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Buhari’s Amazing N75 Billion Vision for the Youth, And One Way To Execute It

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2018 Nigeria Budget

Hello young people, it is still a great time to be young. President Buhari unveils a N75 billion Youth Bank for Nigerian young people (forget the extra bureaucracy, we must celebrate this call). Mr. President, this is commendable – and we want more. Let’s manage it well and lift our young people to fire on all cylinders. 

Yes, I am really happy for this move by President Buhari and his team: “For the first time in the history of Nigeria, the federal executive council today approved the establishment of the Nigerian Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) to the tune of N75 billion. This fund is meant to create a special window for accessing credit facilities and financing on the part of our youths that will help to fund their ideas, innovations and also support their enterprise”.

Though I am not a fan of multiple bureaucracies with endless mutating agencies and parastatals, no one should complain when the government does something good. My only desire is that NYIF does not become another YouWin or run as Bank of Industry with its challenging lending requirements. 

President has put forward a vision, it is now for the young people to rise.  It is the season of banking with the new Infrastructure Development Company just a few days ago; I was not a fan of that one. They have baptized this young fund as a Youth Bank.

“The federal ministry of finance, budget and national planning will take the lead when it comes to the aspect of financing, working with the CBN, the ministry of youth and sports development and other relevant MDAs,” he said.

The Minister explained that the NYIF will serve as a Youth Bank that will fund and support their innovative ideas, skills, talents and enterprises. It will also serve as a loan and credit pathway dedicated to enabling access to credit and soft loans.

He further disclosed that the NYIF N75 billion will last for three years, while he praised President Muhammadu Buhari for using the approval to demonstrate his “unflinching support for the Nigerian youth” and show his “implicit confidence in their innovative talents, potentials and industry.”

Dare said the development has fulfilled Buhari’s assertion that “it is our collective responsibility to ensure that we provide adequate resources to meet the basic needs of our teeming youth.”

How do we Manage this fund?

I will run one simple idea – have a clear requirement that the government will only co-invest/co-support/co-fund ideas which are also receiving private capital with full registration in the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) Nigeria. The implication is this: for any youth to receive the Youth Bank funds, his/her ideas must also be attractive to a venture capital (VC) firm or a bank.  Doing that will remove  corruption in the management of this fund. Yes, briefcase entrepreneurs would be eliminated.

More so,  the investors must have assets under management of at least $1 million with a minimum of 5 prior investments in Nigerian companies. The SEC must sign-off with a clear supervision to ensure the private investors are also risking their funds.

Winning as a startup goes beyond money. So, having these private entities would be catalytic. Government needs to strike a VC partnership on this Youth Bank vision, for something huge, which can change Nigeria for good.

Nigerian Government Approves N75 Billion Youth Investment Fund for Entrepreneurs

Nigerian Government Approves N75 Billion Youth Investment Fund for Entrepreneurs

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Nigeria leaders

The federal government of Nigeria has approved the establishment of a N75 billion Youth Investment Fund. This was disclosed on Wednesday by the minister of youth and sports development, Sunday Dare, after the Federal Executive Council meeting.

Dare said the fund is to help entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 35 foster their businesses. He said that anyone who falls within the age bracket and has a genuine business is welcome to pitch for a grant from the fund.

He said any of the 125 micro credit banks across the country is ready to accept pitches and grant candidates access to funds.

“For the first time in the history of Nigeria, the federal executive council today approved the establishment of the Nigerian Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) to the tune of N75 billion.

“This fund is meant to create a special window for accessing credit facilities and financing on the part of our youths that will help to fund their ideas, innovations and also support their enterprise.

“The best way to call it is that for the first time, the country will have a youth bank; a fund that will cater specially for our youth within the stipulated age band, which is going to be between 18 and 35 years.

“The second approval that was secured was for the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development to play a lead role in working on necessary steps that need to be taken in terms of legislation, organization and other aspects of financing.

“The federal ministry of finance, budget and national planning will take the lead when it comes to the aspect of financing, working with the CBN, the ministry of youth and sports development and other relevant MDAs,” he said.

The Minister explained that the NYIF will serve as a Youth Bank that will fund and support their innovative ideas, skills, talents and enterprises. It will also serve as a loan and credit pathway dedicated to enabling access to credit and soft loans.

He further disclosed that the NYIF N75 billion will last for three years, while he praised President Muhammadu Buhari for using the approval to demonstrate his “unflinching support for the Nigerian youth” and show his “implicit confidence in their innovative talents, potentials and industry.”

Dare said the development has fulfilled Buhari’s assertion that “it is our collective responsibility to ensure that we provide adequate resources to meet the basic needs of our teeming youth.”

