It was a gathering of young and great minds at the maiden edition of Ajuwaya, an initiative of some Nigerian corps member who thought of ways in helping youth corps members integrate easily with the entrepreneurial landscape during their service.
The aim of Ajuwaya is to create a platform that offers corp members the best there is in the state which they are serving in terms of business networks, fund sourcing opportunities for those with brilliant ideas and access to a ready market for whatever goods and services the corps members would love to engage in.
This came from the observation that most corps members felt frustrated as they tried to settle in their states of service and engage in some entrepreneurial activities due to the fact that most times they are thrown into new environments. Therefore, before they get settled and acquainted enough with the environment to start marshaling out their creative ideas, some of them find that the one year is already gone and then, trying to start anything would seem a waste of time. Hence, they just let the year pass without even trying. But, ajuwaya, offer learning opportunities for the corps members on various capacity building areas with emphasis on entrepreneurial support and opportunities.
The theme of this edition of Ajuwaya was PASSION AND INDUSTRY. They speakers were MR. VICTOR PRINCE DICKSON, the inventor of Kommon Sense, founder of Micro Reality Thinking Academy, author of many revolutionary books and the C.E.O. of EL-SPICE media and MR. LONGJI THEODORE, the lead R&D/Partnership at nHub, the leading ICT training and outsourcing hub on the Plateau.
At the meeting Mr. Longji pointed out that technology is the direction the world will continue to go on and this is lots of opportunities are now. He also said that we should not focus on getting job in the civil service sector rather our focus should be on creating things. Narrating how they started the hub he stated that, “it has not been easy but that it is possible….” And in the area of passion he said, “it may be a story or an experience, something must inspire you to do something.”
On his part, mr. Prince Dickson explained that in the world of today, having the right information could mean the difference between success and failure. He stated that we must be prepared for the new world trends that are emerging as a result of globalization and referring to global convergence and global competitiveness he said we should no longer plan for business as usual in our entrepreneurial activities rather we should plan do our business with a global market in view. He encouraged the participants to form the habit of ceaseless learning through reading and any other ways they can in order to stay in tune with developments in what he called the ‘knowledge economy.’
The meeting came to an end after the convener, Mr. UC Bright, corps member on the plateau, appreciated the participants for taking the opportunity to develop themselves which was created by the Ajuwaya.
He said that, this is the first edition and that other editions will come up soon in order to build on what has been started.
The participants expressed joy for the event which they said is a thought provoking and empowering one.
