Even though a report states that Nigeria is number 10, in terms of internet users in the world, stating that we have about 44 million users on the internet. We are not yet there. If you put it against our population that is still not up to a third of our population that has access to internet in the country. A country like South Africa and Egypt are ahead of Nigeria. To know we are not yet there: everything I.T items used in the offices are not produced in Nigeria – the computer, printer, telephones, cameras are all imported. The implication is the jobs are being created in China, India, UK and US and not in Nigeria. When Nigeria becomes an ICT-driven nation, we will be able to produce our own telephones, computers. But we are moving there.
Given the right opportunities and infrastructure, we have a set of very brilliant and dynamic youths in this country that would hold onto their position and stand in the ICT world. The major limitation is the infrastructure. You cannot divorce the role of infrastructure from competence. If the environment is dull, the youth raised in that area would be negatively affected. That is why the parents who have money try to send their kids to UK, US, where the infrastructure is better.
In the US, the cost of internet is next to nothing but right here, to use internet is very expensive. For I.T to be developed internet must be as commonplace as sachet water. The government needs to take ICT development very serious. Some time ago, they toyed with the idea of setting up an ICT Ministry. That would have been a right step in the right direction. A ministry that would be solely focused on ICT development, if it is well funded it would go a long way to take Nigeria to the next level of ICT development. Then, ICT development would be enhanced.
So, what is you own organisation doing to close up that gap?
That is what led us to take ICT to the grassroots. Ours is to give the skills to the people. Currently, the young Microsoft professionals in the world are being produced by NH. When people are skilful, they would be part of tomorrow’s global ICT market. And we are doing our bit. The rest is in the hands of the government. If they want these young professionals to produced I.T wares here, they have to put the infrastructure in place. Then, the professionals would begin to harness their brains to produce something for this country; and they would also need to be encouraged. The country would need to patronise them.
New ICT items - software, hardware and accessories - are being developed in the ICT world in a fast rate.
How is your institution coping with the constant change in the industry?
One advantage of being linked with the global hub of ICT is that anything happening in the US, Europe or Asia, within a day, we also get to know in Nigeria.
So, there is the current content in everything we do. Our parent company in the US keeps track of industry developments and informs us from time-to-time on the going-on.
But how easy is it for you to upgrade, especially with you churning out students regularly?
It is not difficult to upgrade; whether it is hardware or software content. The content comes from US and US, on its own, upgrade for us from time-to-time. Because we pay royalty as part of what we make in Nigeria and on of the benefits of what we get in return is the upgrading. When the hardware becomes obsolete, we buy the latest from the market and upgrade. The only issue is that every such upgrading cost money, but it is not difficult to upgrade.
Your company is notable for offering Information Technology (IT) certified training. How long has your firm being in the business of Information Technology (IT) training and systems support?
Globally, New Horizons (NH) was started in the US by an individual about 30 years ago as an IT training organisation. After five years the company became very successful and later diversify into other forms of training. Since then, it has remained the technical training partner of major IT vendors worldwide such as Cisco, Oracle, Easy Council, Frontier and so on. Every software vendor requires training for the operators. We have been constituently adjudged as the number one training institution for the past 15 years by International Data Corporation (IDC), a body that accesses the operation of IT and training organisations worldwide.
With branches in 70 countries across every continent, NH Nigeria edition started in 2005 when it was granted franchise. And our focus then was to take IT to the grassroots – primary, secondary schools and tertiary institutions. And we have successful incorporated IT certification-based training into the secondary school and university academic curricula. Today, about ten universities, which include Babcock and Covenant, offer our programmes as part of their academic curricula. This, to me, is a milestone achievement. It took us about two years to get this success. Before then, I had worked in three big multinational firms –Dunlop, Unilever, and Coca-Cola.
Most people say it is not easy doing business in Nigeria; how has been business of IT?
The business opportunity remains very big. However, we have some limitations in Nigeria because infrastructure is poorly developed. So as a businessman, you realise that you are alone. Everything that should make your business work well, you got to make it happen on your own. You got to provide your own generator, bore-hole; to get money from banks is another headache. So, any business in Nigeria that is paying 10 to 100 people and above should be commended because it takes more than casual courage to run business in Nigeria.
