My passion for public speaking drives my entrepreneurship skill —Onamusi

Nigerian born-UK based entrepreneur and a public speaker, Sheun Onamusi, is one of the young Nigerians making waves and positively projecting Nigeria outside the shores. In this interview with SEYI SOKOYA, Onamusi, who has over the years been shaping the minds of Nigerian youths through his annual youth empowerment programme, Redefine Success Summit, speaks on how he started his entrepreneurial journey, among other issues.

You recently empowered some Nigerian youths through your annual success summit in Lagos. What was the outcome like?

I thank God that the summit was a success, because it was huge and the purpose was indeed achieved. It was a 100 percent growth compared to the previous ones, and the traction we have been building for the past 12 months has been good. We also enjoyed the support of the media, both print and electronics. Importantly, the outcome of the summit has been impressive. We have gotten a lot of feedbacks and testimonies from those that attended the programme. For example, a lady from Akure, who has the challenges of establishing herself before the conference, has now set up a restaurant. Some of the participants of last year’s event have become successful farmers. We have also had the testimonies of some people that joined the programme on social media, especially from the snippet keynote speaker, Fela Durotoye. Another lady who is into an online ordering cake business has launched her website after benefiting from the seminar. Above all, we have seen growth and this will ignite our passion to continue impacting lives, especially the younger generation.

What has been your motivation in impacting positively on your fellow youths?

It is not a special responsibility. We have some young Nigerians that are also passionate about impacting others with great influence. So, mine is not an exception. In terms of the drive, I have been blessed enough to live outside the country, as well as met with Nigeria’s top business moguls, such as Dangote and others outside the shores of this country. Despite the fact that I had the opportunity to reside with my family abroad, I can never forget my source. I love my country, because it is where my background could be traced to; I had both my primary and secondary education in Nigeria and I had my early life here. I wasn’t the smartest kid when I was school, but I tell people that opportunity made me develop myself. This is why I also want to inspire youths to be at alert to opportunities around them.

The second motivation, I guess will be the God factor, I became a Christian about 14 years ago and I read the Bible and I see all sort of things, especially how we can make heaven on earth possible. If heaven is possible in the UK and USA, because of the infrastructure put in place, I believe we can make it happen in Nigeria.

The major desire of many youths is to travel out of the country with the intent of securing greener pasture, but yours seems to be different, even with the  fact that you have the opportunity to stay outside the country,  you still choose to return to the country often to associate and impact on youths. Why?

I am heavily involved in Diaspora activities. I know a lot of Nigerians that are making the country proud both within and outside UK. There is hardly anybody I have come in contact with in the UK, either old or young that does not want to come back home. My grandmother has been in the UK for over 60 years; she worked as a chef to the Queen of England and at some time she worked with the metropolitan police and she is now a pensioner. My grandma at 88 years-old would always say that ‘I want to go back to Nigeria. I want to die in my country.’ That blood is always there no matter how successful one is. No place like home. For me, youths clamoring to move outside Nigeria, would on or before 10 years look forward to come back to Nigeria.  My advice to any youth that wants to go for greener pasture is to stay back and let us move the country forward. I can guarantee you that anyone who wants to run out would come back soon, because no matter how sweet the place is there is still going to be segregation, racism and economic ceilings. Don’t get me wrong, I have met with a lot of legitimate millionaires who are Nigerians that have made it there. Also, it is not as if there are not opportunities there, but it is just that the opportunities are quite restrictive. The truth is that despite the fact that they allow you to live in their country, it is still their country. Look at the Brexit case for an instance, they said they don’t want foreigners in their country, look at what is happening in America at the moment, it is only a matter of time, they won’t want you in their country.

Despite the fact that a lot of Nigerian youths have shifted to vocational practices and entrepreneurship skills; the main challenge by many has been capital. What do you think the government of Nigerian can do to ensure youth in Nigeria excel through this means?

The government and the society at large need to do more; we need to appreciate what entrepreneurship is all about. Unfortunately, for us we like to see the end products, but not interested in the basics. We need to make entrepreneurship skills a major study in our universities. When you look at entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom, 75 percent of the economy is being handled by small businesses. They know how veritable entrepreneurship is. Some years back, they offered anyone who was interested in entrepreneurship £5,000 for the duration of five years interest-free loan. The government backed up the idea, because they saw the value. Such could be replicated in Nigeria by state governments and religious bodies. There are some businesses that would require as little as N50, 000, but getting that money may be quite difficult for some people. I think the government needs to put in more effort to empower many Nigerians on this. Aside that individual needs to have a bigger picture in their mind. They should not allow lack of finance deter them from reaching or pursuing their goals; they can do more with the little they have.

You are an entrepreneur and a public speaker. How have you been able to combine both without clash?

My passion for public speaking drives that of entrepreneurship and the experience has been interesting. I ventured into entrepreneurship in order to make people see what I say or teach as a public speaker as true, and not just mere talk. It is just a way to practicalise what I preach. That is simply the principle of the fact that says ‘you cannot give what you don’t have’. I am into a shoe business, Solemate by Dapper, and authentic Bespoke shoes made in Italy.

Are you at any point going to dump entrepreneurship since public speaking has shot you into limelight?

That is impossible; at the moment I make shoes and I have a 20 year plan that I cannot dump easily. The gift of oratory, which I have, is only one thing that I want to deploy. For instance, Will Smith is a rapper, an actor and a producer, so there’s nothing stopping me. If God has so gifted me this way, then I am not stopping and I want to deploy it. For example if I end up going into politics and not public speaking I will use my oratory gift there as well. I don’t see public speaking as an industry or market to excel in, but as a gift that has to be deployed continually and used. Don’t ever mistake mission for purpose, God might give you a purpose, but the mission might change. I have a lot of mission at the moment and at the end all might be streamlined to entrepreneurship. But I will not stop being a public speaker. Public speaking simply means speaking in the public.

What has been your greatest challenge?

I do have quite a lot of challenges; it is just that I don’t just wear them. My mum told me one day that one thing she appreciates most about me is that I don’t just wear my challenges. I have troubles as a man and father. I am also faced with one challenge or the other with my business, because of capital, but I have not allowed all these to stop me from actualising my dreams. I have challenges I am faced with, but the fact that as long as I have a soul and spirit, I will surmount the challenges.

Could you shed more light on what shape Redefine Success of next year would take?

We intend to have a two-day event and our plan is to have a dinner for entrepreneurs and awards for entrepreneurs, as well as flying a keynote speaker who would address a particular area all in day one. Day two; we are planning to go to a tertiary institution to educate undergraduates on E-Business.