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ExxonMobil empowers medical students
By Ebele ORAKPO
If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail —Benjamin Franklin
LAGOS-IN recognition of this truth, TOMEB Foundation, a non-governmental organisation that focuses on education, youth development and sustainability, in conjunction with ExxonMobil, organised a one-day empowerment programme for final-year medical students of University of Lagos.
The aim was to get them to consciously plan for the future and equip them with basic skills and knowledge on how to set and achieve their goals.
At the event with the theme: Achieving Goals: A Dignified Successful Future is Possible, held at the College Auditorium of the institution, over 200 copies of The Personal Business Plan: A blueprint for running your life, purchased by ExxonMobil, were distributed to participants.
While delivering his paper, Art and Science of Self-Knowledge, Country Managing Director, Accenture, Mr. Niyi Yusuf advised students to reinvent themselves by developing communication skills that will enable them interact with people, stressing that students should have affinity for experimentation and change.
“Do you know who you are and what motivates you? What do you like and what would you die for? These are very important skills in life,” he said, citing renowned footballers such as J. J. Okocha, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi etc., who he noted may not have doctorate degrees but whose passion have brought them fame and fortune.
“To these people, football has become a business. Therefore, self-discovery is the key.”
Advising participants to find out when they perform best, Yusuf said “Confucius said ‘choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life’. You need to be conscious of what you are good at as self-awareness helps you identify your strengths, weaknesses, personalities, habits and values and ultimately areas for continuous improvement.”
Delivering a paper on Principles and practice of goals-setting and achievements, Senior Registrar in the Department of Public Heath, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Dr. (Mrs.) Ibipo Abdurraheem-Salami, noted with concern that underemployment is a major problem among doctors, adding that the quality of training is not improving with the changing times. She advised the students to always have a clear plan of what they want out of life.
“Unless you are excellent as doctors, you won’t fly. Know yourself before setting a goal as it helps to envisage what you want to be in future.”
She said people do not set goals as a result of ignorance, the fear of failure or the fear of rejection.
In his paper, Dealing with Procrastination, convener of the programme and founder of TOMEB Foundation, Mr. Tunde Popoola said procrastination is the number one enemy that defers goals and advised participants to avoid delays.
“You don’t write your goals in the paper and go to bed; you have to take action.”
Pointing out that impulsiveness is the major cause of procrastination, Popoola said “that is when you only do what comes to you – you have to watch it because if nothing limits you, you can excel in your future endeavours.”
He advised participants to always plan ahead by embracing the 6Ps’ formula: proper prior planning prevents poor performance.
On how to achieve set goals, Popoola said: “Select any goal on which you have been procrastinating and take one step immediately. Also, do the most important and difficult task. Do not follow the normal route of most people; always start your day by doing your most important difficult task first. Make a list of all that you have to do the next day/week. Review the list using the ‘ABCDE’ method and the 80/20 Pareto Rule. If you do this everyday for about a month, it becomes a habit, “he said.
In her vote of thanks, the Provost of UNILAG College of Medicine, and chief host, Prof. Folasade Ogunshola thanked the organisers for the life-changing programme. She charged the participants to use the tips received to be their guiding light in their life pursuits. “Your attitude and how you use your strength to get to the top counts. And for some who are not going to practice medicine, this platform is a place to make self-discovery. Follow your passion and make sure that the passion is relevant to the system,” she said.
Vanguard-
Embattled Nigerian pastor and founder of SPAC Nation, Tobi Adegboyega, has defended his opulent lifestyle, claiming it serves to inspire young people rather than flaunt wealth.
This statement comes amid a UK Immigration Upper Tribunal ruling ordering his deportation over visa violations.
Adegboyega, 44, faced accusations of overstaying his visitor visa, which expired after he arrived in the UK in 2005.
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He had applied to remain in the country on human rights grounds. The tribunal, however, ruled against him, citing his failure to regularize his status.
The pastor’s luxurious lifestyle, including designer clothing and expensive cars, was a focal point of the case.
Addressing the tribunal, Adegboyega stated that his lifestyle is fully funded by his wife, Mary Olubukola Alade, who earns £100,000 annually at AON.
He said, “I live with my partner, Mary Olubukola Alade, who earns £100,000 per year working for AON. I spend my time working for the church, for which I am unpaid. I am entirely supported by Mary. I have a first-class law degree from Nigeria, but I have ‘sacrificed’ my legal career to help those who cannot help themselves.”
Defending his appearance, Adegboyega emphasized the importance of projecting success to his young congregation.
The court noted, “For instance, people have pointed to the fact that he wears designer clothing and drives expensive cars. He was adamant that all of his personal possessions had been paid for by Mary.
