…………To Build The Next Generation of Maritime Leaders

The future demands that professionals work together and not stand apart, not only in Nigeria but world over because the challenges and opportunities across board are too great to face alone but by joining forces in accessing one another’s expertise and ambitions where anything and everything is possible.

On October 4-5, 2022 we officially launched the Maritime Conversion Program, a flagship program of the Employment Clinic specially designed to build and train 5,000 young Nigerians for the maritime ecosystem and the company has backed it up by opening a Maritime Innovation Hub at the centre of Apapa, first of its kind in the industry and according to the CEO of Employment Clinic, Ms. Ronke Kosoko who is also championing the #MaritimeEconomyAndJobs Campaign, she said it is a place to foster ideas and vision development for Lagos youths in its first phase, mentorship, internship, resource mobilization for human capital development, strategic government engagement, policy advocacy and stakeholders linkage focused on partnership in accelerating industry progress in all ramifications.

It is a hub for inter-generational knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer, networking opportunities to nurture and strengthen collaboration across businesses locally and globally.

We all have our individual strength but it is time to put it together for collective gain as the industry faces numerous issues that are impossible to address if we all work in silos.

An end has come to the season where supposed elders continues to see young people as a mine to be exploited or a competition to be destroyed but rather to see them as assets to be built into economic powerhouses. If we don’t understand leadership in this clime, at least we can learn from Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and see how so many highly educated, highly cerebral and highly successful men and women kept pushing out records upon records of his investments into their lives even at the beginning of their careers, in their early thirties and see where they all are today in their age 50s and 60s or who amongst them are mediocre in their career path even though operating in the same political environment as their principal so why is the Nigeria Maritime Industry so different and unwilling to change for decades everyone need to begin to ask questions.

Look at Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, look at Mr. Dele Alake, look at former Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola the actualizer as he is fondly called, look at Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Mr. Wale Edun, Dr. Yemi Cardoso, Chairman Citibank, look at Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila you can add yours to the list.

Look at what Governor Nasir El-Rufai has done and still doing with the Kashim Ibrahim Fellowship in Kaduna State with very powerful investments mentally, socially and politically in strengthening young people’s political capital in governance and political spaces and proofs abound. Look at the entertainment industry and see what Multichoice has done in talent development across the entire value chain, look at how many global talents that has been developed through Big Brother Naija alone or you think they are just playing in that space? That platform gave Ebuka the biggest mileage as a presenter and a lawyer till date and so many other brand names. Even the recent talent from that space just moved into her own  home this week so how does the Nigeria Maritime Industry think they can achieve any greatness if they don’t consciously build people? Even the businesses set up by access to government cronyism will soon have nobody left to run them because maritime is technical and in a space of its own where nothing happens by accident, if you don’t have the knowledge whether as a Governor or even a President, there is absolutely nothing you can do in making any difference except we build capacity across board.

You cannot take maritime issues to Tony Elumelu or Jim Ovia or even Mike Adenuga for instance simply because they have money,  everything will sound Greek because it is not their space and they won’t be able to do anything about the issues actually because they are not money issues so someone has to fill the gap. For a decade, we tried to carry the old ones along but they failed as you all already know my story and my journey within the industry, some raped while some tried to steal, some invested efforts in trying to destroy thinking how can we rise above them considering that we came in a few years ago but we are thankful to the man who has labored consistently for the industry for over 5decades of his life and has created a platform that built many of those trying very hard to destroy him today who sees the power of leaving the stage for young people to thrive and we do not take that for granted so yes, the centre is opening at the popular Morlap Place on 27,Abraham Adesanya Road, Apapa which is now in total control of the youths in all ramifications, where the destinies of 5,000 “Ronkes” will be built who will in turn build the maritime industry of the future that will outlive each and everyone of us. What took me ten years to learn should only take them one year and they also would be positioned to be a ladder for upcoming ones after them because there is no honor in been old without responsible successors.

