2 Nigerian schools qualify for SAGE World Cup

Two schools have qualified to represent Nigeria at the Student for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) 2018 World Cup scheduled to hold in Durban, South Africa from August 8th to 14th.

The winning schools are Government Secondary School, Garki, Abuja and the Government Girls Secondary School, Abaji.

The winners were unveiled at the 2018 National School Entrepreneurship Exhibition and Award at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja.

The event was also used to officially launch the National School Entrepreneurship Programme (N-SEP).

While the Garki school came first on the Socially Responsible Business category, the Abaji school did on the Social Enterprise Business Category.

Apart from heading to South Africa to represent Nigeria, the two schools also got N500,000 prize money from the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN).

Vice President,Yemi Osinbajo in his speech at the occasion said the increasing influence of globalization and emergence of knowledge based economy have led to the adoption of entrepreneurship education as a means of linking knowledge and skill with learning for developing critical human capital and mitigate social consequences of unemployment.

He said that socio-economic implications of entrepreneurship and human capital development all over the world is seen as booster for wealth creation, employment generation, living standard, poverty and crime reduction which have direct impact on the national economy.

He said “This programme we are launching today is aimed at encouraging an innovative/skills among basic and secondary schools pupils/students as this will enhance entrepreneurship and enterprise development towards poverty reduction and employment generation.

“They should cultivate the culture of being their own bosses and not job seekers right from primary and secondary schools.

“The development of any nation depends mainly on the creative capacity of the citizens to be capable of effectively exploring and exploiting the country’s natural resources and transforming them into finished products and services through value addition.

“The main purpose of entrepreneurship for children in primary/secondary education is to encourage them to think of creativity and innovation,” he stated

Director General/CEO of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Dr. Dikko Umaru Radda, said “The development of entrepreneurial mind-sets among pupils/students in primary and secondary schools in Nigeria is becoming increasingly important in preparation for catching them young for improving employment generation through wealth creation and self-reliance.

“N-SEP is set to provide access to functional and hand-on entrepreneurship and community service education to every primary and secondary school students in Nigeria.

“This is to reduce poverty and massive youth unemployment. Also to create a network of leaders who will see the challenges in their communities as their responsibilities.

“SMEDAN is mindful of the paradigm shift in today’s education, it is no longer ‘go to school, get a good grade and work in a reputable organization. It is now go to school, get a good grade, acquire the skill and knowledge that will enable you to start your own business’ “The era of brilliant curriculum vitae is over, this is the era of crafting a bankable business plan that will launch the students into being their own bosses.” he said.