A six-day business orientation training, organized by the Abia State Coordinating Office of Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises in the Niger Delta LIFE-ND, for incubators and incubatees has commenced at Kolpin Society Hotel Umuahia.
Declaring the training open, Abia State Commissioner for Agriculture, Prof Mgbeoji, said the training was designed to make them understand that they are going into a business venture and not a mere sojourn into the world of emotion or meaningless charity.
Prof. Mgbeoji, who noted that every business has its own secrets, tasked the participants on the need to grasp such secrets through the training which he said was aimed at turning them into persons who are going to be financially independent by making money from their efforts.
He made it clear that unless and until they understand that agriculture is a business, the effort of LIFE-ND, Government and their own individual effort would be a huge waste.
The idea, according to him, is to impact knowledge about cash management, and certain other skills adding that it is one thing to have an idea of a business and another thing is to manage money.
While describing their training as a singular wonderful opportunity, the Commissioner charged them not to squander such once in a lifetime opportunity.
In his welcome address, the State Project Coordinator, Abia State LIFE-ND, Dr. Uchenna Onyeizu, said participants of the training would receive business planning and management training so as to equip them with basic entrepreneurship knowledge and skills.
Onyeizu said the business development orientation would cover the business cycle of specific agro-commodities , Cash Management, Climate-Smart Agriculture, Food and Nutrition and other topics in agricultural entrepreneurship.
He explained that the training would enable incubatees have a business plan to guide their operations during the incubation period adding that on successful completion of the training, incubatees would be attached to incubators to gain hands-on experience and training on basic practices in the agribusiness activity of one’s choice.
The SPC, while congratulating them on being selected challenged them to make the best out of the training as to justify the huge investment which the various sponsors have put into the programme.
He warned that LIFE-ND would not hasitate to disengage any participant who demonstrates any form of unseriousness at any stage of the incubation period, imploring them to embrace the opportunity to better their lives.
Contributing, the National Agribusiness Promotion Coordinator, Mrs. Anthonia Esinwa disclosed that about 4025 Abia youths between the ages of 18 and 35 including women headed households, would be empowered at the end of the first phase of the project.
She commended the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Okezie Ikpeazu in the area of Agriculture and expressed the hope that the LIFE-ND project would be a catalyst for the start-up of life in other regions of the country.
In their separate speeches, the Programme Manager, Abia ADP, Chief Israel Amanze and the solicitor generel of Abia State and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Barr. Mrs. Uzoamaka Ikonne, charged the participants not to toy with the opportunity which they said was aimed at repositioning them for a lifetime of financial independence.
ABIA ONLINE reports that participants of the training, which are made of 25 incubators and incubatees drawn from 25 Communities that spread across the 10 Local Government Areas in Abia State, expressed their readiness to make the best out of the opportunity.
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