Steve Wozniak. CC image courtesy of Nichollas Harrison
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has urged Nigerian youths to be innovative and part of the process of accelerating Nigeria’s technology growth.
Wozniak was speaking at this year’s edition of an annual leadership seminar organised by MTN in front of chief executive officers (CEOs) and enterprising young people drawn from both the public and private sectors in Lagos and Port Harcourt.
“Companies tend to want to hire people who already have a lot of experience on the exact products they are working on. But I say it is much better to find very smart people that are able to look at a new thing they have never worked with before and write the book themselves rather than reading the book on how it is done,” he said.
“Get into technology, the devices of the day, be a part of the future. Don’t hold back and say, “I’m just going to live life the old way because it worked in the past”. You’ve got to be a part of the future, if you are going to change it and affect other people’s lives positively.”
He urged the Nigerian government to quickly tackle poverty and engender equality for the citizenry whilst getting rid of corruption.
Larry Annetts, chief marketing officer (CMO) of MTN Nigeria, said the choice of speaker was informed by the need to tap into his global insights and counsel in the areas of innovation and creativity.
“Steve is the first ever technology inventor and innovator to take a place on the leadership podium,” Annetts said. “Nigeria is a country bustling with raw talent, talent which needs to be systematically harnessed in order to unleash true economic value and we have no doubts that his visit would help propel our youth into action.”
