Three entrepreneurs, Mrs Chiamaka Amubi-Onusonye, Mrs Amarachi Okpala-Onwuamaegbu and Mr. Ebenebe Bethel Christian have received empowerment grants of 1 million naira each from Mr Val Ozigbo, Pastor Sam Obiorah and Dr. Ikenna Ifejiofor respectively at the just concluded UDUF Africa under 45 CEOs Summit which was held in onitsha on Saturday.
The summit with the theme Creating a Sustainable Africa Through Active Leadership was organised by the Ultimate Destiny Uplifters Foundation (UDUF) Africa, a non-governmental organisation established to mentor young entrepreneurs and leaders.
Speaking at the event held at Federal Housing Estate Onitsha over the weekend, the former Transcorp boss, Mr Valentine Ozigbo emphasized on emotional intelligence as the key to success in every human endeavor.
Ozigbo also charged the organisers and other participants, mostly the youths, to be passionate about their endeavours noting that passion and striving for excellence are necessary ingredients for achieving success.
Sharing his personal life story, Dr Ikenna Ifejiofor, Managing Director of Ike God foods Industries Ltd, (Makers of Jolly-jolly Noodles) maintained that mindset was everything a leader needed to move from one point to the other. He charged participants to dream big while emphasizing the need to start small.
Others who also spoke during the summit, Pastor Sam Obiorah of Life of Faith Gospel Assembly, Ngozi Ezeasor, Oluwatoyin Taiwo Banjo, Dr Godson Iroh, Prof Olusegun Sogbesan of Onitsha Business School admonished Nigerian youths to focus more on skills acquisition programmes to be self-sufficient, lamenting that there are no more white-collar jobs in public offices in Nigeria.
Earlier, in his address, the founding president of Ultimate Destiny Uplifters Foundation (UDUF) Africa, Mr Smart Chinedu Ezuma, said the summit is one of the ways the Foundation stand to contribute to balancing the disparity in the leadership situation in Africa
According to him, ‘everything rises and falls under leadership. If we can make corrections to our leadership mindset now that we are young, I believe that the future of Africa will be great.’
He noted that any person under the age of 45 is highly favoured, lucky, and blessed, whether male or female because he or she is at the peak of performance season, which I call the afternoon session of life.
“It is a good time to create and re-create your life. It’s not a time to follow shadows, build your life in the air, or have empty dreams. It’s a time to be intentional and catch up with destiny.
“From the age of 18 to 45, if you haven’t gotten clear on your purpose and destiny and made the necessary contribution towards achieving your purpose or reaching your destiny, it suffices to say you pass as a fool.”
While confirming to be true the saying that a fool at 40 is a fool forever, Mr Ezuma urged Nigerian youths to be innovative and intentional about their future.
High point of the summit was business pitching by selected entrepreneurs,where three of the entrepreneurs won the business pitching competition and won 1 million naira each to boost their businesses.
There was also presentation of award to deserving individuals including, Arinze Omenwa of Naira Rice, Amarachi Abraham of Mara Paint Divah.
