A serious and perennial mistake in discussing
entrepreneurship is in the assumption that it means nothing than a system of
setting up corporate businesses in the strict business sense.
The etymological inference of the word
entrepreneurship connotes a myriad of terms and expressions that imply Man and
Woman of action. It implies the training of administrators, managers,
contractors, teachers, scientists, reformists, parliamentarians, military
personnel, security agents, clerics, industrialists, lawyers, entertainers,
sweepers, cooks, without exception men
and women of all works of life into productive capacity; and instilling in them
the right values, attitudes, morals and ethics, and very importantly, the
provision of infrastructure necessary for massive production to occur.
Simply put entrepreneurship is “the conversion of resources (men, materials,
money and time) into more efficient use for the common good of all.
Entrepreneurs include actors, administrators,
undertakers, contractors, campaigners, managers, legislators, executives,
teachers, sportsmen and women. They include also those in charge of the
electoral processes, the civil servants, managers of public corporations,
government executives, all decision makers, political actors, consultants,
nursing mothers, sportsmen and women.
The major elements of
entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial development are culture, tradition,
ethics, ethos, customs, etiquette, courtesies, taboos, morale, values, order
and appreciation of beauty and technology. Culture as we know stands for the
way of life of a people. Culture through its various institutions and normative
patterns simplifies and guides behaviours, provides tools, defines
relationships and exerts social control. Ours in Africa and Nigeria in
particular, was a culture that valued highly the ideals of hard-work,
entrepreneurial excellence, truth, liberty, social justice, value for life and
achievements. As have been witnessed over the years, African culture has been
deeply bastardized by other cultures – particularly by the pseudo-cultural and
political values of her supposed elites. African culture is in danger of losing
its distinctive identity. Mrs. Adeola Adegbite
sometime in June 18, 1973 published in Daily Times, Nigeria, that “people of
other cultures do not respect people who copy them; their smile is not that of
approval, it is that of conquest….”. Late
Emenike Nnabugwu had a saying
that “the goal post is at a risk where
there are no defenders”. It is in this context that the entrepreneurial
education and reorientation of the Nigerian and Africans in general have become
necessary and timely too. Without true African entrepreneurs, the future of
Africa is in jeopardy.
Education and
reorientation are fundamental tools for preparing and engaging the society.
They are the drivers for empowering Men and Women with knowledge, skills and
self-confidence; necessary to make them active participants in the development
process. Education is key in the economic development of any society. The
famous Arusha Declaration by late President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania upholds
inter alia that “the development of a Country is brought about by people”. The
development of Africa is contingent on the release of the entrepreneurial
resources of the Africans. Here lies the foundation of African development. It
holds the essential ingredients for releasing the abundant wealth of Africa. It
is the bed rock of Africa’s socio-political growth and transformation.
Any keen follower of
Africa’s economic development, will admit that the one very important skill
still lacking is the ability of African citizens to follow their dreams and
aspirations. Educating the African properly on entrepreneurship will resurrect
the courage to fight the internal uncertainty that has made the pursuit of dreams
and aspirations, a mere oxymoron. Africa’s development rests in the ability of
Africa and her citizens to demonstrate commitment, consistency and
determination in the pursuit of their dreams, in the struggle against
self-imposed limitations and in awakening the true African spirit, that are
necessary to tap the obvious abundant opportunities in Africa. Developing the
innate entrepreneurial potentials of African citizens will clearly result to
better understanding of the challenges of the moment as well as contribute very
significantly in bridging the gap in Africa’s development. Entrepreneurship
development, will strengthen Africa’s sense of value and worth, sense of
physical security and productivity and sense of intimacy, and most importantly,
it will speed up the process of adaptability, innovation and creativity and by
so doing ensure the relevance and attractiveness of Africa to the world.
Entrepreneurship development will as a matter of fact ignite Africa’s sense of
responsibility, relatedness and unified structure vis-à-vis her sense of joy
and affirmation. The 1994 Cairo consensus recognized education as a fire for
socio-economic development. Closing the gap in unemployment and poverty and
making Africa more visible; economically among other continents of the world
are the benchmarks that Africa must underscore. That attainment of Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), have eluded Africa, is not a surprise.
