By Eric Elezuo
The Director General of the National Council of Arts and Culture, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, has hosted a rewarding entrepreneurial roundtable for secondary school students as well as skill acquisition programmes for the teeming youths of Nigeria.
The events, who took effect on the sidelines of the ongoing National Arts Festival in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, witnessed the empowerment of young people through the entrepreneurial and skill acquisition engagements.
The workaholic DG, who took time off to parley with as many as were involved in the programmes, admonished all and sundry on the need to take serious all the skills being showcased as well lectures presented by experts on diverse areas of human development, saying they will definitely come handy in participants journeys of life.
During the entrepreneurial roundtable session, hosted by Lizzy Iheanacho, the students of the prestigious Mater Christi Catholic Girls High School, Igede, Ekiti State were on hand as the main audience to absorb the intellectual and practical transfer of rare skills by trusted and tested professionals in their various fields of endeavours.
Kick-starting the flurry of down to earth talk, which has been the hallmark of Ekiti 2021 NAFEST, an expert in ‘Iru’ production, Miss Funke Awodiya, who also doubles as poet, farmer, activist in healthy living among a whole lot of others, took the students and other guests present on a round robin trip of self education.
A graduate of Sociology from the University of Ibadan, Awodiya took time to dissect to the understanding of the participants the making of her Iru Ekiti, and how it can grant financial autonomy to anyone involved.
Awodiya, who is a sickle cell carrier, went down memory lane to discuss her earliest beginning, adding she is sustaining the legacies of great women, using her mother and grandmother as points of contact. He mentioned that her Iru Ekiti is sold in major countries of the world including Europe. She encouraged the audience to be proud ambassadors of their roots.
Following the iru merchant was a another entrepreneur, who was versed in the business of converting waste to wealth, Mr. Nuhu Wajid.
Mr Wajid, among many things educated the participants on how to make interlocking stones, using mere water sachets, pet bottles and others. He said that there is nothing considered waste to a business minded person, and as a result, wealth abounds everywhere in the environment.
Describing through a slide how the waste materials are converted to solid stones, Wajid told the students that anyone can be whatever he chooses to be, or produce whatever he chooses to, so long as he puts his mind to it, adding that determination has remained the key to any success.
He spoke also on the importance of the environment as the first point of call to healthy living.
A virtual documentary was presented on how sachets are transformed into interlocking stones
The last speaker on the roll call was Mrs Bose Falekan, who had sustained the family’s age-long tradition of making pounded yam with egusi soup among other local delicacies to go with it.
Narrating how she learnt the skills from her mother, who also learnt from her own mother, Falekan encouraged the students never to look down on any skill as it could be the mainstay of their livelihood in the future.
Lending his voice to the roundtable discussion, the Deputy Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Hon. Akin Jamiu, admonished the students on the need to pay adequate attention to their talents and other inherent gifts and skills. He highlighted the perfection of classroom education, but hinted that tapped talents and skills can go a long way to securing one’s financial future.
Expressing his appreciation to the principal of Mater Christi, Mrs Mary Anslem Nwachukwu, the NCAC DG, Otunba Runsewe acknowledged the high standard of education the school is depositing on its students.
The highlight of the roundtable discussion was the presentation of N25, 000 by DG Runsewe to Miss Alpha Chinenye, for asking a question considered as the most intelligent among the students during question time.
Runsewe addressing skill acquisition participants
In another development, Runsewe also took time to supervise the various skill acquisition centres at the Festival and admonished all participants on the need to be attentive to the teachings of the professionals, promising that everything produced will be displayed at the council’s office in Abuja.
Among the various skills available for the participants to acquire were shoe making, beads making, hairdressing, headgear tying, tailoring and waste to wealth conversion.
Speaking separately to The Boss, participants expressed their happiness at being part of the event, promising not to take anything for granted.
