News
Soludo’s Success Tips for University Graduates

LAST week Tuesday, 7th November, 2024, the Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuma Charles Soludo, delivered the 13th Convocation Lecture at the Veritas University, Abuja.
“May I, at this moment, congratulate all the 800 graduate students for having been found worthy in character and learning to deserve the degrees of this University,” said Soludo.
He then offered the following advices to the graduate students:
Making money cannot be an objective; adding value is what makes money.
▪︎Jobs are not there, and about 80 percent of you will not practise what you studied. It is scary and I am not sure how adequately the University has prepared you for survival in chaotic times. As I draw the parallels between my time of graduation and yours, I am not sure whether to say congratulations or commiserations.
But what you make of the current situation depends on whether you see it as a challenge or an opportunity.
▪︎ For me, Nigeria remains the Black man’s greatest opportunity. National Youth Service The next year–your one year of National Youth Service may be the year for re-setting.You will meet new people; you will stumble on new ideas—good and bad; and you
may even try some adventures. Community Service One day a week, you will have what we used to call a day for “community service.”
Make that day count! It might be your rehearsal for selfless public service. Start with Volunteerism: volunteer to serve at every opportunity.
Do something good for the benefit of society from which you do not expect to be paid. It is a pivotal year, your balcony moment, and you must make it count.

