The
Nigerian economy is a leading economic hub not only in the West African
Sub-region but also in the entire African continent as a promising
destination for investment opportunities for individuals, corporate
organizations, blue chip companies and other multinationals that
continuously see the Nigerian economy as an investment haven. While the
activities of most of these companies have aided job creation for a
section of the teeming youths, it is glaring that concerted efforts are
required by all stakeholders to stem the tide of unemployment in
Nigeria.
Nigerians are
very enterprising and hard working people who can turn any opportunity
into a money making venture. Nigerian youths are equally very hard
working and can easily convert any given opportunity to make money for
themselves and better their lives even when it is obvious that the
government has done little or nothing to harness the potentials of these
teeming youths and develop them for the good of the nation. If
Nigerians can be so enterprising to turn any opportunity to a money
making venture, then imagine what they would do if the government
provides the enabling
and conducive environment for
them to thrive. Imagine what they would do if the government makes it a
point of duty to provide massive job opportunities for the people of
Nigeria without paying mere lip service to the issue of creating jobs.
One
of the easiest and surest ways to combat poverty in any economy is
through job creation. When people have jobs, the effect is that they
would be able to fend for themselves and their families and ultimately
improve their standard of living as well as become useful for the
development of their immediate communities. The essence of job creation
can never be over emphasized in the quest for economic development of
any modern nation and for Nigeria as a nation which hopes to be among
the top developed economies in the world, this dream is realizable if
job creation is duly given adequate priority by all stakeholders to
ensure that massive job opportunities are created to engage the vibrant
youths who are willing to work and also possess ideas that can make the
desired changes in many organizations if given the opportunity.
Nigeria
can be described as a nation with a mass of unutilized manpower that
keeps wasting away in various parts of the nation without being tapped
for the benefit of the nation. Hundreds of thousands of graduates are
churned out yearly from various tertiary institutions in Nigeria many of
whom remain jobless for several years after graduation. But it is an
undeniable fact that the future of the nation lies in the youths because
they hold the potentials for a lasting change and sustainable
development that can move Nigeria forward. With a massive population
unrivalled in the entire African continent, Nigeria has a potential of
becoming a world economic power in the nearest future if its resources
are efficiently harnessed to full potentials and most importantly if its
human capital base is developed to full capacity.
Entrepreneurship
is a veritable source of employment and wealth creation for Nigerians
who desire to create wealth for themselves by starting a business of
their own and nurturing it to maturity. A business empire can be created
by starting small and working hard enough to maintain the business and
making it grow through various stages. Many big companies in Nigeria
today started small many years ago and their founders were committed in
their pursuit and persevered until the businesses grew into world class
brands.
Despite the
challenges, Nigeria is a beautiful place to do business that any
entrepreneurial minded person can succeed in business if they are
willing to start something no matter how difficult it may seem at first.
The most difficult aspect is in starting the business. As soon as you
start, however turbulent it may be, you will begin to learn the ropes as
you continue to nurture your business and sooner or later, the business
will begin to make headway a long as you persevere.
To
grow the Nigerian economy to a level that it would begin to compete
with world class economies such as that of the US, Britain, China, Japan
and other economically developed nations, entrepreneurship and job
creation must be given top priority by all stakeholders. While the
government holds the ace in this regard as it is expected to
continuously formulate policies that will create a favourable atmosphere
for businesses to thrive, it is pertinent to state that the Nigerian
youths who form the bulk of the active population should be reorientated
from the mentality of job hunting to job creation. If every Nigerian
graduate can create at least one job opportunity for himself and is able
to make a living out of this, then the problem of unemployment will be
drastically reduced to the barest minimum and this will greatly reduce
dependence on government to create jobs as well as reduce insecurity,
armed banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes in the country.
