Young people are assets not liability. We cannot postpone their future into the future. We must help them today by creating jobs; not just jobs, quality jobs. —Akinwumi Adesina, President of African Development Bank
During the 2019 Tony Elumelu Foundation Forum, the Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, stated that “Investing in the youth is a smart investment. But it is not just a smart move, it is a must.” Like the WHO boss, most Africans know that the youth is the foundation for African development and progress. The reason why many African countries are still on the under-developing or developing status is mostly due to the neglect of its youth resources in the policy and economic affairs of their states.
I am familiar with the quote: “If you want to succeed, start now.” However, most African, especially Nigerian, youth do not know what it takes to succeed in leadership and entrepreneurship spaces, not to mention knowing how to start. The government is not helping matters, and the socio-economic reality of Africa in recent times is not helping too. But, in spite of these depressing indices, very few African youth, like Olugbenga Ogunbowale, are blazing a trail and distinguishing themselves.
I have known and worked with Olugbenga Ogunbowale for about two years now. Over the past two decades, Ogunbowale has gradually risen from someone who wore patched school uniforms in primary school to a young psychologist, leader and entrepreneur to behold. In a recent Nigerian Tribune interview, he admitted that, as a primary school pupil, his parents engaged in numerous small businesses for the family to survive, adding that, “I can easily trace my entrepreneurial genes to my parents.”
An alumnus of the Leadership in Business Institute of the Kellogg School of Management and also an alumnus of the Enterprise Development Centre, Ogunbowale’s voyage into business leadership was not accidental. In 2017, he founded Epower.ng, a tech firm supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through web and app design. In the same Nigerian Tribune interview, he categorically stated that, “I see myself driving the growth of SMEs across Africa through ICT and policy.”
Recently, Ogunbowale was appointed as an international partner for Nigeria by the World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF), a platform he said he would explore in advocating for more financial inclusion in Nigeria, and also to network and to collaborate with other business innovators to create jobs and grow businesses. In other to create more jobs and grow more businesses, As a Mandela Washington fellow and ambassador, and a Royal Commonwealth Society fellow, Ogunbowale is also a social innovator and a humanitarian. In 2016, he co-founded The Orphan Empowerment Society (TOES), a non-governmental organisation that is working and networking to end orphan poverty, and has already reached out to nearly 25,000 orphans across Africa. During the COVID-19 pandemic, TOES was instrumental in helping orphans in over six African countries, including Nigeria, with palliatives and health tips that helped to mitigate their plights.
In September 2019, I attended an inspiring summit called Spectator to Spectacular, an annual programme that Ogunbowale organises to celebrate his birthday. About why he organises this summit, he answered, “Spectator to Spectacular is my way of inspiring young Nigerians to beat impossible odds and succeed.” Through this summit, he brings young people and exposes them to business and humanitarian leaders who inspire them. Since the inception of the summit in 2016, he noted that many of its participants have been inspired to start something innovative and some now hold leadership positions.
One of Olugbenga Ogunbowale’s foremost role models is Aliko Dangote. Perhaps, one of Dangote’s most inspiring leadership quote is, “It is hard to see a youth that will go to bed by 2am and wake up by 5am. I don’t rest until I achieve something.” As a young leader, who is committed to helping young people to discover their purpose and achieve something in life, Ogunbowale co-founded a leadership club called Pacesetters Leadership Club. Since the inception of the leadership club in 2016, it has nurtured over two hundred young leaders who now own businesses, landed their dream jobs or are studying abroad through scholarships.
Tony Elumelu once said, “Today, we may appear young and people may not believe in us. But we are going to compel them to believe in us through our achievement.” This Elumelu assertion speaks volumes about Ogunbowale, who is a Tony Elumelu fellow and influencer. As someone from a poor background, whose parents were fish and poultry farmers, and shoemakers, his work and achievement today have compelled others to believe in him to the point he is now nurturing young leaders and driving SMEs across Africa.
When asked, in an interview, where he would see himself five years from now, he answered, “I see myself lifting more people, especially child orphans in Africa, out of extreme poverty.” Most times, when I think about Akinwumi Adesina’s aforementioned quote, I think about youth change-makers like Ogunbowale.
Ogunbowale’s favourite quote is, “Life is too short. Make a dent in the universe.” There is no doubt that Olugbenga Ogunbowale is making a big dent in Africa with his life and work.
Kingsley Alumona,
Ibadan
