By Sulaimon Olanrewaju
When dyslexia forced Richard Branson out of school, he decided to become an entrepreneur. In 1966, he started the Student Magazine, which he had hoped would become his generation’s voice. Despite the general acceptance of the magazine, it didn’t make as much money as he had envisaged. Consequently, the budding entrepreneur ran into liquidity problem and had to change his plan without abandoning his goal. Thus, he veered into the music industry and started a mail-order discount record business. It was a successful venture that launched him on the path to great wealth.
Being adventurous, Branson soon tried other things with varying degrees of success. In 1984, he started the Virgin Atlantic Airlines with the aim of offering passengers a better flying experience but the business almost died before it started. While on the initial test flight, a flock of birds flew into the engine of Virgin’s only aeroplane, which was a rented Boeing 747, causing extensive damage. That stalled the take-off of the business because the airline couldn’t get certified to start operation without a functional airplane, and it couldn’t raise money for repairs without being certified.
Branson had to re-strategise; he restructured his other companies for him to be able to pull out money from them to fix the damaged aircraft. Eventually, the business went on stream and it turned out to be a huge success.
Reflecting on what kept him going when things turned awry for him as a serial entrepreneur, Branson said it was a quote by Victor Kiam, which he had learnt as a young person, that “Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward.” These words, he said, never failed to give him strength and internal peace. The words gave the inspiration and impetus for him to bounce back whenever he was bowed down. He said he kept the words close to his heart knowing that with hard work and determination, there was nothing he set out to achieve that was beyond his reach.
While speaking on the theme, Unlocking Youth Potential; Addressing Needs, Fulfilling Dreams at the Oyo State Youth Summit 2025 held at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, on April 29, 2025, Governor ‘Seyi Makinde gave the mammoth gathering a snippet of his journey to financial independence.
He said, “In October 1990, my father dropped me at a park at 7am, about one kilometre away from here, where I took a bus, I think it was Bendel Line they called it at that time, to Port Harcourt for my National Youth Service Corps scheme. I had with me a bag which contained a pair of trousers, two T-shirts and I think one or two books. That was all I had with me as I left Ibadan. But I didn’t return from Port Harcourt until I became a billionaire. If I could do it, given the right opportunities and the right environment, you can also do it.”
The silence that engulfed the hall was so thick it could be cut with a knife. Everyone wanted to hear the story of how a corps member with only three shirts on his back hit the billions. They wanted to see the practicality of the governor’s statement: “If I could do it, given the right opportunities and the right environment, you can also do it.”
Great leaders are often great storytellers. They tell their personal stories to inspire others. They highlight their mistakes so that those coming behind can avoid them. They understand that the journey to success is a race against odds, which more often than not, wears many out, forcing them to give up. So, they share personal stories of how they found strength to overcome the odds to get to the top so that others who are weighed down may find a reason to get back on their feet and trudge on.
The governor then went into how he used the period of his youth service and his engagement with Shell Nigeria, subsequently, to learn new skills and develop his capacity which prepared him for his journey into entrepreneurship.
Charging the young people who thronged the hall to hear him to seize every opportunity to develop themselves, Makinde said: “Get exposure if you have the opportunity. If you don’t, read up. We must be serious with education; we must educate our people to reduce illiteracy. If you are well-informed you will be able to make decisions that are logical.”
Stressing that the wealth of a nation is in its people and not its natural resources, Governor Makinde shared with the audience how Finland transited from an aid-seeking and aid-dependent country to a First World country without any major natural resource. He said that the transformation of Finland from an impoverished country to a prosperous one was rooted in its decision to educate its people. Makinde added that if a country could become prosperous by paying attention to education, so can individuals. He then went on to encourage the youth to acquire the required education, noting that without properly developing their capacities through the acquisition of requisite knowledge and skills, they would end up being average, which would put a cap on their accomplishment.
The governor also encouraged the young people to be entrepreneurial. He said, “Economic prosperity would come when we have entrepreneurs. Some of you are planning for jobs and looking at opportunities to be created by others. But I only worked for an organisation once in my entire life. I did one year of Youth Service in 1990-1991. I later worked for Shell and after that, I started working for myself. In the beginning, I could not even call myself a Managing Director, because I was too young. So, we must create entrepreneurs and you must always have that in mind.”
Entrepreneurs are critical to the development of any society because they act as the wheel of economic growth by promoting innovation and creating entirely new markets. Entrepreneurs identify opportunities and mobilise resources to utilise the opportunities for the benefits of not just themselves but the society at large. Through their activities, entrepreneurs create job opportunities, create wealth and facilitate economic growth. So, there is always a correlation between entrepreneurship and the prosperity level of a country.
Makinde then stressed the need for the youth, as well as the nation, to be productive.
His words: “We must have intensive production. We have to be productive.”
Productivity is sine qua non for economic prosperity. The level of productivity is the most fundamental factor that determines the standard of living. Increases in productivity enable companies to scale up output for the same level of input, earn higher revenues, and ultimately generate higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Increased productivity results in increased wages and improves people’s ability to pay for goods and services, acquire better education, live in a better environment and contribute to the overall development of the society.
Elsewhere, Governor Makinde had said that productivity should not be viewed with the prism of local consumption or import substitution, but with a focus on export orientation.
While declaring open the 2024 edition of Oyo State International Trade Fair known as “EXPOYO 2024,” he said, “For us in Oyo State, we are not giving up … It is about time we changed our orientation. People will talk about what we produce in Nigeria and showcase the economic potential of Oyo State.
“We are not interested only in things that we will consume locally in Oyo State. Import substitution means you are looking at only your own market. Export orientation means we want to produce here and sell to the world and earn the necessary foreign exchange. For us here, it is a challenge for the industrialists in our midst. We must develop our export market and attract foreigners.”
While concluding his speech at the youth summit, the governor said: “These really are my messages to you this morning. Think about the three things that I already mentioned; economic prosperity would not come except we have entrepreneurs, except we have our people educated and except we back it up with intensive production.”
Reiterating the commitment of his administration to providing an enabling environment for young people to thrive, Governor Makinde said, “I give you the assurance that Oyo State will always lead the charge as we will give you the opportunities to unlock your potential.”
As the sea of heads in the hall applauded the governor while stepping down from the podium after his presentation, the words that filled the air were, “If I could do it, given the right opportunities and the right environment, you can also do it.”
The primary responsibility of a mentor is to influence a mentee. To influence is to affect the thinking of the other person. If Victor Kiam’s “Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward” affected the thinking of Richard Branson and made him a dogged serial entrepreneur, Makinde’s “If I could do it, given the right opportunities and the right environment, you can also do it” can affect the thinking of young Nigerians and turn them into knowledge-seeking productive entrepreneurs.
•Dr Olanrewaju is the Chief Press Secretary to Oyo State Governor.
