[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he significance of the 15th Annual Lecture/Award Ceremony of the Association of Community Newspaper Publishers Of Nigeria (ACNPN),Delta State Council, was Co-operative Society, Model Palliative for Self -Reliance, Economic Growth and Industrialization. That was the subject matter as the Internal Auditor of Federal Cooperative College Oji-River, Enugu State, Pst. Okeze Idowu Daniel took the Community Newspaper Publishers and Nigerians on a journey as to how they can legitimately become wealth creators and employers of labour.
Okeze, who was the guest lecturer on the occasion and whose lecture focused on Co-operative Society, Model Palliative for Self -Reliance, Economic Growth and Industrialization said it was no longer news that government can no longer provide jobs for the teeming population of Nigerian youths; hence the need for young Nigerians to look inwards to discover innate capabilities and subject same to procedural training for acquisition of requisite skills for self-development and self-empowerment purposes.
Okeze emphasized that Cooperative Society was a veritable means of conquering dependence on non-existent white-collar jobs, saying that the Cooperative Society is a breeding ground for employers of labour and wealth creators. That the time has come for people to look inwards to find out what they need to do or what they can do to add to the growth and development of the country vis-a-vis personal development and growth.
The essence of the guest lecture was to have a paradigm shift by steering the minds of the Community Publishers and journalist towards being self-reliant, self-employed, self-sustained and their own boss. That the feat must not wait, but must be achieved while they were in the publishing business. That it is only by being an entrepreneur and owning a small business that they can achieve it. That they should begin to think of what business they can start as Community Newspaper Publishers which has the potential to be fully developed. The guest lecturer was of the opinion that Nigeria is still the best country in the world one can live in despite every odds, adding that small business is the solution to acute unemployment, poverty eradication, rapid economic growth as well as productive employment. That the likes of Coscharis, Ifeanyi Ubah, Mike Adenuga, Innoson, and many other famous Nigerian entrepreneurs have demonstrated that rewards in life are the true results of imagination.
