I hawked soft drinks on Lagos Street says Nigerian Governor
I hawked soft drinks on Lagos Street says Nigerian Governor
Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno, has shared how childhood hardship shaped his journey to leadership, revealing that he once hawked soft drinks on the streets of Lagos after losing his father.
Eno spoke while delivering the convocation lecture at the 7th convocation ceremony of Mountain Top University, Ibafo, Ogun State, on Thursday. He told the audience that his father, a police officer, died in active service, plunging the family into financial difficulty.
Recalling the experience, the governor said, “Life became very difficult after my father’s death. I had to help my mother augment the family’s income by hawking soft drinks on the streets of Lagos, even as a Senior Prefect of Victory High School.”
He explained that those struggles laid the groundwork for his entrepreneurial drive, which later enabled him to build one of the largest hospitality businesses in Akwa Ibom State.
In his address, Eno challenged graduating students to set high goals, embrace creativity and commit to hard work, while warning against the lure of shortcuts to success. A statement released on Friday by the Press Unit of the Akwa Ibom State Government House in Uyo said the governor urged young Nigerians to abandon an entitlement mentality.
According to the statement, Eno noted that society has been transformed by technology and changing values, requiring a mindset ready to innovate and break old boundaries.
He said, “Let me state here that we are living in a world shaped by new realities, a world where known boundaries have been breached and expanded by advancements in technology, where values once considered sacrosanct are no longer the defining ethos, and where groupthink is rapidly dissolving and being replaced by the need to do something daring, something different, and something that challenges long-held norms.
“The majority of the graduands here belong to the now-famous Generation X. Quite a number of people in this generation believe in the concept of immediate gratification and, to some extent, an entitlement mentality. “They want to achieve success without putting in the corresponding hard work, and most times, they crash and burn.”
Reflecting on his business success, the governor attributed it to his faith, saying it was driven by his “implicit faith in the Invisible Hands of God to bring destiny helpers who would propel me to the heights God had destined for me.”
He also reminded the students that the path to success is rarely smooth, stressing: “You will achieve success only if you are upright in your dealings and guided by ethics and morality, and with faith in God. Whenever I remember my small beginnings and how God stepped in to arrange my path and the people who led me to the point He had destined for me, I am in awe of His mercies and grace.
“God can and will do the same for you, but you must learn to start something, grow something, dream of something, and put in the hard work.”
Eno added that, despite serving as a minister of the gospel, an entrepreneur and now a politician, he has remained guided by the values instilled by his parents, wearing humility as a badge of honour and maintaining compassion for the poor and vulnerable.