Having said that, the challenges, to me, are also opportunities of making money. If we gather together to bring solutions to the challenges, Nigeria will be better for it. We, in NH are solving one aspect of the challenges, which is education. Some other people could try solving other challenges; by so doing, Nigeria would stand out some day.
How have NH been coping with the meltdown?
Although it is tough, we are managing. We didn’t come down as an organisation: 2009 was better than 2008 and so on. As the years go by we are increasing, in terms of our performance. We don’t have any cause to regret.
In fact, the meltdown has taught us a lesson, as an organisation and individual that everything good does not last forever. I would say the meltdown has affected us in two ways. As training institute, some of our students’ parents are also affected by the meltdown. When a one looses his job, it would have a negative effect on the kids. People are then more careful in releasing money for anything that has not become a matter of life and death. To that extent, yes, we are affected.
Nevertheless, when people loose their jobs, they also need to up-scale to get another job. So, some out of jobs are coming for training to obtain more skills that would enable them get another job.
What is your advice for those planning to go into your line of business?
My advice is that entrepreneurship is like a calling. Except one has a calling, it is not something an average person should dabble into. It is no longer the survival of the fittest but the very most fit.
I have realised that the reason why people find it really difficult to resign their jobs and start a business, having done so myself, is because this environment hostile to business. So the people who survive are those ready to die for their ideas. When I resigned my job from Coca-Cola to add value to the youths of this country, I said, if I perish I perish nobody should pity me. That is the only spirit that can make anybody survive; otherwise after one year the fellow will run back. It is a hot place that is why most businesses die. One may be a star in the US and when it comes to Nigeria may be a total failure; because one is just like an orphan in business.
In US and other Asian countries like Singapore, when a person has a business idea, they government runs to you and supports your business. People have ideas here, but there is no mechanism in place to see it to fruition.
Out of hundred businesses started annually, 70 per cent die within the first one year because of lack of funds, the market is not organised; everything seem to be upside-down. Today, we would ban one thing; tomorrow, we would remove the ban. New policy today; a counter one tomorrow; so, the policy somersault is there for you to contend with. The policy that you see that makes you to go into a business, before the business takes off, the policy may change again; to which, your business may become stillborn.
Do you advise those vying political offices in the forthcoming election?
For the people who would take over or continue in government come May 29, I think if they have business sense and the people at heart; they have to create a conducive environment for businesses. The leaders have to do less of politicking now and more of development. We are producing over 300,000 graduates now in the university and polytechnics every year and there is no place to accommodate them. According to the Federal ministry of Education, 80 per cent of the graduates are not employed. How long can we continue to produce them and say we are going to have peace and stability?
Right now there is explosion in Tunisia: people have taken to the streets because there are no jobs. We criticize Wikileaks for all those things that came out recently. But there are some truths in them. One of the things that they said which Nigerian leaders need to take note of is that in the next few years Nigeria may become another Pakistan. Nigeria is as a vulnerable as those places. For it not to happen, the government has to do something quick by creating jobs.
Our leaders need to bring everyone with ideas together and ask how we can create jobs now to accommodate the growing number of graduates. In fact we need to be creating a minimum of one million jobs every year. The jobs are not difficult to create. To create one million jobs, we need to create 1000 small businesses. And to create 1000 small businesses, we need to encourage the banks to identify 2000 people who want to go into small businesses and give them loans., taking note that if they empower 2000 businesses, 50% of them would fail, there would 1000 that would succeed. These 1000 would create one million jobs.
Oba Akran, Oregun, Ilupeju, Aba, Enugu, Nnewi industrial estates are now church estates now. The factories have collapsed and the churches have taken over. And there cannot be employment unless people set up businesses. People would not set up businesses easily in this kind of environment. And that is why Ghana is now the fastest growing economy in the world today. It is growing at 14% GDP per annum now as against Nigeria’s 6%; India and China about 8 and 9 per cent respectively. And Nigeria is part of the reason Ghana is growing. A lot of Nigerian businesses are relocating there because it has been able to create a conducive environment for entrepreneurs to thrive. Nigeria’s loss is Ghana’s gain.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Evelyn Osagie
Quelle/Source: The Nation Newspaper, 06.02.2011
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