Renowned African business entrepreneur and philanthropist, Tony Elumelu has said that there are many ways 100 million citizens of the country can be lifted from poverty.
Elumelu, who spoke at the graduation ceremony of Bayero University Kano (BUK), where he was conferred with Honorary Doctorate of Business Degree, said: “there are a variety of ways to lift 100 million citizens from poverty, but two of them stand out. We can increase the number of jobs in the economy or we can create more opportunities for our young entrepreneurs to transform their ideas into small businesses that employ labour.
“By promoting entrepreneurship, creating favourable policies and building infrastructure to help these entrepreneurs, we enable them to create jobs, and become employers of labour.
“Our young people need jobs that governments and big corporate bodies alone cannot provide.” The business entrepreneur, who is the Founder of Tony Elumelu Foundation, as well as Chairman of UBA Group and Heirs Holdings, asked everyone to join hands to lift Nigeria’s youth from poverty to prosperity.
The Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Muhammad Yahuza Bello said that Tony Elumelu’s conferment was in honour of his immense contribution to human capital development across Africa and especially in Northern Nigeria.
Through the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Africa’s leading philanthropy empowering entrepreneurship which he founded in 2010, he has empowered 7520 entrepreneurs across Africa; almost 1000 of the entrepreneurs are from Northern Nigeria.
In addition to the current beneficiaries, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recently partnered with Tony Elumelu Foundation to empower an additional 1,000 African entrepreneurs from the seven countries in Africa’s Sahel and Lake Chad regions, including the Northern Nigerian region.
By the end of 2019, total beneficiaries of the Tony Elumelu Foundation will be 8,520.
During the conferment, the Dean, School of Postgraduate studies, Bayero University, Professor Umar Pate commended Elumelu’s commitment to lifting young Africans out of poverty.
In a citation, he spoke of Elumelu as “an illustrious son of Africa that has excelled at home and abroad, an economist that has empowered countless people through job creation and philanthropy, and a symbol of the African spirit of hope.”
Other awardees were Senator Bello Hayatu-Gwarzo, LLD, Dr. Folake Solanke, the first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria, LLD and Prof. Abdulkadir Dangambo.
