When the Napoleon Institute was formed in 2012, it was designed to be the most influential, most quoted and most trusted think tank in Nigeria. The founder, Dr Okey Napoleon Iwunwa who envisioned change through the pursuit of intelligence and passion for excellence did his best to work with the past civilian administration but did not get the desired nod from the ex-president’s team.
His aim was to focus on high-quality research, capitalizing on his convening power to generate innovative, practical solutions to today’s challenges, especially in Nigeria and the surrounding regions. He stated that the purpose is to drive the conversations and debates in the country over rural development, agriculture, military, law enforcement, politics, conflict negotiation, business and finance, government policies, education, healthcare systems, culture and the people, law and justice, peace and security, technology, economic development, social and religious development, and or urban strategy.
Dr Iwunwa’s clearly laid out his mission to provide innovative and practical recommendations that advance three broad goals: strengthen democracy; foster the economic and social welfare, security and opportunity of all Africans; and secure a more open, safe, prosperous, and cooperative international system. He believed that by engaging in the above areas, the institute will achieve will inspire, promote and propel change through learning, research and information sharing. Okey believes that in order to make Nigeria work, everyone must change- both the politicians and the citizens. He stated that it is not enough to have a good leader but that good citizenship is equally needed for the country to do well. The Napoleon Institute is a center to achieve such responsible change.
Since 2013, they have laid out several initiatives for development and change in Nigeria and have tried to get other African governments involved. While they have been met with success in other countries, Dr Okey said nothing have worked with the past Nigerian government. He hopes that things will be different with the new administration.
The institute itself has over 40 programs and initiatives designed specifically for Nigeria and African nations. Each program is tailored to answer an important need of the people. Their overall hope is to get involved and get people involved in national development. While speaking to Dr Okey, he also mentioned four key programs he wants to initiate in Nigeria alongside with the Nigerian government. They are,
· Nigerian Women Micro-Finance Bank
· National Reconciliation & Mobilization Program - Focus on relationship building and mindset development
· National Youth Endowment Fund – Focus on Technology, Agric/Agro-Allied and Small Scale Manufacturing
· National War Against Unemployment Program- a special Napoleon Project which Dr Okey branded, EACH-1-HELP-5 enterprise model that could reduce unemployment by 75% in 6 years.
The Nigerian Women Micro Finance Bank
This program will not only help women of all class to save money but will also educate rural and urban women about banking through a network of volunteers/youth Corpers posted serving under this program. Through this banking system, women will,
1. Earn and save money – Women learn basic business skills and a vocational skill with earning power in their local markets. They begin to save and receive support to establish cooperatives after graduation.
2. Develop health and well-being – Women learn how to manage their health, including reproductive health and stress management. They also learn about the importance of good hygiene and nutrition for their families. We connect women with local healthcare providers.
3. Influence decisions in their homes and communities – Women learn their fundamental rights and those recognized in their countries, and are encouraged to educate other women. They learn the importance of civic participation, voting, and negotiation.
4. Connect to networks for support and advocacy – Women build support networks. They share ideas and resources, invest in business together, and help each other find solutions to common challenges.
Beyond the homes, women become catalysts for progress and change, creating ripple effects in their families and their communities. The overwhelming majority invest their savings in growing their small business and in their children. By launching this bank, this administration is starting a movement to Pass The Light Of Sustainable Change
Dr Okey added that his objective to get Nigerian government to support the idea that is focused on promoting economic prosperity and self-reliance in women of urban and rural areas by driving the forces of economic and social integration.
- Transforming the status of women from passive beneficiaries of social / economic infusion to dynamic agents of change
- Promoting asset ownership, through its unique credit policies
- Promoting entrepreneurs through Computer Literacy and Business centers for skill enhancement, product development and business management
- Facilitating their access to financial services by providing support through its Financial Services Desk on Corporate Affairs, Credit Management and Trade Finance activities and advice on Legal, Taxation and Marketing issues
- Providing extensive banking training through Napoleon Institute and collaboration with other Banking Institutes of repute
The Plight of Nigerian Women and Benefits of a dedicated bank for women development:
Globally, women disproportionately face financial access barriers that prevent them from participating in the economy and from improving their lives. Women make up 40 per cent of the world's workforce. Many of the sectors that are critical for economic growth in some of the poorest countries rely heavily on women. Small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) with female ownership represent 30 per cent to 37 percent of all SMEs (8 million to 10 million women-owned firms) in Nigeria and other emerging markets. These businesses, according to a recent World Bank report, have unmet financial needs of between $260 billion and $320 billion a year across the globe. This therefore is women's biggest barrier to growth and development. Access to credit can open up economic opportunities for women, and bank accounts can be a gateway to the use of additional financial services.
