Building the next generation of group entrepreneurs, By Adaeze Nwaka

OKOBI Students Club is a forward-thinking initiative aimed at bridging the gap between academic learning and practical entrepreneurship for students across the state. This initiative is designed to serve as a dynamic training and knowledge hub where students can develop entrepreneurial competencies alongside their academic pursuits, equipping students with the skills, mindset, and support system needed to create their employment through innovative group business ventures.

Despite boasting a literacy rate of 96.43 per cent (the highest in Nigeria) according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the highest in women literacy rate with 83.5 per cent (as reported by Statisense), and a 1 per cent out-of-school rate as reported by UNICEF Education Fact Sheet 2023, Imo State still faces a paradox. It produces a substantial number of university graduates annually, yet a significant proportion remains unemployed. In 2020, NBS reported that Imo had the highest unemployment rate in the country at 48.7 per cent. These statistics indicate a stark disconnect between its impressive educational output and available economic opportunities.

This educational-economic disparity stems from the long-standing over-reliance on civil service employment and limited economic opportunities in Imo State. For example, fewer than ten companies in the state likely have a staff strength of 250 employees each. As graduates continue to emerge from Imo State’s institutions of higher learning, they enter a market unprepared to absorb their talents and potentials, perpetuating a cycle of educated unemployment. As a strategic move to reverse this trend and tackle this systemic challenge, the government has prioritised industrialisation, the digital economy, skills acquisition, and job creation, particularly through an innovative group-based entrepreneurship. A good example of this is the One Kindred, One Business Initiative (OKOBI), which embodies the community-driven spirit of inclusive economic development.

OKOBI is a grassroots-driven group entrepreneurship idea designed to stimulate economic growth and job creation across Imo State. Launched in 2023, the initiative encourages kindreds (extended family groups, community groups, town union clubs and other social clubs) in Imo State to establish and operate at least one viable registered business, leveraging local resources, skills, and networks. By decentralising enterprise development and embedding it within community and group structures, OKOBI promotes collective ownership, economic inclusion, and sustainability.

While OKOBI already provides a homegrown solution to Imo State’s economic challenges, it also exemplifies the broader need for a deliberate shift from a public-sector-driven economy to one rooted in entrepreneurial thinking. OKOBI champions the vision of an entrepreneurial state — one that drives investment, enhances productivity, and fosters innovation much like a business enterprise. Since its inception in 2023, the initiative has facilitated the creation of over 350 Businesses and over 9000 jobs for Imo people. This remarkable achievement positions OKOBI as a transformative model for economic development, social empowerment, and sustainable wealth creation across the state.

This initiative is designed to serve as a dynamic training and knowledge hub where students can develop entrepreneurial competencies alongside their academic pursuits, equipping students with the skills, mindset, and support system needed to create their employment through innovative group business ventures.

Building on this momentum, a bold and strategic step has been taken to address the root of the unemployment cycle by targeting the student population. This is through the establishment of OKOBI Student Clubs across universities in the state, to cultivate entrepreneurial capacity among undergraduates, equipping them with the mindset and skills to create their own jobs before or upon graduation. This proactive approach ensures that students are not only prepared for graduation but are also empowered to become agents of economic transformation.

OKOBI Students Club is a forward-thinking initiative aimed at bridging the gap between academic learning and practical entrepreneurship for students across the state. This initiative is designed to serve as a dynamic training and knowledge hub where students can develop entrepreneurial competencies alongside their academic pursuits, equipping students with the skills, mindset, and support system needed to create their employment through innovative group business ventures. The goal is to empower university students to become job creators, not just job seekers, by equipping them with the tools to turn ideas into viable businesses using the resources available within and around their communities.

While OKOBI is rooted in the philosophy of “Igwe bu ike”, the OKOBI students’ club thrives in “catching them young.” By recognising the power of peer networks and early mentorship, the club will encourage students to harness friendships and shared academic experiences into collaborative group ventures. By leveraging the resources within and around them, students are empowered to turn ideas into action and challenges into opportunities — a pragmatic and sustainable approach to addressing youth unemployment in the state.

The OKOBI Students Club is not just a response to the unemployment crisis, it is a proactive investment in the future of Imo State. By nurturing entrepreneurial talent within university campuses, we can create a pipeline of resilient, innovative, and community-conscious business leaders who transform challenges into thriving ventures.

With guidance from industry professionals, OKOBI club members will participate in regular capacity-building sessions, business clinics, and mentorship opportunities. Members will also benefit from internship opportunities with selected OKOBI-aligned businesses during academic breaks, gaining invaluable real-world experience and insight into how sustainable businesses are built and scaled. To further support student innovation, the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser also intends to reach out to donor agencies and private sector allies to secure grants and seed funding for start-up ideas demonstrating creativity, viability, and impact potential.

The OKOBI Students Club is not just a response to the unemployment crisis, it is a proactive investment in the future of Imo State. By nurturing entrepreneurial talent within university campuses, we can create a pipeline of resilient, innovative, and community-conscious business leaders who transform challenges into thriving ventures. The OKOBI Students Club has recently been launched at Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe University (KOMU), in Ideato, Imo State, with other universities coming on board. This represents a significant step in reshaping the economic future of Imo State by catching students young and nurturing their potential to become drivers of community-based development and economic transformation.

We look forward to welcoming more bright minds across universities in Imo State to be part of this movement, where education meets enterprise, and young ideas grow into sustainable group businesses.

Adaeze Nwaka is a PhD student at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, and her research explores economic transformation through entrepreneurship development. She is also the external communications and advocacy specialist at the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser, Imo State Government, Nigeria.