AEMAinspire University Tour: Temofe Empowers UNIABUJA Students With Grant

The Founder of the African Economic Merit Awards (AEMA), Mr. McEva Temofe has urged Nigerian students to embrace entrepreneurship, as against waiting for white-collar jobs that are difficult to come by these days.

He stated this at the second edition of the AEMAinspire University Tour held recently at the University of Abuja.

Held under the theme, Safeguarding The Nigerian Economy Through Entrepreneurs, the initiative aims at inspiring African students to become entrepreneurs, employers of labour and business executives.

In his welcome address, Temofe described the event as an important part of making sure that students and youths across Africa are informed, engaged and enthusiastic in building an alternative career.

“I am excited to share my wealth of ideas, journey and knowledge with you all. This seminar is to guide and lead you in becoming not just a brilliant entrepreneur, but to give you a career direction and impact your lives positively so that you can live a better career driven life and less life errors. In pursuit of building a fine career, I will like you to hang this deep down your hearts. Oprah Winfrey once said, ‘surround yourself with people who are going to fill your cup until your cup runneth over.”

While urging the participants to always be mindful of time in making career decisions, Temofe said, “your assignment on earth is tied to time; you must get it right on time or you miss it forever. Our mission on earth is tied to a place. Recognising and taking advantage of the moment plays a key role in our lives towards establishing the crown of your glory.”

He continued: “An entrepreneur is someone who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit and learning to serve to be served. In this journey, there are lots of ups and downs. Listening to entrepreneurship lecture doesn’t mean you should start your own business; it is to help you build a leadership path to succeed wherever you find yourself,” he said.

Temofe informed that his career as an entrepreneur has always shaped how he experiences the world, adding that entrepreneurs such as Tyler Perry, Tony Elumelu, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Strive Masiyiwa, the late Chris Kirubi and others influenced his entrepreneurial journey.

“Researching and reading about people with proven results, whose lives were very different from mine showed me how to step into someone else’s shoes. And the simple act of giving helped me develop my own identity. To everyone under the sound of my voice, watching online, this is the time for you to join this train of revamping the African economy. It is time to give all your support to this great initiative. It is time to raise leaders of value and drastically reduce unemployment. We look forward to seeing other African students in their schools and empower more people.”

In her remarks, representative of the Vice Chancellor of University of Abuja, Prof. Aisha Maikudi, thanked AEAMA for bringing the event to UNIABUJA, urging the students to take advantage of the opportunity and develop entrepreneurial spirit.

“So, if you have a passion, if you have something that you belie in, then we want to encourage you to do that. That’s why we entered into such partnerships and we have such lovely organisations like the AEMA to give you this grant.

The one-day event featured pep talk by experts, including Buffy Okeke-Ojiudu, CEO of Zebra Group and Japhet Omojuwa, Founder Alpha Reach, who shared their entrepreneurial experiences with the students.

“Most times, university students think that after university, then their life will start. But I want to break the news to you; your lives have already started,” Omojuwa said.

Meanwhile, three students of the university Jubril Abdul-Fatah, Onyekachi Ogbonna and Mustapha Abdulsalamad emerged winners of the AEMA Entrepreneurship Grant worth N2 million.

The winners were selected from hundreds of applicants who registered on AEMA platform.