The Office of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), has urged youths in the Niger Delta region to “rise above the entitlement mentality”, to set the stage for success.
This was disclosed by the Interim Administrator of the PAP, Major General Barry Ndiomu (rtd), on Saturday in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, at the 3rd Niger Delta MSME Summit
He said that the youths must begin to think out of the box and come up with innovative ideas. “If you rise above entitlement mentality, the sky will be too small to be your starting point. Everybody stands a chance,” he said.
He reiterated that the “mandate” of PAP remains “to manage the destiny of thousands of youths and we have decided to begin to reason outside the boxiterated that the “mandate” of PAP remains “to manage the destiny of thousands of youths and we have decided to begin to reason outside the box.
“We must understand the times and take advantage properly. We must map out opportunities. We must be in a place where we are able to adequately predict the future. We must innovate, we must remind our delegates that there is virtue in adversity, resilience. Good things don’t come cheap.
“There is a notion about the region out there, and we must all agree jointly to alter that narrative.
“As young business owners, you must understand that beyond innovation, collaboration, networking, access to funds, loans and grants, lobbying, you have a role to play. You must embrace discipline, mentoring. You must understand that good things don’t come easy. You must understand that for every height you want to attain, there is a price to pay. Young leaders must be ready and willing to pay the price,” Ndiomu said.
Meanwhile, critical stakeholders across Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region have charged youths to look away from the old dependency on crude oil and build towards a culture of entrepreneurship.
Speaking in his opening remarks at the summit, Chief convener, Moses Siasia who doubles at the Chairman of the Nigerian Young Professional Forum (NYPF) and the Niger Delta Young Professionals (NDYP), regretted that young people have been “malnourished by broken promises”, leaving them abandoned.
Siasia stated that the (NDYP), has created more than 4,922 direct and indirect jobs through grants to 1,600 micro, small and medium scale businesses in the region.
He said the gesture was possible with support from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
To bridge this gap, he said the organizers – the Niger Delta Young Professionals (NDYP), is working to provide opportunities for young people engaging in productive ventures to thrive.
“We want our young people who are entrepreneurs to understand that the future is theirs, and that the future is entrepreneurship. The world today is diverting from hydrocarbon. We are talking about Energy Transition, Climate Change. These are where the world interests are driving to, so we must conform to modern realities. This is why we are doing this to reshape the entrepreneurial culture in the region.” He said.
The Managing Director of the NDDC Dr. Samuel Ogbuku who was represented by Obayelu Patrick, Commercial and Industrial Development Directorate (CID), NDDC, expressed passion for the initiative and assured of the Commission’s continuous support.
The NDDC however, harped on the need for youths to key into the initiative, adding that it already has the database of youths in the region, with which it is working to create enormous opportunities to improve their lives.
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