Category: Children & Youth Development

Though Tribe And Tongue May Differ In Brotherhood We Stand….Nigeria My Country.

May 13th, 2024

Nigeria is in West Africa, with an area of approximately 923,768 square kilometres (356,669 square miles). Nigeria is bordering several countries including Benin, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger with the Capital City in Abuja and the Largest City, Lagos.

The approximate population of Nigeria is 213 million people, (2020 estimate) living in diverse terrain, characterised by tropical rainforests in the south, savannas in the north, and mountains in the east. The highest point in Nigeria is Chappal Waddi, which stands at 2,419 meters (7,936 feet) above sea level.

Nigeria also has several major rivers, such as the Niger River, Benue River, and Cross River, which is thought to be the reason for the migration of several diverse people to the region. Nigeria’s coastline is approximately 853 kilometres (530 miles) along the Gulf of Guinea and is rich in natural resources.

Nigeria has a tropical climate, with two main seasons: the rainy season (April-October) and the dry season (November-March) which supports diverse agriculture. The country is rich in natural resources, including crude oil, natural gas, coal, iron ore, Niobium, Lithium, Gold and tin.

The above geographic features have a significant impact on Nigeria’s diverse culture, economy, and daily life. Nigeria is a culturally rich and diverse country with over 250 ethnic groups, each with a distinct language, culture, and traditions.

Look at this map:

Some of the major tribal groups in Nigeria include; Hausa (29%) predominantly found in the north, Yoruba (21%) mainly in the southwest, Igbo (18%) found in the southeast, Fulani (10%) a nomadic group spread across the country. Others are the Ibibio (4%) in the south, Kanuri (3%) found in the northeast, Edo (2%) mainly in the south, Nupe (2%) found in the central north, Tiv (2%) in the middle belt, and Ijaw (1%) found in the coastal line of Nigeria.

Other notable tribes include the Berom in the Jos plateau, Igala and Idoma, in the middle belt region and Efik, in the south among many others. This diversity has contributed to Nigeria’s rich cultural landscape and heritage.

Nigeria’s tribal diversity has several positive implications such as the cultural wealth associated with over 250 ethnic groups, which boasts a vibrant cultural landscape, showcasing a wide range of languages, customs, and traditions with structured leadership systems that persist.

Tribal diversity fosters strong community bonds, social cohesion, and support networks within and across ethnic groups. Similarly, the diversity of tribes contributes to economic development through entrepreneurship, innovation, and resourcefulness. It encourages competition and creativity in all spheres of life. The federal character principle ensures the representation and inclusion of various ethnic groups in governance and decision-making processes.

Tribal diversity attracts tourists, promoting cultural exchange and enhancing revenue generation. Nigeria’s many languages enrich the country’s linguistic heritage and contribute to global language diversity. Tribal diversity has helped Nigerians adapt to challenges and thrive in a dynamic and harsh environment.

Thus, embracing tribal diversity strengthens Nigerian identity and promotes unity in diversity. Though tribe and tongue may differ in brotherhood Nigerians stand, especially when they meet abroad. The vibrant exchange of Naija salute and discussion has not ceased to amaze the host nations.

Tribal diversity has inspired creativity, driving progress in arts, literature, music, and science. Nigeria’s tribal diversity has served as a model for celebrating and managing diversity worldwide.

By embracing and celebrating its tribal diversity, Nigeria can continue to harness its strengths and promote a more inclusive and vibrant society.
Few Nuggets of Wisdom for Enterpreneurs

May 2nd, 2024
- Have a vision of your life to develop the provision for creating the reality.
- Allow others to call you a hero, otherwise you are boasting.
- Understand that Life goes on even without you, so keep pushing to make good use of time.
- Do not force anyone to be your friend, or to favour you.
- Learn the art of being alone to meditate on issues of life.
- Learn to stay calm in the face of anger and irritation, you will win favour.
- Patient persuasion breaks down the thickest wall.
- To avoid disappointment, do not expect too much from anyone.
- You need to take people for who they are, not what you want them to be.
- Everyone in a relationship will show you who they are, just give them time.
- Mind your own business and you will be at peace.
DEGREES, CERTIFICATES AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP PART 2

December 5th, 2023
In Africa, enormous technological advancements, corruption, mismanagement of natural resources and population growth have consistently limited job prospects. Entrepreneurship and education have emerged as activities that younger Africans demand. While jobs are limited, entrepreneurship has been considered the most significant career option.

