Billionaire Entrepreneur And Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu Pens An Open Letter To The Next Generation (READ)

Well known Billionaire Entrepreneur and Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu has written an inspiring letter to the next generation. He shared the above photo on his Instagram page and wrote; “Letter to the next generation ; Young African, You are brave, you are resilient. You are savvy, you are entrepreneurial, and unlike the generations that have come before you, you are much hungrier for success. You call your ambition, “your hustle”, and you have several of them because you are tireless and eager to achieve financial independence – no matter how elusive it appears. You are optimistic but you are also anxious. You have seen others toil long and hard for economic security in vain, decades of labour without fruit. Some of your friends may have discussed emigrating with you – legally or illegally, and some may have lost their young lives crossing the Mediterranean in search of a future overseas where their talents are recognized and rewarded. You may even know a few in Libya, unsuspecting victims to the ugly acts of slave trade. A combination of these factors has left you disillusioned and disconnected. You don’t believe in politics. There is no use in getting involved. You have seldom experienced good governance, so you think, “What’s the point?” But despite the gloom, there actually is indeed a point. My generation and the ones before may have failed you, and the infrastructure for success glaringly absent – a persistent darkness in place of electricity, a stifling business environment that discourages enterprise and innovation, debilitating bureaucracy, inaccessible public officials who remain oblivious to your needs, an outdated education system in urgent need of reform– and the list goes on, but, if there’s anyone with the power to transform our continent and reshape our economic and social trajectory, it is YOU. There is formidable power in your intellect and creativity, your talent and ingenuity are rare, and your resolve and determination against all odds, can drive great change. But most importantly, the greatest force is in your numbers. Together, all 600 million of you that are under 30 years old, have the potential to be the most influential bloc on this continent. The indescribable influence that you can collectively wield, I hope that you soon fully understand and hopefully, deploy. Today, I’d like to discuss the inescapable reality of politics with you. It has been a busy week of traveling from Lagos to Boston, to Los Angeles, and in a few hours to New York, to receive BCIU’s inaugural Dwight Eisenhower Entrepreneurship Award, but I thought to take time out this evening to share a few thoughts with you. I have been inspired to share this with you after listening to my former professor at Harvard, Prof Michael Porter, whose session during our leadership council meeting of the Harvard Kennedy School Center of Public Leadership, was insightful, powerful, and very thought provoking. His well-articulated argument emphasized that as a people we cannot afford to remain passive about politics. Though his reference region was America, there are strong parallels with our own situation in Africa. The main root cause of our continent’s underlying failure to pull the majority of its citizens from the unyielding clutches of poverty is poor leadership, so then why do we continue to tell ourselves that politics exists in a realm outside our own realities? Why do we refuse to engage in the political process of identifying and supporting visionary candidates, instead we remain at the mercy of political leadership committed to putting private interest ahead of public interest. Leaders who are beholden to the ideology that political parties come before citizens. Leaders who are private gain-seeking actors. What we desperately need is a continent-wide awakening. We must grow to become active citizens who are committed to getting involved. The system is not self-correcting, there are no market forces at play to ensure that it corrects itself. It will require human actors – me and you – to identify and dismantle the structural impediments that fuel the status quo of bad leadership. We must address this issue both systemically and systematically. Our democracy has become very disconnected from being democratic, we must bring power back to the people. We must reform the rules of our electoral processes to inject more transparency. We must transform politics from being an industry for a few interests, to being about the people and addressing the public needs. We must change the oligopoly nature of our politics today to being one for the majority. The barriers to entry are high in politics, and very often, our best brains and talent are discouraged from running for office. We must dismantle these systems that keep away talented, individuals from joining the race. We must open the door for generations knocking after us. We must take advantage of our demographic dividend, millions of young people who are ready to make a change. We must welcome this new generation of new ideas and we must democratize access to opportunity for all. We must get more women involved in the process because when you empower women you empower communities. Structural reforms mean that no one individual can make this change alone, but with our collective voices and the realization that this is our time and that no one but us can save our continent, we can achieve change. We can no longer outsource politics or governance to people we do not trust. We must understand the inextricable link between governance, economic growth and national security. To pretend that politics does not influence the entirety of our lives harms us more than it benefits us. We must change the rules of the game. We must put up a coordinated front to reorient our values and bring power back to the people. Our leaders must be the best amongst us – those with the most transformative ideas and the capacity to deliver. . It should be the best amongst us leading us in government, in the military, in our judiciary and of course the corporate sector. We must instill accountability in our processes, but also hold ourselves accountable. We must play our own role in identifying and empowering those amongst us best placed to make this difference. To abscond from this duty is to be negligent of our responsibility to our continent. It won’t be easy, but nothing good comes easy. A famous man once said you should learn to categorize all your problems in three sections: Easy, Impossible and HARD but doable. When it’s easy, you should give it to someone else to handle. When it’s impossible, you shouldn’t bother with it. But when it’s hard but doable, you should go straight to work to make it happen. My fellow Africans, I appeal to you that though this task seems hard, it is entirely doable and we must begin this journey. Let us rise to this challenge and begin to elect leaders who we trust in and are confident will help us realize the social and economic hopes of our continent. TOE”

