Recession: You need to be entrepreneur to survive, VoA tells Nigerian Journalists
(Cross section of participants at day-2 of a four-day workshop organized by VoA for Journalists in Kaduna)
//VoA: Shola Ojo, Kaduna, Northwest Nigeria//
Voice of America (VoA) on Tuesday said Nigerian Journalists needed to be entrepreneurs for them to be able to survive the present economy situation in the country.
One of the resource persons at the day-2 of a four-day entrepreneurship workshop for journalists and Mass Communication students currently ongoing in Kaduna, Acting Director-General, Nigerian Youth Chambers of Commerce, Isaac Udeh said, the time has come for Nigerian media practitioners to think outside the box in the face of massive unemployment or underemployment in the country.
According to him, about 2.2 million Nigerians are joining labour market annually which make it difficult for many to secure good white color jobs, adding that the environment can create opportunities for business minded people including journalists to become entrepreneurs without necessarily depend on white color jobs for those that have been engaged.
It imperative to remind readers that the burdens of sustaining current economy hardship in Nigeria are quite handful where only those who can solve problems will scale through using appropriate skills.
It is important to add that about 74 million people in the country are reported to be currently unemployed while about 29.5 million civil servants out of about 180 million people (National Demographic Projection).
This is where VoA is worry that except critical steps are taken to empower people morally to become more innovative, there bound to be social breakdown in the nearer future.
Isaac Udeh further noted that for rapid and sustainable growth, reduction of unemployment and poverty, Nigerians should keep learning and applying new entrepreneurial skills in what they do as well as breaking new frontiers to move themselves and the country forward.
A participant, who works with Deutshe Welle, Ibrahima Yakubu said, the training was apt as it has expose him to business opportunities abound around him without knowing hitherto.
“I have been exposed more to businesses around me which I didn’t take note of. Beside that, I now have additional idea on how to put my report together in such a way that it will arouse people’s interest in business and entrepreneurial”, Ibrahima said.
He then commended the organizers for bringing entrepreneur as a resource person.