Utomi Centre trains 100 young entrepreneurs, renews focus on youth devt

Founder, Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL), Prof. Pat Utomi has attributed the high unemployment rate in the country to the failure to cultivate the right values that can bring out the best in nation’s youths.

Utomi made the remark recently at the CVL Young Entrepreneurship Training Programme (YEPT) graduation and presentation of start-up and grant to 100 trained graduands, held in Lagos.

Speaking at the event, Utomi observed that Nigeria has been gifted with many resources, most importantly people, noting that rather than view the country’s large population as a burden, the nation’s large number of people can actually be transformed to a source of great strength and strong economic resurgence.

He cited China that has learnt to utilize and harness its great population to emerge as a world economic leader as evidence of possibility that abound when a nation invest in its people.

He argued that the youth need to embrace entrepreneurship as the only way out of the country’s biting unemployment.

He, however, agreed that for them to succeed in this direction, business trainings are essential.

On his choice of Ajegunle, a Lagos’s community as the first beneficiary of the centre pilot project, Utomi said that there is vibrancy in the community that he believed on a larger level, can force a positive change in Nigerian’s society.

“ My ties to Ajegunle goes back to 1968 when my father drove through there with me, on the way to visit with a relation who was a warder at the Kirikiri Prison.”

“ When CVL began to explore setting up an initiative for forming entrepreneurs, Ajegunle was a natural catchment area,” he said.

He opined that values and leaderships could transport people from places of disadvantage to locations of top play and sustained superior performance.

According to the organizers, YETP is a one-year project funded by CITI Foundation.It is an intensive entrepreneurship programme for community youth in Ajegunle between the ages of 18-35 years to provide them with business support, technical, business information, start-ups and access to financial links.

The Professor further explained that the graduands are to be retained in an alumni group for continue monitoring and encouragement. He said through the alumni association, they would be able to provide clusters in communities to widen the training experience of trainees and periodically add values in emerging trends, technology and information.

The 100 trainees were given #100,000 each as start-ups and grants.

He congratulated the trainees and admonished them to distinguish themselves in their various field.

Speaking to The Guardian, a graduand, Mr Julius Lemeh was full of praise for Utomi and CVL for the initiative and expressed his appreciation for the training. He rated the programme high and revealed that some of his friends have signed up for the next edition of the programme.