Funmi Ogundare
The Governing Council of Flannel Business School Chairman, Dr. Gbenga Olowo, has called for revamping the country’s reading culture, saying that it will help bridge the knowledge gap and boost the economy.
Olowo said this recently while briefing journalists on the school’s book roundtable discussion and 2022 awards which it plans to hold on August 16.
He expressed concern about the poor reading culture, saying there is a knowledge gap between what the employers want and what the employees know and can give value.
He explained that business leaders and investors pay little or no attention to mediocrity, attitude and unprofessional conduct of staff in the workplace, saying it is why businesses fail because they lack fresh knowledge, effective leadership and productive human capacity at every level of their management.
He said, “Flourishing industry suffers not because it lacks capital but because it lacks quality men to manage both material and human resources therein.”
Olowo added, “The consequence of this is a dearth of such enterprise, loss of job and eventual conversion of the factory facilities to worship centres and storehouses. There are many such facilities across the country being used now as religious centres.”
The business school, Olowo noted, was dedicated to enhancing the required skills needed by students and associates.
“In a progressively changing business world, our conviction is getting business models reinvented as a tool for transformation and growth,” he stressed. “We seek to develop creative individuals who can interpret their institutions, execute new ideas, develop new products and have good grasp of processes as well as ways of doing business.”
Emphasising the programme, the Director General of the school, Mr. Lawrence Omidiora, said thought leaders would be converging on the Airport Hotel, Ikeja, for progressive discussions on the book as an agent of change, align leaders associated with books to develop solutions to problems, introduce new strategies and fuel collaborations even beyond in all matters related to books and the business of books.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is expected as chairman of the event, while Prof. Pat Utomi of the Lagos Business School will be the guest speaker. The Director-General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), Dr. John Asein, will also be among the panel of discussants. The Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, is the royal father of the day. The Osile Oke-Ona Egba, Oba Adedapo Adewale Tejuosho, Oranmiyan, is among those to receive an award for his compendium, ‘My 30 Years on the Throne of my Forefathers’.
