OPINION: The Key Lessons For The Nigerian Youth From The World Heavyweight Champion

Editor’s note: “Who is your Klitschko, and how do you plan to defeat him?” asks Arinze Esomnofu, Naij.com constant guest author. Addressing the challenges the Nigerian youth is faced with, unemployment among them, Mr Esomnofu dwells upon the historical victory of Tyson Fury over Wladimir Klitschko in the WBC heavyweight fight, drawing three lessons for the Nigerian youth to learn on the way to success.

Since my university days very few things have been capable of keeping me awake at midnight, and one of those things is heavyweight boxing.

Epic victories

On Saturday, November 28, 2015, the youth made history in the sporting world. First it was Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, who broke a Premier League record set by Manchester United ex-frontman Ruud van Nistelrooy: Vardy became the first player in the British Premier League history to score in an amazing streak of 11 matches.

While football lovers were celebrating Vardy’s success, the ever jealous boxing world came knocking with a really mouthwatering record. The WBC heavyweight title fight between Britain’s Tyson Fury and the Ukraine’s Wladimir Klitschko in the Esprit Arena of Düsseldorf , Germany, once again saw the youth celebrate a unanimous victory.

Determination decides

During the promotion of the heavyweight bout the young and energetic Tyson Fury looked Klitschko in the eyes and said: “I will beat you on Saturday. I see a weakness in you that other fighters do not see, and on Saturday night I am going to show that to the world.” Those words sounded like a conventional boastful boxing statement, but little did we know that the young Englishman was serious, and like he initially promised, he showed the world that Klitschko could be beaten.

In celebrating Tyson Fury’s victory I pinpointed the key points of his victory that our youths can learn from, and applied them to our daily lives to manifest that we all can become champions.

Focus

Tyson Fury had become focused long before the fight; he knew he was coming for Klitschko, and he did not allow any factor to distract him. For months Fury had been training on one objective, which was to defeat Klitschko.

But the sad fact remains that the average Nigerian youth lacks focus, especially in their search for a job. Today you see them applying for a position in a bank, tomorrow they want to be a structural engineer, in a couple of days they want to be a lecturer and so on. Do not get me wrong, I do not mind being diversified, but in such endeavor as job searching one cannot afford to lose focus.

There were numerous boxers Tyson Fury could have gone for, but he chose to focus on one, and all his training and skill acquisition was on him. Perhaps, you can permit me to say that Fury was obsessed with Klitschko, and it was that same obsession I strongly urge the youths to have in terms of a certain career path. All jobs are not for you, but there is one job that is definitely meant for you.

Success requires skills

During the fight with Klitschko Tyson was switching his fighting style from orthodox to southpaw and back to orthodox. That is a skillful act most boxers cannot perform, but Fury did that with a great level of precision in order to confuse his opponent.

The easiest word you hear a youth saying is that there is no job. Truly, there are extremely few jobs in Nigeria, but most times a huge majority of us youths do not get the desired jobs simply because we lack adequate skills and potential the employers seek.

Regrettably, many job seekers have no idea what a cover letter is and how to write it. Imagine a job seeker who cannot properly write a resume, normally serving as the face of a job seeker before the interview with a potential employer.

Dear youths, it is highly pivotal to learn the basic job seeking skills. Sadly, our higher institutions do not teach you these things, but you have to be determined to learn them on your own, if you are eager to taste the success of Tyson Fury.

Talk tough but act tougher

During the promotion of the bout Tyson said on countless occasions that he would beat Klitschko, the man that had remained unbeaten for nine solid years. Many pessimists laughed at his assertion, but I did not; I said to myself: “I would see how this will be unfolding.” And true to the Fury’s words he did not only talked tough, but acted even tougher.

As for the Nigerian youths, I know many of them that say to themselves: “Once I graduate, I will work with an oil company, I will buy the latest car, I will build a mansion….” These young people talk tough, but unlike Tyson, they fail to act tough, and that is why they join the long list of people lamenting there are no jobs in Nigeria.

The victory of Tyson Fury will forever have its place in the boxing history, but, most importantly, I want the youths of our great nation to get inspired by the victory of their fellow youths and forge a successful career path. Tyson is going to be a rich man, he is on the stardom of his career, and here lie my prayers for every youth reading this.

Today I ask the Nigerian youths: “Who is your Klitschko, and how do you plan to defeat him?”

Arinze Esomnofu is a political analyst, public commentator on trending political events, and a motivational speaker. Follow him on Twitter.

This article expresses the author’s opinion only. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Naij.com or its editors.

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