Young graduates need skills training – Uwaga

The 19th President and Chairman of Council, Nigeria Institute of Management (Chartered), Dr. Nelson Uwaga, speaks on the role the institute is playing to empower youths, in this interview with IFE ADEDAPO

From the inception of the NIM, how has the journey been so far?

A group of managers in blue chip companies came together, during the British rule over Nigeria and decided that even as the British government was going away, that we needed to continue in the act of management to show discipline, honesty, integrity, and fair play in what we do which was what British people did during their time. We found out that in the private sector, most of those who had led the private sector successfully, when we mention their names are people who were trained by the Nigeria Institute of Management.

Furthermore, we got to a point that we thought that the country was not really getting it right; we decided to focus on our youths. That was when we went into partnership with the National Youth Service Corps. Before the corps members leave the camp, we try to give them training in the art and science of management, believing that business is all about management; how you manage the human and material resources and responsibilities that are given to you. News in Nigeria is full of tales of corrupt people in the country. But people don’t talk about those who had been upright and managed the few companies that had survived at that time; those who kept them going on. That is why we are very passionate and proud when we talk about our past leaders, those who played very big roles in national development up until today.

We try, even with the insanity that may be in the society, to train and keep people who will be the future of this country. For our members who are fortunate to be graduates or with equivalent certificates in Nigeria, we have tried to inculcate the art of discipline, accountability, respect for others, equity, fair play and honesty in them. Our membership can be described as corruption free, even though there are a few people messing up the country just to make money.

Therefore, I will say 53 years on, we have done quite a lot. And given the current partnership we have with our youths at the corps member’s level, I can say we have a new set of Nigerians that will speak for this country in future.

Is your training restricted to the youth and civilians?

We are also training our soldiers in the areas of military management. This is because we believe that they are assets for the nation. And these people who sometimes have to pay the supreme price to save this country need the art of management.

Of course, we have the women. Like I said, they are the moderators of everything we do in Nigeria. They are the new face of the country politically and we believe strongly that in the area of politics, it will pay off with time.

Many graduates with the NIM certificates are without jobs, how are you addressing this?

We are trying to change our training in the NYSC camp to put more emphasis on entrepreneurship. Presently, we are working on having a day dedicated to bringing the stakeholders in entrepreneurship together. We can now have the corps members, banks, finance houses and non-governmental organisations that can fund some of the projects because we have found out that there is no meeting place even after training them. They cannot just walk into a bank and get loans, so we intend to bring finance houses and the NGOs that can invest in entrepreneurship that will create jobs together once or twice a year. That way, even after this training, they can apply for resources here and there with the correct checks and balances. That is what we are currently working on right now.

How has insecurity affected the activities of the institute?

The security situation in the country has hampered most of the institute’s activities. Insecurity has made it impossible for the institute to cover all parts of the country as it used to do before now. I must confess that we are finding it difficult to reach our members in the North Eastern part of the country who have either been displaced or forced to relocate. As expected, the affected members of the institute are more concerned with their personal safety and that of their family members. This has, invariably, affected their ability to participate in the institute’s activities as they used to do and we can also not take our programmes and events to the troubled zone for obvious reasons.

However, we strongly believe that with all the efforts being put in place by the government, the security challenges being faced by the country will be surmounted soon.

How do you think the tax issues can be effectively handled?

It is the civic responsibility of every responsible individual and business entity to pay their taxes as and when due. The issue of multiplicity of taxes and double taxation constitutes hindrance to business growth. I think that the Joint Tax Board can help to reduce the problem of double taxation with the newly introduced tax identification number. This is a system by which all individuals and corporate organisations are captured within the tax net and it is online. Any tax paid by any individual or organisation can be readily accessed by all state boards of internal revenue and the Federal Inland Revenue Service. However, the problem of multiplicity of taxes still remains. It is advised that state and local governments should harmonise collectable taxes in such a way that small and medium scale enterprises are not stifled out of business.

What is your view on the cashless policy? Is it possible to implement it nationwide?

The cashless policy is a welcome development. It had been in practice in other climes long before we embraced it; and Nigeria cannot afford to lag behind. It is capable of reducing robbery, controlling inflation and help government to track the movement of funds among terrorists and insurgents. In addition, it makes business transactions seamless and less cumbersome.

However, for the implementation of the cashless policy to be very effective when it becomes widespread, the issues of internet accessibility, rural electricity, telephony and broadband internet services which are the likely drawbacks should be addressed adequately to drive it. We cannot expect to enjoy all the benefits of a cashless economy without improving on our processes and procedures. If we keep doing things the way we did them in the past, cashless policy will not really get off the ground. Now that the policy has been test-run in some states of the federation and has proven to be working well, we should feel free to replicate it in the remaining parts of the country. I have no doubt that the business and the economy will be better for it ultimately.

What are your expectations of the outcome of the National Conference?

The 2014 National Conference is a great improvement on all other conferences that we have had in the past by way of participation of almost all sectors of the society in the deliberations. And for this, we give credit to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for his vision. There were far reaching recommendations and strategies for implementation from the 20 committees of the conference arising out of the consensus of the 492 delegates that will certainly change the way we do things in Nigeria. Some of the issues are straight forward recommendations that the executive can implement while others will require legal and constitutional amendments. This will therefore require some form of a vote of the federating units. I believe the national assembly will make the required provision in the constitution for a possible referendum.

I don’t see the reports being dumped like the previous reports of similar exercises. Awareness and agitation of the people have increased greatly and we believe that the President will do all that is possible within the law to use the recommendations to make positive changes in the country. New paradigm shift based on our recommendations is inevitable for a new and all inclusive Nigeria.