For
Nigerians to create jobs for themselves as well as for others, there
has to be that entrepreneurial spirit in them that will propel every
person to think about what he or she can do for the nation and not what
the nation can do for them. It is possible for Nigeria to get to that
level where every citizen will have that entrepreneurially creative
spirit to create jobs and make wealth for themselves for the betterment
of the nation. But to do this, there must be an enabling policy to drive
that consciousness into the people from cradle. What this means is that
it is not enough to have entrepreneurship introduced as a course in the
tertiary institutions in Nigeria, it must also a matter of necessity be
introduced to pupils right from the primary schools so that students
can learn how to be enterprising right from childhood. By so doing, we
would inevitably instill entrepreneurship skills into our future
generation by catching them young and directing their mentality towards a
worthy cause that would eventually create wealth for the nation and
propel Nigeria into economic and political greatness in the comity of
nations.
For many who
have tried to start or run their own businesses but ended up not
realizing this dream, it can be so frustrating. But as I said earlier,
Nigeria is such a beautiful place to do business that you will always
succeed if you don’t give up and if you are willing to keep trying.
Nobody sets up a business to fail but sometimes what makes some
businesses fail in Nigeria is because they cannot access the finance
required to run or expand their business operations. Many enterprising
Nigerians have excellent business ideas and plans but cannot actualize
their dreams of setting up businesses of their choice and creating job
opportunities for themselves as well as for others just because they
have no access to funding to start these promising businesses that would
have grown to become world class brands in the nearest future. Banks in
Nigeria are reluctant or unwilling to give loans to start-ups and where
they do, the resultant high interest rates and the issue of collateral
are discouraging for would-be entrepreneurs. The Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN) should formulate a policy where Banks are required to give
interest-free loans without cut-throat requirements to viable business
ventures and ideas including start-ups to encourage the establishment of
small and medium scale enterprises which constitute the engine of the
economy.
Aside the
challenge posed by lack of finance, Nigeria is still grappling with
inadequate infrastructure which hampers business ventures and
entrepreneurial development. Many towns and cities experience erratic
power supply and this hampers business growth. Power must be improved to
encourage people to venture into business ventures and create jobs. In
the same vein, several parts of the nation have poor road network which
slows business down leading to heavy loss of man hours which would have
been converted to wealth. The government has a duty to rehabilitate
interconnecting road networks and also to link up more communities by
constructing more roads to fast track business activities.
To
stem the tide of perennial unemployment in the nation, various
governments have at various times set up entrepreneurship and
empowerment programs for the youths in several parts of the country and
it is said that many youths have benefitted from these programs but due
to the problem of corruption and impunity, many of these gestures have
not really benefited the people they are meant for. Also, the Nigerian
population is growing at a geometric rate and these efforts by
governments appear insignificant in the quest to reduce youth
unemployment and restiveness to the barest minimum. To tackle
unemployment and create lasting job opportunities for the youths, there
is the need for a policy shift by government towards massive employment
generation as well as the reorientation of the average Nigerian on the
need to imbibe entrepreneurship spirit in order to create jobs and
diversify the economy.
China
is now a technological world giant and a conduit through which finished
goods are manufactured and exported to various countries of the world.
But China did not just achieve this feat overnight. It took several
years of planning by the government, massive funding and investments and
their continuous encouragement of business enterprises and
entrepreneurship by their citizens. Nigeria can do same if the
government can continuously create that enabling environment for
businesses and entrepreneurship in the country. Nigeria has great
untapped potentials and we have the potential to be like China and even
better than them if only we have the right governments who would make
drastic changes to the nation and make the right sacrifices that will
benefit the nation.
Entrepreneurship
is undeniably a potential source of wealth for both individuals and the
nation and if properly harnessed, it has the capacity to engage the
youths and provide employment for a vast majority of the populace
thereby reducing crime, insecurity and youth restiveness. If we can
develop and nurture our entrepreneurial skills, with the the enabling
environment and the right support from the government, we will sooner or
later create lasting wealth not only for ourselves but also for the
future generation. Nigeria will succeed.
