BMI Advocates For Child Entrepreneurship Education

The Business Matters Incuba – tors (BMI) Finishing School through its initiative, Catch Them Young, has asked all stake – holders involved in children’s education to inculcate the value of entrepreneurship in them.

The unveiling event tagged Incubating African Kids Entrepreneurs for Next-Gen Impact was held in Lagos and well attended by several students from various schools, kid entrepreneurs, and some notable Nigerians like Nnamdi Ezeigbo, the CEO of SLOT Systems Limited, Prof. Taiwo Timothy, the Deputy ViceChancellor, the Federal University of Technology Akure, Dr. Henrietta Onwuegbuzie, an associate professor at Lagos Business School, Mr. Abatan Adedamola, Lagos State Director of Education, Consular General, South Africa, Bobby Moroe; a member, House of Representatives, Hon. Onuakalusi Okey-Joe and a host of other stakeholders who were also in attendance.

The Founder of the intervention, Engr. Nnamdi Felix Unachukwu, is a seasoned entrepreneur with over 22 years of experience across multiple industries, including telecoms, agri – culture, real estate, and oil and gas downstream.

His extensive expertise has been honed through a strong educational background, including a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, an OMP from Lagos Business School, an MBA from the University of South Wales, UK, MPhil UCAM Spain and a Doctorate of Business Administration (in view) from Universad Catholica de Muncia University, Spain.

He said entrepreneurship education was aimed at children between the ages of seven and fourteen as they are more impressionable and are at the early stages of their lives where they are still developing im – portant life skills.

“BMI’s target audience is between the ages of 7-14. What we are doing is we are taking entrepreneurship education to primary school that spans the first nine years in schools.

We are looking at children who have attained primary four to JSS three. What we did was break it down and use a methodology that will help children understand the concept of entrepreneurship at that stage of their lives.

“That’s what we have broken it down to and we are focusing on chil – dren for now because of the whole essence. The reason is that when I look at an African child, I pity an African child.

I gaze into their future and I pity them. Instead of complaining, I ask myself how can I contribute to helping them. With that in mind, I set off to take more education.

In my DBA final thesis I came across this topic; using entrepreneurship education at primary school to contain poverty and reduce unemployment in Nigeria. Since then further studies have shown me that when children are from infancy to adolescence they tend to understand lifetime concepts easily, and when it is inculcated in them they will begin to practice and grow with it.

“Before they turn into adults they would have turned into masters, like what happens when they go for training in football academies, they start young and grow to become professionals.

We know that can also happen in entrepreneurship if we can catch them young hence the BMI CTY which stands for Catch Them Young while BMI is Business Matters Incubators.

“The benefits are enormous. The research we have done, the acceptability and the views of stakeholders in the education sector show that it’s something that has been long awaited and everyone is looking for functional education that will teach more of real life and has a lot of benefits to establish in children self-efficacy and self-reliance because we know that today the society is changing due to environmental factors.

“We tend to pamper our children, take them to school, and be there all the time. Gone are the days when children were independent to do their own things. It looks like guardians and parents will be there all their lives.

Until we start teach – ing them entrepreneurial skills, which will help them develop a mindset of entrepreneurship, cre – ativity, autonomy, independence, and risk-taking.

“These are things that BMI finishing school will bring to the doorstep of schools where these children are found. For the children we want them to be self-reliant, to improve their self-efficacy and esteem because they can now discover their talents, work on them, develop them, and monetize them. It will im – pact the socioeconomic value of the society.

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