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By Godwin Chukwumaechi, Port Harcourt
Real Estate investor and Mayor of Housing, My-Ace China, and leading Port Harcourt-based entertainment promoter, K.O. Baba Jornsen, have come together in an initiative to create jobs and wealth in the Diobu neighbourhood of Port Harcourt.
The duo, who began their careers and livelihoods in Diobu, the thriving centre of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, are partnering under the TEDx Diobu project which has won a license from TED International to organize a talkshow on Diobu to help rebuild the brand and the spirit of that section of Port Harcourt metropolis that drives the overall spirit of the Garden City.
TEDx Diobu, according to the promoters is to promote the reality of Diobu, to project its good, “not the bad, not about snatching of phones. The project is to bring the finest persons that once lived in Diobu to come and talk to Diobu of today”.
Major sponsor and rated speaker at the TEDx Diobu, the Mayor of Housing, said it was emotional for him to be back in Diobu where he said it all started for him some 18 years back.
He talked about courage and grit, saying that his journey had a lot of courage as well as vulnerabilities. “There were days I frowned. But guess what, it started with that result here in Diobu that birthed the most important legacy every entrepreneur must aspire to build. That legacy is the legacy of grit.”
China admitted that grit had different connotations but that for him, “grit is what happens when you’re able to blend your experience with lots of courage; blend your experience with embracing your vulnerability and not denying them, but growing bigger than they and not wishing that things were easier but wish you grew better.”
He stressed; “you will tap into the biggest and deepest well of treasures in the world inexhaustible: The world and the wealth of human capital and your mental capital.
“When you develop that grit and come out, you will begin to see opportunities where people no longer see opportunities.
“You begin to see challenges as bread. Where people are complaining, there are different challenges and you’re asking where is the akara to add to the bread to make it a balanced diet.”
He agreed with Dan De Humorous who made brief appearance at the event, saying every story has a beginning, middle, and the end.
“Building a business, making an impact are all summed up in one word; the capacity to do more and the power of your story.
“Ask yourself the business you’re building, when the story is told, will it make the hearer weaker or stronger?”
He said one of the greatest liabilities that we have produced in our age is that we have failed to make impact even on the direct beneficiaries of our success which is our children. “Because at the end, it is not what you leave for them that is important, but what you leave in them. I am hoping as I leave, that what I’ve left in you will be more important than what I left for you.”
Also, K.O. Baba Jornsen, TEDx Diobu franchise owner and Port Harcourt-based entertainment promoter and entrepreneur, said that the TEDx Diobu project is to promote the reality of Diobu, which is about good, not the bad, not about snatching of phones.
Rather, the well-known comedian and creator of ‘Mayor of Pitakwa’ annual comedy series said, the project is to bring the finest persons that once lived in Diobu to come and talk to Diobu of today.
The man who emerged as a force in Diobu years ago revealed how it came to be, saying he began helping the boys and soon, every disagreement in the area was brought to him to resolve. Thus, he said, he emerged the street chairman without an election.
He reminded well-to-do people that one criminal could kill up to 1000 persons, saying it was important to pull the youths off crime with social facilities. He hinted many schemes that may soon come in Diobu including an economic summit.
He said small and medium enterprises (SMEs) would be targeted for support after the TEDx Diobu event.
In his statement an entrepreneur, Daniel Okwara, revealed some of his business techniques and the things he did to grow his business. “Give back all to your business”, he advised, saying; “I did this and grew from buying a mere 25% of container to becoming a global business today.
“I opened a joint account so I will never withdraw at whims. There must be a cogent reason and a process before withdrawing. Save cost, maximise. This means save the cost of operations so nothing can touch it. Then maximise the deployment of your resources so it increases your profit.”
