Unemployment almost made me a postmaster – Fashola

Former Lagos Governor and Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Raji

Fashola, SAN, has revealed that but for his passion for litigation as a young lawyer, unemployment would have made him to end up as a post master, stressing that at the time of his graduation, working with NIPOST was a dream job.

The Minister explained that his father presented him with the opportunity to work with the Nigerian Postal Service, NIPOST, after graduating from the University of Benin, UNIBEN, and he was unemployed. He explained that while he realised it was a fantastic opportunity, he was extremely passionate about litigation and thus turned down the offer, and opted to pursue a career as a lawyer.

Speaking yesterday at a group mentoring programme for enterpreneurs organised by Young Business Leaders of Nigeria (YBLN) in Lagos, Fashola said, “I had a different passion and that was being in the courtroom; I therefore had to go for my dream to find a job that would help my career. It took me a while before I could get a job and that meant I was jobless for several months after NYSC.”

While acknowledging the failing education system in country, he lauded the YBLN’s initiative in training young entrepreneurs for positive change in the country and encouraged the young entrepreneurs to pursue their careers with a view to realizing their potentials.

The immediate past Governor of Lagos State told the 20 budding enterpreneurs that, “I am happy to see young people doing great things in their various areas of business. The better Nigeria, we hoped for begins with us.”

He also spoke of the need for youths to develop a sense of identity, to mark themselves out from previous rigorous thinking, distinctive engagement and an insistence on doing the right thing. He cited an example of a movie,”The men who built America”, and urged participants to emulate the zealous actions of those characters in their aim to change America.

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