Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurial Education: harvesting from the Cradle

Keynote Speech Delivered on the Occasion of the Faculty of Education 2019 Conference at Princess Alexander Auditorium, University of Nigeria, Nsukka

Theme: Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurial Education: harvesting from the Cradle

Introduction

Back in the days when we had only informal education, children learned from their parents how to do farm work, boys learned goldsmith, carpentry work, sculptural work, etc from their fathers while girls learned sewing, knitting, etc from their mothers – crafts and skills that kept them busy, and made them creative and productive. What really changed that culture? Could it be our idea and perception of formal education? We embraced formal education the wrong way; our wrong perception of formal education made us run away from what we call dirty and tedious work, so we embraced what we call white-collar job where we sit down in the office to do whatever comes our way, and get paid at month-end.

……..that explains why we have many graduates, including masters and Ph.D. holders who roam the streets looking for a job rather than looking inwards to know what they can offer and earn a living out of it. It explained why we cannot produce common toothpick or even harvest and process the cashew at our backyards.

Unemployment Facts

Nigeria is a country with a population of about 190.9m people. Economically active population is about 111.1m people but according to reports; four out of ten in this workforce population are unemployed or underemployed. What will be the fate of these unemployed people if we don’t talk about entrepreneurship or if we don’t encourage the young ones to be self-employed? Let’s not forget that as we battle as a nation on what to do with the currently unemployed people, we graduate students on yearly basis to join the list, while our children in primary and secondary schools are also coming up to join the queue. What plan do we have for them? Where will they work? Is it in the already crowded Federal government and state parastatals, already crowded oil companies or where?

Idle Mind is the Devil’s Workshop

We complain of insecurity because of kidnappers, armed robbers, yahoo boys, prostitutes, etc; if we continue to take things for granted, the future of this country is at stake. We need to start making amends now and we must start by redefining education because it is all-embracing – it embraces all aspects of learning; it could be skill acquisition, inculcating morals into young ones, going to school to acquire certificates, on the job training, etc. The younger generation needs to be re-orientated so that whatever legitimate business or job they find to do, they will be proud of doing that and grow with it. We need to teach the young ones to start harvesting from the cradle.

What Does the Future Hold?

Days are gone when students focus their mind to read their school books or study just to pass their exams. The result is that they are certified on paper but they cannot reason. That is why in reality, some people can’t even manage their little earnings, yet, they studied opportunity cost and scale of preference in school. Some things we learn or learned in school are not just to pass an exam; they are life lessons that should help us make a good living. This is the time to think – after exams, after school, what will I do with my life? This is the time for students to utilize their free times in school and engage themselves in meaningful activities that will pave their path to a balanced future. It is not the time to waste in cult activities or chase sugar daddies and mummies around for money; it is not the time to fight for girlfriend and boyfriend. Life out of school is so demanding and it requires more skills, wisdom, innovative and creative mindset to succeed. A certificate will only boost your personality because even some cleaners have graduate certificates, but the world will celebrate and value you because of your ability to solve problems.

Harvesting from the Cradle

Some people are very good with blame games. They blame their dead parents, their wicked uncles, and aunties, etc for not helping them get through life. I lost my father when I was 13 years old and from then, I have continued to hustle. I did all kinds of legitimate jobs while growing up, just to take care of myself and my siblings. Serious-minded people seek out better ways to overcome their problems and not sulk around and complain. Some students trained themselves in school by engaging themselves in menial jobs during their spare times, yet they graduated with good grades.

Early entrepreneurial endeavor will help young people to stay focused and build a culture of hard work and job creation that will give them an edge over others as they journey through life. If students cannot learn to create job while they are still in school, it will be difficult when they are out there as a graduate. When you engage in innovative activities as a child or a youth, it makes you creative and helps you build an entrepreneurial culture. That is how entrepreneurship starts – It is better and sweeter when harvested from the cradle. You grow with your business or art or craft, and when you grow rich and start enjoying your money, you will enjoy with peace of mind.

I make my children spend their holidays in the work environment, even those in primary school. They don’t just sit back and enjoy the money I worked hard for. I make sure they move from one department to the other, they work with the mechanics, welders, electricians, equipment/machine operators, ICT, Finance, Audit, Administration, etc – just for them to learn to appreciate how money is made. My children know that they can’t waste my money organizing and throwing parties because they are involved in money-making activities. I teach them to harvest from the cradle.

I heard of a man who sent his son to the site where they are building his house, for him to join the laborers. He made his son go there during holidays until the house was completed. The contractor paid his son the same way he paid other laborers based on the job they were able to do. That’s another example of harvesting from the cradle.

Most of you, students may not have got the required orientation and push to engage in some entrepreneurial activities while in primary and secondary schools, but you can still build that culture and develop yourself now that you are still in the higher institution, it will make you indispensable, responsible and independent after you graduate.

Conclusion

I have two children whom I sent to wash my dresses while I go somewhere. One of them smiled and said yes daddy but the other one frowned and left. When I came back I met the one that frowned washing the dresses while the other one was busy watching movies. Who is the obedient one among the two?

It will do us all much good if after this conference, we will go out there and put to use what we have heard and learned from this conference, even if we have frowned at the way the speakers spoke and how badly organized the conference is.

Thank you.

Written by Olive Chinyere Amajuoyi

For Sam Maduka Onyishi

August 2019