By Nduka Ogwuda

The Tony Elumelu Foundation is an ‘Africa based and African funded philanthropic organisation dedicated to the promotion of excellence in business leadership and entrepreneurship and to enhancing the competitiveness of the private sector across Africa‘. It is a programme in which 1,000 entrepreneurs are selected based on the viability of their ideas, including market opportunity, financial understanding, scalability and leadership and entrepreneurial skills. The lucky young Africans undergo twelve weeks of intensive training and at the end; 5,000 dollars are given to each as non refundable seed capital and access to another five thousand dollars in convertible loan.

The CEO, of the Foundation, Mr. Tony Elumelu, who retired from UBA in July 2010, explained more on the focus of the Foundation. His words: “The foundation is to prove that African private sector can itself be the primary generation of economic development…. Our programme is a deliberate effort to institutionalise luck and provide the essentials for business growth to Africa next generation of business leaders. It is a demonstration of my faith in this generation’s ability to transform the African narrative from the single story of disease and poverty, to one of enterprise and opportunity. Spread the word; we need Africa`s best and brightest entrepreneurs. Their ideas will transform Africa.” Nothing could be more noble than that as the scheme is projecting into the future and saving Africa from the stereotype as the whiteman’s burden and that we are always looking up to China, India, Japan and the West for loans and help. The scheme is a call to look inward and be self-sufficient in the realm of economic production and management.

Tony Elumelu (New)

However, my compatriot and fellow Deltan, Elumelu, the bar set for the beneficiaries in Africa are rather too high for my people. The fault is not really that of my people but a tumbling educational system that is infamous in the production of illiterates and those who cannot really compete in the global market. That is why Elumelu must look inward and design a scheme that will take care of the educational needs of our people. Since the handover of schools to missions by Delta State government, it is a thing of regret that our secondary schools are mere shadow of their former selves. Elumelu and other Deltans that are well endowed should organise an educational summit to tackle the needs of the Oshimili/ Aniocha federal constituency in particular and Delta North in general. Our children are ill equipped educationally to play in the national league, not to dream of the global market.

That is the more reason that the Tony and Awele Elumelu Prize should be expanded to giving scholarship to brilliant but poor students to pursue their secondary and tertiary education. The original concept of the Tony and Awele Elumelu prize is to recognise home-grown academic excellence in subject areas representing their career paths and fields of research and profession. There is nothing wrong if a space is carved out for the children of the Oshimili/Aniocha federal constituency. There is no guarantee that the beneficiaries of the Tony Elumelu Foundation shall remember Delta State in their moments of glory and economic opulence. This stand may look selfish but this is the reality of the Nigerian, nay African situation.

As for the community development, the Elumelu Nigeria Empowerment Fund is a non-profit organization established to transform communities that have been ravaged by natural disasters, hazards and conflicts into thriving and economically buoyant ones. Here we are talking about rural transformation and stemming the tide of rural urban drift of population. There are many communities in Delta North that do not have access roads, potable water and electricity. The Foundation in a little way can put smile on the faces of the people by establishing cottage industries. The Elumelu Foundation has one million dollar flagship entrepreneurship programme with the mission to identify and grow 10,000 African entrepreneurs, create one million jobs and add ten billion dollars as annual revenue in the continent.