Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Monday, advised Nigerian youths not to allow educational challenges to deter them from achieving their goals.
Obasanjo gave the advice in his remark at the 25th remembrance of a former Asiwaju of Egbaland, Alhaji Abdul Rasak Olajide Sanusi, held at the premises of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta.
Sanusi a Nigerian businessman and a philanthropist was born in 1932 in Alabata, Odeda Local Government of Ogun state.
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He was the founder of the defunct Pioneer Chemical Manufacturing Company and Nigeria Industrial Products Agencies Company (NIPACO), a manufacturer of bathroom and sanitary fittings and home appliances.
Obasanjo who was the Chairman at the ceremony noted that the late Sanusi rose to become one of the country’s foremost businessmen and influential personalities, despite his lack of formal education.
The former president added that the deceased during his lifetime was able to achieve what a university graduate could not achieve despite being handicapped by education.
Giving a brief background of the deceased, Obasanjo told youths in the nation to defy all odds to maximize their potential and attain their goals with or without education.
He said “If there was any self-made man, Abdul Rasak Sanusi was a self-made man. If there was an industrialist, he was an industrialist, if there was a philanthropist, Abdul Rasak Sanusi was a philanthropist. He was a lover of his town, his family and his friends.
“The question we should be asking ourselves now is why are people like Sanusi now scarce to come by these days. He was handicapped by education but he did not allow that to be a hindrance. He surmounted the challenges of education and achieved what even those who went to the university could not achieve what lesson do you learn from that; Alhaji Sanusi surmounted all the challenges that he encountered.”
At the well-attended and colourful occasion, the deceased family formally launched the Abdul Radak Olajide Sanusi Foundation in remembrance of the deceased.
The foundation, according to them is focused on empowering students of Alabata, the hometown of the late Sanusi who wished to have tertiary education to fulfil their dreams.
The Foundation presented prizes to the 12 best students of the Alabata High School and also bursary to 12 students of Alaba Community High School from JSS1 to SSS3 and a laptop each to the best teachers from the same school.
