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I want Young People To Be Focused And Proud Of Whatever They Are Doing

Published by Guardian on Tue, 14 Feb 2012


AFTER designing the decoration for Nigeria at 50 Anniversary which earned him the Best Event Designer of the year 2011, Temitope Amodu, the Chief Executive Officer of Tsoule events company has been a force to reckon with in event designing in Nigeria. From being a project engineer to an event designer, Temitope's Tsoule is one of the fastest-growing event management firm in Nigeria and also an inspiration to many youths who have been yearning to utilize their skills.Once named the Personality Of The Week by Uche Briggs Blog on June 17, 2010, Temitope says his love of success and his inborn creativity inspired his moves into event designing. Though he was an established project manager in a reputable engineering firm in Lagos with Cisco professional certification and a background in computer engineering, he says he's committed to expanding and translating his creative abilities to the arts for a better impact in the industry.Though he had no formal training in event designs, his solid background in project management and creativity have been enough to establish him in the event business.Temitope says he had managed several successfull projects in the past, including the construction of bank buildings. ' I am a very creative person with a good knowledge of colour combination. As a child, my father who was an excellent show person, would always ask me to use my talents to match his cap with his shoes when going to events.'Temitope began his business pursuits by selling ice blocks way back in 2005. The idea of producing and selling ice blocks occurred to him in a bid to take advantage of the steady power supply in his residential area then at the Nepa quarters in Animashau Surulere.'As an engineer, I know I had to convert this steady light to a something instead of allowing it to waste' that was how I got the idea to start the ice block business. Before deciding on the business, I thought about digging boreholes and pumping water for sale. But since I could not dig for water, I settled for producing ice blocks. When I took a loan to buy my freezer, the idea was to convert the freezer to home use if the business did not move.' He explains.' I printed and distributed some flyers titled 'Ice blocks for sale' with my phone number and address. The blocks sold so well that the demand became higher than the supply. I sold each bag of block for 50 naira, but later moved to N150 as demand increased. When there was need for a car to convey the blocks, I started using my friend's car, since I did not have any then. I was constantly supplying blocks to events around Lagos. At a time, my clients in some of the events would ask if I had chairs or canopies for renting and that was how I ventured into the rental business.'Also, each time I attended events, I always paid attention to the table settings, the dcor designs and the event environment generally. And the question on my mind was how to improve on the event and the dcor. When I realized I could do it well, I decided to give it a trial.'Temitope who was working with a reputable engineering firm then subsequently opted out of his first career to focus on event designing.' Although I had a good job which enabled me to own a home in Lagos, I had more trust in my creative ability and today I am not regretting it all. Before I resigned, I asked my wife if she could survive with our son without my support for six months' she said 'yes' immediately and by God's grace, she only waited for three months.'On how he updates his works, he says he creates new works rather than update them. 'I like creating new things. When I cannot get what I want, I create it.'Always striving for professionalism and quality in his job, Temitope says he puts in 48 hours with little rest just to maintain a standard and quality brand. He is now expanding the company beyond design and event outfit with a staff strength of 30.Apart from being an employer of labour, he has trained over 200 youths in his academy and is still planning to utilize more talented youths to explore the industry. Although he has been surmounting the problems of growing business in the country, he said it has not been easy, especially when the overhead cost is shot up by unstable power supply and government policies. ''My experience in project management has helped to sustain quality and integrity in the business which is the creed of the company and my secret of success.' he said.He also lamented the high tax rate and lack of loan facility as some of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in the country. ' Some of our jobs are capital-intensive and one cannot have access to loans. I can fabricate some of the items I need anywhere if I have enough capital. Anytime I have events outside Lagos, I have to move all the needed equipment by road to the event place, which has not been easy at all.On the growth of the event management industry in Nigeria, he says the industry is still in its infancy, but has the tendency to grow fast with a lot of space for more creative minds. The market, he says, is too large for saturation. ' With the number of jobs that my trainees get, you have to agree that the Nigeria market is large enough for all. An advocate of copyright protection, Temitope says the pervious nature of the industry has given way to continuous duplication of work. He urges the government to strengthen the copyright law to encourage and protect creative and intellectual work.Temitope has continued to churn out impressive event designs that include the indomie decoration at Eric Moore Surulere and the Murtala Mohammed International airport Christmas dcor. He urges the youths to identify the many available services that can be rendered in Nigeria instead of searching for jobs in the oil and telecommunication industries which are already saturated. ' I want to tell them that in the developed countries, some youths are proud to be good electricians and furniture makers and with time they will invent a tool that has not been used and become famous. I want our young ones to be hardworking and focus on whatever they are into.'Being a man of many colours, 'Temmie,' as he is fondly called, has also been involved in community development services which include the fixing up of some Police stations and the fixing of a basket ball court in a primary school at surulere. Temitope, who is happily married to Jennifer Amodu with two boys, sees his father as his role model. Born and brought up in the Island, he attended Methodist schools in Lagos State.
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