Last week was very memorable for us. I assume we caused a huge stir at the recently concluded CTO Seminars and Exhibition organized by the US Commercial Service. As official bloggers, giving hourly coverage of the CTO programme on our blog unilagfaces.com, we won the admiration of many of those associated with the CTO one way or another. We received a lot of  accolades and encouragement from dignitaries like the Minister of Communications, the US Consular General, the Managing Director of Zennith Bank plc, and all the visiting resource persons from the US and South Africa. We were so charged up that we succeeded in educating virtually everyone that came our way at the CTO on how we are taking advantage of blogging to leverage profits from the internet globally. As a group of 40 students working together, we have succeeded in building the fastest-growing blog site in Nigeria (the blog statistics are currently 435 posts and 403 comments, contained within 39 categories, within 6 weeks). iVEN (which stands for Innovative Entrepreneurs Network) is indeed a group to watch; and our flagship blog, unilagfaces.com (like Mr Jim Ovia of Zenith Bank said) is an example of a brilliant business concept worthy of emulation by other aspiring young entrepreneurs. We were the toast of the media throughout the CTO, considering the number of newspaper and television interviews we gave. The Deputy VC of Unilag, Prof. Sofola (pictured here with some members of iVEN at CTO 2006), was proud to declare that we are a match for our contemporaries in Stanford, Harvard, etc. (Of course we know that). Our arena is the global marketplace. So there is no room for mediocre stuff. We definitely are not planning on earning professional incomes by parading mediocre skills. We are a group of young folks who believe they can be the very best and compete at the very  highest levels globally, and that’s exactly what we’re focussed on doing. 
So, what’s next for us, you may ask? We are ready now to soar to distant heights of success. We are finalizing plans to start implementing projects for some corporate clients. Our blog is fast becoming a hot advert medium for organizations targeting the youth. We also have a huge software project in the works. Please, visit us often here at Unilagfaces.com, and always try to leave a comment. We strongly believe in Constantly And Never-ending Improvement (CANI) as a key to excellence. Have a great weekend.

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The Computer Telecommunication and Office Equipment Exhibition (CTO) for the year 2006 has come to an end. The entire exhibition was a very interesting and educative experience which will go down in the annals of history as a turning point in the economic and business environment of Nigeria. Many participants will remember CTO 2006 for the overall impact it had on them as individuals through the different personal development seminars and business ideas that were presented to them. Corporate organizations will not forget in a hurry the different business opportunities and the different strategies for growth that they encountered. We, Innovative Entrepreneurs Network (iVEN), owners and managers of  UNILAGfaces.com, were present as exhibitors at the exhibition as the official bloggers, in collaboration with the US embassy. The two booths occupied by our members were constantly crowded with visitors who thronged there to see for themselves the student entrepreneurs who had taken the bold step of taking their future into their own hands by positioning themselves to play in the global economy through the medium of Information Communication Technology (ICT). Many visitors to our booths, which included Prof. Manny Aniebonam, President of the Nigerian Information Technology Professionals in The Americas, Mr, Nic Louw, a Franchise Consultant, African Development Bank, Mr. Jim Ovia, MD/ CEO Zenith Bank Nigeria PLC, Prof. Sofola, Deputy VC UNILAG and many others, all expressed their admiration for our work as innovative and enterprising student entrepreneurs. The Innovative Entrepreneurs Network (iVEN) will like to use this medium to convey to one and all our profound gratitude for their patronage and unflinching support throughout the course of the entire CTO 2006. Our gratitude goes to the Vice Chancellor of UNILAG, Prof. Ibidabo-Obe, the MD/CEO of Zenith Bank, Mr. Jim Ovia, Prof. Manny Aniebonam, President, Nigerian Information Technology Professionals in Diaspora, Mr. Marc Shwartz, CEO Spectracomm USA, Mr. Nic Louw and many others who showed their open support and encouraged us to greater heights. A very big thank you to the Consular General of the American Embassy, Mr. Brian Browne, Ms. Joanna McInerney, the Commercial Attache of the US Embassy and Mr. Anayo Agu, Senior Commercial Specialist of the US Commercial Service and the entire US Commercial Service, who all believed in us as students who could deliver and gave us the opportunity to do so. The entire experience has indeed been worth it and we are the better for it. To all our guests at both of our booths, all our visitors and friends, we want to say, “Thank you for believing in us and for your total support.” Our one request as we sign off CTO 2006 is this: Please, don’t stop visiting UNILAGfaces.com. Keep coming back to visit us, online, as often as you can. We will appreciate that very much.  And please try to leave comments. Your feedback can help us improve in no small measure. We trust to see y’all at CTO 2007. 