There is no doubt that entrepreneurship is significantly contributing to economic growth in most African countries while generating various job perspectives. Hence, intellectuals constantly encourage and motivate young minds to establish a business of their own.

Whether the dream is a big tech start-up or a plan to take over a family-owned venture, becoming a business owner is a goal to which many would-be entrepreneurs aspire. Just as there are hundreds of types of businesses to own, so are many paths to getting there.

While there are stereotypes of entrepreneurs, there is no significant demographic profile required for launching a successful venture. So, anyone can efficiently succeed as an entrepreneur irrespective of gender, caste, creed, or race. However, there is the need to possess certain business traits and skills, and these including:
- Confidence
- Financial literacy
- Networking
- Knowledge of accepting and acting on feedback
- A growing mindset
- Efficient skills of strategic thinking
Build your entrepreneurial competency — a way of thinking about problem-solving that can be applied across every industry and every type of organization

Therefore, degrees and certificates in Entrepreneurship Skills should aim to develop the business owner’s understanding of the concept and underlying required skill set that sets apart a person as an entrepreneur. The business owner must be able to understand in detail the financial, human, and leadership side of an entrepreneur so that the business owner can garner the ideas and adopt the required skills to become a successful entrepreneur.

Many business owners also provide the services sold in their business. For instance, a doctor may own their clinic and similarly, a mechanical engineer may also own an auto repair shop as well. While it is common for business owners to be involved in their businesses, it is not a mandatory requirement for entrepreneurship. For this reason, there are no set educational requirements that an owner must meet. Being financially and legally responsible for a business does not require a degree certificate from any university or be certified by a licensing agency—in most cases. Having the business skills to own a medical clinic or auto repair shop does not mean that the entrepreneur will provide the services personally. That said, countries often require business owners to be licensed to perform work in specific professions, which may include everything from health professions to agriculture and hairdressing.

Entrepreneurs aim to start, develop, finance, manage, and harvest new ventures with high growth potential and to explore the development of innovative thinking and venture appraisal that could, ultimately, lead to a new business venture. They start by developing a business plan, examining how to formulate practical business ideas, selecting a suitable location, selecting a legal form of organization, locating financing sources, assessing the market, developing a human resource management system, and establishing budgets for control. It is indeed right to say that nobody is truly rich until

From the above analysis of the relationship between entrepreneurship and business ventures, the role of degrees and certificates is limited to facts, and knowledge devoid of understanding and application. The use of knowledge and facts is tied to abilities to seize opportunities and take risks with knowledge and facts to serve humanity. Certificates and degrees prepare graduates to look for jobs rather than opening their eyes to life-changing opportunities. People are not poor because they don’t have a job; they are poor because they are not seeing and seizing opportunities. Being poor is simply passing over opportunities Repeatedly! What keeps people ahead in life is not their education or degrees, it is simply the opportunity that they seized. Jobs may be scarce but not opportunities.

As long as there is a problem to be solved, there will always be opportunities. It is a waste of education, exposure, and experiences if after graduating from school, all we are doing is searching for a job. An enlightened and educated mind should be able to see and seize opportunities and develop a business venture that can efficiently become a successful enterprise while tackling future adversities.
THE PLACE OF CERTIFICATES AND DEGREES IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP. PART 1

December 4th, 2023
There are no hard-fast certifications and degree requirements to start a business or to become an entrepreneur. An MBA, bachelor’s, associate’s, or master’s degree enables a strong foundation that benefits a career and helps earning potential rather than promoting entrepreneurship. Academic programs help learn facts, know where to find knowledge, meet people, and develop a network and interpersonal skills that are vital to running a business in future. However, it does not give wisdom and self-actualisation.

