…20 young entrepreneurs receive grants, support packages
By Mike Adeyemi
Ondo State Governor, Hon. Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, has unveiled the Lucky Light Initiative, a phased intervention designed to provide reliable, clean and affordable solar electricity to 1,000 small businesses across the 18 local government areas of the state.
The governor announced the initiative on Saturday at the 2026 Ondo State Entrepreneurship Agency (ONDEA) Entrepreneurs Summit held at the International Centre for Culture and Events (The Dome), Igbatoro Road, Akure.
According to the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Prince Ebenezer Adeniyan, the summit, themed “The New Ondo: Positioning Entrepreneurs for Emerging Opportunities,” provided a platform for the administration to outline its vision for entrepreneurship, innovation, investment and enterprise development in the state.
Adeniyan, in a statement, quoted Governor Aiyedatiwa as describing the Lucky Light Initiative not as a household electrification programme but as an economic intervention targeted at reducing the energy burden on small businesses.
The governor said electricity had become an essential component of the cost of production for entrepreneurs, noting that rising energy costs directly translated into higher operating and production costs.
He said the Lucky Light Initiative would commence this year, with beneficiaries supported in batches, while subsequent phases would expand the programme until more businesses across the state’s 18 local government areas are covered.
Governor Aiyedatiwa said entrepreneurship had gone beyond merely starting businesses, stressing that it now involved identifying problems, developing solutions, embracing technology, building sustainable enterprises, creating employment and competing beyond immediate environments.
He said his administration was deliberately repositioning and diversifying the state economy to create an environment where entrepreneurship, innovation and businesses could thrive.
According to him, government should not create dependency but should provide the right environment for entrepreneurs to identify opportunities, acquire skills, access support, build sustainable businesses and create prosperity.
The governor identified agriculture and agro-processing, cocoa and other cash crops, tourism, the blue economy, oil and gas, solid minerals, technology, renewable energy, creative industries, manufacturing, logistics and export-oriented businesses as areas with significant opportunities in Ondo State.
He said his administration’s objective was to move the state beyond the production of raw materials to processing, packaging, branding and exporting value-added products.
Governor Aiyedatiwa said the government was building an entrepreneurial ecosystem that would connect ideas with skills, skills with businesses, businesses with finance and businesses with markets, with ONDEA playing a strategic role.
Through ONDEA, he said, entrepreneurs were being supported to register and formalise their businesses, acquire relevant skills, receive training and business equipment, access business support and build enterprises capable of creating jobs.
He added that the agency was helping residents transition from informal economic activities to structured businesses and from job seekers to job creators.
The governor also announced the recognition of 20 young entrepreneurs whose ideas distinguished them during the ONDEA My IDEA screening and selection process.
He said the beneficiaries would receive funding and business support packages, as well as opportunities for further development, exposure and mentorship.
Aiyedatiwa charged the beneficiaries to utilise the support responsibly by building sustainable businesses, creating employment, paying their taxes and mentoring others.
He stressed that the ultimate return on government investment should not be measured only by the success of individual entrepreneurs but by the number of people whose lives would be positively impacted by their businesses.
The governor further announced plans to purchase shares in the Dangote Group of Companies for 500 young entrepreneurs in the state, as part of efforts to expose them to investment opportunities and encourage wealth creation.
In his keynote address, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, represented by his Special Adviser, Toba Oyedele, said entrepreneurs would play a central role in the Federal Government’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
Oyedele urged entrepreneurs in Ondo State to position themselves to take advantage of emerging opportunities and transform economic reforms, innovation and investment into sustainable businesses, employment and economic growth.
Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Investment, Dr Summy Smart Francis, urged young entrepreneurs to stop waiting for opportunities and deliberately move towards them.
Francis said successful entrepreneurship required clarity, discipline and velocity, which he described as the ability to move with speed in the right direction.
He advised young entrepreneurs to develop clear visions and work backwards from their desired future rather than merely having wishes without definite pathways to achieving them.
He disclosed that ONDEA had established a WhatsApp group and adopted a 48-hour response system for letters as part of measures to improve the agency’s responsiveness.
Francis described the summit as the largest gathering of entrepreneurs in Nigeria and said its theme aligned with the seven-point OUR EASE Agenda of the Aiyedatiwa administration, which he said was designed to create an enabling environment for citizens, businesses and investors.
Media entrepreneur and former Managing Director of TVC Entertainment, Morayo Afolabi-Brown, called for greater investment across the Southwest, noting that the region had enormous economic opportunities beyond Lagos.
She said the concentration of economic activities in Lagos should give way to broader economic development across other states in the region.
The event was attended by the Deputy Governor, Dr Olayide Adelami; Secretary to the State Government, Dr Taiwo Fasoranti; Chief of Staff, Prince Segun Omojuwa; Head of Service, Chief Olusegun Odusanya; members of the State Executive Council and other political appointees.