The Group Managing Director of the Benue Investment and Property Company Limited (BIPC), Dr. Raymond Asemakaha, CFA, has urged youths in Benue State to leverage the newly passed Benue State Startup Act to transform their talents, ideas and innovations into sustainable businesses.
Asemakaha made the call while ministering at the Benue Youth Fire Conference, a youth-focused programme featuring talent hunts, entrepreneurship, business and fashion activities, held at Dunamis Church in Makurdi. Speaking on entrepreneurship and wealth creation, the BIPC GMD challenged young people to move beyond the mindset of job seekers and become job creators capable of contributing to economic growth and reducing unemployment in the state.
His ministration, titled “Turning Your God’s Given Potentials into Value Addition,” focused on the need for young people to combine character, talent and hard work in building businesses that create value and impact. He read Genesis 1:28, noting that from the first day God was a businessman who created resources and gave man the mandate to manage, multiply and dominate. Still in Genesis 1:28b, God said be fruitful, fill the earth and subdue it. “The word ‘subdue’ is a business word. It means take raw materials and turn them into value,” he explained.
He gave examples from 1 Samuel 16:14-23, where David prepared himself and nurtured his talent; 2 Chronicles 27:6, where Jotham became mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord; and Genesis 6:14-22, where Noah built an ark in the dry season and not during the flood.
Asemakaha identified three critical forms of capital every young entrepreneur must develop before chasing financial resources: spiritual capital, human capital and financial capital. According to him, spiritual capital represents character and integrity, which he described as the foundation upon which sustainable businesses must be built. He warned that financial success without integrity could ultimately destroy an entrepreneur and his business.
He described human capital as the gifts, talents and skills possessed by individuals, stressing that young people should identify their abilities and develop them into marketable solutions. “Your gift is your first capital,” he told the youths, urging them to stop seeing lack of money as an excuse for failing to start a business. He noted that talents in fashion, technology, agriculture, catering and other creative industries could be developed into viable enterprises if properly harnessed.
The third capital, financial capital, according to Asemakaha, requires hard work, discipline, planning and productivity. He urged young people to start with available resources, grow gradually and acquire knowledge before seeking substantial funding.
Asemakaha further identified fear, procrastination and unhealthy comparison as major obstacles that prevent young people from turning their ideas into businesses. He advised youths to start small, pursue excellence, continue learning and build enterprises capable of creating jobs and solving problems in their communities. According to him, the ultimate goal of entrepreneurship should go beyond personal wealth to include job creation and positive social impact.
He therefore donated seed capital to participants, encouraging them to return home and begin building with the resources, talents and knowledge available to them. He urged Benue youths to start with God, develop their gifts, embrace hard work and use the opportunities provided by the Startup Act to build businesses that would contribute to the economic development of the state.
“Relevance on earth is a function of Glory that is bestowed on the potential you have discovered,” he said. He concluded by noting that life’s challenges are inevitable, but what distinguishes victors and victims is either the desire and determination.
