From Bode Durojaiye, Oyo.
Retired Archbishop of Methodist Church, Nigeria, Most Reverend Ayo Ladigbolu, has counseled Nigerians against desperation for material acquisition, and other earthly desires, but rather seek divine direction, and eschew negative emotions.
He stated this on Wednesday at a youth development programme in Oyo, Oyo State.
According to him, “we have grace to endure trial without
sustaining loss. We are like silver and gold when refined.
Tribulations worketh patience. We should rejoice in our sufferings because it must produce perseverance, and perseverance produces character, which later results into hope without disappointment because God has poured out His love into our hearts, by the holy spirit”.
Stressing the need to exercise patience during test and trying
times, Bishop Ladigbolu said as human beings, “we have no control over how long trial lasts, but we have complete control over our level of patience during the trial.
“Hurrying and desperation will only frustrate the process that
God intends for us to endure. A perfect man is a product of growth through trial, rather than a sudden product of a crash programme. If we want to display maturity, we must stop blaming God for our problems, and face up to the fact that it is not what happens to us that is important, but the way we respond to it. Handle your problems with endurance and patience and wait on the Lord”.
Bishop Ladigbolu also called for a change in the mind-set of
youths to see self-employment as an option before leaving school, and be prepared psychologically and emotionally for it.
This, he noted, will enable them to be more motivated in
identifying entrepreneurial opportunities both within and outside their area of specialisation, while they are undergoing education and training in the tertiary institutions.
The renowned clergy stated that entrepreneurial education will “disallow an individual from expecting fish from a designated body, especially the government of a state, and imparts fishing skills in an individual to be self-dependent and self-reliance”.
“Effective youth entrepreneurship education prepares young people to be responsible, enterprising individuals, who become entrepreneurs or entrepreneurial thinkers, and contribute to economic development and sustainable communities. Entrepreneur behaves differently because they
risk their own money, organise their own work, have income that varies with market success, make all the final decisions, find customers to survive, and handle diverse activities at the same time”.
