Adeyemi charges leaders on purpose, impactful life

Idowu, Adeniyi, Dakolo, Ayinde share raw stories of rejection, loss, survival

The Senior Pastor of Daystar Christian Centre, Sam Adeyemi, has urged Nigerians to look beyond personal survival and use their influence to fix the country’s problems, declaring that “life is too small to be the purpose of one’s life.”

Adeyemi spoke at the weekend at the close of the 2026 Excellence in Leadership Conference (ELC), a two-day gathering held at Daystar Christian Centre, Oregun, Lagos, themed “Leading in Uncertainty.”

He urged leaders to stop chasing certainty about the future and start preparing for it, pointing to the 2027 general elections, sudden government policies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) as sources of disruption Nigerians must plan for.

Global Lead Pastor of Harvesters International Christian Centre, Bolaji Idowu, a Daystar Leadership Academy (DLA) alumnus, recalled that his church began with six people meeting in a hotel for six months. At a time, it could not afford N3,000 to hold midweek services.

He warned that leaders who go silent in a crisis leave their people to fear the worst.

“When leadership goes silent in uncertainty, fear becomes contagious,” he said.

Managing Director of Unilever Nigeria Plc., Tobi Adeniyi, told participants how he was turned back at the gate of the organisation where he had served as a corps member after his NYSC ended, and later turned down a better-paying bank job to join Unilever as a management trainee, the lowest-paying offer he had at the time.

Adeniyi, while recalling how his team once kept a factory running during the Apapa Port congestion by borrowing raw materials from a competitor, urged leaders to keep their eyes on the end goal.

Singer Timi Dakolo, who was invited to speak rather than sing, moved the audience with the story of losing the grandmother who raised him while he was competing on Idols West Africa, and urged young Nigerians to channel frustration into planning.

He said: “Anger is not a strategy. We are not the first generation to be angry… you must have a plan and a routine.”

Former Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Toyin Ayinde, recounted being separated from his parents at the age of six, and a season in 1999 when he was left with only three naira.

He said integrity guided his time in government, revealing that throughout his tenure as commissioner, he never recommended his own consultancy firm for any job.

Co-host Pastor Nike Adeyemi shared how a 2024 fire at a facility of the Real Woman Foundation, which she founded, ultimately led the organisation to a new home twice the size and the launch of its Real Diva Institute, which recently graduated its first cohort.