TOYOSI AKERELE

Interview With Toyosi Akerele(RISE)


It’s been pretty long that we did this. Naijamotivation Interview went off for a while because of my book launch and now we are back BIG and BETTER. Today we’ve caught a BIG fish, a lady that has took up the challenge of transforming the lives of youths all over the nation.

She is the brain behind The RISE Network organizers of the Youth Interactive Event that has been going round the country. Join me as well welcome this wonderful lady, Toyosi Akerele. :)

May we know you?
Oluwatoyosi Akerele but people know me as OLUWAMITOYOSIRISE of the most high.


What was growing up like for you?
I’m the first child in the family. I have two wonderful sisters and a brother. Growing up, I was very stubborn but not rebellious. I was confident and not arrogant. I was very obedient to my parents though I stood my ground strongly against some of the principles that I thought would not appeal to me. Basically I was a peaceful child.

Are you married?

No As has been asked others we have interviewed in the past, we will like to know the day that changed your life?
The day I realized hard work doesn’t kill but poverty does. I’ll rather work hard than remain poor.

That is a great philosophy to discover. Hope someone will jot this down. Now Toyosi tell us about the journey so far. How did you get started and how has it been all the way?
There was a time I use to run on okada from place to place. I started from my rickety home in Jos as a 300 level with a fairly used computer. I remember how my power pack got burnt and I didn’t have enough money to replace it. But I realize that there is need for a mentor.

Even now, there are authorities that I regard with deep sense of respect. I didn’t pick a loan. I started with the vision and rode with the vision. What you see today is the manifestation of my determination and hard work to see the vision come true.

Great one there! Now tell us, what has been the role of dreams in your life?
From childhood, I’ve had this ardent conviction that young people have a strategic role to play in the economy and nation building. My vision was and is to impart knowledge to the youths as regards channeling our energies and talents in a positive direction, and that vision gave birth to RISE = Reputation + Impact + Style + Expression

Great one there! Do you have any regret in following your dreams?
Not at all

What are the most important lessons you have learnt in life?
*Never say never until you try* *Being persistent in getting what you want*

Hmmmm. These are surely great lessons to learn. I’m sure someone would have noted these in his/her journal. Please tell us, who are your Role Models or Mentors?
My mother, Daddy Gamaliel Onosode, Uncle Fela Durotoye…. just to mention a few

I have always preached reading to all and sundry because it had great effect on my life. We will like to know the roles books have played in your life?
I really love reading books and I make sure I read at least a chapter of a book a day, regardless of how busy I am or how stressed I get. Books are hidden clues to discovering great treasures. However, when you read, you skim the surface but when you study, you discover the TREASURE.

You can say that over and over again. Do you have any ecommended readings? -
Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins - The power of FOCUS by Jack Canfield et al - Executive Intelligence by Justin Menkes - The 360® Leader by John C. Maxwell

Noted! There is a saying that if you want to be successful, you need to do the things successful people are doing. So you reading this, you have to ensure you note these books down and get to read them as soon as possible ;) We also want to know this, what would you have been doing if you are not doing what you are doing now?
(Laugh) I’ll be doing criminal cases and I’ll be so perfect at it.

Wow! So we would have been hearing of a certain Lawyer Toyosi if not for the vision, lol. Interesting! We are rounding up soon. Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years from now?
A position of great relevance, because I do not like being called SUCCESSFUL, I want to be SUCCEEDING.

This is awesome. Well, I think I will also join you in succeeding. How do you catch fun in spite of your schedules?
Watching movies. I love to watch Nigerian home videos a lot and I also listen to every brand of music. However, my work is the most form of relaxation for me because, there is nothing like doing what you enjoy doing and loving every bit of it.

I agree with every bit of the last statement. There is a statement that says when you do what you love, you will NEVER work for the rest of your life ;) Now, In your own opinion, how can Nigeria be great again? N
igeria is already great. We have a lot of young people doing great things. The only challenge we have is that we rely too much on other people to do our work for us. What we need is Human Development and Information.

You can say that over and over again. I so much believe in the principle of personal responsibility and that is exactly what you have said. Lastly, what advice do you have for our readers?
Thank you very much for this question. This is an opportunity for me to tell you that you can make it in life. You do not need the approval of any man to be what God has ordained you to be. The decision lies within you.

WOW! Maybe you don’t believe when I say YES YOU CAN! But Toyosi has confirmed that and you have no choice than to BELIEVE! This brings us to the end of this interview session with another great Naija Role Model. Remember, this is not for show off but a challenge to someone out there.

This is not the time to continue the blame game, it is time for us to pick up the gauntlet and DO SOMETHING! Pretty soon, I will be featuring another great young Nigerian doing something wonderful out there. Who knows, that person could be you.

Before then, keep following your dreams and keep believing YES YOU CAN!

