Michael Olugbode in Abuja
African Economic Merit Awards (AEMA) has launched its Economic Varsity Tour of Nigerian universities to inspire entrepreneurship skills in undergraduates across the country.
The President and Founder of AEMA, Mr McEva Temofe unveiled the Economic Varsity Tour at the Baze University Abuja during the week.
Temofe said AEMA “is an organisation driven by young professionals to promote innovative ideas for entrepreneurial, economic and social development.”
He added that the tour was designed “to inspire students pursuing their careers in areas of entrepreneurship and to raise their consciousness on the need to get interested in the 2023 elections.”
He said the theme of the tour: ‘Revamping the Nigerian Economic System for a Secure Future’ was carefully chosen to encourage and stimulate business prowess among youths.
Temofe said the tour would inspire undergraduates to key into entrepreneurship rather than wait for white-collar jobs after graduation.
Temofe disclosed that the organisation planned to visit all universities to raise their consciousness on the need to pursue careers in areas of entrepreneurship to boost Nigeria’s economy and promote good governance.
He said: “Today, we launched AEMA Inspire University Tour as we will be going to different universities to inspire young Nigerians to pursue more of their career in entrepreneurship.
“We are bringing together people from the agro industry, the tech industry and other industries. They will use their voice to inspire these young people to be huge contributors to the Nigerian economy and Africa as a whole.
“We believe the young generation we have today has to be part of the movement for a better economy. We must also create huge awareness for them to participate in politics and governance for us to have good government in Africa and in Nigeria.
“For you to participate in politics, you need good education to go into the labour market and to contribute to the economy so that we can have a better and secure society.”
Temofe said AEMA was poised to advocate for youth inclusion in the country’s economy through its series of developmental programmes.
He explained that the African Economic Merit Awards aims to boost economic growth in African communities by uniting the successful business entrepreneurs with the latent talents.
The organisation, he said, works towards giving hope to Africans who have given up the creative ideas and business skills to power ideas of craftsmanship into a successful future.
In return, the AEMA awards successful African Entrepreneurs and non-profit organisations for their contribution to the development of communities through humanitarian and empowerment initiatives.
Stakeholders at the event commended the initiative of the AEMA, noting that the tour of universities would attract and encourage young entrepreneurs to focus on education, agriculture, technology and health to meet the needs of Nigeria’s teeming population and those in the grassroots.
One of the guests, Mr Omoyele Sowore, a human rights activist and a pro-democracy campaigner, while applauding the AEMA’s initiative, urged well-meaning Nigerians and government at all levels to support such programmes.
Sowore said it was necessary for the country to engage young entrepreneurs for high level production to grow the economy.
He, therefore, charged youths to engage and focus on AEMA’s programmes to transform the country and make it conducive for businesses to thrive.
