LEADERSHIP AS A ‘PRECURSOR’ FOR NIGERIA’S RENNAISSANCE.

LEADERSHIP AS A ‘PRECURSOR’ FOR NIGERIA’S RENNAISSANCE.

BY

                                                                   RAHEEM SHEFIU

                                     Email: bestraheems@yahoo.com, GSM: 2348038509401

                                        CENTRE FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT,CED

                                                              YABA COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

                                                               PMB 2011,YABA, LAGOS, NIGERIA.

                                                                                  ABSTRACT

This paper examines effective leadership as a tool that could be employed and also deployed in solving the economic and socio – political multi faceted problems of the country.

What Nigeria lacks is Leadership. If it has it , everything falls in place automatically and it will be celebrated in the comity of Nations. We will be rounded and grounded in all facets of life. Our political, economic, social and technological (PEST) life will be uncommon in the cyberspace.

Effective leadership is a key factor in the life and success of an organization. And a Nation  Leadership is the capacity and the will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence.  It is about working with people to do new things in a world which is increasingly complex and fast changing. . The leader’s job is to inspire and motivate.  We need a country and organizations that are flexible and sustainable, and organizations are made up of individuals.

Leadership is not necessarily linked to authority. It is about mobilizing people to tackle the toughest problems and to do their best work. Leadership is embedded in every one of us, but the key is to unlock our personal passion which will give us the courage to do things that appear difficult, uncertain or even unpopular.

KEYWORDS: Leadership, Leadership qualities, traits and style, Organizational goals.

ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH INCUBATION MANAGEMENT.

                    ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH  INCUBATION MANAGEMENT.

                                                                             BY

                                                                     Raheem Shefiu

                                    bestraheems@yahoo.com, +2348038509401.

                                  CENTRE FOR ENTREPRENUERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, CED,

                             YABA COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY, YABA, LAGOS.

                                                    ABSTRACT.

This paper examines incubation management as a veritable growth stimulus vitally needed by the emerging economies with emphasis on the business and technology incubators. It discusses the need for management incubation, incubation models, the goals of business incubation, best practices for incubation processes, students’ participation in the activities of the business incubator, characteristics of it’s managerial structure among others.

The term ‘Incubation’, with its etymological roots in the Latin word incubatio, which referred to a practice by the ancient Romans of carrying rudimentary ideas with them for developing them into visionary dreams over a period of time.

Incubators shared business services and equipment, technology support services, and assistance in obtaining financing necessary for company growth. It is recognized as a way of meeting a variety of economic and socio-economic policy needs which can include: Employment and wealth creation, support for small firms with high growth potential, Transfer of technology, Promoting innovation , Enhancing links between universities, research institutions and the business community, Industry cluster development and assessment of a company’s risk profile

   Business incubators accelerate the successful development of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services. It’s main goal is to produce successful firms that leave the program financially viable and freestanding. These incubator graduates have the potential to create jobs and wealth, revitalize neighborhoods, commercialize new technologies and strengthen local and national economies. Technology Incubators bring about the development of technology-based firms. These are mainly located at or near universities / polytechnics and science and technology parks.

Given the multitude of challenges being faced by entrepreneurs in emerging economies, there is a strong case for fostering incubation systems. The mentoring and business assistance provided by incubators are especially useful to individuals who are not part of business communities and/or do not enjoy support from families. Established businesses and promotional organizations associated with incubators would provide the latter’s clients with the much needed know-how available in such networks.

  KEYWORDS: Economic growth, Entrepreneurship, Business start – ups, Incubation                         

                         management, Technology transfer and  Job creation,

URBANISATION, RURAL – URBAN MIGRATION AND URBAN UNEMPLOYMENT.

URBANISATION,  RURAL – URBAN MIGRATION AND URBAN UNEMPLOYMENT.

BY

RAHEEM SHEFIU

                                               ABSTRACT

Given the tremendous explosions of urban settlements and the decadence of rural areas during the past two or three decades, the myth, reality and hope of a sustainable human settlement pattern seem to have been unraveled by the two UN Habitat Conferences of 1976 and 1996.  Even though the wide range, tempting and unresolved human settlement issues have for long been grappled with by the public policies, solutions to the problems have continued to remain a mystery.

  An urban centre is an agglomeration of people that are organized around non-agricultural activities, and urban growth is the rate of growth of an urban population. While urbanization is defined as the agglomeration of people in relatively large number at a particular spot of the earth surface. Urbanization in Nigeria and other developing countries has been very alarming over the past ten (10) years. This is as a result of high rate of rural-urban drift, which has resulted to various problems like, unemployment, poverty, floods, squatter settlements, pollution (land, air, noise, water and visual), slums, overpopulation, traffic congestion, crimes, and food insecurity inter alia. There is high rural-urban drift in Nigeria because of the inequalities, in terms of infrastructural facilities, services, social amenities and heterogeneity economic activities in favor of urban centers

While considerable attention and resources have been focused and expanded to improve the deteriorating condition of rural settlements with a view to alleviating poverty and reducing the spate or provocation of rural-urban migration, it is gratifying to note that even urban settlements are seriously hit by the plague of poverty, principally amongst the hitherto wage-earning class which has practically regressed from proletarians to peasant-proletarians.  Thus, the reverse of the spiral of rural-urban migration has become the emerging trends and salient phenomenon in almost all the under developed economies.

 .

Key Words: , Urbanization ,Rural –Urban Migration, Urban Unemployment, Growth,  Inequalities, , Sustainable Development .

 

           

THE ROLE OF AGRICULTURE IN DEVELOPMENT

THE ROLE OF AGRICULTURE IN DEVELOPMENT

BY

RAHEEM SHEFIU

                                                          ABSTRACT

Agriculture is vital for the development goals of promoting growth and reducing poverty

in Africa  The role of agriculture as an instrument for industrialization had been rigorously conceptualized in the 1960s and 1970s under the classical paradigm of development economics. Agriculture supports the livelihoods of 80 percent of the African population, provides employment for about 60 percent of the economically active population, and for about 70 percent  of the poorest people on the continent. The global financial and food crises have brought agriculture into sharp focus, demonstrating that poverty and food insecurity go hand in hand.  After many implementation failures under import substitution industrialization policies and protracted neglect of agriculture under the policies of the Washington Consensus that followed the debt crisis, agriculture has gradually returned in the development agenda, especially with the food crisis. Agricultural growth is a proven driver of poverty reduction. When agriculture stimulates growth

in Africa, the growth is twice as effective in reducing poverty as growth based in other sectors.

In China, agriculture-based growth is 3.5 times more effective in reducing poverty than growth

based on other sectors. In Latin America, the effectiveness is 2.7 times. Agricultural growth

also means more production of food, and greater food security.

 

Keywords: Agriculture; Poverty Alleviation, Industrialization; Economic Growth, Development;