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A cross section of participants at ‘The Next Titan’ Season 5, during the first audition in Lagos on Thursday, this week. Air Peace, SIFAX Laud Entrepreneurial Initiative
By Kenneth Jukpor
As part of efforts to equip Nigerian youths with employable skills, the fifth edition of ‘The Next Titan’ has provided fifty participants with free entrepreneurship training and certification.
The Next Titan is a platform for young and creative entrepreneurs to pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges, made up of distinguished and successful business owners, with the grand prize winner to go home with a car and N5 million cash reward.
Meanwhile, two sponsors, Air Peace and SIFAX Group have commended the organizers for the initiative which is already developing young Nigerians that can measure up to their counterparts around the world and make the nation proud.
Speaking with MMS Plus newspaper on the Day 1 of Season 5 auditioning, the Corporate Communications Manager, Air Peace, Mr. Christian Iwarah observed that the huge crowd at the event meant Nigerian youths were willing to work and ready to invest in the country if given the right environment.
According to Iwarah, such conducive environment has been created today by the organizers of ‘The Next Titan’.
“This shows that Nigerians have ideas because the participants here today came because they have something they believe would make impact in the nation and the globe at large.”
He stressed that the initiative would make the participants more hopeful, confident and enthusiastic about their ideas and aspirations for life.
“Nigeria’s economy needs more programmes like this because it would develop youths who would make the country proud and stand up to their counterparts around the world” he added.
However, the Programme Coordinator for the ongoing season, Mr. Ronald Ajiboye commended the organizers for making the current edition bigger and more innovative.
Mr. Ajiboye who was a participant in the Season 3 said, “This show affords Nigerian youth myriad of opportunities for self development. The fact that one made it to this stage means that individual is already a winner.
“What we’re trying to do is to ensure everyone who comes to the platform is blessed, improved, motivated and inspired. At the boot camps, participants are going to have certification programmes for free. You can imagine what the benefits would be for those who eventually get into the house for the top sixteen. This show gives the participants a new direction about life, business and investment. You don’t leave the same way you came. You leave hungry with a success mentality” he told our correspondent.
He also stated that it was a great privilege to have been on The Next Titan, as the programme changed his ideology positively.
“When I got out of ‘The Next Titan’, I was a completely different person. I was able to win a couple of bids and I got several grants and expanded my programme. It has been fantastic all the way” he said.
Meanwhile SIFAX Group, a multinational company with interests in Aviation, Maritime, Haulage & Logistics, Oil & Gas and Hospitality, has pledged its support in the initiative to stimulate and grow youth entrepreneurship.
Speaking at the official kick off of the Season 5 in Lagos, Mr. Olumuyiwa Akande, Corporate Affairs Manager, SIFAX Group, explained that the company believes in encouraging young and aspiring Nigerians who want to break free from the job-seeking mindset.
He stated: “SIFAX Group has a reputation of lending helping hands to causes and programmes that seek to redirect the mindset of the Nigerian young ones away from the job-seeking syndrome. The major objective of the show, which is to cultivate and fertilise the entrepreneurial spirit of the Nigerian youth, is also well aligned with the business philosophy of SIFAX Group.
“Our country’s educational system, as it’s currently designed, is fashioned to produce job-seeking graduates, despite the social reality of high unemployment rate in the country. The rate at which young people are entering the job market on an annual basis is far higher than jobs that are created, both by the private and the public sectors”
Another semi-finalist, during the Season 3 of the reality show, Mr. Rotimi Egbewunmi also highlighted the gains of attending the reality show.
“One of the things I learnt from the show was the power of networking. Your network determines your networth. The reality show gave me the opportunity to meet with young entrepreneurs, people who had excellent mindset about what they intend to achieve and the kind of problems and solutions they proffer to move the country to greater heights”
“It puts you in a position to solve problems as groups were given tasks to solve within specific timeframe and we were amazed at the kind of contacts and resources we were able to generate in forty-eight hours. This is a platform that raises young people and improves their minds” he said.
