For some time now, business mogul, Jimoh Ibrahim has been worried at the alarming high rate of poverty in Nigeria. Ibrahim, who is the Chairman/CEO of Global Fleet Group and who recently bagged 2 Masters degree from Oxford and Cambridge universities, and who is currently a doctoral student at Cambridge is worried at the shocking statistics from IMF on how low Nigeria has sunk when compared to other countries of the world, on the Poverty Index.
Jimoh Ibrahim delivered a life-changing economic lecture on Friday, June 29, 2018, at the prestigious Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos. The renowned intellectual spoke on the topic “Why You Should Not Be Poor: Pathway To Success, at the City People Magazine’s 1st Economic Summit and he took the participants through the causes of Poverty and how to move from the state of “being poor” to becoming “comfortably average” and how to advance to the state of “being rich”.
Dr. Jimoh Ibrahim who has a sound knowledge and details of the current data stated that 86% of Nigerians are poor, and they live below $2 a day. He classified the causes into 3 main categories, which vary from family background, the country’s economic policies and the person concerned. He also stressed that not everybody who succeeds in moving from the class of “Poor”, usually sustain the “average stage”, due to improper planning to sustain the status.
He stated: “Out of every 100 people that move from their lower position to higher position, 70 of them usually return back to the state of being poor, and less than 30 percent maintains the average state. “If you must walk out, you must sustain it, otherwise, it does not worth it, walking out.” “Money is marriage which must be driven by love, or you expect divorce”, he said.
The Harvard and Cambridge certified business icon did not only highlight the main causes of poverty but also went ahead to describe the way out of the clutches of wretchedness. He also stated the forces that will make one remain poor as the Pullback factors, which include your Spouse, loved ones, pastor, parent, and Government policies. “There are 3 ways to conquer these factors and they include; (1) Be yourself & yourself absolutely. (2) Be focus. (3) Get the power of Information and ask Questions.
“Ask questions; be inquisitive about your success and your future he added. “When I was in Harvard 20 years ago, I read all of Bill Gates’ books more than the Bible”. He submitted that the only way out of poverty or moving out of the comfort zone in this digital world is to get a renewed education. “Education is the driver of destiny, and also a factor that can ruin any rich man who chose to remain stagnant in learning,” he added.
By the time he rounded up the 2 hour lecture he concluded that only Education and Knowledge Power can get Nigerians out of abject poverty and take them to a better level of becoming being Comfortable and to the 3rd stage of becoming rich.
Jimoh Ibrahim shocked all the participants at the lecture when he dropped a bombshell that all those who had their first degree and second degrees in the 80s & 90s should go back to school abroad to start all over again, because all what they were taught then, have have become obsolete. “The world has changed, and it is still changing fast”, he said. “We all need to play catch up”. Jimoh Ibrahim said before he went back to school abroad about 3 years ago, he asked himself some critical questions which he couldn’t answer one of which is What about your education? Education is the reason for your poverty. Education is is the solution. Do you have the education to cope with the new realities of life? Which education can you use to confront the ugly reality you find yourself in today. Education and Knowledge are key factors. He said despite having an LLB, BL, LLM and other degrees from the University of Ife he found out that he could no longer cope with the fast pace of changes in todays world of business. So he has had to go back to Cambridge and oxford to retool”.
He lamented how very many young and old businessmen had packed up their businesses due to their inability to cope with the challenges of these times. He said going back to Cambridge and Oxford has opened his eyes to why many businesses fail because most of the assumptions that people have are wrong. That is why fathers can’t transfer their successes to their sons and many age long businesses have not stood the test of time. By the time Jimoh Ibrahim rounded up he was given a standing ovation for his brilliance and deep knowledge of the dynamics of todays business world.
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