Mr Michael Oludare Ale is thechairman/chief executive, Male IntegratedScience Nigeria Limited, Ibadan. He shares,his passion for his career, among other thingswith Taiwo Olanrewaju in an interview. ExcerptsBACKGROUND: I am Michael Oludare Ale. I was born to Mr Emmanuel and Mrs Comfort Ale of Ayegbaju Ekiti in Ekiti State, Nigeria. I was born in Lagos, grew up in Ibadan, studied in Ilorin and lived part of my life in Ekiti. I was born into a monogamous family and I am the fifth of six children.Growing up: It was very interesting and tasking. I grew up in an averagely okay background where we had everything we needed in terms of assets, it was only cash we didn't have. We had everything we wanted at every given time. We were averagely okay.Schools attended: I attended Ayaba Alafia Catholic Primary School, Iyaganku and Jericho High School, Eleyele, both in Ibadan and the University of Ilorin, Ilorin.Ambition: I wanted to be a medical doctor probably because that was all we heard about at that time, medicine, law and engineering. But that changed when my uncle, Professor I.E. Owolabi, a former Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Ilorin, Ilorin told me about Geology.Geology and Medicine compared: I believe both courses are related because both are about saving life. We can't live without water. Water is one of the many things underground and we need to bring it up. Don't forget the saying that water is life. Medicine is to prevent. It is about saving life, so in that sense both are related.My passion: I have a strong passion for my career. It is a passionately endowed activity. Although I was once into oil and gas. Passion has turned water drilling into fame for me. I am also passionate about development. That is why we started a non-governmental organisation called SPG Start-up Professional Group. It is about life, everything starts up. When you go to the primary school, you start up; if it is the secondary school, you start up. If you go to the university, you start up or you go for the National Youth Service Corps, you start up.The SPG brings successful people together to rub minds together and deliberate on the best ways to start up. Members also have access to loan and other facilities. Fulfilment: One can't ever be fulfilled in life. As you get to a level, you aspire to the next. You are only fulfilled when you are dead. Whenyou have a sense of fulfilment, that yeah, you are there, you have done it, you have performed a feat, you start falling. A good example is the story of Peter in the Bible while walking on the sea. It was at the point when he felt he was doing something extra-ordinary that he began to sink. So I am still walking.Success: I will measure success as achievement per vision. If you don't have vision and you feel you have achieved, then you are not yet there. Some people are successful but they don't have vision. There is no vision to drive success.Are you successful' I am a development practitioner and I want to see everything about me grow. You can grow, that is increase without having a reflection on your surroundings. But I want to develop and allow it affect everything around me my family, my business, my community, my town, my country and the society. So I will say I am not yet there, considering my vision.Fashion sense: I don't have a fashion sense. I am not a fashion buff. I am most of the time in my branded company top and trousers. Except if I have to be at functions and I have to be in suit. I don't wear any special shoes. When I dress up, perhaps the only thing I can't do without is my beard. It is an identity for me.Best Food: My best food is eba and gbure (water leaf). I love it.Best Colour: Of course, brown and yellow, the colour of my company's branded t-shirt.Hobbies: My hobbies include sitting with thinkers and facilitating events.Words of advice: You go to the university to develop yourself. You may not really work with what you are trained in. Look at it as another environment to get you developed. As you grow, develop yourself with various activities. Identify your talent and start it up. Don't let anything be a hindrance to you. Don't let money be a hindrance to your development. Without money you can make it. Poverty of the mind is worse than poverty of cash. Dream, have a vision and follow it. Get-rich quick syndrome leads to frustration. Idea rules, not money.
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