During my youth service at the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife), I attended all M.Sc classes in the Department of Economics—though I was not a registered student. Perhaps, part of the impetus for me to resign from Coopers and Lybrand after five months to go back for post-graduate studies may have come from my NYSC experience.
My tailor in Abuja, Mr. Adekunle from Osun State, is a graduate of Geology from the University of Maiduguri.
He sold used clothes during his NYSC in Akwa Ibom and, from there, learned tailoring during the same service.
Today, he has more than 150 tailors, 30 graduates in Management, and other staff—all totalling over 200, working for him. I can cite over 100 similar examples. Thus, what happens in this one year of your ‘national service’ might determine whether Nigeria ends up as a half-empty or half-full glass for you.
▪︎Still, on your personal survival, let me add a little digression. Many of you probably only studied/read seriously while preparing for examinations, and believe that henceforth, the torture is over. Bad News for You I have bad news for you. Your bachelor’s degree (B.A.) might mean “Begin Again.”
In today’s world, there is a connection between continuous learning and earning. If you stop learning, you start decaying, or you can sum it up in a slogan: learn more to earn more! I have heard several of the richest people in the world brag about how many non-fiction books they read in a year. I will not say more.
▪︎ As you venture into the uncertain world, you will need all the help you can get. You will need all the networks and partnerships you can get. Success in life is not just about what you know but even more so about whom you know.
▪︎ As the saying goes, if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together. So, you will need the help of others to get ahead. “Anything” Cannot Take You “Anywhere”
▪︎ Soon, you will start looking for jobs or other ‘help’ from people to jumpstart a new life. For some decades, I always had young people approach me to help them find a job, and when you ask, ‘What do you want to do,’ a common answer was, “Anything.” Of course, “anything” cannot take you “anywhere” because as the saying goes, “if you don’t have a destination in mind, any road will take you there.”
So, my only tip to you on this occasion is to always seek intentionally to add value.
Before you approach someone for help, there is a minimum investment/preparation you must make to be ready to be “helped.” 7.
When you approach people, start with what value you will bring to the table—how you intend to ‘help them.’
This might sound counterintuitive. Paradoxically, that is also how you make money.
Making money cannot be an objective; adding value is what makes money.
The Richest People in The World Think of it for a moment.
The richest people in the world (through enterprise, and not through rent or criminality) are those who set out to solve specific problems for society and money followed as a reward—naturally!. Think of the inventors, the software developers who set out to connect people socially (Facebook, Twitter, etc), industrialists, consultants, tailors, traders, or anyone seeking to create value for customers, and how money followed them consequently.
So, the next time you approach someone for help, start by telling them what you can also do for them, and you will see that they are more likely to listen to you than if you approach them for charity. When You Are Applying for a Job
▪︎ When you are going to apply for a job, spend time researching how you can help to improve the fortune of the company. Instead of just “applying for a job,” write them a proposal on what you can offer, and you will see the difference. Try it! Sorry, I veered off into advisory which I promised not to get into.
▪︎Let me share some statistics that may jolt you to action. Without a doubt, the first need of man is survival and safety. Maslow prioritized human needs as physiological needs (air, food, drink, shelter, clothing, sleep, and health), safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Incomes Distribution
▪︎Again, the reality is that given Nigeria’s current income distribution, more than 60% of you may not go beyond satisfying the first need –physiological needs. When I was Governor of the Central Bank, we had a study that gave us a casual inference about the income distribution/inequality in Nigeria (beyond the Gini coefficient).
We discovered that 92% of the millions of depositors in Nigerian commercial banks had bank balances of N300,000 or less. But this 92% of depositors controlled about 7% of the total deposits, while the 8% that had over N300,000 controlled 93% of the total deposits.
I understand that a similar exercise was repeated several years later with a threshold of N500,000 and the distribution was largely unchanged.
Someone can crudely interpret this to mean that about 8% of the population controls 93% of the income, while 92% of the people control just 7% of income. Crude as the statistics may seem but it tells a thousand stories and highlights the context of a society in which our new graduates must thrive and excel. Unemployed or underemployed
▪︎I know many of you will already be casting and binding and praying that it is not your portion to end up among the 92% or among the many who may remain unemployed or underemployed for several years after your national service.
The point, however, is that if we all do not work to alter the meta-level architecture that produces such outcomes, much of our efforts at individual survival might be circumscribed.
My Core Message to YOU
This brings me to my core message to you: the current situation in Nigeria is not destiny. Everyone—I mean, everyone including you, the new graduates, can and must do something about it.
Nation-building is too serious a business to be left to the politicians or public servants alone.
To our young graduates, Veritas University has imbued you with knowledge, skills, and social thought to mobilize you for the public good.
The future you seek is in your palms, and only those who plan can control the future. As I look into your eyes, I can see hope.
Yes, Nigeria may not have offered you much, but in fulfilment of your divine purpose on earth, you will be expected to give more than you have received. I therefore urge you all to show up and participate in shaping the destiny of this nation.
We are Nigerians and this country belongs to all of us. We are all birds of passage but each of us must account to our Creator what we did while at our pilgrim post here on earth.
As I look around, I do not see many of the doyens of Nigeria’s first, second and even third republics.
Let no one tell you that you are the leaders of tomorrow. That tomorrow is here: take it and shape it so that Nigeria can realize its manifest destiny as the greatest Black power and the leader in the 22nd century.
May your road be rough, and let us get it done, together!
News
BREAKING: Tinubu swears in Amupitan as new INEC Chair