While there is no specific ”business owner degree,” many successful entrepreneurs have earned an MBA or a degree in relevant fields such as engineering, science, economics and computer science. Regardless of the degree program, successful entrepreneurs can attest that owning a business involves trial and error alongside on-the-job learning and experience.

An entrepreneur must be willing to make mistakes, take risks and learn to understand what works and what does not. For instance, Thomas Edison failed 999 times before getting the idea of the light bulb, and when asked why, his response was, “I have not failed 999 times, I have only learned 999 ways of how not to make a light bulb”.

Today several graduates and degree holders are not able to start a business because the skills required in the modern world to get started are not taught in schools and institutions. However, there are several avenues to obtain the best education necessary to succeed in a business venture. When an entrepreneur is not certain of the skills requirements as a business owner, the best degree programs to consider are;
- Budget, finance, and accounting
- Marketing and sales
- Project Management
- Networking
- Leadership and delegation
- Communication
- Corporate Law
Entrepreneurs should develop a keen interest in reading as much as they can, about anything and everything that comes across their way.

The future will be governed by automation, Artificial Intelligence; and this implies that jobs will look vastly different in a short time, but the above skills will guide the entrepreneur to do the correct thing at all times. Studies have shown that the most important skills to acquire for entrepreneurship in future are understanding how to find and get knowledge, and learning to be creative and innovative in the application of skills. Consequently, people who are only equipped with skills found in the classroom will be a misfit in an ever-changing world. Skills like critical thinking, creativity, people skills, software engineering, and complex problem-solving skills are central to living a more comprehensive and productive life.

In conclusion, my advice to entrepreneurs, and graduates is to think wide, deep and outside the box. When in school and college it is important to take voluntary jobs and navigate fields that are different from their familiar grounds. Entrepreneurship in future will require a pool of information from many different fields to come up with creative solutions to problems.

Entrepreneurs must not limit themselves to their special field of study, it is important to be versatile, in all aspects of knowledge, and it will pay off in the long run. Doing something pragmatic and practical will help develop resilience, creativity and an innovative approach to problem-solving. Entrepreneurs should always look out to taking a leadership position, start a business and fail to learn entrepreneurship ropes.

Budding entrepreneurs, should think less of becoming an expert in their special subject areas, but think more of becoming an excellent person. Knowing and understanding oneself is the beginning of successful entrepreneurship, and not make the subject your world, but rather make the world their subject. Always try something extra by thinking out solutions to problems.

Entrepreneurs should always invest in something they believe in because real financial security and freedom are not in employment or office jobs but in the passion, gifts, talents, and the ability to see and seize opportunities.
Networking is a Critical Skill for the Young Entrepreneur

January 19th, 2023
All great business ventures had people who were involved remotely and, without whom, the business might not have made it to reality. These remote people are the network of the business venture. Networking is valuable to any entrepreneur and can open doors to critical opportunities, knowledge, ideas and support that can be the difference between a business venture that succeeds and one that fails. Networking involves building and maintaining contacts and relationships with other people. It provides a means to satisfy critical objectives or needs, therefore the network itself is critical.

There are there main types of networks, namely social, professional and artificial networks. Social is the entrepreneur’s personal network of contacts made informally through social or non-business activities. These contacts may be family, friends, former work colleagues, or contacts made through the university. While Professional networks are contacts made through business activities. Artificial networks are set up within business communities and are open to new members, trade associations, and professional institutions. The business community has several local networks, many dedicated to high technology and/or start-up companies.

Here are some examples of general sites where entrepreneurs can network with other people. LinkedIn is a primary social network for professional networking and career development. Entrepreneurs can join organized peer groups such as the Executive Suite, Startup Specialists Network, Social Entrepreneur Empowerment Network, and Digital Marketing.

