YOU CAN EARN YOUR OWN MONEY WHILE IN SCHOOL !

 I remember a medical student back then in university.

He had a shop on campus where he sold high-demand books to students from different departments.

From law books to business administration books; from medical books to accounting books. He had them all. This young man was self-sufficient while in school.

I met another young man, also a student, who bought a bus about the same time. I later learnt he reared cows and bought the bus from the proceeds.

Many of the students that went into businesses were driven out of their determination to succeed. Some of them had no one to sponsor them in school so they had to do business to fend for themselves and sometimes, their families back at home. 

But things are changing.

With the upsurge in the number of unemployed youths in Nigeria, there is an urgent need to begin to have an entrepreneurial mindset. We need to begin to emphasize the need for skills and teach our young people to do business. 

Look at it this way. A student who has skills to sell can never starve. Back then in university, we had students who had shops involved in sales of stationery; others had shops where photocopies were made. We had students who lectured others for a fee. The opportunities then were endless. Even now.

When a student who can bake or make clothes, for instance, finishes university and has no job, do you think it will be difficult to start a company of their own since they already have the needed experience in business?

I want to encourage every young person reading me today to begin to give this serious thought and work towards it. I am not asking you to become distracted with something else. Instead, I am asking you to create a path for your financial future. Whatever you do, you need to strike a balance.

I have engaged with a lot of people who, even as students were able to handle a side skill and still excelled in their academics.

While you tackle Mathematics, statistics and accounting courses, remember to learn skills, both online and off line that will ensure you have a financial base. Yesterday, I was told of someone, who while in JAMB lesson received a credit alert for a writing job he did on fiver. There are many legitimate ways to make money. Find out about them and explore them.

A good way to start is to discover what your passion is and what is needed in your environment. Learn, learn and learn. There should be no end to our quest for knowledge.

At the end of the day, people pay money to those who provide them goods or services. Money goes to those who add value to the lives of others.

Don’t just smash your academic goals; smash financial goals.

See you at the top!