Tony Udemba
Recently, Forever Living Products (FLP), a health, wellness and beauty company, held its annual summit, tagged “Forever Youth Summit,” in Lagos. It is a platform created by the company for successful businessmen and captains of industry to share their experience, expertise and advice with youths.
The aim is to consciously build in the youth a mindset that will focus less on white-collar jobs but think to explore the creative and entrepreneurial potential in them.
Opening the event, FLP Nigeria country sales manager, Mr. Daniel Ikechukwu, recalled the infrastructural decay in Nigeria. He then implored the Nigerian youth to see the opportunities that abound within the country and maximise such with their innate potential and creativity.
The keynote speaker, chairman of the board of directors, First Bank Nigeria Plc., Mrs. Ibukun Awosika, charged Nigerian youths to apply their talents and skills to build the nation, describing nation-building as a national service.
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“When people work collectively, you make a difference. Our youths have abundance of energy and passion to create value, and with discipline you will utilise the opportunities you see. Every challenge in Nigeria is an opportunity.
In whatever venture you choose, you must understand that the bottom of the pyramid should be the target point of the population. Don’t aim for the big business, rather start small and get the chance to prove your assumptions, and in all circumstances do the right thing, consistently,” she said.
President, Coscharis Group, Dr. Cosmas Maduka, also noted that: “If I were a youth here now, I wouldn’t find a better place to be born besides Nigeria that provides me an unprecedented opportunity to show my skill. Any little thing anybody does here will be a success. Many people think that Europe is the easiest environment for business. I say, no! The opportunities are now here.”
Maduka revealed that success in business is based on three principles – vision, faith and courage: “With a strong vision comes criticism by naysayers. Again, don’t think that your vision must manifest in your lifetime. Your vision might be accomplished far after you are gone. The vision of Martin Luther King Jr. was fulfilled when Barack Obama became the first Black American President of the United States.”
Vice president, Africa, Forever Living Products, Jean-Baptiste Amichia, said the Nigerian youth had two main pillars to their advantage: education and knowledge of technology.
He said: “The correlation between growth and culture in Nigeria are very powerful. When you add technology and culture, you have something very unique. With these, the Nigerian youth can withstand any growth for agriculture and for finance. In Forever, we aim to get people to think and look good, and we have the products for all. This opportunity can give them low capital intensive profile so they can start out a business with low capital and grow very fast.”
He encouraged them to build their business on values. The Forever Youth Summit 2.0 was a three-day event and featured many speakers/youth entrepreneurs like Ezekiel Solesi and Nkem Agboti, among others. The summit also showcased all the tools that youths could use to build a business of the 21 st century.
Ikechukwu, in the vote of thanks, urged Nigerians to look forward to the third edition of the summit, even as the company initiated a mentorship programme for youths.