Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has announced that the Aba Business School will soon be established to help consolidate the business skills of younger Igbo entrepreneurs.
Governor Ikpeazu dropped this cheering news while speaking at the Aba Business and Leadership Summit and Awards 2021 with the theme:Transferring Tested and Proven Business Models To the Next Generation” held at the Aba Sports Club.
The Governor said that the official language in the School will be Igbo Language while the Faculty will be drawn from successful Igbo business men and women who have excelled in their various fields.
He noted that no country has developed in Science, Technology and Business without emphasis on their Mother Tongue, using China as an example.
The Governor made a case for the sustenance of the Igbo apprenticeship system which he said is better than what is being taught at the various International Schools of Business .
Dr Ikpeazu maintained that the system offers great insight into business concepts including teaching alternatives, packaging and repackaging , procurement, storage and ware-housing, ethics of business as well as corporate social responsibility among others.
He said that the essence of the Summit is to see how best to re ignite interest of the young people in Wealth and job Creation, adding that breaking the chain of teaching and mentoring young people as well as understudying Business Ventures will be jeopardizing the future of Ndigbo.
In a keynote speech, a former Governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi identified lack of Mentorship in the family, lack of proper corporate governance and structure , improper fiscal policy to support businesses as some of the factors militating against sustenance of family businesses in Nigeria.
He also attributed the collapse of businesses in Nigeria to lack of patronage for indigenous goods and stressed the need for the right thing to be done.
In his speech, the President of Coscharis Group , Dr Cosmas Maduka advocated for the Igbo apprenticeship system of Mentorship for the younger generation, adding that willingness and desire are needed for one to be successful in business.
Earlier in an address of welcome, the Director General , Abia State Marketing and Quality Control Agency, Mr Sam Hart said that efficient structure for continuity is key for the growth, sustenance of a business enterprise, adding that the Summit was put together to chart a way forward for the sustainability of businesses in Aba, the economic hub of the South East.
He identified some of the factors affecting the growth and sustenance of businesses to include refusal of business owners to submit to equity, nepotism and lack of well planned business structure.
In their separate speeches the President Aba Chamber of Commerce, Industry ,Mines and Agriculture, Sir Lawrence Obetta and the Chairman , Aba Sports Club ,Chief Jerry Kalu noted that succession planning is key to achieving a sustainable business establishment, ensure economic growth and improve the GDP of the State and appreciated Governor Okezie Ikpeazu for his robust policies that allow ease of doing business in the State.
The summit featured a Panel Discussion Session on the theme “Pathway To Trans-generational Wealth Transfer,(Aba as a case study) by eminent Nigerians including Ide John Udeagbala of the Aba Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Darl Uzu CEO , Crown Realtors/Enyimba Economic City, Professor Bath Nnaji, Chairman of Geometric Power, Professor Pat Utomi of Lagos Business School, Sir Lawrence Obetta and Chief Mrs Stella Igbokwe. The session was moderated by Mrs Nana Nwachukwu a Development Expert where they advised that the younger generation be taught the essentials of building lasting businesses.
Professor Bath Nnaji while speaking extensively on the Geometric Power Project in Aba, assured that with the support and untiring efforts of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu the project will be fully functional before the end of this year while Mr Darl Uzu assured that real physical work on the Enyimba Economic City Project will kick off later this year, with the sealing of an agreement with the China Civil Engineering Construction Company.
Governor Okezie Ikpeazu had earlier received the Special Guests at the Governor’s Lodge Aba.
