Lagos—Chairman, UBA Group, Mr. Tony Elumelu has urged states and Federal Government to create the right environment for entreprises to thrive in country, saying: “This is one of the best gifts the government can offer to its citizens.”

He said that to transform a people in the 21st century, government and its citizenry must be self reliant.

Elumelu, while delivering a distinguished lecture at the Lagos State University yesterday on ‘Entrepreneurship: The Challenges and Opportunities for Nigeria’s Future Leaders’ , urged the rich in the society to positively invest in people.

He said: “What value is the money we have in banks if we cannot use it to create value for humanity.”

Elumelu also charged students to embrace entrepreneurship for survival, adding that Small Medium Enterprise, SME was one of the ways to make people’s dreams come true in the face of global economic meltdown.

In actualising this dream, he pointed out some key vital virtues an entrepreneur must put to the fore.

According to him, any person who will succeed as an entrepreneur, must hunger for success and be able to convert opportunities.

He said: “You have to activate the habit of savings and have high level of integrity and foresight.”

“As an entrepreneur, you need to work hard and be discipline to be successful. “You cannot be a successful entrepreneur, if you don’t know how to manage people, because you need to work with other people to succeed.” As you grow in your business, you have to learn from your mistakes and be resilient.”