By Emmanuel Uffot
A business oriented non-governmental organisation, Eket Business Group which is an organisation set up to provide a platform for entrepreneurs, business owners and potential entrepreneurs to interact and share ideas will hold her maiden business summit on Saturday, August 13, 2022.
According to a release jointly signed by the Group’s Chairman, Elder (Hon) Aniedi Abasi Ikoiwak and the Head of Planning and Strategy Dr Princewill Ekanim, the summit which has as its theme ‘WHAT IS BUSINESS’ will bring together the cream of entrepreneurs, small and big business owners and related stakeholders in Eket and its environs and expose them to the Principles of Business Sustainability.
The release further states that the summit will have seasoned technocrats, bankers and private sector gurus in attendance to share their wealth of experience in business with the participants.
The conveners explained that which will take place at the Conference Hall of Amimeks International School, Eket by 10am will have two sessions; the executive and business sessions. The Executive Session will highlight the birth of Eket Business Group and what it stands for while the Business Session which will be chaired by Dr. John J. Udofa, a renowned banker, educationist and private sector guru will make a presentation on ‘What is Business’ and two other presentations from the retired Auditor General of Akwa Ibom State Isaiah Ntekim and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment Dr. Nsudoh Nsudoh.
The Group has extended invitation to all business owners and potential business entrepreneurs to avail themselves of this window of opportunity to learn the principles of Business Sustainability.
The business summit will be coming on the heels of a position paper on entrepreneurial revolution in Akwa Ibom State by Governor Udom Emmanuel administration from Meflyn Anwana, Special Adviser to the Governor on Entrepreneurial Development. In the paper titled ‘Highlighting the Akwa Ibom Entrepreneurship Revolution, Anwana harped on how Governor Emmanuel has through his visionary leadership impacted positively on the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) having realized the major roles they play in developing economies.
The SA recalled that this entrepreneurial revolution by the administration of Governor Emmanuel began with the Dakkada philosophy campaign which is an ideological/mental re-engineering effort aimed at instigating a paradigm shift and repositioning the people to take to entrepreneurship and creativity.
The Governor’s aide noted that the campaign sunk well into the minds of the people of the state given how it penetrated the nooks and crannies of the state and all facets of life.
According to the aide, the Dakkada philosophy would not have come at a much better time than the post 2015 economic downturn in the country which necessitated ‘the gospel of waking up from our slumber to embrace hardwork and diligence and before long the gains started showing forth’.
Anwana reiterated the fact that available data from researches conducted between 2016 till date show a surge in Entrepreneurial endeavours in the state. “Everywhere one turns, there is a start-up or some MSME effort being pioneered”. However, inspite of the growing number of entrepreneurial endeavours which in her reckoning have increased in recent years particularly through the efforts of Governor Emmanuel’s administration, they have not come without challenges. Anwana enumerated these challenges to include, problem associated with most MSME owners being first time business men and women who are in the teething period of their entrepreneurship. Since they are new in business environment, they need mentoring, networking, access to markets among other needs. These are the challenges she posited business owners encounter in their strive to sustain, stabilize and grow their business.
In order to address these challenges, the Governor’s Special Adviser highlighted some of the policies the governor took in that direction. “The Udom Emmanuel administration in its usual responsive nature has not left this problem unattended. On assumption of office for a second term, Human Capital Development became a focal policy giving rise to investment in enterprise Development impacting entrepreneurs in their large numbers across various sectors. A move that was made in order to create a rallying point for entrepreneurs in the state to get the much needed entrepreneurship education, mentoring, guidance, networking and market linkages”. She also noted that the positive fallout of this gesture by the administration has manifested in development partners like the Federal Government owned Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) regularly engaged engaged and partnered in a bid to drive home the message of entrepreneurship education across a broad spectrum of industries and sectors.
Awana recalled that SMEDAN in furtherance of the partnership with the state government to boost entrepreneurship in the state, recently instituted the training of both primary and secondary schools teachers on entrepreneurship development education in Akwa Ibom State. Anwana see this as a commendable initiative which is in line with the National Schools Entrepreneurship Programme (N-SEP) aimed at enabling teachers transmit knowledge of entrepreneurship to students at these levels of education.
With these, the SA to the Governor on Entrepreneurial Development stressed that it is significant to conclude that Governor Udom Emmanuel’s legacy of entrepreneurship revolution in the state has come to stay with the agenda of projecting entrepreneurs in the state not only nationally but globally. “Akwa Ibom Entrepreneurs have been prepared and equipped. The aim is not to play in the local space, but to position Akwa Ibom entrepreneurs to pioneer innovations and scale globally.
