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Industry Leaders Celebrate Idy Enang at 60, Advocate Mentorship as Catalyst for Nation Building
Leading figures from Nigeria's business, marketing, governance, media, and public sectors converged in Lagos to celebrate the 60th birthday of former President of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN), Mr. Idorenyen "Idy" Enang, while deepening national conversations on mentorship as a critical driver of sustainable development and leadership continuity.
The landmark event, held at the prestigious Marriott Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos, featured a colloquium themed "Passing the Torch: Mentorship as a Catalyst for Nation Building." More than a birthday celebration, the gathering became a platform for profound reflection on the role of mentorship in shaping future generations and strengthening the foundations of national development.
In his welcome address, Mr. Enang, celebrant and convener of the Passing the Torch Initiative, described the initiative as a deliberate response to one of the greatest challenges of the present era, the intentional, structured, and cascading transfer of knowledge, wisdom, and leadership insight across generations.
According to him, the initiative is founded on the belief that no generation should be forced to reinvent the wheel and that nations prosper when experienced leaders intentionally invest in emerging ones.
"The Passing the Torch Initiative is built on the belief that when seasoned leaders intentionally pass the torch, and emerging leaders humbly receive and sharpen it, entire nations rise," he said.
Enang explained that the initiative emerged from the broader vision of Corporate Shepherds, the force behind Navigate With Idy, the widely acclaimed business school on radio. Over the years, the programme has delivered business and leadership education across multiple stations, reaching more than 12 million listeners monthly.
He highlighted other flagship platforms including the highly impactful 100Fold Masterclass and the internationally acclaimed Career Compass Community (CCC), an intensive development programme designed to help middle and senior-level executives maximize their potential through world-class leadership training.
He noted that the Passing the Torch Initiative seeks to foster intergenerational collaboration across business, public service, academia, technology, entrepreneurship, and governance through structured mentorship, knowledge transfer, and collaborative problem-solving.
Delivering the keynote address, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, emphasized that sustainable nation-building requires investment in people, not merely structures.
"Don't build structures alone. Build people," Bakare declared.
He described mentorship as the deliberate transfer of wisdom, experience, values, vision, and capacity from one generation to another, noting that no individual attains greatness in isolation.
"Behind every significant achievement lies the influence of guidance, sacrifice, and mentoring. Mentorship is the bridge between yesterday and tomorrow. It preserves institutional memory, sustains continuity, and guarantees progress," he said.
Drawing parallels with a relay race, Bakare argued that every generation advances using the baton received from those before it.
"The final runner does not run with his own baton; he runs with the baton received from another. Ancient Greece flourished because philosophers mentored philosophers. Nation-building is impossible without leadership continuity."
He praised Enang for exemplifying the spirit of intentional investment in people, noting that he has consistently mentored young professionals, entrepreneurs, executives, and transformational leaders across diverse sectors.
Renowned advertising icon, Mrs. Julia Oku-Jacks, underscored the importance of intentionality and selflessness in mentoring others.
"I have learned that when people are not ready, leave them alone," she said. "It is critical that wherever we serve, we remain focused on the values we seek to drive."
She described mentorship as creating access to opportunities and opening doors for others.
"The whole process of mentorship is about access to rooms and spaces. We must make ourselves available so that others can stand on our shoulders and bear the burden. Mentors bear pain. We must be deliberate and open with our own truths."
Founder and Executive Producer of Zuri24 Media, Mr. Femi Odugbemi, highlighted the strategic role of storytelling and creative industries in shaping national values.
"What people consume is what they become," he said.
According to Odugbemi, nation-building depends heavily on what he described as "imagination engineering", the deliberate shaping of values and collective aspirations through stories.
"The bigger problem we face is that from home to school, there have been significant failures and gaps, leaving young people to determine their own values without guidance."
He stressed that mentorship, regardless of industry, is fundamentally about transmitting values.
"We don't just teach people how to make films; we teach them why we make films. Stories carry values. When we talk about passing the torch, we must first examine ourselves. What is the quality of the torch we are carrying?"
Odugbemi also urged mentors to engage young people in redefining success beyond material achievements.
Governance and Institutional Reform Advisor, Dr. Ini Abimbola, challenged conventional notions of mentorship, drawing important distinctions between mentorship, sponsorship, and patronage.
"Mentorship is not succession planning," she said. "It is not about reproducing your worldview in another person. It is about equipping people to become better than you."
She explained that mentorship involves guidance and advice, sponsorship requires investing one's professional or political capital in another person's advancement, while patronage grants access in exchange for loyalty.
"In Nigeria, we practice more patronage than mentorship. What we need is sponsorship at scale."
Abimbola warned that mentorship can either dismantle or reinforce inequality depending on how it is practiced.
"Individual goodwill does not build nations; systems do. When it comes to women in leadership, we have gone beyond mentorship. What we need now is sponsorship. We need people speaking up in rooms where decisions are made and advocating for qualified women."
Political strategist and public affairs analyst, Mr. Ayo Adio, approached mentorship from the perspective of standards and institutions.
"The standards people set above you ultimately determine the level at which you rise or fall," he noted.
According to him, effective mentorship must focus on character formation, integrity, and institutionalizing values that can be transmitted across generations.
"We need people who establish standards and formal institutions capable of transmitting those standards to future generations."
A major highlight of the event was the formal launch of Enang's new book, "60 Navigational Truths."
Reviewing the book, Barrister Charles Odenigbo described it as a practical guide for navigating life's complexities.
"60 Navigational Truths gives readers warnings, blueprints, and tools to build lives that can withstand the test of time and circumstance," he said.
Written in what he described as a "no-nonsense style," Odenigbo noted that the book goes beyond knowledge acquisition to shape how people think, lead, and respond to leadership.
"It is ultimately a book about consciousness."
The event also featured the presentation of the first cohort of the Career Compass Community (CCC), who were formally inaugurated as the pioneer members of the institution's alumni association, marking another milestone in Enang's enduring commitment to leadership development and capacity building.
The colloquium attracted an array of distinguished personalities, including President of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria, Dr. Bolajoko Bayo-Ajayi; Chairman of the Advertising Offences Tribunal of ARCON, Hon. Justice Cecilia Olatoregun; former Registrar of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria, Alhaji Kankarofi; Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of First Primus West Africa Limited, Mr. Seni Adetu; renowned advertising patriarch, Dr. Biodun Shobanjo; former NIMN President, Mr. Tony Agenmonmen; and several other notable leaders from across the country.
As conversations drew to a close, one message resonated strongly throughout the gathering: nations thrive when knowledge, values, and leadership are intentionally passed from one generation to the next. For many participants, the celebration of Idy Enang at 60 was not merely a milestone birthday but a call to action for leaders across sectors to invest in the future by investing in people.
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