By Udeme Clement

The dwindling crude oil price at the international market from over $100 to about $70 per barrel causing panic in Nigeria may be no threat to the nation’s economy after all. While some economists have expressed the fear that Nigeria may experience recession and double digits inflation, should the trend continues, others said the nation would pull out of the crisis.

Speaking with Sunday Vanguard in Lagos, the Chancellor, Akpabio Centre for Leadership Development, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), established over seven years ago for entrepreneurial development and capacity building in Nigeria, Mr. Bassey James, stressed that the tumbling oil price would not cripple the economy, calling on all tiers of government to invest massively on entrepreneurial development in order to create wealth and sustainable growth.

The Chancellor explained that the best way to sustain the indices of economic growth recorded in the last three years is to put more emphasis on entrepreneurship, skills acquisition and capacity building in various sectors, to make the economy technology driven like what obtains in advanced countries. “Entrepreneurship is the key to rapid economic transformation. This is imperative because it enhances self relevance and wealth creation for the economy. This is the time for all agencies of government to invest sufficiently in entrepreneurship to boost the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sub-sector. For example, middle income countries like Hongkong, South Korea, Singapore and India focus more on entrepreneurship and industrial development. We can do the same by using practical approach to capacity building in various fields, skills acquisition for young Nigerians and human capital development to increase productivity in our economy. There are many countries that are doing well even without oil, so Nigeria would pull out of the crisis soon”, he stressed.

On what technique he thinks should be adopted to fast track entrepreneurial development, he explained, “Partnership is paramount in capacity building. For instance, the Centre has trained over 1,000 Nigerians on various skills and some of them include Masters Degree holders. So, if other agencies of government partner with us, we can train over 100.000 artisans on new skills and empower them on small scale enterprises. To ensure that Nigerians from every region benefit from this training, we formed the Southern Youth Development Forum, as another platform to train young Nigerians from that area. We have a world class training centre in Uyo, and we are making effort to open another centre in Lagos State.

The training is also moving to the northern region because we are going to organise another economic summit slated for December 12, in Abuja. The theme is, ‘The Next Generation of Leaders: Impact, Strategy, Enterprise and Legacy’. The summit would have speakers like Prof. Akin Ibidapo-Obe, Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, Prof. Bola Akinterinwa, Director General, Nigeria Institute of International Affairs, Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali, Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Jude Imagwe, Special Assistant to the President on Youth and Students Matters, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, the Vice Chancellor, University of Abuja, Prof. Michael Adikwu and Chairman, RITMAN Group of Companies, Senator Emmanuel Ibok Essien. Others include representatives from National Association of Nigerians Students (NANS), entrepreneurs and youths.”

He stressed, “We want President Goodluck Jonathan, to be part of this concept. Look at China, Japan and other advanced countries they are building their economies through technology and innovation, which is exactly what we need in Nigeria.  Entrepreneurship would change the concept of our economy by giving us a new strategic framework for nation’s building in skills training, human capital development and capacity building at a larger scale. Capacity building would boost Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for industries to spring up in different places across the country. Skills acquisition is a good strategy to tackle unemployment because it enhances sustainable development. This is what our Centre stands for.”

On the uncertainty in the economy and the Vision 20: 2020 target, he maintained, “The declining oil price is no threat to our economy like I said earlier. Though it has affected us in some ways, it would not cripple the entire economy.  That is why government is calling for austerity measures for us to be prudent with our resources. Currently, Nigeria is among the 25 top economies in the world, and has the potentials to still be ranked among the top 20 economies by 2020. We can still achieve the Vision if appropriate measures are put in place to fast track development. That is why we are calling on Mr. President and other stakeholders in various sectors of our economy to key into the economic concept of entrepreneurship, where the people could be trained to be employers of labour rather than job seekers.”