Entrepreneurship remains the only viable solution to the economic problem confronting Nigeria, a professor of Accounting at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Prof Taiwo Ashaolu has said.
He advised Nigerians desirous of ending the current economic quagmire to embrace entrepreneurship.
The don who was a resource person at the one-week High School Residency Programme organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) at Landmark University, Omu-Aran, posited that the naira can only be saved by increasing the nation’s productive capacity.
He said: “I will suggest entrepreneurship. Irrespective of our profession, we should combine it with entrepreneurship. There are so many things that we acquired without going out. These are the things that we can do easily. These are things that are innate in us. We do not need to sweat before we demonstrate the ability. This will stem youth unemployment substantially.
“We need to be very careful with the way things are being run in the country. Look at our forex policy; it is either there nor there. It is as if Nigeria as a nation, we have found ourselves in the midst of an ocean and there is no direction.
Naira is daily depreciating and there seems to be no depth to the level it’s going. Things are very difficult for an average Nigerian.
“There is the need for us to increase our production capacity in Nigeria. That is what I said entrepreneurship. We do not need to depend on imports as a nation for our existence.
“It is obvious that the 2016 budget is already hampered by the currency crisis in the nation. We are already in August. What do you think that has happened so far? Nothing! In fact, the initial thought of an average Nigerians was that once the budget was passed, the following day everybody starts to enjoy.
“It is a serious problem. There is the need for President Muhammadu Buhari to bring in experts who are knowledgeable in these areas to assist the economy of this country. We cannot continue like this.”
While delivering his paper titled “Creative Confidence and ABC Principles of entrepreneurship”, Ashaolu told participants that the creative approach is appropriate when there appears to be either no solution or more than one solution to a particular problem.
According to him, “the Creative approach is an idea-producing process specifically intended to generate a number of solutions, any of which will solve the problem at hand. There are a number of creativity techniques available for problem solving situations. Some are for use by individuals working alone, other for use by groups. All the techniques provide a method or mechanical procedure to help the user generate more solutions to his creative problems. The various techniques provide formats for mental stimulation.”