The September 2025 edition of the Sterling Leadership Series, themed Beyond Education, convened bold voices, bright minds, and transformative ideas in Lagos, as thought leaders, students, and innovators explored how learning can transcend certificates and classrooms to drive real progress across Nigeria and Africa.
Opening the session, the convener charged participants to prepare for inspiration, impact, and transformation.
“If you have been here before, you know there is no way you will leave the same way you came,” the audience was told before welcoming the Managing Director of Sterling Bank and senior executives for their commitment to driving change.
Delivering the keynote, Abubakar Suleiman, CEO of Sterling Bank, framed education as the cornerstone of the bank’s HEART strategy — Health, Education, Agriculture, Renewable Energy, and Transportation. He stressed that learning must move “beyond certificates, beyond classrooms, and beyond outdated models,” noting that education is “the single most powerful tool for transformation, the bridge between potential and progress, aspiration and achievement.”
He highlighted Sterling’s ongoing investments in scholarships, digital literacy initiatives, and partnerships with institutions such as Miva University and Nexford University.
Addressing the bank’s Beyond Education Scholars present at the event, he described them as “a promise that Nigeria can raise a new generation of leaders who are curious, creative, competent, and courageous.”
The session’s special guest, Sim Shagaya, founder of uLesson and Miva University, delivered an impassioned address on resilience, entrepreneurship, and the realities of building enterprises in Nigeria’s tough economic climate. Sharing personal stories from his ventures, including the collapse of Conga and the challenges of running uLesson through economic shocks, Shagaya stressed that resilience is forged through failure.
“Failure is such a powerful source of data,” he explained, recalling how currency devaluations in 2015 and 2023 forced him into painful sacrifices but also sharpened his foresight. “Nigeria will teach you resilience, but it also gives you strength. That’s why champions like Flutterwave and Move, born here, thrive globally.”
Shagaya also emphasized the difficulty — and necessity — of building and motivating teams in Nigeria’s fiercely independent culture. “The real skill is finding talent in a context that has historically under-invested in human capital. The ability to get a group of Nigerians rowing in one direction is tough — but when the magic happens, the rewards are immeasurable.”
On the future of education, he revealed Miva’s innovative approach to combining online instruction with practical training. Using its nursing program as an example, Shagaya explained how students are assigned to local clinics where Miva pays for their training. He hinted that similar models could extend to agriculture and microbiology, noting: “We are in possession of priceless knowledge of what works.”
Addressing broader societal concerns, Shagaya urged young people to focus less on “sexy” industries like social media influencing and fintech, and more on untapped sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing. He also stressed the need for an African-centered curriculum that integrates local case studies, accents, and realities into teaching.
Responding to questions on Nigeria’s surging population and the risks of mass unemployment, Shagaya admitted the dangers but remained cautiously optimistic. He argued that Nigeria’s youthful population, if paired with infrastructure reforms such as expanded power generation, could become a global employment hub.
“We will provide the workforce for the world,” he said, citing examples of Nigerians excelling in AI schools abroad and remote tech jobs. “The risks are real, but so are the opportunities. If Nigeria can achieve ascendance — culturally, economically, militarily — then we would have lived well.”
The Sterling Leadership Series ended with applause for the Beyond Education Scholars in attendance and renewed commitments from stakeholders to rethink education as a driver of prosperity, not a checkbox.
“Education is not an end in itself,” Sterling Bank’s CEO reminded participants. “It’s a beginning. Beyond education lies the future — and together, we build it.”
