•Seplat Energy empowers 55 youths with skills, seed funding
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
A former Treasurer and Vice President of the World Bank, Arunma Oteh, yesterday lamented Nigeria’s rising debt burden, likening it to a man with a full family who spends all his income on paying debts without consideration for feeding, healthcare and the education of his children.
Speaking at the celebration of Seplat Youth Entrepreneurs organised by the oil company in collaboration with Conversations for Change (C4C), the former Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), argued that Nigerian leaders have not done much to ameliorate the hardship in the country.
She spoke on the topic: “Unleashing Nigeria’s Untapped Potential Through Entrepreneurship and Sustainability” at the event which took place in Abuja.
Through the partnership, Seplat has successfully trained and supported three batches of fellows, including over 55 young entrepreneurs who it said are thriving despite the odds stacked against businesses in the country.
“Every nation is facing challenges… But there’s no excuse for our nation to be where it is today. And where it is, breaks my heart. I want to just share a few things about where we are.
“Give or take, we are spending all of our revenues on debt servicing. At a forum on Thursday, I said to the participants that can you imagine a household where you haven’t paid for your children’s education and transport, and there’s a health problem, you can’t pay.
“You are just taking all that money and using it for debt servicing. There’s no household that can survive like that. On top of that, we have an inflation rate of 20 per cent,” she lamented.
While clearly stating that she was not calling for a public protest, Oteh, now an academic at the University of Oxford and Chair of the Royal African Society (RAS), in bemoaning the country’s inflation rate, explained that when the UK’s rate hit 11 per cent, citizens took immediate action.
“We have not invested in infrastructure. We have not invested in education and no country can survive a future without those kinds of investments. Our United Nations Human Development Index was ranked 164 out of 191 countries. So we’re basically enjoying ‘carrying last’ with a lot of failed states…we’re very close to it.
“And some of the countries that enjoy the same status with our country are countries like Afghanistan, Yemen, and other countries that I consider failed states. 133 million Nigerians are in multi-dimensional poverty,” she stressed.
Oteh further cited the recent management of the general election in the country, stating that whereas over N300 billion was allocated to improve the process, the outcome was underwhelming.
The economist said the next government would be in for serious work, stating that compared to the skills required to deal with the current challenges, the recent Covid-19 pandemic pales into insignificance.
“And so, in my view, the new leadership has a lot of hard work. I think the Covid-19 crisis pales into insignificance compared to the work the leadership of this country has today.
“And I hope that they will focus at all levels on creating an enabling environment for each one of you (entrepreneurs) and others to thrive. Nigerians don’t want handouts.
“They just want you to create an enabling environment. And if you can’t create a living environment, they want you to just step aside so that we can progress,” she opined.
She posited that Nigeria’s leaders have not done a good job of developing the country, arguing that they have done a bad job in reality.
“And our leadership and government has not done a good job. But I think everybody recognises that and I hope that they will focus on doing a good job,” she declared.
On the essence of the programme, Oteh lauded Seplat and C4C, noting however that the government can’t do it alone and that small and medium scale enterprises remain the backbone of any economy.
She explained that 70 per cent of the global income and employment is posted by SMEs, and encouraged the entrepreneurs to, “chin up, put your shoulders high, because this country will depend on each one of you to come out of a challenge that we face today.”
In her remarks, Seplat’s Director, External Affairs and Sustainability, Dr. Chioma Nwachuku, said the programme was aimed at developing participants’ leadership skills, social entrepreneurship and business management abilities, through generalised and targeted capacity building workshops.
The graduates’ ability to put into action their ideas, she said, was also supported through equipment funding, as well as mentoring.
Quoting the International Labour Organisation (ILO), she stressed that the global unemployment level is expected to rise in 2023 by around 3 million, to 208 million, corresponding to a global unemployment rate of 5.8 per cent. In Nigeria, she explained that youth unemployment remains a major concern.
“According to the 2022 Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, the nation’s unemployment rate rose to 33.3 per cent, compared to 27.1 per cent in Q2 2020. This implied a staggering 23.18 million persons of Nigeria’s labour force being out of job. It further indicated an increase in the country’s unemployment portfolio, mostly among young and able youths.
“That is why, at Seplat Energy, we are proud to play a pivotal role in changing the narrative for young people in Nigeria.
“Since 2019, Conversations For Change and Seplat Energy Plc have worked together to ensure that we improve the lives of young Nigerians by supporting them to start and sustain their business enterprises.
“Through this partnership, we have successfully trained and supported three batches of fellows; about 55 young entrepreneurs who are thriving, despite the odds stacked against businesses in the country,” she added.
President and Founder, C4C, Dr Kechi Ogbuagu, in her comments explained that the organisation and its partners were in the habit of giving without expecting anything back in return apart from the expectation that beneficiaries will empower others.
Others who spoke during the programme were a non-Executive Director at Seplat, Mr Bello Rabiu and a member of the board of C4C, Carol Ndaguba.
