Over the weekend, I was honoured to attend the 42nd convocation ceremony of the University of Benin and to be recognized as the 2015 Recipient of the University of Benin Honorary Doctor of Science.
During my keynote remarks, I spoke about my belief in the power of Entrepreneurship to alleviate poverty, increase prosperity, and break the cycle of unemployment and youth restiveness. I called on all stakeholders – academia, public sector, private sector, civil society – to work together to alleviate poverty in our land. To all students, you must seize the opportunity to develop yourselves in Entrepreneurship.
I especially want to thank the VC of UNIBEN for setting up a centre for entrepreneurship. The UBA Foundation has financially committed to supporting this center because we recognize the importance of training grounds and incubators for entrepreneurial business ideas to flourish.
The university is also very dear to our bank: the current CEO/GMD of UBA, Kennedy Uzoka, is a graduate of UNIBEN as well as his deputy, Victor Osadolor.
Congratulations once again to this great university on this grand occasion and my best wishes to the Vice Chancellor and his leadership team as they fulfil their commitment to enhancing entrepreneurship in the country.