My Experience At PAADC [Professor Ayodele Awojobi Design Competition] 2022 & Top Leadership Lessons Learned.
Leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship and Nigeria's Unity
The Big Stage
There they were.
Right there. On the "Big Stage", holding their "Big Cheques," with so much pride.
Young boys and girls. With so many dreams, tangible passion, and palpable enthusiasm.
They had come a long way in the Design Competition.
This year, there were about 250 applicants. And three teams clinched the cash prize -- 4.5 million naira [about 10,000 dollars] shared among the teams.
The first team took 2.5 million naira, the second team, 1.5 million naira and the third team, 1 million naira.
That's a lot of money that can do so much if used the right way.
I was privileged to be a review judge.
I guess I was picked because of my little work in the healthcare innovation ecosystem in Nigeria -- my work at Care City and Carecode Digital Health Hub.
In 2020, I was also privileged to be among the judges for Data Science Nigeria & AI Commons Hackathon.
Same style, and similar techniques.
I enjoyed it. Absolutely.
Looking at the winners on stage jubilating brought a lot of thoughts to my mind. And this essay captures my thoughts.
In this essay, I will talk about innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership, and I will talk about unity, Nigeria's Unity.
Competition, Growth & Leadership
Competitions like the ‘PAADC’ are not just mere competitions.
I see it differently. I love to see things differently.
I love to look at things from different perspectives, especially vantage points no one or very few ever consider.
These kinds of competitions are avenues for growth, leadership, networking, relationship building, and above all, securing the knots of unity that should bond us together as one people.
Nigeria is great.
When I looked at the portion of judging work assigned to me as a review judge, I was amazed at the kind of ideas incubating in the minds of these young people.
Some of the ideas looked like they were coming from the minds of people who are already living in the future.
They were thinking ahead. They were really thinking.
Though many of them did not know how to structure their ideas, I could still see the diamonds sparkling bright in the rough.
What Nigeria lacks is true leadership. Mind you.
We have very fine leaders in Nigeria.
But the fine ones are very few.
The bad ones outnumber them.
Now, our prayer should be that God sends us more good leaders.
Leaders who are deeply and truly passionate about the well-being of those they lead.
Not thieves, liars, crooks and criminals. Barbarians and extortioners. Who only care about their bellies and how to enrich themselves.
From the organization of the event to the order of the programme. I watched them closely.
And within me, I knew that Nigeria has the resources needed to be among the greatest countries on the planet.
We have it right here, with us, but we have refused to use what we have.
I decided to stay throughout the event, not that I had enough time. I had been planning for the event. Factored it into my very tight work schedule, and made sure I was there.
In fact, I was coming from a very exhausting 24-hour shift.
Yet, I made sure I was there, why did I make the trip? Simple. I enjoy gatherings like that.
Those kinds of gatherings show that Nigeria is not dry. We still have it. We still have some leaders who care about the people.
I salute all the big brands who keep supporting these kinds of initiatives.
They are planting seeds. And I assure you that many of them will germinate to become massive forests in the future.
Adia Sowho’s Keynote
This was the section that really captivated me.
Adia Sowho is the Chief Marketing Officer of MTN [the first woman to hold that position]. And guess what? She's an engineer. I heard this directly from her mouth.
I picked some golden nuggets from her short keynote.
Let me share them with you in this section:
Technology Democratises Success:
Technology has provided a levelled playground.
Everyone has access to everything needed to build stuff.
If you are in Madagascar, and you have access to the internet, you can build the next big tech startup.
It's a levelled ground. You have all you need right there.
The tech world is like a great garden with many trees that have fruits hanging low.
Anyone who can jump a little bit can get something for themselves. They don't have to struggle too hard [though the very good stuff hangs higher where consistency and disciple are needed to reach].
When I started building an interest in technology, I learned most of the things that helped me secure my little space online myself.
I learned the basics of Wordpress, Digital Writing, etc, myself. What I needed was just pure and fiery passion coupled with internet access and a small PC. That was all.
It's all before you. The opportunity and resources. Make good use of it.
Learn How To Speak In a Presidential Manner:
You are marketing something.
If you want people to accept and embrace you as a person, that's marketing.
Marketing is about relationships and communication.
That's why we write, that's why we spend billions creating movies and telling stories, and that's why we make music and do TikTok.
We want to connect, we want to communicate, and we want people to accept our ideas, and embrace us. That's it.
And if you want to sell your ideas, you need to be very confident in them. In such a way that when you are called upon to talk about your ideas to people you are filled with so much boldness and courage that people will admire, trust and later follow you.
Learn How To Be Yourself:
It's good to admire Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Jack Dorsey.
These are great guys who are doing so much for themselves and their communities by pursuing their passion [Steve Jobs is not dead, his ideas live on].
Learn from them.
They have a lot to teach you.
But be yourself.
You are different and you have something unique to offer.
When I started writing online, I wanted to be like this guy, and that fellow, but as I wrote more and learned more, I began to discover that I am unique.
I have a different voice and I have an audience out there that will enjoy what I have to say.
That's it. Believe in yourself. Learn how to be yourself.
You are one of a kind.
It's not wrong to draw inspiration from big people you admire. We need them, they show us that it's possible to do great things.
But what matters most is discovering who you are.
Train Your Ears To Look For Two Things: Friction And Frustration:
This is good advice for entrepreneurs. This is how you discover opportunities. It's actually that simple.
Keep your ears and hearts open to the frustrations around you and look for ways of reducing or eliminating them.
Great people solve great problems.
Entrepreneurship is majorly about solving problems.
If you can solve the biggest problems in your space you will become the biggest fellow there.
On Innovation & Leadership
You can't learn leadership and innovation skills in isolation.
You need to find a community that resembles you and join them. Meet people who like what you are building and follow them.
Find a tribe.
Learn from them.
You are not ‘Megamind’ [remember Megamind?]
You can't know everything. You are limited. There are skills you need that you must learn through leadership relationships.
The moment you begin to interact with people who are thinking big, people who are thinking of how to build multi-billion dollar companies that are solving the most pressing problems facing humanity you will discover that you also begin to think like them.
Suddenly, you find out that you are also beginning to start thinking about problems that you can solve. And before you realise it, you start discovering your unique abilities.
If all your cycle of friends thinks about is how to buy the latest phones and rock the newest clothes and shoes and attend the biggest parties in town, you may be in the wrong place.
Change your friends.
About PAADC
“PAADC is an annual STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) based competition, created by the University of Lagos Engineering Society (ULES) for undergraduates in the Nigerian varsity scene.
It was founded in 2017 with the aim of encouraging the creation of indigenous solutions to Nigerian challenges, through science and technology. Over the years, we have successfully helped incubate 12 startups and intend to do more.”
In Conclusion
To young people out there [especially Nigerians] who have true and raw passion. I urge you to pursue it with all your might.
Your ideas are valid.
You can solve problems.
God has placed value inside you.
It all depends on you.
Seek mentorship and help [this is so vital].
You can't know everything. You can’t do it all alone.
That day after the whole event, I watched those young folks celebrating. Some came from the Northern part of Nigeria and some from the South and East.
All I could think of was ‘Unity’.
We must all strive to preserve Nigeria's unity.
Thank You…
Oh, before I let you go.
I took a picture.
Please, forgive my photography skills…
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