Speaking at two Lagos youth events, the Flutterwave co-founder told young Nigerians to build trusted systems, lean on faith and support networks, and execute with excellence

Flutterwave co-founder and Chief Executive Olugbenga “GB” Agboola has urged young Nigerians to stop asking what they can gain and start asking what they can solve.

He spoke at two youth-focused events in Lagos on Thursday, 1 October: The Elevation Church’s Find Your Voice summit and Covenant Nation’s The Platform Nigeria, according to a statement from Flutterwave.

“Sustainable success begins when you stop asking, ‘What can I gain?'” Agboola said, adding that young people should ask what problems they can solve instead.

Flutterwave CEO on building without chasing money

At Find Your Voice, a career and leadership summit held at Pistis Conference Centre in Lekki, Agboola joined a fireside chat hosted by Pastor Godman Akinlabi. The session was titled “Building the Rails: Scale, Trust, and the Long Game of African Enterprise.” The 2026 edition carried the theme “The Builders of the Next Decade.”

Agboola said he did not set out to become an entrepreneur.

“I was simply a software engineer trying to solve problems,” he said.

He told the mostly young audience that curiosity matters, but so do discipleship and apprenticeship. Excellence, he said, takes curiosity, the ability to follow through and the determination to get things done.

He urged them to look around, find an opportunity and solve it. That does not have to mean starting a company. He said “intrapreneurship is just as valuable,” and that people can create value where they already work.

Agboola on resilience and uncertainty

On career uncertainty and tough times, Agboola advised the audience to look past online noise, rely on faith and lean on a trusted circle of family and friends.

“Building isn’t supposed to be easy, and easy wasn’t promised,” he said.

He admitted that he sometimes walks into meetings “completely uncertain” and prays before going in.

Flutterwave boss urges Nigerians to execute with excellence

At The Platform Nigeria, hosted by Pastor Poju Oyemade, Agboola addressed the theme “Dream Big. Execute with Excellence.” He spoke about the discipline needed to turn a big vision into reality.

Real scale, he said, means building trusted and reliable systems, and the hurdles along the way are what make a business stronger. He told the audience to dream beyond what they see around them, learn, and “execute with absolute excellence.”

“Being a Nigerian should actually be an unfair advantage,” he said. “Focus on your mission and execute for a long time.”

Vanguard reported that at the same event, the Independence Day edition held at Iganmu, Lagos, Agboola said Nigeria does not have an ambition problem and must move from dreaming to building. He said Nigeria taught him to dream despite its challenges, and that instead of complaining about the infrastructure gap, Flutterwave decided to build it.

The statement said both appearances reflect Agboola’s drive to back young builders. It pointed to Resilience17, a venture fund and startup studio he founded to speed up technology entrepreneurship and economic growth across Africa. Agboola co-founded Flutterwave in 2016.