| ‘I’ll give
Nigerians 100,000 jobs in 2 years’
From AMECHI OGBONNA
Saturday, October
4, 2008
Like many other Nigerians who have the milk of human kindness
in them Mr. Ikechukwu Okogbue, the CEO of Kenon Oil and Gas
is one man who believes that corporate organisations in the
country owe so much to the society for providing them the
platform to operate their business.
It was in this regard that he recently reached out to touch
the lives of thousands of young Nigerians in various fields
through his foundation, The Ikechukwu Okogbue Foundation,
a non-governmental organization committed to uplift the lives
of youths in the 36 states of the federation.
Recently Mr. Okogbue, who is billed to launch the N50 million
foundation in November, spoke to Saturday Sun on what motivated
him to give a little back to the society that has given him
enormous opportunity to make an impact on corporate Nigeria.
Starting business
I cannot say that I started business with x amount of money,
but I can remember clearly that a couple of friends assisted
me, when they saw my business plan and were convinced I had
something to offer Nigerians in the area of distribution of
diesel and petroleum. But I must say that though I am not
sure I have record of how much I started business with, I
also need to add that I was focused and had a good idea of
what I wanted in business.
Talking in terms of what our business is worth at the moment,
I can say I have not made all the money in the world to launch
the foundation. But I realized that God that gave me whatever
I have has a purpose and so I decided that I should go into
a project that will help the less privileged. I want to tell
you that I did not go into the foundation because I am hungry
or that I have made so much money in business.
I can say that I am still struggling to get to the level I
want in life, but I believe that we need to help empower our
people with what is available at the moment. I also believe
that our aspiration will be achieved in the long run.
The Foundation
The foundation was established with the aim of touching the
lives of the less underprivileged in my society. My definition
of the underprivileged includes all classes of disadvantaged
groups in the areas of education, poverty, sickness, aged
people and those who have nobody catering for them.
For instance there are several qualified drivers who cannot
afford to buy a bus or car to start transportation business,
so also are hair dressers and barbers who cannot start a business
of their own, even though the possess the technical competence.
What we do for instance is to use our resources to buy the
vehicle for drivers and allow the driver use the vehicle and
return money to the foundation as he operates. After making
up the money, he will then be allowed to take full possession
of the vehicle to do his own business. It is all about a revolving
transport scheme where as many as show determination and commitment
to be productive are allowed to benefit from the resources
of the foundation.
In that process they can be empowered with the facilities
that enable them fend for themselves and their families.
The foundation is committed to replicating this experience
in as many families as possible because we have known that
majority of the citizens are living below the bread line.
The effect of this on individual families across the 36 states
of the federation will go along way in assisting in achieving
Federal Government’s poverty alleviation and economic
empowerment policy.
We are not interested in making any financial gains through
the foundation because that is not the purpose, but the overall
desire is to give back something to the society that brought
us up and I think this should be the target of every successful
entrepreneur in this country.
Our objectives
The foundation was founded to help people achieve their full
potentials in the area of education skill acquisition, and
education and enlightenment programme.
My background
From my background, I know what suffering means. I know people
suffer to the extent that even with my limitations I could
share my pocket money with most of the widows in my village.
With the hindsight of the not-too-pleasant experiences I had,
I started praying to God to bless me with resources that will
enable me get a job and start earning money to start helping
these class of people.
I was not praying to God to give me money for myself alone,
but I was praying to get and use it to touch the lives of
the under-privileged.
Somehow God has answered that prayer. For instance he gave
me my own establishment called Kenon Oil and Gas Limited.
We are into buying and selling of diesel and petroleum products.
That is where I make my living and I think I am grateful to
him for the wonderful patronage we have been getting from
our customers.
It is from what we are doing their that we are thinking about
how to help others who are not as privileged as we are. Imaging
how the lives of most Nigerians who are currently deprived
can be when other entrepreneurs begin to put back something
to the society where they are operating.
Target beneficiary
We are targeting the whole 36 states of the federation in
the long run. But for now we are starting with two pilot states
of Lagos and Imo states. We have been doing this over the
years, but it has become obvious that we cannot do it alone
and achieve the level of result we have in mind without the
assistance and support of other Nigerians.
That is the reason we are enlisting the support of all Nigerians
including the press, government, private individuals and corporate
organizations to achieve our goals.
The Foundation is not set out as a money making venture, but
as a platform to economically empower our youths, through
the provision of income generating projects that can take
their minds away from idleness and criminality.
We believe that the goals of the foundation will be achieved
faster and better in partnership with various interest groups
including the government and the international community,
because our mission is to make a strong statement in the area
of economic empowerment for the youths.
Projects executed
It is pertinent to note that in line with our mission statement,
we have already stared deploying our resources into some of
the projects we intend to implement in the two pilot states
of Imo and Lagos.
The first set of beneficiaries of our scholarship scheme is
currently in their third year in the university. We also have
a rural water scheme serving communities in the Eastern part
of the country, and we are hoping get it running also in Lagos
soon. The transportation scheme is also working in the states
and we are looking forward to incorporating other activities
in the scheme very soon.
Even here in Lagos all the people in my community are enjoying
free water, which we provided for them and we intend to extend
this to more rural communities very soon.
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