By Michael-Azeez Ogunsiji, Abeokuta
No fewer than 2, 000 Nigerian youths are expected to benefit from an entrepreneurial summit being packaged by a Lagos-based, Non-Govermental Organisation (NGO), Spark Consults under the Bola Adeboye Foundation (BAF).
The summit, which scheduled to mark the country’s 58th independence anniversary in October 2018, is aimed at liberating Nigerian youths from being dependants to becoming employers of labour.
Addressing journalists at a press conference held yesterday in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer of Spark Consults, Bola Adeboye said the summit was planned towards meeting the needs of the Nigerian undergraduates, those who have graduated from the higher institutions as well as those still undergoing their one year mandatory Nigeria Youths Service Corp (NYSC) programmes.
Adeboye further stated that the summit will focus on core vission, values and objectives of creating new breed of entrepreneurs with the sole aim of empowering them towards exploring opportunities in Nigerian markets that would make them succeed in businesses.
Commenting on the need for the entrepreneur summit, Adeboye explained that his organisation, Spark Consults under the Bola Adeboye Foundation (BAF) was passionately concerned that youths have little or no orientation about those opportunities available to them in the Nigerian markets hence, the desire to expose them to those opportunities.
He further stated that his organisation has packaged a workshop under the National Entrepreneurship and Empowerment Summit (NEES2018), which would be exposing the beneficiaries to areas such as Market Creation; De-Marketing and Re-Marketing; Start-Up Strategies and Financing Opportunities in the country’s business environment as well as Inherent Opportunities and Imminent Challenges that accompany enterprises creation in Nigeria.
Other areas where the beneficiaries would be exposed to according Spark Consults’ C.E.O imcluded: contemporary issues confronting women entrepreneurs in emerging and developed economies; emergence and importance of e-commerce and digital marketing in globalized 21st century as well as the need for adequate financial intelligence and independence for 21st century aspiring entrepreneurs among others.
Adeboye however, hinted that resource persons for the summit were drawn from across the globe to include: Dr. Issa Abdulraheem (U.A.E), Dr. Florence Chiwetu (U.K) as well as other Nigerian scholars which included the Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Wale Babalakin just to mention a few.
Adeboye further disclosed that the summit would empower the beneficiaries with soft loans in addition to budding entrepreneurship.
Among the dignitaries also expected to grace the summit included the Chairman of OBAT Oil, Oba Obateru Akinruntan and Dr. Murtala Amodu among others.