The Roundtable Lekki 2023: Unemployment impacts level of poverty in society –Rev. Ubamadu

CHINYERE IKEANYI

The Chief Convener of the The Roundtable Lekki 2023, Conference, Rev. Chris Ubamaadu, has identified unemployment as one of the things that directly impacts on the level of poverty in any economy and society.

Rev. Ubamadu stated this during a Press Conference on the forth coming Nigerian Entertainment Industry Opportunities and Trends scheduled for May 1 by Church of God Mission held in Lekki Lagos

Stating that the rate of unemployment in the country is alarming, the Cleric said the the only thing that can alleviate poverty is employment.

According to him, “the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics says as at last quarter of 2020, the unemployment level in Nigeria was 33.30 per cent, which was also referenced by the World Bank for the same period. Under that they said youth unemployment was about 40.8 per cent as at 2020. The figure that got me thinking was the one I saw this morning, KPMG also reference National Bureau of Statistics said as at December last year, the unemployment level in Nigeria was at 37.7per cent and it is projected to grow to 40.6per cent by the end of this year”.

Rev. Ubamadu who is also the Senior Pastor/Zonal Coordinator, Church of God Mission, Victoria Island zone, stated that since the study had discovered that  every year 4.5million people join the labour market in Nigeria, “this is where we come in as a church that believes in the welfare of people”.

“We have looked at the entire economy and entire value chain, we have chosen to attack just one malady in Nigeria, the issue of unemployment because of its impact on the prevalent of poverty. So when we conceive the idea of Roundtable Lekki, it was for us to have a platform that would enable people to exchange ideas and information that would help to increase employment”, he further stated.

He said every year at Roundtable Lekki, the participants pick a topic in the economy for experts to examine, adding: ‘We dimension it, in the last two years we focused on real estate. We look at value chain; we dimension it with practitioners, with experts, with enthusiasts, people who are investors etc. The reason for dimension it is help people see where they can get employed in this sector”.

Ubamadu said this year, the Roundtable Lekki is focusing on the Nigerian entertainment industry, “and this an industry that is driven by private individuals because the sector itself is private sector, not a lot is being done by government. But it’s a very huge industry.

“There was one agency that came out with a report that as at August 2022, the movie segment of the entertainment industry generated about 79.1 billion dollars in a year, that is huge. The industry cut-across the movie, music, the comedy, the skit, the social media entertainment, the production, marketing etc. But not many people are aware of the investment opportunity in it. Many don’t know there things they can benefit from it.

“So, this year, our focus is on the Nigerian entertainment industry, the opportunities and the trend. So, we are going to have very senior participants in the industry that will grace the podium at this year’s Roundtable Lekki.  Jumoke Silver will be here, We have Basket mouth and others”, he added.

Dcn. Ogbebor Aiye, the chairman of the Roundtable Lekki 2023, represented by Ogbeneochoko Pedro Esq, in his speech, said  this year’s topic is on entertainment because “ Entertainment is enjoyment, amusement, fun, anything that helps you get a point of happiness”.

The purpose is very clear, the pursuit of entertainment is man’s task, endeavour to gain happiness. So, when you choose entertainment, you are trying to make people happy, and in that industry, you find out as the pastor has said that the pursuit of that happiness takes place to three levels.

“First of all, people are happy about the content you have produced, the next level is the pursuit of money and the happiness that money brings. So everybody involved in the creation of means of happiness is also pursuing another happiness that is not very clear at that level”, he said.

The Creative Lead at XTREME Mindz Solutions Ltd, the official media sponsors for the Roundtable lekki, Ms Toluwanimi Uduebor, said the organization has the sole objective of creating cutting edge brand and digital solutions for its clients.

“At Xtreme Mindz, we take pride in being a part of innovative ideas such as this one, because of the importance we place on corporate social responsibility. Partnering with the roundtable lekki as the Official media sponsors gives us the opportunity to be a part of a ground-breaking platform that consistently gives back to the society through information-sharing.

“This year’s theme for the Roundtable Lekki event is “The Nigerian Entertainment Industry; Opportunities and Trends”., Ms Uduebor stated.

According to her, the Nigerian entertainment industry is the largest in Africa, generating about $1 billion dollars in revenue annually, stating that “The growth of the Nigerian entertainment industry has led to the emergence of new businesses such as streaming platforms, event planning, and marketing agencies which also contributes significantly to the Nigerian economy through taxes and other revenues”.

I imploring the newsmen on the occasion to share the information gathered in their various communities, Uduebor further said:  “The Nigerian entertainment industry also provides employment opportunities for thousands of people, including actors, directors, producers, sound engineers, etcetra

“With an unemployment rate of 37% these facts demonstrate the enormous potential of the Nigerian entertainment industry and the opportunities available for anyone looking to invest or start a business in the sector.

“With our combined efforts, we hope to build on the precedent of the previous successes of the roundtable lekki symposium to get more people actively involved in the Entertainment sector, expose them to the ever-increasing possibilities of growing wealth, thereby, contributing to the improvement of the standard of living of all those that decide to take advantage of this opportunity”.

For a better society