However, women entrepreneurs and employers face significantly greater challenges than men in gaining access to financial services. The Global Findex, a comprehensive database measuring how people save, borrow, and manage risk in 148 countries, revealed that women are less likely than men to have formal bank accounts.
In Nigeria and many other developing economies, women are 20 percent less likely than men to have an account at a formal financial institution and 17 percent less likely to have borrowed formally in the past year. Even if they can gain access to a loan, women often lack access to other financial services, such as savings, digital payment methods, and insurance. Restrictions on opening a bank account, such as requirements for a male family member's permission, restrict women's access to accounts.
Dr Okey pointed lack of financial education as limiting women from gaining access to and benefitting from financial services. Nonetheless, as part of efforts to offer women exclusive access to banking services as well as a wide range of lifestyle-oriented value added benefits and privileges, the idea for Nigerian Women Community Bank arose.
The initiatives promoting gender equality and fosters greater economic development. Reducing gender-based barriers in the business environment; creating business opportunities for institutions and in the private sector to improve working conditions for female employees, market segmentation, and inclusion of women in community relationships; supporting business skills and financial capability trainings for women; and building the business case for equal economic opportunities for men and women, would help stimulate inclusive growth in the Nigerian economy.
This bank will form part of the privileges for women and their families under the Napoleon initiative includes access to a comprehensive range of loan product and credit facilities; access to entrepreneurial community with helpful advice on family and finance matters, home and family articles and details of special offers; access to a wide range of great discount, special offers and freebies on health, beauty and fitness. Others include early savers club for children, access to maternal health support, family protection as well as access to seminars on family planning and parenting.
Dr Okey Napoleon Iwunwa believes the initiative would also support SMEs owned by women. SMEs contribute to improved living standards, bring about substantial local capital formation and achieve high level of productivity and capability.
They have also been identified as a vehicle for employment generation and providing opportunities for entrepreneurial sourcing, training, development and empowerment.
The second and most important thing is that by supporting women and the businesses that they do, it would lead to economic growth in this country. This initiative is necessary because a country grows by supporting SMEs, and if Nigeria must grow greatly, women must be supported.
He stated also that this the first banking solution that allows an entire family to bank and benefit together, while also operating their individual accounts. The initiative is all about women that desire to be inspired, connected and empowered. It is commitment to banking women.
The bank will also introduce a product called, ‘WOMEN Life Plan’. - a scaled down health insurance program for women- designed to help women overcome financial barriers while supporting them in their quest for health and motherhood. This scheme supports local and international treatments for fertility, natal support, other specialist procedures include -Hysterectomy (Uterus Removal), myomectomy (Fibroid Removal), dental, bariatric and orthopaedic
Dr Okey’s approach to banking women will provide banking solutions to meet the lifestyle needs of the identified sub-segments: young professionals, woman and family and women in business. Purely, they are banking products bundled to meet their financial and lifestyle needs e.g. family banking for the woman and family.
2. NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AND MOBILIZATION PROGRAM
Introduction: We cannot deny anymore that Nigeria is broken. Conversations and trends on social media have proven that even though we are still one nation, there is no trust for one another. It shows in every election and even in the recently concluded election. But the good news is that there is hope now to get things right and rebuild the nation more than ever before in the past sixteen years, Dr Okey said.
The answer is NRMP – a multi-ethnic bridge program for grass-root change.
The motto is ‘Nigeria First’
The theme is: Defining Our Moments & The Movement For New Nigeria.
This all-embracing program focuses on building trust and partnership among Nigerians through entrepreneurship, sports, mass orientation knowledge-based workshops, national dialogues on socio-political matters, national youth debates and quiz, cultural exchange exercises, promotion of inter-marriages and inter-tradition education, inter-faith crusades among youths and young adults, open mind media dialogues (print and visual), film/movies, entertainment, new media projects, and television campaign.
NRMP will engage Nigerians and create jobs for youths and graduates. Most importantly, it will challenge Nigerians to rethink and to engage in peace seeking endeavours as against self-interests and regional benefits.
UNTIL EVERY NIGERIAN BEGINS TO FEEL LIKE A NIGERIAN, THERE IS NO NIGERIA.
NRMP was created by the Napoleon Institute as an extension of the National Conference – A RELATIONSHIP BRIDGE
- It will draw people together by challenging and changing their mind-set.
