Culled from AfricanFarmer Mogaji’s presentation at Covenant Capital Seminar titled ‘The Untapped Agricultural Potential of Nigeria’
Looking at the history and development of agriculture in Nigeria, it is not a coincidence that virtually all our past Presidents and Heads of State had passion for agriculture; this is not surprising as the state of oil sector in our economy was never so encouraging. With that understanding, you may agree that it is high time we went back to the drawing board to explore the gains of agriculture in order to fix our crawling economy.
We need to work together to fix our economy, but, how do we fix it? Agriculture is the way to fix it, and if your interest is already being aroused, below are some “food for thought” in Agriculture that may stimulate business idea(s) for you in your bid to make a business opportunity out of agriculture:
It may interest you to also know that the Federal Government has made a drastic move to stop rice importation by putting in place measures which will give the local rice farmers opportunity to develop rice production in the country, so what do you intend to make of that?
Culled from Managing Counsel of Templars; Ijeoma Uju’s presentation at Covenant Capital Seminar titled Establishing a business in Nigeria ‘What you need to know’ (Part 2)
Many people desire to start their own business and they wish to gather as many information as possible on how to go about the whole process.
To start with, there are several benefits for starting up a business in Nigeria- depending on the kind of structure you decide on. Some of these benefits include:
Having identified some of the benefits of starting your own business, you may wonder next on the kinds of business structures that are available in Nigeria, and also on your own best option. Some guides are provided below:
The most common structures in Nigeria for businesses that are going to be profit making ventures are the business name, and the Limited liability Company.
The business name could either be set up as sole proprietorship or partnership.
For sole proprietorship, you must bear in mind that you are the business, everything you will do is about the business, you have complete control of the business- but it may be difficult for you as a sole proprietor to raise a substantial capital for the business, and you are not also guaranteed that your business will continue- which means succession on the business is not guaranteed as a sole proprietorship business owner.
As for partnership, financial commitments are shared amongst the partners; where you seek to operate one, you and your partners must share the load of profit and every other benefit that come out of the business and the risks. The principal issue is where dispute arises in the business and the partners are put to the test of carrying on together.
Lastly is the limited liability company structure which benefits hinge on the facts that the company is a separate legal personality from its members, it can transact business in its name, it can sue and be sued too, and there is perpetual succession of the business, plus the brain of the business which is referred to as Board of Directors. Conversely however, the tax liabilities on companies are higher, and companies are obliged to keep records and file annual papers and audited report.
From all stated, you may agree that the decision on which business structure to adopt has to be made as early as possible because not all the structures will be appropriate for the kind of business that you intend to run.
…. to be continued.
Moderator: Thank you very much Evangelist. That was really insightful. Grew up, watching mount Zion movies and I really admired the Evang. Mike and Gloria. It’s a big privilege being here today. Sir, when we think of Christian film making, the mind of the business man thinks of a low economic opportunity.
Mike Bamiloye: Yes, I think there is that economic opportunity. I remember many years ago, when we did ‘Agbara Nla’ (Ultimate Power). It generated a lot of traffic even though it was on home video and wasn’t in the theatre. It was shown on every major TV station in the Western Region. Quite a number of marketers about 5 of them were competing to sell the home video and were fighting amongst themselves. The demand was high! Content is key and once it’s a solution based content, demand will come for it. However, presently a lot of things such as privacy and the likes have gotten involved.
Moderator: How did you know or trust that there were prospects in this line of ministry or trade and will eventually pay off that you committed your life to it?
Gloria Bamiloye: I think everything is by faith. We just believed it’s of the Lord and that we were called. I was a teacher before then, but when I discovered God, I followed him. Once you are faithful and don’t play games with God, you will prosper. So it has been by faith
Moderator: Tell us a little bit about your drama training school and what you intend to achieve through it?
Mike Bamiloye: It is called Mount Zion Institute of Christian Drama. It started in 1991 and was situated in Ile Ife. The essence of this, apart from film making and drama production, is that the Lord has given the vison of nurturing and training others in this line. My objective is building people up and majority of people making Christian movies now are directly and indirectly products of the institute all over the world.
Moderator: With high level of piracy and sophisticated media world, how do you make your money as a Christian movie maker?
Gloria Bamiloye: Firstly, I will advise you not to look at the money but believe in what you have (Vision) and launch into it. Piracy is everywhere. Even our movies were pirated and Government couldn’t do anything. A woman got angry and went to Onitsha and saw this pirates but couldn’t do anything. It’s more of a calling and a way of passing a message to the world. God himself will surely take care of you.
Moderator: What are the opportunities for stage drama and Christian drama in the environment? What are your views about alternatives to cartoons for kids?
Gloria Bamiloye: The alternative is having Christians producing cartoons that will promote God-like and moral values in a very interesting way. Every person in drama ministry have varied gifts. Christian producers should be able produce contemporary movies as well.
Thank you!
(Moderator: Obinna Nwachukwu)