Africa is suffering
from vast shortages of Afrocentric trained, high level manpower. The central
task of education is the development of the inborn potentialities of the human
person, without loss of touch of one’s origin and immediate environment. Or is
human development not synonymous with strengthening the capacity of a person to
develop the resources around: Man and Material, for the diverse needs of the
society. In view of this, Africa must urgently take stock of the output of her
education and measure it against the backdrop of developing the nature endowed
resources in the continent. In the process of doing this, Africans may perhaps
find out that some aspects of her education system are anachronistic, archaic
and unsuited to her needs. That on its own is a real challenge for Africa.
The critical issue of
concern to every African is the fate of the youths that constitute the
sub-population of her sportsmen and Women, and other workforce. The paradigm
from the basic human development to political integration of states has
necessitated urgent action to create foundations for self-determination and
autonomy. Like Nnabugwu Rueben Okengwu our father; Ndubuka, Elendu and Emenike
(of blessed memory), and the legend Nnabugwu Chinwoke, the writer knows that
the secret to becoming a great world leader is to identify one’s own needs with
the needs and interests of one’s constituency in the existing world of social
facts. Psychologist Sigmud Freud has shown that the tension between Man’s drive
on one hand and the norms of his social world on the other are the source of
culture. The control of those drives by given in to social norms and laws is
civilization. Entrepreneurial
development is fundamental in driving today’s civilization, economic and
socio-political process; for sustainable development.
No continent, no
nation can get the benefits of industrialization and economic growth until her
citizens are skilled enough to run her business. No continent, can get the full
benefit of any sports, business or institution until the skills of her citizens
are developed. Societies exist essentially to impact each other, but they are
sustained through production, distribution and exchange of wealth. Here lies
the problem of Africa. Here also rests the likely solution to her
under-development: economically, socially and politically. Empowering Africans
through entrepreneurship education will make her citizens academically adept,
socially mobile and economically relevant.
A popular expression
holds that “your gifts might get you there but only character will keep you
there”. Character molding is a
by-product of entrepreneurial education. Leaders in innovation, creativity and business;
understand the indispensable role of entrepreneurial education in the
development of people. African youths need entrepreneurial education now; not
tomorrow. They need it not just to harness the potentials in them but to make
them play active role in Africa’s development. Entrepreneurial Education has a
special place in the complex and delicate task of harmonizing the development
of Men and Women of African. It is through adaptation to innovative, creative,
and quality entrepreneurship development curriculum that African youths would
become competent, resourceful and relevant to Africa’s economic and
socio-political needs. The contrast between African leaders, (her
so called elites) and their contemporaries in the West is provocative. The
contrast between Africa’s sportsmen/Women, and their contemporaries in the west
is indicative in performance rating, pricing and remuneration. Loss of
confidence, the result of self-doubt arising from lack of strong Afrocentric
intellectual leaning, is destroying Africa. It has contributed very
significantly to the pseudo cultural behaviours in the life style of Africans.
This is not likely to change without systematic efforts to curb such through
Afrocentric entrepreneurial education.
If African youths
have made the continent proud by winning laurels in Olympic Games, and other
international sports, it stands to reason that Afrocentric entrepreneurship
education will empower them the more; of course beyond sports. This is a civic
duty that all enthusiasts, government and the business sub-group must support.
African youths will achieve a lot more in the diaspora if decent and
appreciable entrepreneurship standard is attained by Africa in the nearest
future.
Let me ask, what
elements constitute the collective identity of an individual? What conjunction
of institutions, ideas and events lead to the formation of greatness in
Man? My critical inquiry finds substance
in the antecedents, exploits and achievements of many great world achievers,
including sportsmen and women. The road of Beethoven in his Ninth Symphony is
also the road followed by the reformers of history and authors of the preamble
of the United Nations Charter. It began with the recognition of the debility,
insecurity and threat under which they were living, speaking as it does of the
need to save succeeding generations from the miseries that so after confront
human race.
The World is experiencing
one of the most critical and challenging moments in human history. The now late
former British Prime Minister, late Margaret Thatcher during the burial of
Ronald Reagan, said “we are living in a changing world”. Let me follow it up
with “Africa
is living in a changing, complex and complicated period, full of challenges and
turbulent circumstances”. It is through meaningful adaptations to
innovative, creative and Afrocentric entrepreneurship education that African
youths and other citizens would excel. Africa must understand the tempo of the
moment. The task of restoring the intellectual height and habit of the African
- Man, Woman and youths have become so momentous and timely.
Have you imprisoned any
entrepreneur inside you? Please, let it out, allow it to escape…
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