The opening remark Tosan Jemide gave during his book launch and 50th birthday celebration at Lekki Coliseum, Victoria Island, Lagos on Friday 6th April, 2018 is not just elighthening, but it’s one that will motivate young entrepreneurs to strive to attain greatness. Tosan Jemide started cake business at a time when men where not dominant in the cake industry but he stayed motivated, determined and focused throughout the journey.
Read the full opening remark below;
“I am speechless, I’m overwhelmed that in this season I have received so much love out of the little I give to you and it’s expedient too much commitment I’m overwhelmed I say thank you to everyone who has come here to celebrate with me, has you have come, God will bless you! God will always protect you and your families and I say that whatever, it is that you do you will continue to prosper. To my father, my many uncles, aunties big and small, to my colleagues in the industry, to my friends, to my brothers and my sisters everybody here is important and very dear to my heart. I wouldn’t know who to call a dignitary, because in my walk of life each person here has played a significant role and I thank and bless you all very much.
In 2000, January of 2000 I jumped off a British airways plane landing in Lagos with two suitcases and 200 pounds in my pocket. I didn’t know what I was coming to meet, I was very confused because I hadn’t been in the country for a longtime and there was a lot of trepidation and of course there also was a lot of determination. Two suitcases had my personal belongings the other case had my work tools and 200 pounds in my pocket and my wonderful and gifted hands and that’s what I came with in the year 2000.
I was determined to succeed! I was determined to succeed! Against all odds I was having a difficulty in so many other parts of my life everything else was crumbling and it was tough but my aunty God bless her she was open, she allowed me share her one bedroom flat, gave me a small cubicle in her one bedroom flat probably about 2meters by 2meters and that’s where I started Cakes by Tosan and I look back eighteen years gone I am totally ? of God because he has blessed me! He has lifted me up! At times when I was at ground zero he has put people in my life all of you in this room to be my guardian angel to death, to be my counselors, to be my encourages, to be ones who look at me when I’m feeling for long and say it is OK smile you are doing well and I can not tell you how much that has helped me.
So today, is a day that I give thanks to God I give thanks to him for everything he has done in my life. I give thanks to him for my very beautiful and lovely family, most especially my wife whom I call my Jewel not many people understand why I call her my jewel they may not understand but I know why I call her my jewel because she is indeed my jewel. My wonderful children [ ] I have six of them and you people were wondering haha!
I have six of them everyday when I get up to hustle is because of them every work every sweat every stress that I have to go through I’m trying to provide is because of them and I thank God for putting them in my life because they make me smile they make my life complete and I also see my seed that has been dispersed and going much further in the years to come. Thank you kids! Thank you.
So as we go into the rest of the program, I welcome you once again and I thank you for the love, for the support and I hope that we have a successful launch of my book “Sugar Icing; Grit and Glory” is a book that I have written from my heart and it is a book that talks about my life, different phases of my life and some experience that I went through. It is abridged version of my life very abridged which I needed to share this things and also help people who are going through phases like that and also help Businessmen in this terrain understand that it is not over until it is over” Thank you very much!”
(Address Compiled: By MCZ, Image credits: MCZ)
My Cookery Zone 