TEJU BABYFACE SHOW

The Teju Baby Face Show










Comedian Teju Babyface has taken the next step in his career with the introduction of his TV show, ‘The Teju Babyface Show'. The show which is forged after the Ellen DeGeneres', Arsenio Hall, Benny Hill and The Tonight's Show will be launched on Tuesday, May 4, 2010 on Silverbird Television, (STV), by 8:00pm. Teju gives us an insight into his new role as producer/talk show host.

Before the vision I caught the dream a few years ago when I got tired of waiting for my phone to ring, because that is what comedians do. We wait to hear ‘Hello, is that Teju Babyface, we have an event, are you busy?'

I thought it was time to be proactive and find other means of income that is not largely dependent on people calling us to be MCs for events.

People have said to me in the last few years ‘Teju we do not hear about you, you are not doing shows anymore and all that.' [Reason is] I have spent the last three years trying things that have not worked. I tried to do what I called ‘Comedy Academy'.

I needed funds and there were no sponsors. I also tried to do what I called ‘healing laughter', it was supposed to be a day of comedy at Christmas for the less privileged handicapped but there were still no corporate takers so I put it on the shelf.

Then it occurred to me when God gave me this vision that if I had a show on TV, I will be able to sell any other kind of vision that I have.

The show

The ‘Teju Babyface show' is not only a talk show, it is like your one-stop shop as far as entertainment is concerned. Though influenced by international shows, you need to remember that it started with the Bala Mila show, a fantastic NTA production, and Zoom Time. The show will deal with political, medical, scientific, astronomy-related and religious issues. This show is [also] supposed to be home for up and coming comedians.

So far, the following people have been featured Abimbola Fashola, Muiz Banire, Dele Momodu Richard Mofe-Damijo (RMD), Asa, Basorge Tariah, Ali Baba, Basket Mouth, Okey Bakassi, TA, Holy Mallam, Koffi, Gbenga Adeyinka the first, amongst others. Excerpts from the show, reveal RMD miming Victor Olaiya's ‘Baby Jowo', Asa's dream guy and Mrs. Fashola answering questions on whether she suspects her husband of being unfaithful. Talking about the director of the show, Tade Ogidan, Teju says, "I did not think Uncle T will ever direct my show. You know how you think that asking somebody to do something is an insult, it was that sort of thing. A lot of the comedy ingenuity in the show that makes me look like a genius are the things he told me to do on the spur of the moment. As I speak to you, we are spending millions on the Teju Babyface Show and Mr. Ogidan has not taken or asked me for a dime. I have also been privileged to use his editing suite free of charge." He adds tongue-in-cheek. "The downside is that he now calls me for his family members wedding and I dare not open my mouth and charge."

The snags

When this vision was delivered to me from God, it seemed and it still seems like a lot do. Getting funds, the venue, the infrastructure, the equipment, editing, was a challenge. We rented the venue for two weeks, which means we had to shoot everyday for two weeks. Then the questions arose. "Where are you going to get the guests that will sit down? If you send out invitations for a hundred spaces, are a hundred people going to come? Are they going to come on time? How many shoots do you schedule per day? How do you make sure that Professor Utomi, Mrs. Fashola, King Sunny Ade, are in the country in those two weeks? All these and funds posed a challenge. Nobody wants to sponsor you anymore, everybody wants you to put it on TV and get followership before they come on board. We do not mind, it just means, if you should have paid N50 million at the inception, you will pay N250 million when it starts to air.

Winding up

I hope that the time would come when, if you want to debut a new single or album in Nigeria, the Teju Babyface Show must be one of the places where you do it because our following is that strong. We have a segment that we could not accommodate in the first season which is called ‘Sweetest Moments of Life' where people send us pictures or short videos of things that they have seen or experienced.

For the next season, I also plan to bring on Ibrahim Babangida, dance performers Alfa Sule and magicians. The website comes online soon. There is a fan page on Facebook called the Teju Babyface Show and a YouTube channel where viewers can view excerpts of the show and drop comments on what they want. We plan to be on African Independent Television (AIT), Televison Continental (TVC), Galaxy and on every possible station here in Lagos before we begin to move into other parts of the country and then we go cable.

10 GREATEST ENTREPRENEUR

How many entrepreneurs have there been in the history of the world? Millions, certainly, probably even billions. These are the men and women who take capital -- their own or somebody else’s -- and use it to beget more capital. Some fail, some succeed, some excel.

With so many candidates to choose from, any list of the 10 greatest entrepreneurs of all time will necessarily be somewhat arbitrary. It will also be top-heavy with Americans, just as a list of great chefs would be disproportionately French or of great eccentrics dominated by the British.

Business is what America does. If that sounds chauvinistic, get over it.

Here, without further ado but with tongue occasionally in cheek, are history’s 10 greatest entrepreneurs.

1. King Croesus. A pick by our veterans committee, Croesus, who ruled the Asia Minor kingdom of Lydia in the sixth century B.C., is owed a huge debt of gratitude for minting the world’s first coinage, thereby creating in a single stroke the lifeblood of every business: liquidity and cash flow. Moreover, his opulent lifestyle has given entrepreneurs throughout history something to shoot for. Is there a greater distinction for the commercially inclined than to be deemed “as rich as Croesus”?

