BS-E4: Powering Hopes With Opportunities -By Sarafa Ibrahim

Hope is an everyday reality of all humans. And unless met with the right opportunity, it will remain an illusion and unrealistic. This is the challenge faced by average Nigerians, inhibiting prospects and distorting aspirations.

But now, that is changing, especially for young people in the Ede South, Ede North, Egbedore and Ejigbo federal constituency. Through the BS-E4 Business and Leadership Bootcamp, the lawmaker representing the zone at the green chamber of the national assembly, Honourable Bamidele Salam, is bridging the gap of opportunities that has evaded people in the constituency overtime and restoring whatever hope they entertained in life.

Although, the BS-E4 isn’t a new initiative as it has been operational since Hon. Salam got into the House of Representatives about five years ago, but this year’s edition holds more promises to power hopes and drive dreams to actualization. According to Hon. Salam in a public disclosure few weeks ago, 400 beneficiaries were shortlisted out of a total of 1,323 applications received.

The number says it all and coming at a time of economic crisis as this is quite thoughtful. There is no doubt about Nigerians potentials but where there has always been issue is the access to opportunity. This is exactly what Hon. Salam is offering beneficiaries through the BS-E4 Business and Leadership Bootcamp and must have informed his urge for them to “make the best out of this lifetime opportunity for personal growth and development.”

From the theme: “Assessing Local and Global Opportunities For Growth”, one can easily read into the plan of Hon. Salam for the future. While some may be contented with the temporary solution that comes with giving handouts to constituents as it is the norms in the country’s political space, Hon. Salam is focused on the future and helping to position constituents for enduring benefits.

At the four day event which will open on Thursday, 6th of March, 2024, beneficiaries will be exposed to life changing skills and guidance capable of propelling their journey towards the attainment of individual aspirations. Business and leadership skills will be sharpened and participants will be taken through rudiments of taping into the abundance of opportunities around.

Put simply, participants would emerge from the event prepared to begin the journey to creating wealth for themselves and their respective communities. The prevailing economic crisis in Nigeria has revealed that we have a productivity problem that must be addressed if we want to turn around things and set the course for a flourishing nation.

Addressing this problem is well reflected in the structuring of the BS-E4 event. Speakers lined up for the event are leading business coaches and seasoned entrepreneurs, with proven track records of successes in various business ventures. They have where many of the participants are at one point or the other in the past, and can easily guide them on the best way to go about their business initiatives to achieve successful outcomes.

In essence, participants will move from just having business initiatives to knowing how to make it work. It is not in doubt that a lot of Nigerians have one form of business initiative or the other but the problem, which has always hinder manifestation, is making it work. This is something that Hon. Salam is trying fix through this year’s edition of the BS-E4 Business and Leadership Bootcamp, bridging the gap of opportunities that has eluded aspirations for a long time.

And more, the event will prioritize networking, exploring its incredible potential to power growth of businesses. As indicated by Hon. Salam in a release to announce beneficiaries, the BS-E4 Business and Leadership Bootcamp will be attended by institutions “like the Bank of Agriculture, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, Corporate Affairs Commission, First Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank plc, Bank of Industry and several others have indicated interest in the Bootcamp.”

What this tells us is that participants do not have to worry about accessing capital for their businesses as long as they can show genuine potential to implement business initiatives. In short, Hon. Salam is putting almost everything on the table for those lucky enough to earn a spot at this year’s BS-E4 Business and Leadership Bootcamp to kickstart their journeys into a future full of benefits and all that is required from them is to be willing to embrace it.

• Sarafa Ibrahim writes from Osogbo, Osun state. He can be reached via email at neyoclass09@gmail.com and Twitter: SarafaNgr