Speaking to newsmen in Umuahia, OAU reflected on the opportunities and challenges confronting young people in Abia and the urgent need to create an economic environment in which they can acquire relevant skills, establish viable enterprises and contribute meaningfully to the prosperity of the state.
According to him, Abia’s young population should not be viewed merely through the prism of unemployment, dependency or social vulnerability, but as an invaluable reservoir of energy, creativity, enterprise and intellectual capital capable of transforming the state’s economic fortunes.
“Abia has no shortage of young people with talent, ideas, ambition and the determination to succeed. What we must do is create the environment that allows those qualities to flourish. Our young people should not be regarded as a problem to be managed. They are an economic asset that must be deliberately developed, supported and integrated into the growth strategy of the state,” Akym said.
He maintained that the future of Abia’s economy would depend substantially on how effectively the state and other stakeholders harness the ingenuity of its younger generation. He argued that beyond conventional employment, emphasis must be placed on entrepreneurship, vocational skills, technology, agriculture, creative industries, manufacturing and other sectors capable of generating sustainable livelihoods.
OAU stressed that education must increasingly be connected to employability, enterprise and practical problem-solving, noting that academic qualifications alone may not sufficiently prepare young people for the realities of a rapidly changing economy.
“We need to rethink how we prepare our young people for the future. Education must give them knowledge, but it must also give them practical competence, confidence and the ability to identify opportunities. A young person who leaves school with a certificate but without a marketable skill or the capacity to create value is still vulnerable. We must bridge that gap,” he said.
He further advocated greater investment in technical and vocational education, digital skills acquisition and entrepreneurship development, arguing that these interventions could equip young Abians to participate competitively in both local and global markets. He noted that the digital economy, in particular, has created opportunities that can enable young people to earn beyond the limitations of geography.
The business man also emphasised the importance of access to finance, mentorship and business support for young people who have demonstrated the capacity to build enterprises. He observed that many aspiring entrepreneurs possess innovative ideas but are constrained by inadequate capital, limited business knowledge, weak market access and the absence of structured mentorship.
According to him, youth empowerment programmes should therefore move beyond the distribution of temporary relief materials and embrace interventions that build productive capacity and create pathways to long-term economic independence.
“Empowerment should not simply mean giving somebody something today and forgetting about the person tomorrow. Real empowerment is about building capacity. It is about giving a young person the knowledge, tools, mentorship, access to finance and market opportunities required to become productive and independent. When you empower one young person properly, you are potentially empowering an entire family and, in some cases, creating opportunities for many other people,” OAU stated.
He also called for stronger collaboration among government, private investors, financial institutions, educational institutions, civil society organisations and successful entrepreneurs in designing sustainable youth development programmes.
Onyekwere Akym Uche argued that government alone could not shoulder the entire responsibility of creating opportunities for the younger generation, stressing that the private sector must become a more active participant in the development of Abia’s human capital.
He said successful entrepreneurs and professionals from Abia, both within Nigeria and in the diaspora, could play a strategic role by investing in startups, establishing training platforms, mentoring young entrepreneurs and supporting initiatives that promote innovation and enterprise.
“We must create a culture where those who have succeeded deliberately help others to succeed. Government has a critical role to play, but government cannot do everything. The private sector, our professionals, our business leaders and our people in the diaspora all have a stake in the future of Abia. We must begin to see investment in our young people as an investment in the future of the entire state,” he opined.
OAU further identified Abia’s strong entrepreneurial culture as a significant advantage that should be strategically harnessed. He noted that the state already possesses a tradition of enterprise and craftsmanship, particularly among small business owners, artisans, traders and manufacturers, and argued that the task should be to modernise, finance and scale these activities.
He maintained that with appropriate infrastructure, access to affordable capital, technology, skills development and market linkages, young entrepreneurs could move from subsistence-level businesses to competitive enterprises capable of employing others and contributing substantially to the state’s internally generated economic value.
The OAU Foundation founder also underscored the importance of mentorship, saying young people require more than financial assistance to navigate the complexities of entrepreneurship and career development.
“A young person needs somebody who can say, ‘I have walked this road before, let me show you where the pitfalls are.’ Mentorship can save people years of mistakes. We need experienced people to deliberately invest their knowledge and networks in the next generation. That is how societies build continuity,” he said.
Akym's position aligns with a broader development approach that places human capital and entrepreneurship at the centre of economic transformation. Abia itself has previously pursued youth entrepreneurship and knowledge-economy initiatives, including a state programme designed to train 2,000 young people across the 17 local government areas in entrepreneurship development. More recently, business-support initiatives in the state have increasingly highlighted technology, digital innovation and SME growth as pathways to job creation.
He, however, cautioned that youth development should not be reduced to periodic programmes or politically motivated interventions. Instead, he advocated a coherent and measurable framework capable of tracking beneficiaries, assessing outcomes and ensuring that support translates into sustainable businesses, employment and improved livelihoods.
“The question should not always be, ‘How many young people did we gather or how many items did we distribute?’ The more important questions are: How many businesses survived? How many jobs were created? How many young people became financially independent? How many innovations reached the market? Those are the measurements that should guide us,” OAU said.
Looking ahead, he expressed optimism that Abia could build an economy in which young people would not have to leave the state in search of every meaningful opportunity. He said creating such an environment would require consistency, visionary leadership, private-sector participation and a willingness to invest patiently in people.
“Imagine an Abia where a young graduate can acquire a digital skill, build a business from Umuahia or Aba and sell to customers anywhere in the world. Imagine our young artisans receiving the technology and capital to scale their businesses, rather than remaining at subsistence level. Imagine our young farmers becoming agro-processors and exporters. That is the kind of Abia we should be building,” he said.
Akym maintained that the objective should ultimately be to create an ecosystem where young Abians become not merely beneficiaries of development but active participants and principal drivers of it.
In conclusion, OAU stressed that the prosperity of Abia would be inseparable from the prosperity of its younger generation, urging all stakeholders to regard youth development as a long-term investment rather than a temporary social intervention.
“Our young people are not waiting for someone to build their future for them. They are ready to build, innovate, create and compete. What they need is an enabling environment, access to opportunity and people willing to believe in their capacity. If we get that right, Abia will not merely have a large youth population; we will have a powerful economic force capable of driving the state into a new era of prosperity.”
0 Comments