An entrepreneur, Mr Bright Jaja, has advised youths to discover and sharpen their skills in order to become self-reliant and be able to contribute meaningfully to national development.
Jaja, the founder of iCreate Africa, gave the advice on Thursday in Abuja, at a skills acquisition programme organised by the
organisation in partnership with El-Amin International School.
Cue in audio
“It is okay to have normal schooling education but now that doesn’t sell anymore.
“ People that have master’s degrees and PhD do not have jobs, they need skills.
“Skill is the next phase of our youths. That is all we have.
“When you find out that thing you want to do, then learn, listen, do your research, understand what it is, get that knowledge.
“Once you have that knowledge then you go out there and start showing people what you can do.
“There are millions of ideas, so many things to do. So many things people have not even come out with yet.
“ But people want to make quick money, they don’t want to work, they do not want to learn, it is hard for them to read a book or sit down
and get some kind of information.
“They just want to sit down and wait for money to come and fall on their laps which is impossible. Everything needs work.
“So people need to get to that point when they need to start getting knowledge and skill and putting it out there and then making money.’’
Cue out audio
Jaja said that lack of funds should not be a hindrance to developing skills adding that many youths use that as excuse for their failures.
“Starting up something is different from knowing how to do something.
“You need finance to start a business but you do not necessarily need finance to know how to do something.
“Like I said I learnt how to do a lot of things from watching YouTube videos.
“You do not necessarily need to have funds to have a skill.
“Now if I know how to upload software on a system, I do not need money to do that.
“I just need to go meet people and say, I can upload software on a system and then I do it.
“And when I do it, you recommend people to me and then they start bringing their work to me and then I can create a little fund to start
my own business.
“Probably get a small shop or probably put some flyers out there and say I can do this.
“ So find that skill first that you can use your hand to do without actually needing money to start.
He advised youths in the country to work at discovering their talents to have meaningful lives.
“Everybody keeps saying you need money to start that is not it, that is an excuse that is not the issue.
“There are people whom if you give them money, they do not even know what to do with it, they do not know how to plan or use the money.
“So one year, two years the business is dead.’’
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that iCreate is a skills acquisition programme aimed at inculcate and developing practical and
creative skills in children, young people and adults.
Discussion about this post