- It promotes nationalism and gradually eliminates sectionalism
- It engages people to participate in nation building
- It empowers citizens
- It rebuilds confidence in people
- It promotes self respect, discipline and service
- It promotes love and peace and keeps citizens busy
- It creates jobs and wealth and a healthy nation
- It replaces ethnic reasoning by building partnership shells among people.
- It is designed to make people develop their skills, talents and reap the rewards of hard work.
- MASS MOBILIZATION- This problem will also work hand in hand with the present administration to educate the citizens about government policies and programs. This will make it easier for people and the government to stay in touch.
It is focused on doing grass-root jobs for the government- a bridge where information, skills development, regional and state grass-root empowerment flow through between government and the people
It will engage the people—- with the key objective to change their mindsets. It is a program designed to recognize the power of the people across the nation.
Dr Okey explained that NRMP will promote national campaign on positive change through education, entrepreneurship development, people development in both rural and urban areas across the nation. The overall objective is to bring people together and build a nation that citizens believe in.
This is one of Napoleon Institute signature programs that is designed for national change. For further details contact us at napoleon.okey@gmail.com.
National Youth Endowment Fund – Focus on Technology, Agric/Agro-Allied and Small Scale Manufacturing
Endowment
Just as a firmly-laid foundation is the basis for any building, a consistent supply of resources is vital to sustaining that building, and expanding its growth into the future. This is the job of NYE Foundation – sustaining the foundation in the present, and providing a permanent source of revenue to youth empowerment and other programs that carry, sustain, and grow the youth enterprise
A healthy, expanding endowment allows for bold decisions to be made in order to map out the course of national youth enterprise programs that define the future of Nigeria
An endowment is a permanent fund that produces investment income. The permanent fund is never touched -- only a portion of the fund's interest is used for qualified programs. The balance is then reinvested to ensure the fund's growth, providing a source of income in perpetuity. This ensures that future generations of Nigerian will enjoy the enterprise development tradition intended by Nigerian founding fathers.
The Endowment is invested through professional investment advisors. Foundation policy provides a specific level of spending each year, while preserving principal and allowing future growth. Endowment monies can only be used for their stated purposes, to assure donors that their investment will always be directed towards the eligible programs originally designated. In this case, we will focus on technology, small scale manufacturing and agro allied and agricultural businesses, including food processing, marketing and distribution of food.
To meet the variety of constituencies and educational program needed to manage this successfully, Dr Okey said that the Napoleon Institute will establish 6 different endowment categories within its overall endowment fund.
1.Tech Endowment provides support to the technology programs – (software development. Hardware, telecoms, internet, securities and web development) -training and development . This sector has the capacity to provide employment for over 300,000 graduates and skilled Nigerians within 6 years.
2. Agro- Endowment helps to ensure continued operation and growth of agriculture among youths and graduates. The aim is to encourage LAND2LIFE Farmry System and food processing, sales, marketing , storage, and distribution…all these have the capacity to provide gainful careers for over 100,000 graduates and other skilled/unskilled job seekers.
3. Manufacturing Endowment supports programs promoting small scale manufacturing by graduates…from plastic products, household goods, transportation products, fabrications and soft engineering. This is aimed at turning Nigeria into China of Africa in less than 10 years.
4. Arts & Craft Endowment supports youth programs in arts, cultural development- promote those engaged in inter-faith related businesses which preserves Nigerian cultures and traditions. This fund will invest in the NIGERIAN DIGITAL MUSEUM OF MOVING IMAGES.
5. Engineering Endowment invests in programs that teach the basics of investments on young engineers who wants to start own businesses- such as building constructions, road construction and maintenance, structural designs, industrial designs, electrical and automotive. Etc. This endowment can create jobs for over 50,000-100k Nigerian graduates.
5. Named Endowments
A named endowment can be established within an endowment category for a minimum gift of $100,000 by any Nigerian, subject to certain criteria. This allows a donor and their friends, family, company, or institution to leave a lasting legacy for the particular program area in which they have an interest in perpetuating. Named endowment donors receive an annual report of their earnings, along with a report on disbursements from their specific endowment.
A named endowment can be established within an endowment category for a minimum gift of $100,000 by any Nigerian, subject to certain criteria. This allows a donor and their friends, family, company, or institution to leave a lasting legacy for the particular program area in which they have an interest in perpetuating. Named endowment donors receive an annual report of their earnings, along with a report on disbursements from their specific endowment.
No comments:
Post a Comment