that our government needs to adopt. The government has to see the youths as the messiah of this country and allow them to show forth their prowess in actualising the Nigeria we all want.
We are so blessed in this country and it is evident all over the world because our youths are making positive changes in other countries, developing and making names for themselves. Why can it not be done here? Our leaders should understand it better.
As a young Nigerian, do you think the youths are ready to take leadership of the country?
I am a youth and I am a proud one but it is a shame to us that we are not ready to take the mantle to drive this country forward. This and more are what the government sees that encourages them not to hand over power to us. It is a shame because some of us do not even know what we want as individuals or as a nation. We all believe we are capable but no, we are not.
We need to understand the basis of being a leader. It is not about hot takes or dragging on Twitter alone. Leadership is a major factor to be considered if you want to lead. To lead people, first of all, lead your bed every time you wake up. From there, extend it out and ask yourself later if you are really ready for a change out of being mediocre. We are not ready at all.
Tell us about your project ‘Hangout with ADT.
ADT is a brand that was coined from the name ADEDOTUN and has many conglomerates which are Hangout with ADT, ADT Foundation, AD’DT Creations and Talk Series with Adedotun.
Hangout with ADT is a gathering of intellectuals that contribute heavily to making an individual a successful person by virtue of inspiring and motivating the sleeping giants in them and also building them to form a strong wall of success and fame.
Hangout with ADT is positioned to help entrepreneurs achieve their feats in life and make good use of the opportunities that come out of it and also positioned to help individuals achieve their set goals, dreams and visions by listening to inspirational speakers across the Oyo State and the country at large in order to learn, relearn and unlearn. It also helps in knowing what to do and how to manoeuvre their way to the top by listening to different success stories from our invited guests and panellists.
When was ADT Foundation founded and what is the focus of the organisation?
ADT Foundation is a non-governmental organisation that helps develop, mentor and inspire the young generations (students and teens). We mentor, encourage, lead and also feed the young generations to have more purposeful lives. We go all out to schools in different states and also feed the community and also empower them. ADT Foundation was founded in 2015 and we have raised over 1,000 students and also projected them for a bigger future.
If you had the opportunity to change one thing in Nigeria, what would that be?
Myself first. I need to change a lot on the path of my life so I will start by changing my mindset and then extend it to the people around me and from there, we see what’s up.
What advice do you have for the youths out there and also entrepreneurs?
The only advice I will give is that youths should shy away from living in mediocrity. We should understand our strengths and act based on them. We should see that the only way we have is by living a more purposeful life and acting on it. We should be ourselves and also make sure our passion for greatness never dies.
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