Buhari Tells Governors: No Excuse on Workers’ Pay

The Federal Government has released N760.17 billion in two branches of the Paris Club Loan Refund to states for outstanding salaries and pensions, but some governors are believed to have spent the cash on other things. President Muhammadu Buhari told traditional rulers at a meeting in Abuja that he was “living with the problems of this country day-by-day, and mostly those of ordinary people.” “There are Nigerians that haven’t been paid for six months; there are Nigerians that have not been paid their retirement benefits for years.” “I’m appealing to the governors (that was why we voted money; we borrowed money), please make sure anybody under you, pay them because most of them depend on that salary to pay rent and school fees,’’ he said. He stressed that the mismanagement of the national revenue over the years was responsible for the economic challenges facing the nation. Buhari promised to pursue programs and projects that would better a lot of Nigerians. Nigeria, he said, should use its huge population to advantage. The President spoke also on security, saying all hands were on deck to secure the country. On unity, he said: “We know our limitations, we have to continue to strengthen our constitution, to strengthen the resolve of our people to live together, work together.” On agriculture and this year’s planting season, Buhari said: “We are luckier this year than last year, and this year the rainy season is good. If it were not good I must confide in you that I was considering which country to run to.” “But God answered the prayers of many Nigerians. The rainy season last year was good and this year, with the report I’m getting, it is good. We thank God for that; otherwise, there would have been a lot of problems in this country.” Members of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria were led to the meeting by the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, who thanked God for bringing the President back in sound health. He urged the President to tighten his belt and take on the mantle of leadership.” He said with a monarch from each of the geopolitical zones assuring Buhari of their support, the President should take their comments as honest and the tonic he needs to work hard for the nation. “We will continue to preach peace and stability, justice, transparency and accountability and anti-corruption,” he said. One traditional ruler each from the six geopolitical zones spoke at the meeting. For the Southwest, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwunsi, thanked God for the President’s safe return and for restoring him to good health. Buhari was away in London for 103 days due to medical reasons. “From the Southwest, we thank God for your life and we pledge to support you from our communities because we are closer to our people. We will continue to preach to our people that we should continue to foster peace in our country. We will continue to caution our youths against hate speeches,” he said. “We cannot leave the development of the country all to the government, but we have to work hand in hand. We assure you that we will support all your initiatives.” For the Northwest, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said the traditional rulers identified with Buhari’s commitment to national security. For the Southsouth, the Jaja of Opobo said: “We express our commitment to your programs. “We know there is tension here and there, but as traditional rulers, we don’t eat politics. The economy has to be fixed. Coming from the region that produces the mainstay of the economy, even though the country will soon diversify the economy before we diversify, let’s protect the one that we still have.” “We are pleased to work for peace and stability in the region so that we can all see the benefits of the commodity,” he said. For Northcentral, the Gbom Gwom Jos, Jacob Buba Gyang, also thanked God for bringing the President back to celebrate Sallah with fellow Nigerians. “The issues of health and security are not issues to play politics with, but issues in which we should put heads together so that the country can progress,” he said. “We commend your efforts on security and agriculture.” “A few days ago, just when we thought peace had returned to the plateau up, it was truncated with the attack on Ancha village in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State, leading to 20 deaths.” Mr. Gyang praised the President for ordering the security agencies to fish out those responsible for the attacks. Speaking for the Southeast, South East Traditional Council Chairman Eberechi Dick said: “Our hearts are full of joy that you are back. You shook our hands when you came in and that shows you believe in one Nigeria. We prayed for you and you are back. We prayed for you because your agenda for Nigeria is good.” “As your children, when we cry, it is for you to ask us to stop crying, that you will fix whatever is making us cry like the bad roads.” Speaking for the Northeast, the Lamido Adamawa said Nigerians were happy to have the President back to the country hale and hearty. “God brought you back to Nigeria and we are all very happy. We will continue to pray for God to strengthen you more and give you the courage to continue to do more for the country,” he said.