2. Pope Sixtus IV. Sixtus gets the nod for realizing that the “wages of sin” meant more than unpleasant repercussions. There was money to be made in damnation, and Sixtus mined it by opening up a new market -- the dead -- for the indulgences the church had been selling for years. Relatives of the deceased quickly filled the Vatican’s coffers with payments intended to lessen the time their loved ones spent in purgatory. In 1478 Sixtus “grew his market” by authorizing the Spanish Inquisition, which swelled purgatory’s ranks by 100,000 souls in 15 years. He also was the first pope to license brothels.

3. Benjamin Franklin. In a real sense, Franklin was America’s first entrepreneur. Unlike other of the Founding Fathers -- the hypermoral Washington, the prodigiously intellectual Jefferson -- whose virtues and attainments are seen today as anachronisms, Franklin truly was a model of what many of us would become. Beneath the statesman’s mantle resided a popular author, a printer, an inventor (the lightning rod, bifocals) and a very savvy businessman who knew how to commercialize the fruits of his fertile mind.

4. P.T. Barnum. Americans have always loved a good scam and Phineas Taylor Barnum took the art to new heights. He played on our fascination with the bizarre and freakish with sideshow acts ranging from the midget Tom Thumb to Jumbo the giant elephant. In between was a host of more dubious curiosities. He created the Barnum and Bailey Circus as a showcase for all this wonderment, and dubbed it “the Greatest Show on Earth.” Along the way he invented modern advertising and became rich. For the record, he never said “There’s a sucker born every five minutes,” but he left behind plenty of other bon mots. Among them: “Every crowd has a silver lining.”

5. Thomas Edison. What do you say about the man who gave the world the electric light, the phonograph, talking motion pictures and more than 1,300 other patented inventions? That he was the world’s greatest inventor, certainly. But he was also able to exploit the profit potential in his creations, an entrepreneurial bent that asserted itself when Edison was a teen-ager, printing a newspaper in the baggage car of a rolling train and then selling copies to passengers. His impact on the way people live was and is pervasive. As a combination of inventive genius and entrepreneurial flair, he stands alone.

6. Henry Ford. Ford also fundamentally changed human lifestyles by making available a vehicle, the Model T, that vastly extended people’s range of movement. The automobile would allow America’s masses to fulfill their Manifest Destiny to populate every corner of the continent. But his more profound impact was on industry. The moving assembly line he designed to build his cars was the signal breakthrough of the Industrial Age. Appropriately, Ford earned the seed capital for his enterprise by working as an engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company in Detroit.

7. Benjamin Siegel. Known as “Bugsy” to his friends,Siegel was a notorious mobster with a touch of the visionary. Legend has it that he single-handedly invented Las Vegas, and that’s a stretch. But he was the first to see what the town could become: a lush oasis of pleasure where gambling was just one of the attractions. He also proved adept at attracting other people’s money to build his iconic resort, The Flamingo. Trouble was, some of those other people belonged to an outfit called Murder Inc., and Siegel was gunned down in 1947 amid rumors he had stolen from his partners. But give the devil his due: Before there was the Bellagio, there was Bugsy.

8. Ray Kroc. Nothing says entrepreneur like persistence, and nothings says persistence like Ray Kroc, the kitchen wares salesman who in 1954, at age 52 and in poor health, had his imagination hijacked by a family-run restaurant in the desert outside Los Angeles. Once he had bought out the McDonald brothers, Kroc proceeded to take their concept of a limited menu, fast service and low prices and expand it nationally, in the process creating the fast-food industry and dramatically affecting America’s lifestyle and, sadly, collective health.

9. H. Ross Perot. Within every entrepreneur lurks a touch of the cowboy, and there’s no better example of the strain than Perot, the diminutive Texan who has become best known in recent years as a political gadfly. Before that, though, he was all business, using a $1,000 loan from his wife in 1962 to launch Electronic Data Systems. Perot’s winning idea was that large corporations and organizations needed data-processing help if they were to take full advantage of computer technology. When in the mid-’60s he won contracts with two new federal health-care programs -- Medicare and Medicaid -- EDS was off and running and Perot was on his way to being one of America’s richest citizens.

10. Jobs & Wozniak. Apple Computer’s two Steves weren’t the first Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to launch a billion-dollar business from a Palo Alto garage -- Hewlett and Packard were there before them -- but they were the first to democratize computing by creating a machine whose use was so wonderfully intuitive that even technophobes embraced it. Combine the elegance of Wozniak’s operating system design with Jobs’ marketing savvy (remember Apple’s “1984” ad?) and the result was a true phenomenon. Yes, the Apple was eclipsed by the PC, but only after Microsoft (behind the vision of two other notable entrepreneurs, Bill Gates and Paul Allen) developed Windows to ape its rival’s ease of use.