”In a continent brimming with raw talent but starved of systems, it is easy for youth to retreat into cynicism. But Eno reminds us that while systems matter, so does mindset. That entrepreneurship starts with purpose, not capital. That resilience is built when we stop waiting to be rescued”
By Lucy Daniel
In a time when youth unemployment, restlessness, and disillusionment dominate much of Africa’s demographic conversation, something transformative is stirring in Nigeria’s Akwa Ibom State and it is coming not from desperation, but from deliberate vision.
At the 2025 edition of the Ibom Ignite Conference, themed “Ignite to Accelerate,” Governor Umo Eno delivered not just a speech, but a masterclass in personal accountability, entrepreneurial thinking, and leadership through example. The event, held at the Ibom-LED Centre in Uyo, has become a rallying point for young people seeking direction beyond slogans and social media motivation.
And in the middle of it all stood a man whose story could be mistaken for fiction starting with just five rooms in 1995, Pastor Umo Eno has built what is today known as the Royalty Group. But rather than simply flaunt his success, he offered it as a blueprint. “It was just a vision… to encourage our young people,” he said, recalling how the conference, first birthed as a church program in 2017, has grown into a state-wide platform for youth empowerment.
Governor Eno’s tone was clear and firm: the age of entitlement is over. His challenge to young people was pointed to trade the false comfort of victimhood for the boldness of responsibility. “I was tired of seeing young people having a sense of entitlement… like the world is owing them,” he said. “If you believe in a dream, live for it and avoid distractions.”
In a continent brimming with raw talent but starved of systems, it is easy for youth to retreat into cynicism. But Eno reminds us that while systems matter, so does mindset. That entrepreneurship starts with purpose, not capital. That resilience is built when we stop waiting to be rescued.
What makes the Ibom Ignite Conference particularly powerful is that it refuses to import solutions. Instead, it amplifies local voices, shares indigenous success stories, and encourages the telling of African narratives not from the lens of aid, but of agency.
This year’s keynote speaker, Obafemi Banigbe, CEO of Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services, echoed this urgency. He declared Akwa Ibom primed to become Nigeria’s next tech, sports, and agriculture hub but warned that none of these will materialize without vision, human capital investment, and deliberate action.
The message was unmistakable: We cannot wait for Lagos or Abuja to validate our potential. We must build from within.
From Reverend Godwin Amaowoh’s call to “start small and grow big” to the wide array of seasoned speakers from media professionals to tech innovators, the two-day conference was a reminder that success is not a leap, but a climb. One spark at a time.
Yet, the wisdom shared went beyond business plans and growth strategies. It was rooted in the moral foundation that many development conversations forget: gratitude, mentorship, and legacy. As Amaowoh warned, “While growing big, one must not forget those who were instrumental at any point.”
It’s not just about building an enterprise. It’s about becoming a person of value.
Perhaps most notable is how the government itself is modeling the values it is preaching. Governor Eno’s administration is not merely launching initiatives it is embodying them. He speaks not from the safety of a podium but from lived experience. This authenticity is the rarest currency in public leadership today.
While many Nigerian youths view government programs with skepticism (often for good reason), the Ibom Ignite platform offers a refreshingly credible and consistent alternative. In Governor Eno’s words: “In our days, we didn’t have conferences like this. The government didn’t provide such opportunities… But we have this idea that we could help other people so that they don’t go through what we went through.”
This is what nation-building looks like when leaders use the ladder they climbed to lift others, not to pull it up behind them.
Ibom Ignite is more than a youth conference. It is a model. A call to governments across Africa to stop treating youth as a problem to be managed and instead as partners in progress.
It is also a call to young people to break up with mediocrity, to reject the allure of overnight success, and to embrace the long, sometimes lonely, road of building something meaningful.
Akwa Ibom is lighting a fire. Not with fanfare, but with focus. Not with pity, but with purpose.
The rest of Nigeria and indeed Africa would do well to watch closely.
Lucy Daniel, SA to the Governor on Media
writes from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State
providencemaga@yahoo.com.
