Follow Us on Google
Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
Prof. Alex Ikechukwu Ikeme, is a professor of Food Science and Technology. He lectures at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) and now on sabbatical to Veritas University, the Catholic University of Nigeria, Abuja. He has been professor for 27 years and has been teaching for over 37 years. He is a highly organised, self-propelling, highly motivated and capable teacher, coach, mentor and facilitator.
He has passion for bridging learning and earning through entrepreneurship training and education with a view to contributing to economic and social stability, industrialisation and development of emerging economies. Prof. Ikeme was founding Director, Centre for Entrepreneurship and Development Research (CEDR), UNN, and founding Director, Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC), South East.
In this interview, with Daily Sun he explains how he mentored over 25,000 youths on entrepreneurship and still counting. According to him, the only way out of youth unemployment is entrepreneurship.
Excerpt:
Innovations brought to UNN
There is no professor of my age and those greater than me that has given the much I have done because I have sacrificed my life for UNN. Right from 1981 to 2013, I have been in the helm of affairs doing one thing or the other. For example, in 2006 I started the Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC) owned by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and initiated by CBN and UNN, so I became the founding director because that proposal was written under my watch and that turned out to be one of the EDCs in the six geopolitical zones and I was in charge of South East but I cover both Southeast, South-South and part of North Central zones. So I’m known for things I have done; transforming the nation from a nation that has troubled youths to the one where every youth is bound to be self-employed, which is the hope of the future.
Choosing entrepreneurship instead of Food Science and Technology
I know that to solve the problem in my country, I have to do something more than that and went to study Psychology. I did Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology and M.SC in Psychology at old age. Even as a professor, I went back to school. So I knew that God has created me to help the needy and the most important of the needy is the youth to take over the mantle of leadership. As you see, I’m getting old now, I’m in my 60s now and I came back from USA after my M.Sc and Ph.D as the youngest that had a Ph.D in UNN then at the age of 28 years. I have been the Head of Department, Dean and Associate Dean of my faculty because I’m known as an action man. I’m still in my field, Food Science and Technology, in UNN but now I’m in sabbatical to Veritas University, the Catholic University of Nigeria, Abuja, and I’m in entrepreneurship. I have very useful duty of transforming that university (Veritas) into an entrepreneur university, changing the mindset of the students, the non-academic staff and even the academic staff. So I have been in Veritas University with the full permission of UNN since January this year.
Other places benefitting from entrepreneurship mentorship
First, there is a university in Benue State, University of Ekar, where I have lived nine years of my life and I started their Food Science Department. I was a dean there, a director and founder of entrepreneurship in that institution. I was the founding director of entrepreneurship in Veritas University; that was in 2012. I have helped Obong University; right now, I’m the team leader of Hero Kickstar Foundation-International Breweries. The programme of entrepreneurship started under my watch with other professors from UNIZIK. So everybody knows the passion I have for entrepreneurship and I have been helping them since then and I’m also consulting. So, Interfact was taken over by International Breweries but I’m still there and every year all the students/youths that graduate from there are mentored by me. If you are asking me, what I have done is a lot. I’m also a facilitator for entrepreneurship for Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Afred Nnaemeka Achebe. We graduated about 69 youths in January in entrepreneurship sponsored by Igwe Achebe. So, my life is all about others.
Number of entrepreneurs/youths so far mentored
Under the CBN programme, we graduated a lot of youths, about 15,000, within the Southeast Zone and I went to Benue State where I mentored and graduated over 10,000 youths. I also consulted for ExxonMobil oil company and I was in charge of Nara, Benue and Abatete. ExxonMobil teamed up with other oil companies like Shell; they sought for me as an entrepreneur guru to do the same mentorship. So, after the programme they settled them and provided everything they needed to start on their own.
Entrepreneurship as a course in universities
No, every university has an EDC but that is not the issue. People are different and Prof. Ikeme has passion for entrepreneurship and before you see a professor that has more passion than me in the country, it’s difficult. I have a website I created since 2001. Now, NUC (National Universities Commission) says that every university should do entrepreneur but are they doing it right? There is unemployment; at least, the ones I have mentored must start doing something and that is why in Onitsha now I call them CEOs because of the entrepreneurship programme I organised for them after which they are doing well and employing others. Today, any university I go to, I will produce two executive officers; that is, they are now on their own. I also lecture in Benue State University; they have World Bank-assisted programme of food processing because they are the food basket of the federation. The institution got the World Bank-assisted project in food processing and we were given facilities to start processing and we are training students and I’m one of the trainers.
Advise to Federal Government on entrepreneurship
The Federal Government now has passion for youth empowerment but they should go and look out for those who have empowered youths on their own and what they have done. It is not by appointment. You may appoint some people and they don’t have passion for the job. They put a square peg in a round hole. So they look for people and hire those who have done it on their own. For example, the President has been empowering people in these last four years. We hope that the president would find those who have been training people. If we train people from every part of the country, then the problem of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) would not arise because you will have people from different areas that will train their people in IDP camps; everybody would be okay. See me now, I’m running from North Central to Onitsha every week. I did that for years; that is my own interest. When the government of the country said people like that should work, then they have more gains than appointing people based on party affiliation or geopolitical zone.
Entrepreneurship as hope of youths in next decade
Entrepreneurship is the life wire of any organisation, any community, any region and any nation. It is the only hope because an entrepreneur is a self-made person while others are servants. But when you decide to work for yourself, create jobs, employ people and government is providing all the facilities to assist, like electricity, provide rail lines for trains, etc., then you know you can get yourself very busy. So this is the type of thing we need now for entrepreneurs to be turned out in every institution every year. It is not when you say you graduate in character and in learning, then what can you offer and what you can do? The Moto of my institution is ‘To Restore the Dignity of Man’ and that is what I’m doing. You cannot restore the dignity of man if you cannot impact on youths.
Empowerment for take off after training
Did anybody empower me? Nobody empowered me. When you have the zeal and urge to do something, you create ideas and when you have a good idea, then the empowerment comes. Many people are calling me because I have the idea. If I don’t have good idea, nobody calls me, so ideas rule the world. You first of all create ideas and you prosper. The man who created electricity had great ideas; you see they are making millions of dollars. I was in a retreat and God told me that what I should do is youth empowerment and that it can never be stopped and when we finish and we are old, others will continue; when they are old, another set of people will continue. You can see youth empowerment is a great idea because it will be the live wire and it is the only thing that can make the country sustainable and economically okay so that we have a country that will be economically viable. An average Nigerian wants to make money but if you want to be an entrepreneur, money is a second thing. The first thing is to achieve your goal and then you can make money. This is because while you are working for others, you are working for yourself.
Starting after skill acquisition
They can form a cooperative to be given loan as far as they are all together. They can learn how to write grants. International Breweries gives millions of naira every year. So money is not a problem, they can always start small and think big.
Advise to youths
My advise to the youths is to change their mindset. Some of us are what we are because we lost our fathers early. My father died when I was eight years old and my mother was a widow for 40 years and I said, that thing my father lost, I will pick it and I picked it. I went to school on scholarship, B.Sc, M.Sc, Ph.D, is it a joke? Hard work pays. So my advise to youths is to work hard and forget about how wealthy their parents are and forget about quick money. You must continue to learn – long life learning. Learning started when you were born and will continue until you die. I learn everyday.