The personal networks which entrepreneurs accumulate over time both socially and professionally can be an invaluable resource to their business venture. This applies whether the entrepreneur is looking to start and grow their own new venture, whether they are looking for a contract, or working on a project where external ideas and input can be a help. For entrepreneurs, a contact made at a purely social event may ultimately help to provide them with one of the key ingredients for the start of the business venture.

Today, a strong network is one of an entrepreneur’s most valuable business assets. They use business cards and pitches, confidence and curiosity, to find networking opportunities and niches to create a network that opens doors and offers support as the business venture matures.

Some significant ways entrepreneurs maintain their networks include:
- Asking after friends and contacts via email, text message, or phone call
- Periodically meeting for coffee or meals
- Sending holiday greetings through social media.
- Attending events they are hosting and inviting them to yours
- Sending articles or opportunities that might be of interest
- Asking questions
While these may seem simple, they require time and energy and signal that the relationship is important to entrepreneurs. Therefore, a strong network can provide entrepreneurs with practical advice through seasoned entrepreneurs who share guidance based on their successes and mistakes. It can also provide funding and investments through relationships with investors that can provide the capital necessary to grow the business venture.
Best To Be A Small Business With Big Dreams.

January 19th, 2023

There is nothing wrong with starting small in today’s world. Indeed, it is nature’s way of growth and multiplication. Entrepreneurs understand business ventures are driven by ideas, knowledge, understanding and wisdom. In this information age knowledge and ideas abound and the entire world is driven by data, facts, information and artificial intelligence. Seeking knowledge of ideas in today’s world has never been easier.

Knowledge and content abound in all forms and it is therefore easy to introduce a child or youths to early entrepreneurship. Possessing the understanding of the idea and knowledge to become a founder or entrepreneur involves meditation and a change of mindset. The change of mindset is very important as it defines how they see the world. Everything around us is made by humans who want to solve problems and make life easier. Once the understanding that one can change things permeates the mind, then the entrepreneur is born. At this point they will try new ventures, fail and try again and ask for help when needed.

This is the point where the entrepreneur must watch what is fed to the mind and how the mind processes the information. It is the step that determines the rate at which the entrepreneur turns the idea into reality. In addition, this step depends on individual growth, feeling, reasoning and conviction. Usually, this aspect of business venture inoculation is not taught in the classroom but is learned at home or inherited by the entrepreneur.

That being said, there is a big difference between entrepreneurs who bootstrap their companies and founders who immediately raise money. The former go through starting small and learning the rope through, faith, hope, love for humanity, diligence, endurance, patience and wisdom. It could be a tedious process but compared to previous generations, bootstrap entrepreneurs have much better access to tools, customers and capital once the initial issues of nurturing ideas have been settled.

Bootstrapped founders might grow slower, but in the end, they steadily reach the ultimate freedom to dream big and build a business that serves humanity. Such business ventures last for years as they have been tried in the crucible of entrepreneurship. And that is the beauty of starting small entrepreneurship.
You Do Not Need Money To Start A Business.

January 18th, 2023

An entrepreneur starts a business venture hoping to make it a money-making machine, but it has to be nurtured from vision to maturity and dominion of the niche. Entrepreneurs are like farmers who converts barren land or forest to productive land. The farmer must be sure that the land is fertile and suitable for the proposed crop or seed. With business ventures, the entrepreneur is the farmer; the land is the business venture and market, and the seed is the business idea.

The road to manifesting a business idea starts with a mission, strategy, execution and vision, leading to intended desire involves knowledge, belief and conviction. This concept is a deceptively simple but powerful way of thinking about the challenges a nascent business venture brings before the entrepreneur. The understanding of this concept is incredibly important because these are some of the most critical things business owners and entrepreneurs must determine before they begin to infuse money into the business. An idea or a dream that comes up in the entrepreneur’s head is not the business but a vision. It is simply a seed looking for fertile ground. Incidentally, it is an idea of the times whose season has come and when understood can be applied to the fertile ground to become a business venture that must be nurtured with all necessary ingredients.

