Tobi Akangbe: Spending 6 Years in the University is Not Beans; SalientExcerpts From My Story! (Young Voices, Day 2)

It is an honour for me to engage you on this platform and even though I have gotten to do this a couple of times, I really do consider this a privilege and do not take it for granted.

I have not lived as long as Methuselah but from the few days I have spent on earth, I could share some things with you that just might be the ignition you require to move as fast as a Ferrari in the race of life.

After secondary school, I couldn’t get into school that year because I wasn’t offered admission. It was a time many people who were in a similar category considered as opportunity to loiter around and exert the new so called freedom they thought they acquired but far back as then, I understood the need for speed and was not measuring myself by the strength of my locality because that would have actually made me feel I had time on my side. I decided I was not going to waste the time and so I enrolled to acquire a skill in tailoring. By the next year I also didn’t get into the university and went somewhere else to improve the skill I had gotten. I took the exams the next year and got admitted for dental surgery and I was filled with Joy even though I thought I had lost some time. While I awaited admission, I worked/served in a religious organization faithfully (it was a deliberate act). There I was known for prompt response and delivery on tasks assigned (it was a training process). The then leader once said to me that for a meeting at 6pm he wasn’t and would never be worried if I wasn’t around by 5:59 because he knew I would definitely be there before 6pm (it takes consistency to earn that). From my first year of study at the University of Lagos, the skill I acquired while I thought I was losing time became a major source of income for me and it was something I did without stress because I enjoyed it. When I got to the second year I was required to move over to the College of Medicine and I joined the largest religious organization there so that I could stay unnoticed especially since there were many senior classes ahead (there is seniority in medical school) but to my great disappointment I was discovered and by my third year made the head of worker’s directorate which was in charge of organizational strategy and team management of the entire workforce (I had to lead people who were even 3years ahead). I found it easy also because of the background I had while working during the years I thought I lost. The six years have gone by and I am grateful but here are some key points I want you to hold on to;

• You must understand the need for speed (think of what your mates are doing globally)


• Have a plan but be flexible about it (your plan is a blind guess, you don’t know tomorrow)


• Every time that looks free is an opportunity to acquire a skill


• Respect time and it will earn you respect.


• The feeling of freedom increases the potential energy of your nuisance capacity (on activation, you will surprise yourself so stay occupied)


• Always seek to develop yourself else with time, you will lose relevance.


• The ability to stay faithful to a course is a deliberate act, it does not occur naturally (even in marriage no matter how religious you are).


• A source of light cannot be hidden in a vacuum. (Light is synonymous to knowledge, develop yourself and you cannot be hidden.

Thank you!

Merry Christmas in advance



Oluwatobi Akangbe is a dentist with skills ranging from Team Management, Leadership, Counselling, and Strategy Development. You can follow him on Twitter: @TheOluwatobi



(Young Voices is a quarterly 15 days campaign on this blog where 15 notable young role models will share their story – today is the second day in the first season of #YoungVoices. It continues tomorrow with another inspiring young role model)

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