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The MD/CEO of Zenith Bank PLC, Mr. Jim Ovia presented a paper this morning titled ‘Be the Boss Tomorrow – Empower Yourself With ICT.’ It was a direct and inspiring message to the youth of Nigeria on the way forward to achieving economic freedom. He encouraged the youth to aspire to greater heights and in a very practical way gave them ideas and steps to achieving their goals using the medium of ICT. His presentation focused on 6 major points:
·Youth – know Thy Self
·Who is the Boss
·How to be the Boss
·Be Your Own Boss: The Power Of Positive Thinking
·The Nigerian youth and the digital divide
1.Current ICT spread
2.Wealth Creation
3.Practical Illustrations
·Points to Ponder
Ovia’s presentation first focused on the mindset and attitude of the average Nigerian youth. He told the youths that each one must know himself, discover their strengths and weaknesses and learn to be to be boss of his or herself. He explained practical steps to take in order to be the boss of oneself. “To be the boss, you must think positively.” He explained to participants that attitude is everything. He listed other key ingredients germane to success. These include:
·Commitment – it determines whether you succeed or fail
·Courage – it is needed to undertake an adventure
·See problems as opportunities
·Keep the end result in sight
·Develop the survival instinct
He introduced the youths to the digital divide. His statistical analysis of ICT penetration into the Nigerian market compared the Nigerian telephone industry to internet penetration which is quite underdeveloped. He showed the immense opportunities that abound in the ICT industry globally, showing that the Nigerian ICT industry was still virgin and largely untapped. In a very practical way, he enumerated ways that the youth could tap into this gold mine of opportunities. He concluded by encouraging youth that age is not a barrier to success. He gave examples of world famous men who made waves in the ICT world as youths. The entire presentation was very infor-entertaining (i. e. entertaining and educative) which left many people looking forward to CTO 2007 and any other program Zenith Bank PLC may be involved on youth empowerment.

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CTO 2006 has been a very interesting experience to many of the participants. UNILAGfaces.com sampled the opinions of a cross section of the exhibitors at the Shell Hall of the Muson Centre. The general agreement among exhibitors is that the entire exhibition has been very educative. Many companies were on hand to show case different types of products and services: from telecommunications to banking services, softwares, computers, computer accessories and many other interesting products and services. Nigerian companies like Iway Africa, Motorola, Coscharis Technologies, Zenith Bank PLC, Starcomms and many more were fully represented at the 5 days exhibition which will end today with an awards ceremony at 2:00 p.m. this afternoon. Attendance at the CTO has been quite impressive as Monday, the opening day and today, the closing day recorded the highest turn out. Today has been quite remarkable indeed in terms of the turn out. The high turn out today is basically as a result of today’s seminar which was focused on students and aspiring entrepreneurs. Many students from primary schools, secondary schools and different universities such as UNILAG and LASU were present. The Agip Recital Hall, venue for the seminar, was inadequate to accomodate the number of students who came. Many of the students in the hall had to stand and many more could not enter the hall at all. The turnout of students was indeed commendable and could be an indication of the desire of Nigerian youths to take their future into their own hands through entrepreneurship, making use of the ICT industry.

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To every beginning there is an end. To every opening day, there is a closing day. And so it is with CTO 2006, where we have come to the last and final day, today. Events planned for this closing day promise to be the best yet, as it is a day specially set aside for students and aspiring entrepreneurs. Zenith Bank, a co-sponsor of CTO 2006, will be fully represented  by its CEO, Mr. Jim Ovia, who will deliver a paper during the morning session titled, ‘Be The Boss Tomorrow By Investing In Yourself Today.’ Marc Schwartz, the ever-captivating and dynamic speaker, CEO Spectracomm/Consultant CORE MAP, will also be delivering a paper titled, ‘Authentic Success – Using The CORE Map To Focus On Your Strength And Manage Your Weakness.’ The final paper for today will be delivered by Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, CEO Teledom Int’l and President, Association Of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria – ATCON.
The grand and final event for today will be the ‘Awards and Closing Ceremony,’ by the US Commercial Service and Public Affairs Service. At this award, different exhibitors and participants at the CTO 2006 will be honoured. As usual, you can depend on Unilagfaces.com to bring to you these events as they unfold.

