Mimiko Charges Youth To Take Advantage Of The Numerous Opportunities In The Global Knowledge Economy
By Olusola Akinbinu
The immediate past governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko has charged Nigerian youths to take advantage of the amazing opportunities unprecedentedly available to everyone today, to equip themselves with competitive knowledge to do something distinct in any of their own chosen area of passion, and prove to the world that there is nothing inherently inferior about the black man.
This he said while giving his remarks in the 2nd annual Ondo City Facebook Hangout #OCFH ceremony held in Ondo on Sunday 16th Dec 2018, this theme for this is “Tech Future”. An event popularly attended by over 1,200 youths in a single gathering and lot of online live stream viewers. The Ondo City Facebook Hangout is a program carefully carved to at least once in a year create opportunity for facebook friends and other users who have met and communicated over the online I.T App to have an opportunity to meet themselves physically interact and connect better, share ideas and sell their potentials for greater opportunities even along emerging topics of global trend. This year’s event witnessed young people who traveled from far across the country and a good number who booked their ticket all across Europe and America to ensure they attend the event aside other reasons to visit Nigeria.
In his remarks as a distinguished guest to the event, Mimiko said the astonishing demonstration of creativity and sheer kinetic energy by youths today; visibly leveraging on technology to put such a wonderful outing together, deserves an applause. There is no argument about the fact that Nigeria youths face a lot of challenges today, which ordinarily could be many times frustrating but they should not give up, he pointed them to the reality of the present day, that at no other time in the history of humanity has knowledge and information ever been open to everyone as it is today. With the push of a single button, one will access any information desired across the globe. There is no excuse for ignorance, knowledge shatters all barriers to competition and everyone can access it. But make no mistake about it, if you do not empower yourself with necessary tools, you will not go places, robotics are taking over routine jobs but those who equip themselves in knowledge will be sought after.
Talking further, some scholars have said we live in the Fourth industrial revolution, where the physical, the digital and the biological merges to create an incredible opportunity that is changing the way we think, the way we are working and the way we play. We are today in global knowledge economy, it has no enviable place for routine workers but delights in those who demonstrate a combination of creativity and Information Technology Skills, so start now by using your time wisely in acquiring knowledge and don’t underestimate your little beginning, but by honestly and diligently leveraging on the limitless I.T provisions today; you do not have to build big industries to become a millionaire. If you go through the list of the 10 richest men in the world, Jeff Bozz, Zuckerberg, Bill gates, etc about 60% of them are into one I.T product or the other, what that tells me is that if you apply yourself effectively to desired synergy of knowledge, at this pace, perhaps our own Zuckerberg and Gates can come from Ondo Kingdom.
He continued by saying “And to those of us who are leaders and politicians, with this outing, you have put another challenge before us and I can assure you that we will do something about enhancing your access to digital resources, even in the Tech hub we have discussed about. Don’t lose hope, just a few critical mass among you can change the course of history”. Addressing the chief organizer, Mr Olaolu Adedayo a.k.a Ogbeni LA and his collaborators, he said “seeing young people like you who are serious minded, I am re-assured that there is hope for this country, it is not in the multitude but a very few critical mass that will revolutionize this country and will show to the world that we have heads over our shoulders.
Mr Olaolu Adedayo who appreciated Mimiko for his support and uncommon intellectual contributions to the event, also used the opportunity to publicly appreciate Dr Iranola Akinlaja for his consistent support for the Ondo City Facebook Hangout since inception, without which it may have been so much difficult to accomplish, he was honoured as the Grand patron of the annual event, Hon Dr. Joseph Iranola Akinlaja is the member representing Ondo East and West Federal Constituency at the National Assembly.
