By Anietie Usen
Ndifreke Akpekong is a cassava farmer in Eket, Akwa Ibom State. Four years in the past in 2022, he was working as a struggling farmer in a area people within the hinterland of his LGA.
The solely hassle was that Akpekong was coping with extreme capital limitations that prevented him from increasing his cassava farming. This restriction stored revenue margins skinny and restricted his scope of operations.
But his story modified after he obtained a grant of N500,000 from IBOM IGNITE, an NGO arrange by Pastor Umo Eno, six years earlier than he grew to become the Governor.
With the half-a-million Naira grant, in response to studies in THE GATHERING, Akpekong “successfully cultivated a 0.7-hectare cassava plantation and directly expanded his local economic footprint by employing over 15 persons both directly and indirectly within the community”.
Udofia Emmanuel, a steel fabricator and one other beneficiary of IBOM IGNITE informed his story to journalists protecting the 2025 version of the programme. “I was struggling to meet customer demands because I lacked the specialized gear. Winning the ₦250,000 grant completely changed my trajectory. I was able to acquire a brand-new specialized machine for my metal fabrication yard. Not only did it increase my capacity, but I have also been able to hire two additional staff to join my business.”
So are the tales of Ruth Bassey, founding father of Enriched Bakery, Uyo; Tochukwu Lorenzo, fantastic artist and inside decorator; Uyo; Mary Ekpo, trend and attire designer, Eket; Blessing Udofot, dressmaker inEket; Pastor Church Mfon Monday, a producer of cosmetics and family merchandise in Etim Ekpo; Ikemesit Awak, a producer of cleansing merchandise and liquid cleaning soap; to say a number of.
Before the grant of N500,000, Bassey, a chemical engineering graduate was attempting to interrupt into the bakery enterprise. She was constrained by low-capacity of home baking instruments, which restricted her market attain and day by day output.
After the grant, she stated she “upgraded her workflow by acquiring a commercial mixer and an additional industrial oven”. She additionally initiated her formal NAFDAC product registration and scaled up her operations to rent 5 everlasting employees.
For Pastor Monday, one other graduate of the University of Uyo, “the IBOM IGNITE grant in addition to my savings helped me to purchase a brand new 30KVA; four cylinder sound proof diesel generating plant, to expand my soap production factory from manual method to a fully automated soap factory…”
Tochukwu Lorenzo, a inventive artist and decorator bought a grant of N500,000. Before the grant, he was counting on sporadic, uncooked commissions with out the equipment or high-grade provides wanted to tender for company inside design tasks.
After the grant, Lorenzo secured industrial studio gears, permitting him to transition his inventive expertise into a proper enterprise construction able to dealing with large-scale industrial ornament contracts throughout Uyo and Eket.
It is nearly the identical story for greater than 10,000 trainees who’ve efficiently gone by the IBOM IGNITE programme since inception in 2017.
Over the years, beneficiaries of the IBOM IGNITE Conference have shared overwhelming testimonials, describing the programme because the vital turning level for his or her companies.
Beyond the monetary seed funding, previous members persistently spotlight the mindset shift, sensible monetary prudence, and the power to structurally design a enterprise imaginative and prescient as probably the most worthwhile takeaways that helped them transition from concepts to surviving native enterprises.
IBOM IGNITE is one programme that displays the deepest needs of Governor Eno to, in his phrases, ‘produce after its own kind’, a Biblical phrase that establishes the organic and non secular legislation that each dwelling factor reproduces offspring matching its precise species or nature.
As the NGO is taking inventory of its final six years, all is about additionally for the take off of the IBOM IGNITE CONFERENCE 2026, scheduled for October 27 and 28, 2026, at Ibom Hall, IBB Avenue, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Launched as a non-public, faith-based, youth-focused empowerment platform by Pastor Eno method again in 2017, six years earlier than he grew to become the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, the annual capability constructing and entrepreneurial empowerment programme attracts from the Eno instance and background as a self-made entrepreneur, who constructed the Royalty Group and a fortune from a small 5-room lodge in Eket.
Since then, the IBOM IGNITE Conference has developed from a neighborhood faith-based youth initiative into one of the influential state-backed youth entrepreneurship and management actions in Nigeria’s South-South area.
The maiden convention befell in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, drawing round 2,000 younger leaders and that includes outstanding native enterprise mentors. Over the years, the annual convention shifted to the capital metropolis of Uyo.
Following Pastor Eno’s election as Governor, the platform seamlessly aligned along with his Administration’s ARISE Agenda, cementing its position as a premier gateway for human capital growth and startup financing in Akwa Ibom State.
This yr’s stanza of the programme is that includes a mix of administrative leaders, non secular mentors, and seasoned technique consultants; together with Pastor Eno himself, a extremely profitable entrepreneur who’s bringing to the desk sensible enterprise expertise collectively along with his hands-on background and monitor report in governance.
