Former Governor of Lagos and Nigeria’s current Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, has said that if not for his passion for litigation as a young lawyer, he would have ended up being a post master.
Fashola, who spoke at a group mentoring programme for entrepreneurs organised by Young Business Leaders of Nigeria (YBLN) in Lagos, said that after graduating from University of Benin (UNIBEN) and he was unemployed, his father presented him with the opportunity to work with the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST).
This was at a time working with NIPOST was a dream job. While he realised it was a fantastic opportunity, he was extremely passionate about litigation and thus turned down the offer, and opted to pursue a career as a lawyer.
“I had a different passion and that was being in the courtroom; I therefore had to go for my dream to find a job that would help my career.
“It took me a while before I could get a job and that meant I was jobless for several months after NYSC”, he said.
He, however, noted the failing education system in country and thus lauded the YBLN’s initiative in training young entrepreneurs for positive change in the country.
The minister encouraged the young entrepreneurs to pursue their careers with a view to realising their potentials.
“I am happy to see young people doing great things in their various areas of business. The better Nigeria, we hoped for begins with us,” Fashola told the 20 budding entrepreneurs.”
The minister also spoke of the need for youths to develop a sense of identity, to mark themselves out from previous rigorous thinking, distinctive engagement and an insistence on doing the right thing.
He cited an example of a movie,”The men who built America”, and urged participants to emulate the zealous actions of those characters in their aim to change America.
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