My 37 years of business have shown me that to start a business venture the entrepreneur must see the dream in three dimensions. A vision is a mental picture generated in the subconscious mind, representing the ability to think and plan the future with imagination, knowledge and wisdom. It can also be a set of dreams of long- and short-term goals. The mind game starts with the answer to a simple question. Why should this business exist?

The answer leads to the mission of the business venture, which will generate the platform from which strategy flows, and defines what needs to be done for the business to exist. If that criterion is not met, we can keep on talking about vision, mission, values and purpose till the opportunity pass away. On the other hand, an ignorant entrepreneur may decide to spend all the money on earth and the business will never start because the foundation is on the sand. When the entrepreneur puts the vision before the mission it implies that they have the idea which serves as a director. This idea might have lofty ideals with no connection to reality or execution. However, when it clashes subsequently with the main reason for the business venture, the entrepreneur can change the vision to where it is headed, or stubbornly pursue the original vision. The steps we take to ensure business continuity while adapting, sustaining and thriving in the environment are how entrepreneurs shape up business ventures and shape the vision into reality.

As the business venture develops, culture develops and a broad outline of where the business is headed starts taking shape. We can take corrective steps to ensure that we are headed in the right direction, mission, strategy, execution, and culture. This is the point where capital and money play crucial roles.

Manifesting desires in business is a process. It requires patience and the ability to align thinking, thoughts, communication, and action to what can be controlled consistently. How entrepreneur thinks determines how they will be and become from their desire. What entrepreneur becomes is determined by how they do things differently to achieve better and more sustainable results.

Entrepreneurs dream ideas to reality and live so that others benefit from their life. Their vision, mission and strategy, light up their gifts and their talent. They use that gift to build businesses that provide solutions to solve man’s problems on earth. They are delighted to share these gifts otherwise it would be an injustice to humanity.
Entrepreneurs Must Accept Failures and Be Resilient

January 11th, 2023

Resilience is the first-time entrepreneur’s worst nightmare. At the start of a business venture, there is always the need to correct things and develop the ability to withstand failures and disappointments and bounce back. Resilience is also the quality of being able to adapt to stressful life changes in business processes, withstanding the tragedy of financial loss, the crisis of management, or other life-altering changes that allow the enterprise to move on despite the failures.

Showing resilience in a business venture does not mean that the entrepreneur is unaffected or uncaring about the failure of the enterprise, but it depicts the mind’s ability to suffer and grow from it. Similarly, resilience does not mean that the enterprise will not experience financial stress, emotional upheaval among workers, and shortcomings in the achievement of set goals, but it implies that the entrepreneur can peacefully work through the emotional pain and suffering that business failure presents. Resilience comes from the lessons and skills the entrepreneurs absorb as the business grows up to maturity.

Entrepreneurs that who make mistakes must learn to either pick themselves up and start again, and apply what they learned from those mistakes, or roll over and give up. Learning how to bounce back from failure is a vital skill for survival of a business venture. Entrepreneurs should learn to develop a thicker skin as they accept mistakes and failures as growth tools and normal life processes. Knowing how to overcome the obstacles blocking them from their goals enables them to learn to rely on their inner strengths and skills to get them through challenging situations.

Early in Nigeria, the cultural and creative industries were not doing well, but recently it has generated considerable economic wealth for the nation because of the resilience of the practitioner, actors, comedians and musicians. Young entrepreneurs in this sector ranked first among those who want to start a new business in Nigeria, but there is a higher rate of established and mature companies adults. This scenario means that nascent entrepreneurs face higher barriers in different because they need more access to information, knowledge, training, or peer-to-peer support networks. Success stories of young entrepreneurs in the creative sector have raised awareness among policymakers to empower youth-led initiatives that produced the support needed to build COVID-19 resilience. Resilience is an invaluable skill throughout the stages of business growth to maturity. Learning resilience will enable entrepreneurs to be undeterred from their visions and mission, regardless of the opposition.

