Nigerian Youths are hungry for innovation, deserve opportunities in all sectors, says Sijibomi Ogundele

Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Sujimoto Construction Limited, Sijibomi Ogundele, has called for the right kind of leadership to be provided for Nigerian Youths as a way to build the capacity to achieve a strong, economically viable and politically stable country.

Ogundele said this during a recent interview while answering questions on what he thinks about the description of the Nigerian Youth as lazy and how to properly utilize the potentials of the young population.

He said: “I sincerely believe that I understand what the president meant by that concept, but I disagree with that. I think that one of the greatest assets we have as a nation is in our young people. I have been to different universities, to different schools and spoken with these young guys: there’s a hunger for innovation.

“What we lack as a nation is not in creativity. What we lack as a nation is more in leadership, not only political, but community and family based leadership, or someone to push the youths and provide opportunities in different sectors.

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“Nations like America, China, and other places have identified that their true asset is in their young people. They have created systems that will support people in education, health care, entrepreneurship, and infrastructure.

Ogundele further charged young people in the country to have as their driving force, the knowledge that there is no nobility in poverty; he said that some critical and internal decisions must be taken to achieve success in Nigeria and not to live with a sense of entitlement but to go all out to grab the ever available opportunities.

“I want our young people to know that ‘Success is not served a la carte. It’s a buffet! You have to go for it!’ Youths should bury any sense of entitlement. The likes of Linda Ikeji, Davido have worked hard and are ripping the reward for their dedication.

“Our youths must know that there is no nobility in poverty; to achieve success today in Nigeria, you must be ready to lose friends, be misunderstood, and be unreasonable in your visions. Nigerians have stopped following leaders who are ‘complaining and murmuring’ leaders.

“Young people must learn to reject the ordinary and risk the unusual. We need to know that Nigeria is a land of opportunities; find these opportunities. The likes of MKO, Ojukwu, Mai Deribe, and others started from their youth days. So, as young people, we have to prepare a ‘don’t do list,’ as much as you prepare a to-do list.”

Sijibomi Ogundele’s company, Sujimoto is building what’s been dubbed the tallest residential building in Banana Island: ‘The LeonardoBySujimoto.’

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE