Real estate entrepreneur, Dr Babatunde Adeyemo, has advised the
National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) members serving in Ogun State to
immediately kick start their entrepreneurship journeys rather than
waiting on white-collar jobs.

He disclosed that waiting on white-collar jobs is one error that many
graduates fall into just like he did about 20 years ago when he served
the fatherland in Niger State.

The realtor, who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pelican
Valley Nigeria Limited, said this when he received some corps members at
the Pelican Valley Estate, Laderin.

The visiting corps members were led by the state coordinator of
Organisation of Peoples Voice and member of the ICPC National
Anti-Corruption Coalition, Mr Idris Abu.

The visit also afforded the corps members the opportunity to seek a
collaboration with Adeyemo on initiating a community-based project for
the villagers within the area.

Speaking during the meeting, Adeyemo lamented that the N400,000 he
saved during his service year was spent on printing CVs for jobs that
were nowhere to be found.

He noted that if the money had been rather deployed into any
worthwhile business or entrepreneurship venture, his success story would
have been more fast-paced today.

He recalled that he started his real estate business over 14 years
ago with barely N2 million, stressing that the firm has now become a
household name with a huge property portfolio without any litigation and
debt.

Adeyemo disclosed that if he could start with a little and achieve
much years later in the Nigerian business environment, it shows that any
Nigerian youth can equally succeed without cutting corners.

He said: “Exactly 20 years ago, I was like you guys – a corps member
serving in Niger State. At that time, I was able to save 100 per cent of
my ‘allowee.’ I was so creative to the extent that I bought rams and
goats and loaded them into a truck carrying yam tubers. I spent three
days on the road trying to get the to Lagos in my NYSC uniform.

“Fortunately, those rams and goats I bought at N6,000 and N7,000, per
head, I sold them for as high as N18,000 each. So, by the time I was
through with youth service, I was had over N400,000 in my account but
let me shock you where I got it wrong.

“You know once you graduate, what will be on top of your head is to
use your certificate to look for white-collar jobs. That is a very wrong
impression and I got it wrong. I don’t want you guys to get such
impression or fall into such a situation. Would you believe that I spent
that N400,000 hunting for jobs. I spent everything hunting for a job
from Lagos to Abuja, the job that was not there to be found. At the end
of the day, I got the journalism job through my late dad, after spending
all that money.

“I don’t want to bore you guys with a long story. What I realised is
that, had it been that I didn’t squander that money printing CVs and
looking for jobs that were not there, my success story would have been
more fast-tracked today. The only regret I have is that I didn’t start
this real estate business so early.

“Now, you guys have a wonderful opportunity to start something; the
earlier the better for you. The earlier you start your journey of
entrepreneurship, the better for you.

“You can always be what you want to be in life and you can start as
low as having zero capital. If I could start a real estate business with
N2 million over 14 years ago and today, we are a household name in the
real estate business with a huge property, without stealing from anyone,
without litigations and without being indebted to banks, it shows that
any one of you can also achieve that. It is very very possible.

“Let me tell you how it works. If you are a university graduate and
you are telling me that within a month you can’t convince someone to buy
a product and get your commission on that product, it shows that you
went through the university but the university didn’t pass through you.
That is a fact. It shows you are not employable. All you need to do is
to have integrity, liaise with someone that has a good product,. I’m not
trying to convert you to Pelican Valley marketers, it could be any
product and there are many people with products looking for someone to
market products for them. Just put that into test. Before you know it,
you are there.

“For example, in the real estate business, I have paid double the
amount I started the real estate business with as commission. I said
earlier that I started with N2 million but today I have been paying
people commissions worth N10 million. The simple logic here is that you
can start a real estate business, as capital intensive as it is, with
zero capital. All of you have big contacts in your phones, especially
Nigerians in diaspora who are looking for right plots of land to buy.
All you need do is to show them the landscape of any of the Pelican
Valley estates, you can show them our reviews and testimonials and once
they show interest and buy, you get your reward.”