Necessity, they say, has always made innovators out of ordinary men. So it is that entrepreneurs trained by the Delta State government in recent years, angered by ever-faulty sets of imported products, have taken the bull by the horn and have turned out to fashion out products and gadgets that have beaten most imported ones.
The state’s star entrepreneurs, also known as Star STEPreneurs and YAGEPreneurs, have expressed confidence that their outfits are churning out products that beat Chinese products in terms of quality and durability.
One of such entrepreneurs is Kelvin Atano, the CEO/Managing Director of JK Science Tech Innovative Company Limited. Atano, who was trained in electrical installation and solar works under the Skills Training Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP), one of the programmes in the Delta State Job and Wealth Creation Programme, sees an industrial revolution ahead. He thinks visionary leadership in the coming years would provide the catalyst needed to activate the revolution.
He is also of the view that exceptional governors could create such schemes as those found in Delta State at the moment, which are helping to create jobs so many others can be productively engaged.
“I am amazed at the kind of products that we produce in my company today. For instance, we produce solar charge controller, automatic voltage selector, inverter, vehicle locator, specialized power alarm device, gas and fire alarm device, etc.,” Atano stated.
“I have just presented the charge controller we produced to the governor,” said Atano who was among the 75 STEPreneurs recently adopted into the STEP and Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs (YAGEP) Hall of Fame, by the Delta State Job and Wealth Creation Bureau,for their outstanding performances and innovations in their enterprises.
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With the starter packs they received at their graduation, they had established their enterprises where they run the businesses as CEOs in different cities in the state.
BusinessDay gathered that those that trained under STEP learnt vocational skills, while those that trained under YAGEP specialized in farming. Both groups were taken through entrepreneurship and business training meant to help them manage their enterprises and businesses successfully.
It was further gathered that their outstanding performances attracted Gov Okowa to award half a million naira to each of them as they were celebrated during the official graduation ceremony of the 1,000 beneficiaries of the 2020/2021 cycle of STEP and YAGEP.
From repairing to fashioning out these products, the Delta business community is now producing and supplying everything from inverters, the panels, charging controllers, vehicle trackers
Atano further told BusinessDay in Asaba how their business has grown from just fixing electrical installations and solar works to producing electronic gadgets that have better quality than some imported ones. “Our gadgets have a 12 months guarantee because there would be no need for repair within the first year,” he said.
The new entrepreneurs say they are now thinking of going into mass production while also perfecting their products even better, all aimed at boosting their output.
Atano, whose academic sojourn began with Medicine due to his family’s choice, but changed to and graduated with a degree in Accounting from Obafemi Awolowo University. After his graduation, he recalled, he worked as an accountant in a private firm and was owed for three years. “I had to ask myself, ‘Why am I wasting my life and time?”’
Following the soul-searching reflections, he made up his mind to enter into business which was his passion. Through the opportunity offered to youths through the state’s job and wealth creation bureau, he said he enrolled into STEP 2017/2018 circle, where he trained in Electrical Installations and Solar Works. He also trained in entrepreneurship and business management. “On completion of the programme, I was empowered with starter-packs which helped me to set up the business in Effurun,” he said.
The 40-year-old native of Ughelli North LGA of the state recalled that right from his secondary school days, he had been involved in electrical projects.
“This has been my dream and now STEP has brought that dream to reality. I always love production,” he said.
After this stage, he said he started working on solar panels; repairing things like electrical gadgets and wiring houses but something was still boiling in him that he could do more than this.
He thought to himself, instead of buying things that are installed, why not produce those things since he had trained in them? Secondly, through the training, they were propelled to start production due to customers’ complaints over Made-in-China products. Less than two to three months after installation, they were always coming back for repairs, and the local alternatives became imperative.
From repairing to fashioning out these products, the Delta business community is now producing and supplying everything from inverters, the panels, charging controllers, vehicle trackers, and many more, he said,
“We’ve been tested and proven. The federal government is impressed and even gave us a grant of N5 million under the presidential standing committee on inventions and innovations just because they recognized what we are doing. They gave us free space under Technology Innovation Center for us to be working in,” he said.
Atano, who was elated that he was among the STEPreneurs that were called into the hall of fame, said it had been part of his dream to stand out.
“This programme is going to raise a lot of Dangotes and Elumelus because during our training, we were taught how to become entrepreneurs but at that moment, I did not realise it,” he said. “Then, I started putting what I learnt into practice. Now, I’m just sitting down and asking what is left other than to mass-produce? So, we need partnerships that would help achieve this. We are also looking for more workers.”
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa said he was confident that the trained youths would make the state proud going into the future. Admirers of the Job and Wealth Creation scheme have often shown worry over the sustenance of the scheme after the Okowa era. The governor is however optimistic that his successor would build upon the foundation he laid. “By the grace of God we will never have an irresponsible leader”, he said while addressing the celebrated entrepreneurs, stating he would forever be proud of the entrepreneurs that have been raised. Besides, the bureau is backed by law.
For their diligence and professionalism in handling the programme for the past six years, Okowa gave thumbs up to Eric Eboh, the professor who is the Chief Job Creation Officer of the state and his team members in the bureau. While he hailed the youths of the state for their dexterity and focus, assuring that in years to come, the benefits of the programme would be manifest nationwide.
For the graduates who are expected to be included in the hall of fame in the coming years, the governor urged them to stand strong no matter the storm in life, assuring them that one day they too would excel in what they are doing. He noted that the administration has expanded the programme beyond the Job and Wealth Creation Office including the Rural Youth Skills Acquisition (RYSA) Programme in the Ministry of Youths, Girl-child Entrepreneurship Training (GEST), Women Entrepreneurship and Skills Acquisition Programme (WESAP) and the Information Communications Technology-Youth Empowerment Programme (ICT-YEP).
Eboh in his address said that altogether, the STEP and YAGEP have covered 6,074 beneficiaries since 2015. This number is part of the expanding portfolio of the state government’s job creation and youth empowerment programmes including RYSA, GEST, WESAP and ICT-YEP.
For Eboh, bringing the array of role-model STEP & YAGEP alumni to the graduation ceremony was expected to inspire fresh graduates to pursue business excellence as well. With what has been called its army of entrepreneurs, and the number of beneficiaries now in the hall of fame with many more to join in the coming years, analysts say the oil-rich state would soon become known for wealth in the non-oil sector.
CAPTION: Kelvin Atano, a STEPreneur alumnus presenting a charge controller produced by his company, to Ifeanyi Okowa, Delta State Governor
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