Dayo Olomu: Motivating to higher heights

Dayo Olomu is a man of many parts. He was once the manager of top fuji musician, Wasiu Ayinde Marshall, and he is now a UK-based motivational speaker, personal effectiveness coach, success strategist, social media advisor, human resources consultant and author. But he’s not just living in the UK; he’s flying Nigeria’s flag high in the country known as the Queen’s Kingdom. Yet, the decision to relocate to the UK wasn’t an easy one for him. “I have been living in the UK for more than 10 years now.

When I came in January 1996, I was not sure whether I wanted to stay permanently. So for the first two years I was shuttling between London and Lagos. When I got an admission to study for a degree programme in Business Information Systems at the University of East London in 1998, I decided to settle down permanently in the UK,” he says. But because it is said that East or West, home is best, Olomu hasn’t forgotten his home, Nigeria, even though he hasn’t decided on relocating there fully. “For the past seven to nine years, I have been coming home at least three times a year. I hope to return home soon to contribute my quota to the development of the country, though I am currently doing that remotely through my mentoring scheme which many people in Nigeria have benefitted from,” he adds. Disclosing the difference between living in Nigeria and the UK is very easy for him. “It depends on the way you look at it. UK provided a platform of good reliable public services, particularly health, housing, job opportunities, security of lives and properties, education and transport which enables the private sector to deliver wealth to the people irrespective of their ethnicity, gender, sexuality or disability. But Nigeria struggles with some of these things. “One survey of 24 countries found the UK to be the gloomiest in the world while Nigerians are said to be the happiest people in the world.

That means Nigerians are incurable optimists. In terms of the weather condition, Nigeria is better than the UK. Also in terms of raising up kids, Nigeria is better. There is a proverb that says that it takes a village to raise a kid. “In terms of positive role model for Black kids, I would say Nigeria is better. The UK may be more advanced in technology, but compared to where we were 10 years ago, Nigeria has come of age. The big break in technology and communication, especially telephone, is good and more and more people are using computers these days and that means more people are spending more time in the information highway and not the motorway. I believe that the future is bright. Our next 50 years would be greater than the previous 50. Nigeria is a great nation,” he maintains. He is very blunt about his residing in the UK, which some Nigerians complain is racist in its treatment of them. “I do not see myself as a foreigner in a foreign land.

I think it is a state of mind. I see both the UK and Nigeria as home,” he insists. He finds the UK very conducive because it gives people “security of life, good educational system, infrastructure development, and equal opportunity irrespective of age, religion, ethnicity and sexuality.” Since the UK’s culture dictates that people must support one football club or the other, Olomu and his wife, Goddess, are not exempted. It’s somehow worse for them because they each support rival clubs. But Olomu claims that their individual support of two of the greatest rivals in English football does not have an adverse affect on their marriage. “It does not affect our marriage because we are not football fanatics. The only difference is that her club has won more championships than mine. She supports Manchester United while I support Arsenal.” Easily, he reveals that the largest audience he’s ever spoken to as a motivational speaker is 2,000 people at Westminster Hall in London. As some people wonder if motivational speakers do make an impact on people they speak to, Olomu said they really do, and he gives a concrete example. “Chioma readily comes to my mind.

At the Life Changers Award last year, she won the award of Young Female Entrepreneur of the Year. When her citation was being read, the presenter said that she was motivated by someone ‘in this audience’ who she met three years ago by attending his seminar when she was 17. She was motivated by what this person said about making a difference in the world and starting small. There and then she made up her mind. She used her maintenance allowance to start a charity that looks after poor people in the village. Her charity provides lunch for primary school pupils and is now in two states in Nigeria. When the name of the person was announced, it was me. I was humbled. “I was also on New Dawn with Funmi in December 2004 in Nigeria and after the programme I received more than 1,000 emails from people who wrote that what I said on that programme has impacted their lives positively. They said it turned their lives around and they are more determined to make it in life. You can imagine how that makes me feel. “I also remember a guy who said that he had attempted his Accountancy examination seven times and my article, “Taking Life Head On”, inspired him to forge ahead and pass it at his eighth attempt. He is now a chartered accountant. He sent a testimonial which said that ‘I want to thank you for your motivation skills and your inspirational messages of which I am one of the direct beneficiaries.

It changed the course of my life. After failing my professional examination (ICAN) for the seventh time consecutively, I thought of quitting. Just then, I came across your write-up: “Take Life Head On”. After reading this write-up, I had no choice than to change my mind. “I went for it the eighth time and I passed. I am happy to tell you that I am now a qualified chartered accountant.’ Sodipe Bababunmi Olutola is his name and he lives in Lagos. To me, being successful is not only achieving my goals, but also helping others to win as well. I want my name to appear in people’s testimonials. I want them to say something like: ‘I was at a certain place in my life and I listened to Dayo Olomu and his message changed my life.’ It’s more important to be part of the society in which you live and contribute something worthwhile to its success. To me, that is true success,” he states.