What this VIBRANT Community MEANS to ME!

My story, close to a typical African child’s tale. I loved the sight of light-brown sand and its gritty feel under the bare soles of my feet. I always had the intense desire to chew on the earth whenever it drizzled. Oh! That smell. It always draws me in, till date. I remember one of those times that it showered lightly and the Earth gave off her usual smell, or maybe the one registered in my brain. I was in Primary one then, in my first primary school. I took it all in. The smell! It was more than the combination of two elements of nature appealing to my sensory organs. It was life to me. I snuck out of class under the guise of going to ease myself. I cupped a handful of the damp, brown sand and took a mouthful. It was tasteless, but my brain said otherwise.

I used to feel weird, queer and sometimes like an alien. There were things I longed to do but felt constrained. Ideas I birthed while I was younger that my environment made me feel like I would be committing a sacrilege, should I give it more thought? Innovations that seemed so surreal, yet needed. Gradually, I learned the art of holding back. I mastered the ways of suppression. I held back so much till I felt I had nothing to give out.

Secondary school told a different story. Different people saw diverse potentials. Some saw a feisty lawyer, others, a prolific writer. Some prophesied medical doctor, others, a mass communicator. Some concocted a profession with a little bit of all while the remaining just prayed for God’s will to be done.

I didn’t exactly know what I wanted at some point, in fact, most of the times. Sometimes, I felt I was going to be the next Einstein. Researches intrigued me a whole lot. I wanted an end to HIV/AIDS. Cancer was one monster that needed to go. I was so sure I was going to make a great doctor and specifically, a researcher like no other.

I went to College or University, whichever you call it. I ended up studying a course that made me imagine food all day long initially, a course I had no idea of nor the potential it had in stock for me in my 1^st and 2^nd year in the University. A course that got my lips trembling each time I said it through whispers to those that asked what I was studying in the University. A course that almost ostracized me, one that got the fortune-tellers in the form of friends and well-wishers feeling like I had shamed my ancestors and failed my generation.

Sticking to that course ended up being one of the best decisions of my life, a step that made me see purpose and realise the meaning of “calling” Everything was supposed to go smoothly afterwards. I was wrong

The self-awareness didn’t come easy. It came much later after the discovery, in fact, recently.

I knew what needed to be done but I couldn’t just take the first step out of a cocoon I had made in my mind. A cloaking web I spurned out of fear. The shadows I created out of uncertainty.

I had the blue print but the construction didn’t start until my first Digital Marketing Enterprise Program, at UNILAG. I had seen Nirmala Chellarams Centre for Entrepreneurship Skills severally but skipped it each time I came across the name. I felt it was one of those usual online/offline communities that held no water. I was in for a surprise.

I saw the definition of intelligence. I met progressives. I learnt, unlearnt. Now, I am relearning. I joined a vibrant community. I am now a part of a greater movement. No more am I holding back! I have found expression.

My medium?

It is the Nirmala Chellarams ‘Vibrant Community’. It can also become your medium!

_______________

The Nirmala Chellarams Centre for Entrepreneurship Skills (NCCES) is one of the few centres in Nigeria that is burdened with the aim of raising the next generation of Business disruptors, Innovators, Economic drivers and Employment generators. The centre is being positioned to take the lead in teaching practical entrepreneurial skills to Nigerian Youths and other members and non-members of the University of Lagos community (Alumni, Faculty, Staff and their immediate families) to drive economic development.

It is an initiative of the Murli T. Chellaram Foundation. The NCCES offers certificated courses, one-on-one counselling and mentoring, online learning materials and in-person networking opportunities, amongst other areas of entrepreneurship skills development. Our scope of activities is expanded from the University of Lagos to Nigeria at large, both through our online platform and in-person training courses, we plan to reach over 1.5 million people through this. 

It is the hope that our Vibrant Community, bound by the Entrepreneurial Values enshrined by the late Murli T. Chellaram and his wife Nirmala, forges mutually beneficial relationships that cut across social, ethnic and generational groups.

Visit our website to read benefits you enjoy when you become a member: BENEFITS WHEN YOU BECOME A MEMBER

We have a vibrant community on Facebook that you can JOIN here: The name of the Facebook Community is ‘League of Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs in Nigeria (LYPEN)’. It is our vibrant community where everyone is allowed to learn, grow and develop.

I don’t know your story but you can be sure you are not alone in it.

Sign up as a member HERE and get to see the world from a bigger view with the help of others who are revving up for a positive tide of change.

Welcome to our WORLD!