Worried by the increasing population of graduate job seekers in Nigeria,<\/p>\n
the Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC),
\nProfessor Julius Okogie has called on undergraduates to nurture ideas
\nwhich they can turn into successful business ventures.
\nProfessor Okogie\u2019s call was contained in a goodwill message to the 2014
\nYouth Summit for undergraduates organized by the Ambassador Emmanuel
\nOseimiegha Otiotio (AEOO) Foundation in Abuja at the weekend.
\nIn the message that was delivered on his behalf by the Director, Students
\nSupport Services, Mallam Ibrahim Iro Dan-Iya, Okogie said the Commission
\nhad, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, initiated a number of
\nentrepreneurship programmes for Nigerian undergraduates to enable them,
\nupon graduation, become job creators rather than job seekers.
\nAccording to him, \u201cSome of these include the Network for African Student
\nEntrepreneurs (NASE) and the Annual National Entrepreneurship Week (ANEW)
\nboth of which are aimed at providing a plaftrom for networking and
\nexchange of business ideas among students, promotion of entrepreneurship
\nin the university system as well as projection of entrepreneurship to the
\nlarger society.\u201d
\nOkogie said the Youth Summit with the theme: \u201cAspire to Greatness\u201d could
\nnot have come at a better time than now when the increasing rate of
\nunemployment among Nigerian tertiary institution undergraduates and the
\ndesire to create job opportunities for the teeming youth in the country
\nhad informed government\u2019s decision to \u201censure that graduates are equipped
\nwith requisite knowledge and skills to start up small scale businesses for
\nsustainable living while in and after school.\u201d
\nHe stated that it was against this backdrop that the Federal Government in
\n2006 directed that Entrepreneurship Education should be entrenched in the
\ncurriculum of all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the country,
\nstressing that \u201cHence the NUC introduced GST Entrepreneurship as a
\ncompulsory course for all undergraduates while the B.Sc Entrepreneurship
\nwas introduced as a degree programme in 2011.\u201d
\nPresident of the AEOO Foundation, Ambassador Otiotio commended the Federal
\nGovernment\u2019s initiatives through the NUC, pointing out that his Foundation
\nwould synergise with and complement government\u2019s efforts at building
\ncapacities for undergraduate youths to enable them start their own small
\nscale businesses.
\nOtiotio explained that this would ease pressure on the government as such
\nsmall businesses would create positive multiplier effects on the economy
\nas the businesses would be able to provide employment in the private
\nsector.
\nHe urged undergraduates who participated at the Youth Summit to be
\nproactive by coming up with ideas on how to drive Federal Government\u2019s
\nemployment creation initiatives through the NUC, assuring them that the
\nAEOO Foundation would interface between them and the NUC.
\nThe Youth Summit featured speakers on various perspectives of how to
\nachieve greatness through setting up of private businesses, motivational
\nvideos, presentation by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development
\nAgency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), dance drama on the imperativeness of national
\nunity, mentoring sessions and presentation of business plans by the
\ngroups.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Worried by the increasing population of graduate job seekers in Nigeria, the Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Julius Okogie has called on undergraduates to nurture ideas which…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32067,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n