In conclusion, becoming more resilient takes time and practice. It involves learning the skills of strong inner conviction, patience, endurance, hope, courage and charity. Mastery of soft skills helps the entrepreneur develop inner peace that sustains the stability of the business and the mental health of the entrepreneur. Choosing to trust in the business conviction, faith, hope and love for quality delivery, rather than rely on what they feel is the best way to stay resilient.
How To Stir Up The Lost Entrepreneurial Skills.

January 11th, 2023

A belief is the acceptance of an idea and philosophy as true irrespective of their validity. As entrepreneurs, ideas and knowledge impressed on the mind over the developmental stages of life influence our beliefs and convictions. The eye of the entrepreneur’s mind creates our vision, purpose, or our ability to resolve a problem. However, that does not mean that our beliefs are the universal truth and make sense to everyone else. Usually, the visions and missions of the entrepreneur are foolish to the non-transformed mind.

The entrepreneur with a transformed mind starts the visualisation process by isolating a problem that affects society. The isolation of a problem is based on empathy and conviction in the belief system operating in them. Entrepreneurs gathered information from books, internet sources, feasibility studies, mentors or maybe inspired by a personal experience. The ATM was invented because people could not withdraw money after banking hours.

Through the process of meditation on the problem and the understanding formed from the knowledge gained, a vision of the solution to the problem formed in the entrepreneur’s mind. This vision is sustained by the belief system imprinted in the subconscious mind of the entrepreneur to generate hope and enthusiasm to pursue the possibilities it represents.

Sometimes, our own beliefs could be merely liking what we are doing, but having an extreme passion, and blindly following our beliefs is the conviction needed to be successful in a business venture. The more deeply we are attached to our belief system the more hope we have and the more drive we develop for the resilience, endurance and patience required for the growth and dominion of our primary gift.

When a person’s mind is poorly programmed for entrepreneurship, it still does not rule out the possibility that they can still be reprogrammed with the soft skill needed for a successful life in a business venture. The necessary reprogramming requires a transformation which will end the previous sources of information and inputs the subconscious mind with the information to transform the mindset to the entrepreneurial level. This is the basis of entrepreneurial education. Just like the computer, to change the operating system, the old software must be wiped off and a new one installed.

Therefore, for the transformation of the subconscious mind and the change of belief system for entrepreneurship to be stirred up and sustained, keeping good company with experienced entrepreneurs will illuminate the path to recovery and make it easy. Rubbing minds with great thinkers will sharpen the acquired skills for entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship, A Trait or Created

January 11th, 2023

It is a known fact that every person living on earth today is a winner. We are the sperm that won the battle of fertilisation of our mother’s egg, either in the womb or test tube. Also, we all agree that our DNA is unique and imbued with a primary trait that will sustain us on earth. The ability of the primary gift to sustain us depends on the environment we find ourselves in at birth and the total influence of our environment on our mind and belief system. Our destiny is determined by the human mind. The quality of knowledge, facts and ideas fed repeatedly by the environment into the conscious mind is downloaded to the subconscious mind to operate our destiny.

Therefore, everyone is born with the opportunity to develop their primary gifts which will make them entrepreneurs, but this is to the levels they are shaped by the quality of knowledge, understanding and the environmental stimuli received into our subconscious mind. When those qualities that enhance entrepreneurship are absorbed into the mind repeatedly throughout growth, the trait of entrepreneurship is stimulated through conviction and a belief system into action. So the child sees opportunities for self-actualisation through business ventures and problem-solving.

No two children born of the same parents and nurtured in the same environment are fed the same software. They are born at different periods, grow up at different rates, and grow up in different locations in the same environment, but receive different signals from their parents that make up their belief system. They grow up with different convictions and different views of the world. That is why the primary gifts which may have become latent due to lack of use have to be stirred up through reprogramming of information sources, discipline, and other life tools and learning soft skills through experiences of environmental factors. The reprogramming creates and awakens the lost entrepreneur traits, but most often it is too late.