Youths should focus on nurturing talents and skills that are globally competitive and ditch the quest for wage earning as only profit-oriented endeavours can become businesses, the Mayor of Housing, My-ACE China has said.

Mr. China said this on Friday, August 2, 2024 during his installation as patron of the Rivers State Youth Leaders Assembly (RSYLA) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The real estate success strategist, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Construction and Housing Mayor Limited, stated that he was revealing the secrets of success for the youths to gain perspective on achieving success in life.

He asserted that it is important for them to understand the place of profit-making in pursuing their endeavours and to know that co-ownership of their employers’ business is a possibility.

Referencing the RSYLA mantra of productivity and proactivity, the Mayor of Housing urged the young people to aspire to upskill with a view to optimizing their productivity, stressing that the contemporary world of work and business are ruled by skills and labour, enjoining them to emulate Tobi Amusan who he said has upped her game to become a global product in the huddles.

“As the richest black woman, Oprah Winfrey, counselled young Americans, be so good in your skill that the world cannot ignore you.”

“So, the youth of Rivers State, I say to you, if you have one skill or one talent or the other, don’t look at just Rivers State or even Nigeria as your platform but look at the global stage, the whole world. Become so good that the world cannot ignore you.”

“If you are not skilled and you think you have no talent, put in so much labour in something very productive that gives you profit. This is because profit is freedom but wage-earning is captivity by your employer.”

“When you make profit, you are free to do with it whatever you wish, but when you make wages, you are more tied to the whims and caprices of the man who pays you. So, for the youths to be free from the government and employers, find something productive that you can do for profit that government cannot stop you and employers cannot stop you.”

The Mayor of Housing described his installation as an honour, saying that the privilege of being at the hallowed chamber of the Rivers State Youth Leaders Assembly “was no burden but a delight”.

“I am laden with so much value that they call me Africa’s biggest value monger. Value mongering is like you are looking for where value is, you are looking for how to multiply value, and how to spread value.”

He said he had been obsessed with thoughts of how to extend his value in community development and corporate social responsibility (CSR) beyond where his project is currently domiciled in Alesa Community in Eleme Local Government Area of the State.

Earlier, the Speaker of the Rivers State Youth Leaders Assembly, Dr Tonye Jeminimiema poured encomiums on the Mayor of Housing, noting his impact driven initiatives in Rivers State since his ingress into the State, pointing out that such initiatives have positively impacted the youths.  

“I am happy that the Rivers State Youth Leaders Assembly has fished out another prominent Nigerian in the person of My-ACE China for all he has been doing since he came into Rivers State some few years ago.

“He has been able to discharge that capability within him to extend to Rivers youths in areas of empowerment, employment, etc. We are trying to fish out the good things some people have been able to do. God asked humans to reach out to the less-privileged ones. That is what he has been doing.”

He ued the occasion to commend the proactive actions of the State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, observing that Fubara remains the only one out of the 36 state governors to have engaged with the protesters with a view to pacifying them.

“It is not easy that such a protest was carried out in all of the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory but it was only the governor of Rivers State that came out boldly to engage millions of protesters to pacify them.”

“Today (August 2, 2024) is the second day, you will find that the state is very peaceful. This means that the people of this state have regard and respect for Gov Fubara. If not, this state is a very dogged state oh. It is a very peculiar state where you have heads of almost all the militant cells.”

“These are people who shut down pipelines, etc, and crippled the economy of Nigeria. Today, Rivers State is absolutely peaceful.”

He advised the youths to continue to embrace peace, stressing that it remains the bedrock of development, adding that “the Governor I know is going to ensure that their dreams and aspirations will be fully fulfilled”.