Other useful resource individuals embrace Apostle Joshua Selman, the extremely influential founding father of Eternity Network International (ENI) and host of Koinonia. He is globally acknowledged for his teachings on ideas of non-public growth, mindset shifts, and management technique; Sir Charles Sebastian Udoh, a seasoned media, communications, and model administration government who has served as a state commissioner, bringing public relations experience to the panel and Ime Uwah, the Senior Special Assistant on Entrepreneurial Development to Governor Eno.
Hanson Johnson, a outstanding digital ecosystem builder and nation director behind native tech hubs, focusing closely on fueling software program growth and youth digital empowerment throughout the South-South area; in addition to
Dr. Maxwell Ubah, an elite company strategist, management professional, and CEO of Strategy House Limited, who specialises in restructuring companies and coaching executives.
They will all give attention to the theme: “REINVENT: Rethink, Reimagine, Redesign, Become”. The goal is 1,500 younger leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators, chosen on benefit by a public, digital software pipeline that operated on a strict, first-come-first-served foundation.
Applicants had been filtered into two distinct streams primarily based on their intent: these registering strictly as common convention attendees to take part in management coaching, and people making use of for the IBOM IGNITE Entrepreneurship and Innovation Grant.
For members searching for a portion of the ₦50 Million funding pool, a further layer of choice was applied. Out of the registered pool, 470 candidates had been chosen to advance to a compulsory bodily screening and dwell pitching evaluation held on the IBOM-LED Complex on October 24, 2026. The remaining winners in each the Startup and Existing Business classes will likely be unveiled dwell in the course of the wrap-up occasion of the IBOM IGNITE Conference on October 28, 2026.
According to Governor Eno the initiative maintains an over 60% success fee, verified by trackable testimonials of beneficiaries who used early seeds to construct purposeful, surviving companies.
Across its distinct annual cycles, this system has collectively educated, upskilled, and mentored over 10,000 Akwa Ibom youths in company management, digital innovation, agribusiness, and monetary prudence.
By drawing down international trade leaders, tech CEOs, and nationwide visionaries (like Apostle Joshua Selman and Obafemi Banigbe), it bridges the hole between grassroots native entrepreneurs and nationwide financial pipelines.
Beyond the monetary seed funding, previous members persistently spotlight the mindset shift, sensible monetary prudence, and the power to structurally design a enterprise imaginative and prescient as probably the most worthwhile takeaways that helped them transition from concepts to surviving native enterprises.
Ikemesit Awak who emerged because the standout winner final yr within the extremely aggressive Business Startup Category and walked away with a ₦2 Million startup capital grant after delivering a masterful pitch, stated her enterprise fortunes and trajectory are actually irreversible.
“This grant helped me achieve one of my major business goals, which was to increase my business revenue and achieve consistent daily sales…Overall, the grant has been instrumental in supporting my business growth, improving my marketing efforts, and increasing my revenue”, Awak stated.
Her journey is extensively cited by the organizers as a primary instance of feminine youth empowerment below the platform.
The very first batch of beneficiaries from the 2017 maiden convention held on the Rehoboth Arena in Eket, began micro-ventures with small seed grants and have efficiently sustained their companies for almost a decade, serving because the foundational proof-of-concept that satisfied the State authorities to undertake and develop the platform.
Beneficiaries steadily state that studying to construct a “Vision Board” below native enterprise mentors like Mrs. Ekaette Umoh, the DG of
Ibom-LED utterly reworked how they deal with day-to-day operations and scaling.
Past winners specific deep gratitude for the capital injections. “In a challenging economic landscape,like ours, the grants provided me with the essential safety net that prevented my startup from folding in the first year”, Akpekong stated.
“It was an eye-opener for me… I discovered that the mind of an entrepreneur must be a problem solving mind, risk taking, value adding and an investment conscious mindset… You have to move from talent to skill and intentional networking”, Ekpo stated.
For Blessing Akpan, an Agricultural entrepreneur, her take residence and key to constructing a thriving enterprise is: “Never underestimate the potential contributions of anyone, as they may hold the key to realizing your dreams” .
Governor Eno’s marketing campaign guarantees relating to ability acquisition, capability constructing, and entrepreneurial growth had been anchored closely in his official governance blueprint, The ARISE Agenda. Drawing from his private background as a profitable businessman, his marketing campaign centered on shifting the mindsets of Akwa Ibom youths from “job seekers” to “job creators”.
Governor Eno is a person who went from a small-scale entrepreneur to a conglomerate powerhouse. Now, he’s passing the torch. Through large capacity-building packages, each on the governmental and Non-Governmental ranges, Akwa Ibom is coaching the enterprise giants of tomorrow.
Said Obafemi Banigbe, CEO of EMTS/9mobile, who was the Keynote Speaker final yr: “When I look at this State, I see possibilities. To the young people here: you are not just leaders of tomorrow, you are leaders of today. Don’t dim your spark, ignite it”.
*Anietie Usen writes from Uyo