You cannot continue to call the government for everything, President Tinubu is not going to be arguing maritime policy for us on the necessary tables he is too busy for that level of engagement and President Buhari is not going to be the one to give young people internship opportunities, they are not going to come and build a new set of maritime reporters or maritime consultants or even maritime lawyers or bankers for us as basic as that is but who will replace the crop of aging professionals that we have right now across board when the major vehicle meant to handle the technical part of the trainings has been hijacked by fraudulent private sector in connivance with ignorant government officials who doesn’t understand that genuine human capital development can actually build a nation without any drop of oil as a resource. Imagine a wasted Bola Ahmed Tinubu or a wasted Enoch Adeboye or Bishop David Oyedepo or a wasted Aliko Dangote with all their accomplishments in life, what would the nation had lost if those people and so many others were not developed so we need to begin to do the necessary hardwork in securing the future of Nigeria with less optics for the gram!

Do we really know the actual worth of a human being with the amount of giftings that has been deposited in each and everyone of those 60Million unemployed Nigerians out there that are yet untapped? What is Canada, UK and recently Australia seeing in Nigerian youths by giving them opportunities to migrate by all means or why are the nations without natural resources so rich that the nation with acclaimed resources is the one begging for money and help up and down? How come the nation with the most opportunity is the one begging the nations without to come invest when you cannot even invest in your own people, your most critical asset that you see needing a little leverage but would rather ignore them yet chasing what is not lost overseas.

No single actor can address the evolving needs of shipowners or cargo owners or terminal operators and no one can juggle geopolitical or demographic shifts, or the battle of the ports as we are presently experiencing in Lagos, attracting next generation talent, and much more if they don’t find the right partners. But together, leveraging our individual strengths as collaborative partners, we can all achieve truly ambitious objectives and the Employment Clinic Maritime Innovation Hub will be a platform to enable that actualization on all front.

We are the only state today with three port cities namely Apapa, Lekki and Badagry so we have to take the lead in doing the unpopular and the uncomfortable work. I have heard the personally intelligent incoming President of Nigeria saying Nigeria needs a consistent decade minimum of 6% GDP growth even though he is aiming at 10% GDP growth which is consistent with our position at the NESG over the years but I can assure you that Nigeria will generate those results more by the hands of non nationals because they are well positioned in terms of readily available skills, structure, platforms, governmental backing and coordination, high tension synergies from their respective host countries while an average young Nigerian had to do it all by themselves so they can’t really get anything done in the midst of abundant opportunities except we help them and I’m privileged to be leading this trans-generational shift.

Leadership is as important as followership so if they give you an opportunity to thrive in life and you pull the rug off the feet of your helper or benefactor what kind of follower then are you so we need to instill values in the next generation because they can’t afford to fail, we need to teach them the readily needed skills by the industry and put them at the door of those opportunities, open the doors for them and let them sail into the sky and then watch how their success finally impact ours in an astronomical order so we are putting in the work because nobody else would do it for us.

You cannot access a $9Trillion Maritime Economy just by idolizing a few rich people who continues to gain from the organized chaos that has left government upon government confused about the way forward so there is a need to learn, unlearn and relearn across board. We will be looking across sectors within the ecosystem, across companies, across industries and across borders to find everything that is needed to build this talent pipeline with the technology and services needed for long-term success and win-win for all stakeholders involved.

We invite everyone to get involved and be part of this ecosystem as the era of silo big men is finally over, it is not benefitting anyone anymore. We are moving from intentions to actions, supporting one another with the knowledge, investment and commitment that gets everyone over the finishing line. The quest for sustainable success shouldn’t be seen as a race, but rather a worldwide movement so this is not a Nigerian or Lagos movement alone, we are mobilizing across the globe and we appreciate the support that we have gotten so far from our young and old friends and partners across board.

We want to work hand-in-hand with diverse stakeholders to help them navigate challenges, meet market demands, seize on opportunities and build partnerships to both prosper commercially, and achieve sustainable goals. The Employment Clinic Maritime Innovation Hub will help foster closer collaboration and knowledge sharing so you want to get involved?

Send us an email on info@employmentclinic.net