Business
Foundation To Empower 160 Students
The Ambassador
Emmanuel Oseimiegha Otiotio Foundation, an Abuja faith-based NGO, planned to empower 160 students both at the secondary schools and tertiary institutions with small-scale businesses of their choice.
The President of the Foundation, Amb. Emmanuel Otiotio, stated this at a one-day Youth Summit tagged “ASPIRE 2014.’’
He said the ASPIRE 2014 summit for undergraduates was born out of a desire to ensure that Nigerian youths took their destiny in their hands.
The Foundation boss said the summit was equally aimed at encouraging the youth to become a solution to the current challenges facing the present generation.
“We as a foundation; we will work in partnership with the students. We need to wake up and start doing something now,’’ he stressed.
Otiotio lamented the increasing rate of unemployment in the country, saying the foundation offered scholarship to some graduates still seeking for employment.
He said “with this development, we discovered that there is a missing link. So, we decided to organise this summit to enlighten undergraduates on the need to start small-scale businesses of their choice.”
He urged the students to make God their reference point, saying there was nothing you want to do that was devoid of God that would succeed.
The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof Julius Okojie in a goodwill message, said small-scale businesses were the engine of development in any nation.
Okojie, who was represented by Malam Ibrahim Dan’iya, the Director, Student Support Services at NUC, urged the students to get detailed information of the businesses they planned to embark on.
He said NUC had earlier organised a similar programme entitled “Network for African Students Entrepreneur.’’
He added that the Commission planned to organise more programmes for undergraduate students to broaden their business ideas.