A lawmaker, representing Ede/Egbedore/Ejigbo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon Bamidele Salam over the weekend said small and medium scale enterprises are critical to the economic growth of the nation.
He said there was a need for the youth to embrace entrepreneurial skills and nurture business ideas that can guarantee them financial independence instead of seeking white-collar jobs that are not available in Nigeria.
Salam made these disclosures in Ede on Friday during a business boot camp he organised for the youth in his constituency.
According to him, “Nigeria with its present population of over 150 million can only thrive economically if proper attention and priority are given to small and medium scale enterprises. Young entrepreneurs through their businesses would be an employer of labour.”
Salam explained that the business boot camp was packaged to shift the attention of youths from seeking employment in the public and private sector to become successful entrepreneurs in society.
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He stated “we are trying to impart knowledge. Knowledge is the foundation of success in business. We are going to enlighten them on how to run a business successfully. The event is in batches for those who are business inclined. We opened an online portal for them where our 1,500 registered. Online test was conducted and we selected 720 people that are divided into three batches.”
“After the camp, they will be handed over to a consulting firm for mentorship. We are partnering with the Bank of Industry. The best 120 participants will be given a grant of N10 million each over a period of two years”, Salam asserted.
In his remark, one of resource persons, Hon Akin Alabi, representing Ona Ara/Egbeda Constituency in the House of Representatives, who is also the founder of Naira Bet described Nigeria as one of the easiest countries to do business in the world, saying “we are in a country where anyone can wake up and start a business without regularisation and payment of tax at the formative stage of a business.”
He said, “Nigeria is one of the easiest places to do business. You can just wake up and practically set up any business of your choice. Here, we have people who start their businesses in the front of their parent’s house without the government disturbing them and maybe when you have grown you can then be approached to come for regularisation and payment of tax.”
“This, you can hardly do anywhere in the world not even in America you’re probably going to be jailed if you try this. In that respect, it is so easy for anyone in Nigeria to start a business”, Alabi stated.