Friday, 29th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

It’s important to always have an ‘option B’, says Esho

By Onyedika Agbedo
18 June 2016   |   1:01 am
Well, bad enough we have a recession. The economy is in a very terrible state, probably the worst in a long time. Many people born in the mid-80s have never really experienced it this bad.
Abiodun Esho,

Abiodun Esho,

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of JAMAB Global Services, Mr Abiodun Esho, in this interview, blames the current economic challenges facing the country on poor planning. Esho, whose firm would soon start hosting entrepreneurship training across the country, advises Nigerian employees to have an ‘Option B’ as the economy might record more job losses.

What is your take on the situation of the Nigerian economy at the moment?
Well, bad enough we have a recession. The economy is in a very terrible state, probably the worst in a long time. Many people born in the mid-80s have never really experienced it this bad.

But the truth of the matter is that it is not new; these are things that must happen. There is no economy in the world that will continue to flourish forever. Once in a while there will be recession and after a while, everything will be okay.

In fact, according to the records of the Bible, even God revealed to King Pharaoh of Egypt through Joseph that for seven years there would be abundance and that they should gather and store because there would be another seven years when there would be nothing when they would rely on what they had stored.

So, it is not a bad thing for any economy to experience a recession; it is naturally designed. But what you did when you had in abundance before the recession is what makes that country to be woeful or not. If Nigeria’s economy gets back on course today, definitely sometime later Nigeria will still experience recession. But what do we do? What do we have to fall back on? That is always the question.

Do you think Nigeria is prepared for what is happening in the economy today?
I am a proud Nigerian; I have been here all my life and I don’t think there is any reason to still run to anywhere. Unfortunately, much as I love my country, it looks like we never prepared for this. And we have not learnt our lesson!

I was in Kaduna about a year ago and there was abundance of tomatoes. The dealers had more than enough to sell and I saw them cutting the tomatoes to dry them in the sun as a means of preserving them. Then I asked myself: “Is there nobody that can think of how to package these tomatoes and preserve them against the period that we won’t have enough?”

Of course, Nigeria has not learnt; look at what we are suffering today because of the scarcity of tomatoes. It is not because there were tomatoes in the farms that we are suffering so much, it is because we are not smart enough to always gather in times of plenty and store so that when draught comes we can always fall back on what we had stored.

Personally, I was seriously affected by the economic recession. I was working in a bank and was living the life of a banker. But the recession affected the bank I was working with which led to down-sizing that affected me. But because I learnt to reserve in times of plenty, I’m not suffering it as much because when I had, I always set some apart.

So, as individuals in this economy we are the ones that can truly change the situation. When you have a job, are you storing up something for the day that you won’t have a job anymore? Our religious houses teach us these days that nothing bad will happen to us. It is a lie! Something bad will happen whether you like it or not; you can never stop it. Perilous times will certainly come no matter how blessed one is.

So, my advise to Nigerians under the present economic situation, particularly youths, is to always think of what you can do in case whatever you are doing now fails.

Nigeria used to be a great country. I was proud of Nigeria as a young boy. Remember we had the Cocoa House in Ibadan, groundnut pyramids in Kano and so on. This was the country that established the first television station in Africa and till date the largest television network in Africa. Nigeria was truly the Giant of Africa. South Africa couldn’t do anything without the help of Nigeria. I do know (and you can go and find out) that before Dubai was set up, they actually approached Nigeria to lend them money but the request was not honoured. We were that big but we are nowhere now. So what has happened to us as a country? There is only one thing — we had but we did not keep, now that we don’t have, we are suffering and the suffering has just started until we learn our lessons.

What advise do you have for people that have lost their jobs as a result of this downturn in the economy, given your experience?
I am joining some other people to come up with a seminar that will start any time from now where we will teach people on ‘Option B’. Life is all about having another option. Look at your body. God gave you two eyes, two hands, two legs, two nostrils, and two ears; even the internal organs are double. God knows that you can lose one eye but if that happens, you can always fall back on the remaining eye. When you have only one source of income, you lack wisdom. That may sound harsh but it’s the reality.

So, we are trying to teach people that they must have an ‘Option B’, however small. What I am trying to say is that when your job stops, your income must not stop. There are two different things between having a job and having a source of income.

So, I want to beg our employed youths to start something on a small scale while they are still working. I could be fish farming, car wash or any other business that will bring in extra income. There so many businesses that people can venture into while working. Some day, that job you have may fail and you will rely on that little thing that you have put aside. It is not time to enjoy anymore; it’s now time to work extra hard. God has blessed us as a country with abundance of numerous resources; it is time for us to use our brains.

Which category of people are you targeting for the seminar?
In fact, the main target is actually people that are still working. Of course, we cannot ignore those that are out of jobs; they will definitely gain. You know that he that is down needs fear no fall. In other words, most people that have been laid off, whether you like it or not they will painfully look for something to do because man must survive. However, a lot of the people that are working are still living in fools’ paradise. Because they pray, fast and wish themselves well, they think that that job will never go; but it could go.

So, the aim is first and foremost to tell those that are working that they should not think they have a job when it’s only one. As a matter of fact, you can’t work for someone and be rich; it’s not possible. You can only be rich when you have your own company. And this is one country in the world where it is so easy to become a managing director. Meanwhile a lot of people are running after jobs in the oil and gas, banking, telecoms and other sectors of the economy that are really not profitable.

So, our idea is to gather people that are working and say, ‘look, do you have another plan outside your present employment’. To people that have lost their jobs, we intend to give them implementable ideas that can make them to be gainfully employed.

There is nothing as good as self-sufficiency and self-employment. Today, we import everything and we consume everything. Some of these things were produced in very dirty environments. Some of the rice that we bring in is preserved with very dangerous chemicals. But we don’t think. All we are concerned about is whether it is imported and we will start consuming. So, I encourage everyone to come for that seminar when we start it; it is open to all. We must make it again as a country.

Are there steps you think that government ought to take to reflate the economy that have not been taken?
Yes. People are not well trained. Most Nigerians go to school to learn how to read and write; they don’t go to school to reason. We are taught that we must pass. In fact, our parents are proud of us when we graduate with First Class, Second Class Upper and so on. That is what is being celebrated. Meanwhile, our educational system should do more than that.

Government should restructure the curriculum in such a way that students are taught in their final years how to be self-employed and how those who are interested in getting a job can present themselves in order to get the right job. So, I think government should really think of what to do so that students are prepared for the reality of the economy.

I have always said that there is a difference between passing the exams on paper and passing the exams of life. Our educational system teaches students how to pass the exams on paper but they must be taught how to pass the exams of life. The present situation of the economy calls for that and I expect government to initiate the process of incorporating entrepreneurship training into the school curriculum from junior secondary to tertiary level.

In addition to that, government should also make land and soft loans available to people that want to go into farming. Farming should not be a difficult venture in this country if we are really serious about diversifying the economy. Otherwise, what government has been saying about diversification will simply be politically correct but realistically nothing.

In this article

3 Comments