FORMER Head of Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan has urged youths to be persistent in all their endeavours. He gave the advice at the launch of a book, One Missing Ingredient, which he chaired at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos.
While commending the author, Mr. Femi Onasanya, for his diligence in writing an inspirational book, Shonekan tasked the Nigerian youths to take to heart the salient theme of the book.
Onasanya’s book treats the time-tested virtue of persistence and how it has helped a generation of heroes all over the world to come to exceptional greatness in their various careers.
Shonekan admonished: “But for persistence, nothing can be achieved. Life is full of examples of persistence. Persistence led the U.S. to land on the moon; so, too, other successful businessmen and women all over the world. Life is full of ups and downs; it’s only persistence that can make us stay on top always. The book is a challenge to young people that you must be focused and persistent in whatever you are doing and that you must have faith in God.”
He also praised Onasanya for writing a book that would inspire people and nations to greatness, saying such writing was not easy to achieve as it called for deep thinking and the use of proverbs and anecdotes, adding that it required persistence and focus.
Shonekan also took time to praise the author’s parents, especially his mother, Mrs. Morenikeji Onasanya, whom he appointed as Finance Director at UACN “at a time when UACN was at a cross road of whether to go into oblivion or continue to exist. I’m happy I did so because there’s no UACN anywhere else in the world today except in Nigeria, thanks to the diligence of Mrs. Onasanya, whom I had the honour to appoint.”
Speaking in the same vein, former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and chief launcher of the book, Mrs. Adenike Adeniran, harped on persistence and perseverance as ingredients at any stage in life. She stated that although success means putting in effort, effort alone is not enough and that it must include perseverance.
In his response, Onasanya urged the youths to persist in whatever they are doing. “Failure and rejection are not permanent things; they are just a feature of life. Persistence is the missing ingredient. In life, we don’t need short cuts; they lead to a dead end. We should not only see problems as setbacks; rather, we should build on problems to achieve success. We should never buy our way through problems but to persist at resolving them for good,” he averred.
