By Adesina Wahab

The Founder/Chief Executive of Coscharis Group, Dr Cosmas Maduka, has advised young Nigerians not to say negative things about the country because of the current economic challenges the country is going facing.

Maduka gave the advice in Lagos on Wednesday while delivering the third convocation of Trinity University Yaba, Lagos.

The title of the lecture was ‘Success is not a degree.”

According to him, “a nation that is cursed cannot bless the people.”

Telling his life story to explain that the possession of a university degree is an achievement but might not really guarantee a person being successful, Maduka listed some qualities a person should possess to achieve success.

“I lost my father when I was four and my mother became a single parent to four children. I didn’t go beyond elementary three in primary school for my formal education. But I thank God I was able to conquer my fear. I know that a lot of our young ones are gripped by fear because of the economic situation in the country.

“Many people underrate themselves because of fear too. A successful person is the one who is able to organize his thoughts to positively impact his society. If you cannot organize your thoughts into productive venture, you are just a mere intellectual.

‘To be a success, you have to be hungry for success. Difficulties and hardship are to challenge you to succeed. You must believe in yourself. Have a vision, having a vision makes you see beyond what your sight can see. You also need courage and it will help strengthen your faith.

“You must also be a man of value, when you are one, money will follow. Integrity, credibility maintaining good relationships and impeccable character are important as well. When you have them, you are on your way to a successful life,” he added.

The Pro-Chancellor, Pastor Samuel Olatunji, noted that having a university degree should be for something.

“Many degrees are for nothing. But here in Trinity University, we train our students to have degrees that are for something. We engage them in entrepreneurship endeavours and we bring people like our guest lecturer of today to share their inspiring stories with our students,” he noted.

The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Clement Kolawole, thanked Maduka for honouring the invitation to deliver the lecture despite his tight schedule.