Diobu Economic Summit Soon As Mayor Of Housing, K. O Baba, Others Plan Rebound Scheme

Some prominent personalities including K.O.Baba Jornsen and the Mayor of Housing, who began their careers and livelihoods in Diobu, the thriving centre of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, have joined effort to create a rebound for Diobu.

The rallying point and take-off point was the TEDx Diobu which has won a license from TED International to organize a talkshow on Diobu to help rebuild the brand and the spirit of that section that drives the overall spirit of the Garden City.

Mayor of Housing: A lesson on courage and grit; a major sponsor and rated speaker at the TEDx Diobu, the Mayor of Housing, said it was emotional for him to be back in Diobu where he said it all started for him some 18 years back.

Speaking on what Diobu puts in one’s life and career, China talked about courage and grit. He said his journey had a lot of courage as well as vulnerabilities.

“There were days I frowned. But guess what, it started with that result here in Diobu that birthed the most important legacy every entrepreneur must aspire to build. That legacy is the legacy of grit.”

He admitted that grit had different connotations but that for him, grit is what happens when you’re able to blend your experience with lots of courage; blend your experience with embracing your vulnerability and not denying them, but growing bigger than them and not wishing that things were easier but wish you grew better. Then, he said, you will tap into the biggest and deepest well of treasures in the world inexhaustible: The world and the wealth of human capital and your mental capital.

“When you develop that grit and come out, you will begin to see opportunities where people no longer see opportunities.

“You begin to see challenges as bread. Where people are complaining, there are different challenges and you’re asking where is the akara to add to the bread to make it a balanced diet.”

He agreed with Dan De Humorous who made brief appearance at the event, saying every story has a beginning, middle, and the end.  “Building a business, making an impact are all summed up in one word; the capacity to do more and the power of your story.

“Ask yourself the business you’re building, when the story is told, will it make the hearer weaker or stronger?”

He said one of the greatest liabilities that we have produced in our age is that we have failed to make impact even in the direct beneficiaries of our success which is our children. “Because at the end, it is not what you leave for them that is important, but what you leave in them. I am hoping as I leave, that what I’ve left in you will be more important than what I left for you.”

K.O. Baba Jornsen: The TEDx Diobu franchise owner, K.O. Baba, a Port Harcourt fast-growing business leader, entertainment promoter, and entrepreneur, who has linked up with the Mayor of Housing, My-ACE China, said at the first edition of TEDx Diobu that the project is to promote the reality of Diobu, which is said is about good, not the bad, not about snatching of phones.

Rather, the well-known comedian and creator of ‘Mayor of Pitakwa’ annual comedy series, said the project is to bring the finest persons that once lived in Diobu to come and talk to Diobu of today.

The man who emerged as a force in Diobu years ago revealed how it came to be, saying he began helping the boys and soon, every disagreement in the area was brought to him to resolve. Thus, he said, he emerged the street chairman without an election.

He remined well-to-do people that one criminal could kill up to 1000 persons, saying it was important to pull the youths off crime with social facilities. He hinted many schemes that may soon come in Diobu including an economic summit.

He said small and medium enterprises (SMEs) would be targeted for support after the TEDx Diobu event.

Others:

In his intervention, an entrepreneur, Daniel Okwara, revealed his business techniques and the things he did to grow his business. “Give back all to your business. I did this and grew from buying a mere 25% of container to becoming a global business today.

“I opened a joint account so I will never withdraw at whims. There must be a cogent reason and a process before withdrawing.

“Save cost, maximise. This means save the cost of operations so nothing can touch it. Then maximise the deployment of your resources so it increases your profit.”

In his own, J.J. Folami showed how he used traffic of his blog to promote his music, now recording over 3.5m followers.

Another speaker simply named Dickson said he was born in Diobu and that he has found that the spirit of competition dominated by ‘I pass my neighbour’ mentality has held Diobu and other such towns down. “The rich collaborate; the poor compete; at best, they cooperate”.

He warned that collaboration will become the new competition and that the big fishes do not swallow small fishes but swallow slow fishes.

Dandy De Humorous said though he did live in Diobu (but D-Line) but that TED has a unique way of telling stories around the globe. “In every story, there is a beginning, middle, and the end or climax. That’s the beauty of TED stories. I urge the audience to pay attention to the middle of stories. That is where the battle is, where the process that decides the end is found.”

In his admonition, a lawyer and activist, Chizi Wigodo, urged people who have ideas to join groups or political parties to push the ideas. He said: “Civic participation is key. Government knows that the people have the greater power. Join a group to amplify your idea.

“Know it that the next election begins after the current one. So, the next election (2027) begins now. Post-election fights in court are however better than causing chaos. The court works with the story, the evidence, the law.”

A female broadcaster, Oby Ify Fakae, wrapped it up when she pointed out what makes persons not to collaborate, saying it’s a trust issue. “People only trust you when you know them. Not all money is good money.”

Conclusion: The participants including Hilda Dokubo agreed on efforts to rebuild the spirit of doggedness and grit which they said Diobu gave the Garden City, and turn the ideas to wealth and job creation.