President Bola Tinubu has officially sworn in Professor Joash Amupitan as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The ceremony followed the Senate’s confirmation of Amupitan’s appointment last week after a rigorous screening session on October 16.
At the swearing-in, President Tinubu tasked Amupitan with safeguarding the integrity of Nigeria’s elections and strengthening INEC’s institutional capacity.
“As the chairman of INEC, your nomination and confirmation reflect the confidence reposed in you by both the executive and legislative arms of government. This marks the start of a challenging yet rewarding journey, and I trust you will approach your duties with integrity, dedication, and patriotism,” Tinubu said.
Highlighting Nigeria’s democratic progress over 25 years, the President emphasized the need for continuous innovation and reform to maintain free, fair, and credible elections. He urged Amupitan to ensure transparency and public trust throughout the entire electoral process—from voter registration and campaigning to voting and counting.
Amupitan, a professor of law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), arrived at the State House on Thursday dressed in traditional white agbada and gold cap ahead of the formal ceremony. He was accompanied by presidential aides.
During his Senate screening, the 58-year-old nominee pledged to restore credibility to Nigeria’s electoral process by prioritizing reforms, including strengthening the Electoral Act to resolve inconsistencies in election timelines and enhance transparency.
“We must conduct elections where even the loser congratulates the winner fairly,” Amupitan told senators, emphasizing the need to rebuild voter confidence.
He also clarified his neutrality by denying any involvement in President Tinubu’s legal team during the 2023 Presidential Election Petitions Court, stating, “I never appeared before the Presidential Election Tribunal or the Supreme Court for any party.”
Amupitan succeeds Professor Mahmood Yakubu as the sixth substantive INEC chairman since the commission’s establishment. He is expected to immediately begin the transition process at INEC headquarters in Abuja following his swearing-in.
Profile
Born on April 25, 1967, the 58-year-old Amupitan hails from Ayetoro Gbede in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State. He is a Professor of Law at the University of Jos, Plateau State. He is also an alumnus of the university.
He specialises in Company Law, Law of Evidence, Corporate Governance and Privatisation Law. He became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in September 2014.
After completing primary and secondary education, he attended Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, from 1982 to 1984, and the University of Jos from 1984 to 1987. He was called to the bar in 1988.
Amupitan earned an LLM at UNIJOS in 1993 and a PhD in 2007, amid an academic career that began in 1989, following his National Youth Service at the Bauchi State Publishing Corporation in Bauchi from 1988 to 1989.
He currently serves as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) at the University of Jos, a position he holds in conjunction with being the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Joseph Ayo Babalola University in Osun State.
Among the academic positions he has held at UNIJOS are: Chairman of the Committee of Deans and Directors (2012-2014); Dean of the Faculty of Law (2008-2014); and Head of Public Law (2006-2008).
Outside of academics, Amupitan serves as a board member of Integrated Dairies Limited in Vom, a member of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Governing Council, and a member of the Council of Legal Education (2008-2014), among other roles. He was a board member of Riss Oil Limited, Abuja(1996-2004).
Amupitan is the author of many books on law, such as Corporate Governance: Models and Principles(2008); Documentary Evidence in Nigeria (2008); Evidence Law: Theory and Practice in Nigeria(2013), Principles of Company Law(2013) and an Introduction to the Law of Trust in Nigeria (2014).
He is married and has four children.
Business
Dangote denies owning truck that killed eight in Ondo accident

Dangote Group has denied owning the truck that crushed a pregnant woman, a child, and six others to death in an accident in Akungba-Akoko, Akoko South-West Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The company issued the clarification in a statement on its X account on Wednesday.
The statement followed reports that a cement-laden truck suffered brake failure and rammed into traders and other road users.
Reacting, Dangote Group said the truck involved in the tragic incident does not belong to the group or any of its subsidiaries.
It added that vehicle registration records confirm the truck is owned and operated by an independent logistics company with no affiliation to Dangote Group.
“Dangote Group has refuted reports circulating on social media and in some online platforms linking it to a truck involved in a road accident in Akungba-Akoko, Akoko South-West Local Government Area of Ondo State.
“The company wishes to make it categorically clear that the truck involved in the unfortunate incident does not belong to Dangote Group or any of its subsidiaries.
“Verified vehicle registration details confirm that the truck with Plate No. JJJ 365 XB is owned and operated by an independent logistics company with no affiliation to Dangote Group,” the statement reads.
News
VIDEO: Sowore Arrested at Federal High Court Premises, Abuja, After Meeting Nnamdi Kanu.
“The commissioner of police said we should bring you to the office,” the policeman said.

Police operatives have arrested former presidential candidate and human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Sowore was forcibly taken away by armed police officers from the Federal High Court premises in Abuja on Thursday, October 23, 2025, shortly after attending the court session of detained IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu.
Sowore, who has been leading campaigns for Kanu’s release, was confronted by security operatives who insisted he accompany them to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command.
Eyewitnesses disclosed that the officers surrounded him moments after he exited the courtroom, refusing to disclose specific details about his alleged offence.
When questioned by onlookers, one of the policemen stated that they were acting on the directive of the FCT Commissioner of Police.
“The commissioner of police said we should bring you to the office,” the policeman said.
As of the time of filing this report, the reason for Sowore’s arrest and his current whereabouts remain unclear.
Credit: Punch
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