Are you an undergraduate? Or even a graduate trying to find a path for yourself in life? You are an early career man or woman and you want to be successful in your pursuits? Please heed this advice! Choose your friends wisely.
If you want to succeed, deliberately choose your friends! The topic and content of your discussions would show how far you can go with your dream.
What do you talk about with friends and peers? Music? Movies? Fashion? Drinks? Drugs? Or girls? If anyone of these mainly and consistently headline your talks, except you receive God’s grace, you may never reach your dream.
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Please, I am speaking from experience.
Oyee WowAbility is my friend. We met while the two of us just left secondary school. We trekked together to the State Library to read for our exams. We woke up at night to read and revise. We broke the jinx of West African Senior School Certificate together. We read together. We prepared for the university entrance examination together. His stint at the Federal Polytechnic Ede made me discover that I was born to teach as I facilitated tutorial classes then at the polytechnic as an undergraduate. He is a top banker in Lagos today. I am a university teacher.
As an undergraduate, I chose my friends wisely. People I associated with added value to me. For instance, I first learnt to type on Kola Tubosun ‘s computer in Mellamby Hall. I typeset my first degree project myself. Today, he is a top Google guy. And I am a teacher.
It was Morooph O. A. Babaranti that introduced me to the internet. He took me to Agbowo Shopping Complex then to browse. I was fascinated by the colourful images and the possibilities on the world wide web. I have captured a lot more value on the internet since 2002! He is in Canada and here I am in Nigeria. Both of us doing well.
Salaudeen Kamoru has been a friend since undergraduate days. We became closer after our graduation from the premier university. We have been together since then exchanging values with ourselves. I concluded my Master’s degree dissertation in his three bedroom flat in Ibadan in 2011. I submitted his application alongside my own for the Fountain University job openings which the two of us eventually got in 2013. I broke the news of his employment to him. We have written papers and attended conferences together as communication/media researchers. We got inducted into the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations together the same day, same year. So much the two us have gained from the friendship. Both of us are university teachers.
Mutiu Iyanda is my friend. My good friend. He is a communication researcher and data scientist. From Positive Campaign Initiative, Nigeria to Academic-Applied Research Co-Creation Hub, the two of us have been involved. He gave me a clarity I do not find elsewhere when it comes to doing research that break the barriers of disconnection between the town and the gown. We have also published research together. It is a value laden friendship. And both of us enjoy our working relationship.
In conclusion, please pick your friends carefully. A lot of the times, your interactions with them make or mar your future. Whether your dream is to conquer the world or break records, you need friends who would help enable that.
Whatever it is you think you want to be in life, please choose resourceful, serious minded and forward looking people to associate with. Show me your friends….. I thank all my friends who have contributed immensely to my growth and progress. Whether as an adult or adolescent, your choice of friends matter.
But, as I always argue, that you choose good and resourceful friends does not mean you would end up ruling your world, but if you do not choose carefully, you may have to face the consequences. For God is the source of all success.