The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has urged youths to embrace entrepreneurship as a way of creating wealth for themselves and the country.
A statement issued by the Team Lead, First class Edge Hub, Oyindamola Afolabi, quoted Iyabo Ojogbede, SMEDAN State Manager, Oyo State, as saying this during an academic and entrepreneurship summit, held at the University of Ibadan on Thursday.
Ojogbede, who was represented by an official of the agency, Mrs Julianah Fashola, urged the youth to engage in at least one entrepreneurial skill.
The summit tagged Creavation 1.0, had the theme “Unlocking Creativity for Global Dominance”, and organised by Firstclass Edge Hub, founded by Mr Israel Alabi.
According to Ojogbede, having a small or medium business will go a long way at eradicating poverty in the country.
The Coordinator, Nigerian Export and Promotions Council (NEPC), Oyo State, Mrs Bolanle Emmanuel, also discussed different means through which youths could position themselves for exports.
Earlier, the convener, Alabi, encouraged participants at the summit to adopt a learning mindset and prepare their writing materials because the facilitators were prepared to teach, train and transform.
“The decision to catalyse a global mind-set in youths is very critical in times like these when their competitors are not from their village or city, but countries like the U.S. and China,” he said.
Guest speakers at the summit were Amb. Merlyn Tamunoemi, Founder of iBoost Personality International; as well as Mr Temitope Ilesanmi, Head of Operations and Recruitment at Profound Impact Consults.
Others are Miss Stella Adebayo, Founder, Bizgrant Global and Miss Elizabeth Samuel, an award-winning book editor.
No fewer than 300 youths were present at the summit.