While the development appears ideal, especially in the face of COVID-19 pandemic, it breeds some concerns. The Nigerian youth appear worried that the fund may not be accessible to those who need it unless they bribe their way to it. A claim they made pointing at the Credit Targeted Facility, approved earlier in the year to help SMEs to stay in business against the strains of the pandemic. The fund became inaccessible to a teeming number of entrepreneurs who needed it.

But it goes beyond that. Nigeria has similar banks for many sectors of the economy that have failed to yield the needed result. And for many, it is a reason to believe that the youth investment fund will make little or no impact apart from providing funds for public office holders to loot.

The Nigerian Export and Import Bank (NEXIM) was created in 1991 to provide credit facilities for the exportation of Nigerian goods and services, especially in the arts and entertainment industry. The objective was to foster the growth of the industry through credit and risk bearing facilities.

It’s been 29 years since then, and players in the arts and entertainment industry are still pointing at poor financing, and lack of access to funds as the bane of the industry’s growth.

The Bank of Industry (BOI) was also developed to provide access to funds for startups, SMEs, and large enterprises. The BOI, if effective, would have eliminated any need for a new entrepreneurial bank, as it was designed to cover all industrial sectors of the economy.

The prevalent need for funding in all entrepreneurial sectors of the economy proves how effective the banks have been in executing their mandate. It is based on the existing condition of the special banks that many believe the youth bank will have little or no success.

Indicate Interest to Coordinate Tekedia Live on Thursday July 30

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Thank you Segla Segla MBB,PMP, MBA, Emmanuel Echa , John Mc Keown, Arinze Onyeasigbulem and others for today’s section of Tekedia Live. Going forward, Thursday would be reserved for members to co-share and co-learn among themselves.

For next week Live, interested members should go to Week 5  board to indicate interest. Admin will choose those to coordinate. Do not be shy: it is part of management training: effective presentation.

Meanwhile, the video has been posted in the channel.

https://youtu.be/W50LWf6NUp8

Academia, Experts, Call for Paradigm Shift as Ife Institute of Advanced Studies Commences 4th Summer Institute

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The academia and experts have called for a paradigm shift in African education and research curriculum to fit into the present realities of the continent and the new normal. The calls were made by different speakers at the opening ceremony of the 4th Summer Institute of Ife Institute of Advanced Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife.

While declaring the programme open, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Eyitope Ogunbodede, reiterated the vision of the summer institute which is to build on the collective vision of supporting young and emerging scholars in Africa. He noted the programme which is in its fourth year has yielded results for past attendees. He then commended the convener, Prof. Jacob Oluponna, for choosing the university to be the venue for such impactful vision. He appreciated the efforts of the facilitators and sponsors who made this edition a reality despite the Coronavirus pandemic. Ogunbodede charged the fellows of the 4th Institute to appreciate the efforts of the organizers by giving back when it is their own time.

In his own remarks, the convener, Prof. Jacob Oluponna, said the vision behind the Summer Institute is to create a platform where the skills and competencies of the participants would be strengthened to conduct cutting edge research in both the humanities and the social sciences. He also pointed to the fact that the essence of the 2-week event is imbued fellows with values that would place them on a global knowledge pedestal. Oluponna noted that this year’s edition has altered the nature of the summer institute as the programme shifted online because of the COVID 19 pandemic. This, according to him, has expanded the participation in the programme as over 100 participants were drawn from 20 countries of the world including Nigeria, US, India, Canada, Cameroon, Egypt, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ireland and others. He therefore thanked the sponsors, Ford Foundation, for supporting the vision of the institute.

The keynote speaker, Prof. Francis Egbokhare, who is a professor of Linguistics and President of Nigerian Academy of Letters, made a call for a paradigm shift in the way research is conducted in Nigerian/African universities. He emphasized the recent shift in knowledge production and consumption which was accentuated by the COVID 19 pandemic. Prof. Egbokhare noted the need for trans-disciplinary, interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary approaches to the conduct of research on a global level. He asserted that these approaches are needed to provide solutions to the myriad of problems facing the continent. He, however, berated the Nigerian universities’ sluggishness to flow with the current tide of the new logic. He asserted that to provide comprehensive solutions to issues, there is a need for interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration between the researchers on the continent.

In her goodwill message, Chief Mrs Ibukun Awosika, the Chairman of First Bank Nigeria, also called for a more robust relationship between the universities and the organized private sector to allow for training of students to suit labour market demands. Chief Awosika observed that as things stand, the graduates from Nigerian universities are not suitable for the available jobs in the labour market. She appreciated the organizers for an attempt to bridge an existing gap in the Nigerian/African research space.

The 2020 Ife Summer Institute – with the theme Exploring New Frontiers: Knowledge Creation, Collaboration and Dissemination – is the fourth edition and will be held online from July 20 to August 1, 2020. The programme will involve panel sessions and lectures on mentorship and networking, research methodology, scientific research writing, remote teaching and digital pedagogues.

