Cutler Communications Unveils Initiative to Tackle Unemployment

Posted by African Examiner Brands and Marketing Wednesday, March 12th, 2014

Kayode Adelowokan, Lagos

Cutler Communications, an integrated marketing communications agency, has unveiled an initiative, Promoting Entrepreneurial Education (PEE), to address the country’s current unemployment situation.

The initiative was unveiled at a public discourse tagged “Job Creation: Pathway to Sustainable Economic Growth,” which held in Lagos.

According to Chief Operating Officer of Cutler Communications, Cutler Communications, Laura Oloyede, “Focusing on promoting entrepreneurial education especially because the Coordinating Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, called for the involvement of the private sector in entrepreneurship education as a means of tackling the current trend in Nigeria where creative entrepreneurs are job seekers rather than being job providers.

“We believe that tackling the unemployment situation in Nigeria is not about pushing for government to create more jobs; rather we should look for innovative ways to tackle unemployment collectively.”

Oloyede said that Cutler Communications is working at becoming a bridge between the private sector and the potential entrepreneurs in promoting entrepreneurship through its PEE initiative. Adding that the agency believe the pathway to a sustainable economy is everyone’s responsibility. “Our duty call therefore, is for people, to embrace entrepreneurship.”

Discussants at the event addressed the need for Nigerians to have a new mindset that government cannot create jobs alone.

Speakers at the occasion are, Director of Business School Netherlands, Nigeria, Lere Baale; Chief Executive Officer of Prima Garnet Africa, Lolu Akinwunmi; and an accountant and managing partner S.I.A.O, Lagos, Ituah Ighodalo, agreed that, although, it is government’s responsibility to create an enabling environment for job creation, Nigerians must realise that in tackling the current spate of unemployment in the country, individuals need to embrace entrepreneurship.

Baale, who gave a life account of his venture into entrepreneurship after 25 years as a professional, expressed the need for individuals, even within paid employment, to think of entrepreneurship. According to him, while many individuals have risen to the peak of their careers successfully growing multi-billion naira multi-national businesses, many of them have failed to achieve the same feat as entrepreneurs. He noted that these individuals are unable to do so because their professional training did not equip them with such abilities.

Baale stressed that the country’s educational system must be structured in such a way that every professional is taught entrepreneurship courses throughout the duration of their educational programmes. He therefore called on Cutler to “partner with educational establishments and begin to build entrepreneurial skills.”

On his part, Ighodalo said that the country is faced with the current spate of unemployment because of people’s inability to think creatively. He called on Nigerians to begin to identify opportunities available in our prevailing problems and proffer solutions as entrepreneurs. For instance, he identified the challenges of the country’s waste disposal system as an opportunity to create waste recycling businesses.

Meanwhile, Akinwunmi noted that Nigerians have always had in them, the spirit of entrepreneurship. According to him, the economy of the nation has thrived for this long because of the small scaled businesses that are available in the nation.

As part of its PEE initiative, Cutler Communication would run a radio enlightenment campaign on need for entrepreneurship in a couple of weeks. It would also hold a summit tagged ‘Job Creation: Harnessing Entrepreneurial Skills,’ later in the year.