Why Nigeria SMEs die with first generation

The question of why Nigeria has not been able to sustain generations of successful businesses has been addressed differently by experts, but former Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Executive Chairman, Mrs. Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, attributed it to poor visual ability.  She cited Germany as example of country that has  maintained fifth generation of SMEs, global and family businesses, in her keynote address at the 2015 WISCAR end of year graduation and 4th award presentation  ceremony with theme: “Women Leading Change” in Lagos.

Speaking on “Paradigm and Lens: Through Which We See” Okauru said, “We don’t build on our successes, I have pondered on why after the first generation of successful businesses, it is very difficult to move from one generation to another generation in this country, compared to Germany, which is dealing with fifth generation of SMEs, global businesses, family businesses.
The way we see affects what we do and the results that we get.” To this end, she said that to lead a change, there is the need to first champion a change in mindset, not just at the societal level, “but in ourselves.”
She added, “We really have not sat down to reflect what drives successes, we need to champion a change in mindset. We need to build a mindset of continuous research, innovation, inquiry, progress, learning, improving, capturing, for instance capturing records whether public or private sector. We  are not good at capturing records; we don’t value records because we don’t understand and value its importance. You cannot fight corruption without record,” she said.
The discussants at the event include  Prof. Remi Sonaiya, first female presidential candidate, Mrs. Lynda Saint-Nwafor, Chief Technical Officer, MTN Nigeria and Mrs. Yewande Sadiku, Executive Director, Stanbic IBTC Bank, shared their experiences, advising on the way forward and how to succeed as a career woman without reflecting negatively on the home.
Founder, WISCAR, Mrs. Amina Oyagbola, stated , “In my several years as a professional, I have come to the full realization of the hard work, diligence and creativity of the Nigerian Woman.   WISCAR will continue to deploy programmes and provide frameworks to enable young female professionals achieve their potential and their aspirations.”
Meanwhile, WISCAR graduated its sixth stream of mentees and inducted the seventh set who will go through the intensive twelve months structured Win with WISCAR mentoring program.


Source: www.vanguardngr.com