Hunger Is The Real Pandemic, Let’s Discuss

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Before pandemic there was hunger and after pandemic, there will still be hunger, and one amongst many reasons the world population is shedding against the pandemic (COVID 19), is because, it is liable to throw the world into famine; except for who benefits from it. 

Anyways, remember the days of Egypt; even if countries and entities stockpile their money barns off of this pandemic, such as Amazon and Facebook are doing, there’s still the possibility that the humans behind these entities will still need the farmers in the field, to produce the food they will pay for with their money; unless they will employ aliens to produce different kind of edibles. 

I remember in one of my articles, years ago; Africa: Looking Beyond The Education Limits

As the world is moving rapidly into Technology is as the need for food to sustain the masses is increasing and a time will come when both the poor and the rich will seek for common bread, then he will need to pay thousands, if not millions to have a handful.

I lamented on what may be the situation of the world even before the pandemic came into the picture. The excerpt would say; Imagine a day that you will have all the money you need, but to buy a handful of food, you get to spend x 10 of that food in cash. You may afford it in the early days of the season, but after a few months, you may not be able to maintain it.

  • WE CAN’T EAT MONEY, SO WHY STOCKPILE MONEY? Please help with your answers in the comment section below.

That calls to the main idea behind this article; Agriculture, and Infrastructure that aids the food industry to thrive. 

I read a blog by a good friend Samuel Damilola Olugbamila known by his stage name Blista Sam,

Titled; Agriculture or Entertainment where the topic was favoring the extended industrialization of the Entertainment industry, over the Agriculture Industry… then I laughed, why? Because I know very well that, “A HUNGRY MAN DOES NOT WATCH MOVIES,” – Chidiebere Moses Ogbodo said.

So, instead of comparing and contrasting industries over each other, why not find a way to balance it by saying; let us industrialize the;

  • Infrastructure/Civil Engineering Industry to aid Agriculture
  • Entertainment Industry to super aid Agriculture
  • Education Industry to innovate, and facilitate the next and better phase of Agriculture, and even
  • The Religious Industry hit the hammer on the head of the loyalties to take up their shovels and diggers and enter the next farmland near their houses and start producing food.

After the pandemic, the majority of industrialists will choose work from home over the traditional office space. Imagine the opportunity of working from the comfort of your home, and how beneficial it will be, if farming is now a core part of your leisure. 

That reminds me; I was once thinking in 2017, days with Insights Success Magazine, of how to build a virtual office space, where a CEO can monitor their employees’ live activities from a game-pad looking device. I will explain in detail how the technicalities will become a reality, if called to stage with the opportunity.

With this in place, companies and even the big organizations will be a simple handy device, requiring no physical infrastructure to operate conglomerates. And now, that leads us to the new project started on Friday, June 26, 2020 called FoodMoby.com a food vendors aggregator platform as a product by PingSmile.com Tech, a Community of Happy people

The FoodMoby.com was started mainly for the purpose of reducing the food industry’s paralysis and the limited choice given to consumers to reach a variety of recipes at competitive prices, hence making the choice that suits their pocket.  And the extended features as per the business plan of the project, will help to boost the desire to enter farmlands to produce food in the country, to the continent and the possibility of reaching all over the world. 

Hunger is the real pandemic,Yes! and this cannot be disputed, but with the right fixes and optimization of ideas, and implementation of non-redacted steps, the pandemic will go, and hunger will lose its hold for many years, not until the system stays put with the promise to make food production a priority over stockpiling their cash barns. 

STOCK THE FOOD BARNS, WHILE STOCKING THE CASH BARNS; a proper redesign is a stronger win in this concern. MAN CANNOT SURVIVE WITHOUT FOOD, but man can survive without money (in paper or coin; trade by batter). 

To conclude: 

Taking Nigeria as a case study; a local man does not understand the word, “Pandemic,” but he understands and can interpret the language of hunger. A local Nigerian man, can choose to die of COVID 19, than to sit and let hunger take his children right before his eyes. If any other race can do it, at least not an Igbo Man. so let the race begin,whilst the new norm does not take us unawares.

If we are overwhelmed by the idea of pandemic, and uncontrollable changes in the system off of it, at least with the right dish on table,and a good aroma, the brain can come up with workable ideas to stand straight, think out, and find actionable solutions. 

This is FoodMoby.com by PingSmile.com Tech, a Community of Happy people

Motto: Eat & Jump (We want you to Eat from Mama Adaobi and Jump to Mama Nkechi for more dishes at good prices, possibly with better taste and variety).

Brief Intro: At FoodMoby.com we support Restaurants, Hotels, and Food-vendors from their homes to sell food and reach new customers through our platform accounts.

N/B: The article took two months of check and balancing to come up with and agree to the points above.

Thank you for reading, if you have ideas to discuss regarding the topic, please use the comment section, it is a pleasure to discuss innovation.