Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, former Access bank’s chief executive officer has created a platform for five young Nigerians to join his ecosystem of businesses and philanthropic ventures for a year as mentored interns.
This comes at a time when most Nigerian youths reel under the yoke of the harsh economic climate and high level of inflation.
The move is a fresh development for most youths in Africa’s biggest economy who are looking for options to innovate around Nigeria’s economic misery or close shop, with the country’s inflation running at 18.17 percent, unmitigated by a gross domestic product (GDP) growth barely at 0.11 percent, a development which is further compounded by an unemployment rate of 33 percent.
The Aig-Imoukhuede’s internship programme which is part of a global launch of Leaving the Tarmac: Buying a Bank in Africa will be offered to five Nigerians aged between 19 and 26 who either hold a degree or who will graduate at the end of 2021.
Outside of these formal criteria for eligibility, Aig-Imoukhuede says, he is looking for young people with grit, determination, a passion to succeed, and the will and drive to work hard to accomplish their ambitions.
“I hope that the story I am about to tell will be an inspiration to young entrepreneurs who are setting out with big dreams, great visions, and high hopes,” he said.
In a society where the rudiments of successful businesses are often guarded jealously and details about how business founders achieve their success that are often never publicly told, Aig-Imoukhuede provides a refreshing departure in his book by telling it all about how the success of Access Bank, which he led for more than ten years, came about.
He even reveals strategies and, in a no-holds-barred manner, provides details that enable the reader to understand every step taken to get Access Bank to where it got to before he stepped aside as chief executive officer.
For someone who benefited greatly from the mentoring he received early in his career, Aig-Imoukhuede noted that he was driven to share, with young people, the knowledge and experience he gained through years of building his businesses and bringing about real, impactful socio-economic change in Nigeria, a pursuit he remains actively involved in.
“It is a story that shows how you can build a world-class business in a relatively short time if you lay the right foundations, have good core values and do the right things,” Aig-Imoukhuede said.
The five interns will join Aig-Imoukhuede, working alongside him and other senior executives, and will benefit from one-to-one and group mentoring meetings throughout the 12-month internship period. The internship programme also comes with a salary.
“I strongly urge young Nigerian to apply for the internship programme. I guarantee that working alongside myself and my team of senior executives will be edifying and extremely valuable energy and time investment. Expect to work hard, learn much and enjoy unrivaled professional and personal growth opportunities,” said Aig-Imoukhuede while addressing about 120 young people at the Ovie Brume Youth Centre.
The internships will be squarely mentoring-focused, he added, committing himself to make out time to engage the interns on matters relating to excellence, growth, and fostering networks with like-minded people who enable success.
‘Leaving The Tarmac: Buying A Bank in Africa’ was launched at a global virtual event on March 29, 2021, and has received great reviews. Profits from the sale of the book will be channelled to The Adopt-A-Health Facility Programme (ADHFP) in Nigeria.
