‘Entrepreneurship key to addressing unemployment, growth in Nigeria’

To address growth challenges in the country as well as rising unemployment, it is imperative to leverage entrepreneurship and develop skills needed to thrive in the marketplace.

This was the view of organisers of a lecture, themed, ‘Entrepreneurship: A tool for mitigating unemployment for national growth’.

Preparatory to the lecture, organised by the Catholic Brothers United (CBU), the organisers stated that the lecture, which will feature a professor of political economy and management expert, Patrick Okedinachi Utomi, and scheduled to take place on Sunday, April 26, 2020, at the McGovern hall of St. Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland, Lagos, is poised to congregate key business leaders and thought-leaders which aims at equipping business owners and potential entrepreneurs with critical skills necessary for the 21st-century marketplace.

The event is segregated to have a select panel of discussants which include, Mrs. Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, a seasoned administrator and the Managing Director of Tony Elumelu Foundation, TEF; Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata, Co-founder, GoDoHub.org and Director, Founder Institute; Mrs. Ndidi Nwuneli, Founder, LEAD Africa, and Managing Partner, Sahel Consulting, and would be moderated by Rev. Fr. Dr. George Ehusani,*Director Lux Terra Leadership Foundation and a well-known religious cleric of the Catholic faith, writer and Life coach.

Commenting on the yearly lecture, the Chairman of the organizing committee, Gabriel Akumhegie, said the event will offer business owners, entrepreneurs and executives, exceptional opportunities to gain insights and practical knowledge from established industry experts, to further enable them to make balanced and informed decisions in their respective roles.

Gabriel said, available data can help improve business decisions in so many ways, one of which is efficiency gains. These gains are valuable because they can improve not only individual businesses, but entire markets and society as a whole.

He said the annual lecture will be uncovering key leadership principles, innovation possibilities and leveraging available data that has the potential to positively impact businesses, individuals and the Nigerian economy at large.

On the choice of the topic, Akumhegie explained that because entrepreneurship is a tool for people pursuing careers in business creation and other related fields, it has become an interested topic given the level of unemployment in the country and the new policy direction of government to equip the youth to take up careers that will help them develop their talents and contribute to economic growth of the country.

He said, “For instance, the 2017 report of Global Entrepreneurship Index shows that the first ten well-performing nations in terms of entrepreneurship are developed nations.”

He further opined that policies made and implemented by the government can help promote development in rural environments, thereby ensuring equity in the forms of development experienced in an entire nation.

This among other factors informed the theme of the lecture and the choice of speakers who are eminently qualified to speak and address key issues around the subject.