By Victor Gotevbe
At first sight, one is likely to assume that Ikenna is a musical artist. Little would you imagine that he is a trained civil engineer but with a strong passion for branding and advertising. He walked into the Vanguard  office to share what makes his life tick with Saturday Youthful Vibes. Please read on.

*Ikenna

My background

My close friends and families call me ‘MAJOR’.I am from Ifite-dunu, Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State.  However, I was born and raised in Lagos State into the best family anyone could possibly wish for, ‘The family of Colonel and Mrs M.N. Onuorah.

My dad is a strict and firm disciplinarian who retired meritoriously from the Nigerian Army in 1996; my mum is a very caring and loving woman and a retired nurse. I had my primary education at St. Mary’s Private School, Lagos and then attended Command Secondary School, Ibadan for a year and moved to the prestigious King’s  College, Lagos.

I studied Civil Engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State. My quest for more knowledge, exposure and knack for being vast and fully grounded, considering that I grew up in the South-West, and spent my university years in the South –East where I also lived with and learnt more about the culture, history and life style of the people of the South-South (Niger Delta area), led me to do my Primary assignment with National Youth Service (NYSC) in the north, in Abuja precisely. I was posted to the Senate Committee on Works, National Assembly, White House, Three-arm zone, Abuja.

I can proudly and clearly state that it was during my years spent at King’s College that my passion and drive for youth empowerment and organizational skills was born. The wisdom, love and discipline impacted on me directly by my parents and family put all the ideas and lessons accumulated from King’s College into action.

You seem to be born with a silver spoon.

Would I consider myself born with a silver spoon??? Hhmmn…  This is one question that I have always tried to re-define, primarily because I am aware that the mere thought of this question and its answer has killed the zeal, self esteem and passion of many youth.

My belief is that we are all born with a silver spoon, irrespective of family background and all. I am a very spiritual individual and my Roman Catholic faith leads me to believe that we are all created in the image and likeness of God and that we are all equal.

Since I can remember my mum has always reminded me that ‘’FAITH SEES OPPORTUNITIES; BUT FEAR SEES OBSTACLES” and my dad repeatedly hammered into my head the importance of ‘’Determination and perseverance”.

So I came up with the perfect combination ‘’FAITH, DETERMINATION, PESEVERANCE”.  After redefining the silver spoon status-quo, I can humbly State that I was not just born with a silver spoon, but with a “diamond encrusted, silver spoon”.  Thank God..

You studied Civil Engineering, at what point did you veer into branding and why?

Yea, I am a Civil Engineer and I am proud of it but ever since I can remember I have always been specially and uniquely creative (ideas keep filling my head) and I have a strong passion for improving whatever situation I come in contact with.

The turning point came during my University years and the peak of my campaign to win my parents respect, prove to them that I can be very independent and earn something for myself by myself. After months of research, I decided to go for what I had always been passionate about and the professional term for it was “BRANDING AND ADVERT”. And since then, it has been a wonderful journey thus far…

Do you really care to give back to the society? If you do, how do you do this?

Yes, I really care to give back to the society, because being a creative person, I learn a lot from my environment, and thus I feel indebted to my environment and the people.

I have got a vision/mission to continually use my creative and innovative ideas to engage every youth possible with positive and legitimate means in their ongoing pursuit of success, battle against unemployment and all the negative youthful vices of present day Nigeria.

Bearing this mission in mind, I have created, proposed and worked with various companies on youth related jobs. We have employed youths, given out cash, gift items, motivations of all sorts, etc.. These companies include: – Bharti Airtel Telecommunications; Oduche Nigeria Ltd; Reen Couture; AUX Global Concepts Ltd.

What has been  your greatest motivation?

This comes from the various exceptional stories of faith, hard work, perseverance and grass to grace in my Holy book (The Bible).  My favorite story and motivation has to be that of “David”, from being the last and weakest of his brothers to slaying Goliath and becoming King of Israel..  “From Zero to Hero”…

What are you currently working on?

I have several youth  driven projects that is getting my attention. I am working with  a very creative lady, Vivian Okereke on her custom clothing label “Vivi Vilandra” based in Port-Harcourt with a focus to engage, inspire and motivate her clients (the youths especially) with motivational write–ups and short notes on her products,  packages and also provide a platform for youths to interact, exchange ideas and be guided and inspired on the labels face book  fan page, website and also get a chance to win free gifts,  get advice and support in their various drive or passion.

I am also working with “Louixx Heisner”; a U.S based record label that has its focus on investing and harnessing the raw and exceptional talents of our young Nigerian artists, providing them with the much needed hope. We have so far signed three (3) promising artists: – J.rock, Deon-B and Lil Sparxx. I am also in continuous youth driven projects with Airtel Telecoms in the Southern part of Nigeria..

Any words of encouragement for young Nigerians?

My advice to the young people is one of my best saying:  “There is no error in trial”.  Like Albert Einstein said “If you have not made a mistake, you have not done anything new”…   KEEP TRYING.