“He believes it is important for him to dress the way that he does because he needs to inspire these young people – they need to understand that there are legitimate ways of making money, for instance through entrepreneurship.”
Despite the ruling, Adegboyega dismissed the deportation concerns as insignificant.
“I’m right here at home, no cause for alarm. Naturally, I will dismiss things that have to do with retrogression; every Nigerian should be proud of me. Living in the UK, a city that is well known for pulling people down, I have survived all sorts, so the matter that they are propagating is the smallest matter,” he said.
He further expressed confidence in his resilience. “No panic, I love London city, it is my city, and nobody can do anything. Of all the people of colour you know here – pastors and leaders – I have survived everything. I’m here, I am at home, nobody should panic for me.
“I succeeded well in this country despite all challenges, and I’m in the league of people you look up to. I have survived that well; nothing has changed, nothing will change,” he added.
Amid the growing controversy surrounding the detention of human rights lawyer Dele Farotimi, renowned Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Aare Afe Babalola has publicly addressed the defamation allegations leveled against Farotimi.
The legal action stems from claims made in Farotimi’s book, Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System, which Babalola asserts contains false and defamatory statements about him and his law firm, Afe Babalola & Co.
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In a petition dated November 19 and submitted to the Ekiti State Commissioner of Police, Adeniran Akinwale, Babalola accused Farotimi of making “criminally defamatory” statements about him, his law firm, and two senior lawyers at his firm, Olu Daramola SAN and Ola Faro.
The defamatory remarks are tied to the Supreme Court case Major Muritala Gbadamosi Eletu & Ors v. H.R.H. Oba Tijani Akinloye & Ors.
Babalola revealed that the allegations came to light when one of his lawyers purchased Farotimi’s book while traveling through Murtala Muhammed Airport.
After reading the book, the lawyer immediately brought its contents to Babalola’s attention.
Other members of his firm reportedly did the same, prompting the senior lawyer to take legal action.
In his petition, Babalola pointed to specific passages in Farotimi’s book that accused him of corruption and unethical conduct. The petition reads:
“I write to report the criminal defamation of myself, my law firm Afe Babalola & Co., and my lawyers, Olu Daramola SAN and Ola Faro, by one Dele Farotimi in his book titled ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System’, published by Dele Farotimi Publishers, in respect of Suit No. SC/146/2005: Major Muritala Gbadamosi Eletu & Ors v. H.R.H. Oba Tijani Akinloye & Ors.
“Sometime on 2/11/2024, one of our lawyers, while traveling through Murtala Muhammed Airport, bought a book by Dele Farotimi titled ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System’. He read the book and immediately brought it to my attention. Many of my lawyers also bought the book and read it.”
“The defamatory statements are as follows:
- That Aare Afe Babalola corrupted the Supreme Court to procure a fraudulent judgment in the service of his client.
- That Aare Afe Babalola, Olu Daramola, Olu Faro, and the law offices of Afe Babalola & Co. (Emmanuel Chambers) compromised the Supreme Court and the remaining semblance of integrity it might have had, when they went back to the Supreme Court and got the Court to swim in the sewer of corruption and shameful self-abnegation.”
Babalola strongly denies the allegations, claiming that they are false and damaging to both his personal reputation and the integrity of the Nigerian judiciary.
Nigerian author and activist Dele Farotimi’s book, Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System, has surged to bestseller status on Amazon amid a legal battle with prominent lawyer and businessman, Afe Babalola.
The controversy surrounding the book has captivated public attention, driving both online and offline demand.
The book, which critiques systemic corruption in Nigeria’s judiciary and highlights alleged misconduct by key legal figures, saw modest sales following its release in July 2024.
Related News: NBA Demands Release Of Dele Farotimi, Condemns Police Actions
However, Farotimi’s arrest on Tuesday, following a petition filed by the 93-year-old Babalola, triggered a wave of public curiosity.
By Thursday evening, it had climbed to the top of Amazon’s bestseller rankings, according to checks by Vanguard. Bookstores across Nigeria also reported a significant uptick in demand.
Biztellers reports that Farotimi was detained in Lagos by armed police officers and transported to Ado Ekiti, about 300 kilometers northeast of the city, where Babalola is based.
The senior lawyer alleged that the book accused him of compromising Nigeria’s judiciary—a claim that has sparked heated debates about freedom of speech and accountability in the legal profession.
On Wednesday, Farotimi was arraigned in an Ekiti court, where the judge ordered his remand pending a bail hearing scheduled for December 10.
Farotimi’s legal team has vowed to contest the charges, framing the case as an attack on intellectual freedom.
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