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Mr. Obiora Madu, from MultiMix Export Academy, gave the final paper presentation today. The theme was ‘Trade facilitation, the role of supply chain management’. He started by saying international trade is an indispensable engine of economic growth. He also mentioned that trade expands markets, facilitates competition, increases productivity and disseminates knowledge. Furthermore, he said that ‘Trade Openness’ spurs economic growth and technological progress and economic growth raises living standards. According to him, Countries that have grown fastest have done so with rapid increase in their participation in world trade.
Talking about Trade Facilitation, it aims to make trade procedures as efficient as possible through the simplification and harmonization of documentation, procedures and information flows.
Barriers to trade facilitation:
• Lack of transparency
• Red tape
• Port congestion
• Corruption
• Inadequate transit regimes
• High release and clearance time

Global Supply Chain Management involves a company’s worldwide interest as suppliers rather than simply a local or national orientation. Visibility, velocity and variability is essential to make a supply chain construct work. Visibility of high quality information is becoming the fundamental building block for adaptive supply chain networks. Once organizations overcome the visibility barrier the next step is to increase the velocity of response. This is rapidly becoming the key differentiator in business performance.
The role of ICT in trade facilitation:
• Automated processing  
• Reduce time and increases efficiency
He sited examples of countries who have utilized ICT to facilitate international trade, which include;
Mauritius: Mauritius Trade Net (MTN) which has reduced average time of goods transfer from 4hours to 15 minutes.
Tunisia: The Tunisia Trade Net (TTN) has reduced processing time of trade documents from 18 to 7 days
Singapore: Time savings in Singapore translate into 1% of GDP per year.
This is in sharp contrast to the Nigerian bureaucracy at the ports.
He concluded by saying that there is potential dramatic improvement that can be made in trade clearing process.
Mr. Obiora Madu presented a second paper which was titled ‘Secrets of SMEs success in exporting’.
He started this second paper by saying that the international market is ruthless, selective and fiercely competitive (according to the ITC).
He said that exporting is not a process, not a transaction. From available statistics, only few countries in the world can match Nigeria’s endowment in terms of natural resources. One important point was highlighted, competitive advantage has taken over form comparative advantage.
Benefits of exporting:
• Increased profits
• Additional markets
• Increased product service life cycle
• Challenges facing exporting
• Market access
• Competitiveness
• Capacity to cope with the strenuous demands of the international markets
• Economic rivalry
For any company considering entering the export market, you need to consider some key aspects of your business, which includes; Management expertise, production resources and many more.
At the end of his presentation, he entertained several questions from the audience, which he answered articulately. Unilagfaces.com really want to affirm that Mr. Obiora Madu is certainly a maestro in the International Trade and Export business.

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Mr. Akeem, a Lagos-based lawyer, spoke on the legal implications of franchising in Nigeria. In his brief speech, he said that Law is an instrument of social control and that franchising is based on the Laws of Contract. However, minimum concession and maximum aspirations must be embodied in a franchise agreement. Each of the parties involved should also secure the services of an Attorney. A franchising agreement must be signed, which makes it a secure legal document. He advised all potential franchisees and franchisors to “look well before you leap” before entering into a franchising agreement. During a question and answer session, a member of UNILAGfaces.com asked this question: “In the interpretation of the law, one takes into consideration what the lawmaker had in mind when formulating the law. Since there are no well-articulated laws as regards franchising in Nigeria, all that is left is the use of the laws of contract and partnership in implied contexts. This in itself could lead to many technical problems. What is the legal profession doing to encourage the National Assembly to promulgate well-articulated laws regarding franchising? In response, Mr Akeem said that franchising is based upon laws relating to contract and partnership. The fact that everyone has the freedom to enter into any contract that he chooses, he must make sure that the terms of agreement must be according to conditions that will work in their interest. The agreement must be written and unambiguous.

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Sam Smoots, the CEO of Crown Jewel Int’l USA and a former staff of the Overseas Private Investment Corpation (OPIC), an agency of the US governement said that it is easy to recognize that one of the main problems in Nigeria is access to long – term finance. He also said that his company could give loans on a short term basis at very reasonable interest rates. OPIC, on the other hand, gives loans of between 3-8yrs, between $100,000 to $4 million and the interest rate is about 10%-11% for entrepreneurs starting a new business or wanting to buy a franchise. He talked about US EXIM bank and that they also give loans, and that the US Trade Development Agency helps with feasibilty studies for any new business. He also stated that The African Development Enterprise Corporation with branches in 15 countries and with a fund portfolio of $100 million is a major source for loans. A member of Unilagfaces.com asked Mr. Smoots whether OPIC loans money to prospective franchisees who want to buy franchises from companies that are not American businesses. In response, he explained that OPIC does not loan money for buying franchises that are not US related. He however, recommended the International Finance Corporation (IFC), for funding of non-American franchises. In conclusion, he gave the web addresses of three organizations that entrepreneurs could get finance from as follows:

www.opic.gov

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Marc Schwartz spoke this morning on ‘Manifesting Wealth and Getting the Best Out Of Your Customers.’ He talked about understanding yourself and your customers using the CORE MAP principle. Mr. Schwartz mentioned the 4 behavioural styles possessed by different individuals:
•Commander
•Organizer
•Relater and
•Entertainer
Commanders and Entertainers are extroverts while Organizers and Relaters are introverts. Commanders, because they are result oriented, are unique. They alone have the ability to develop successfully, the other three traits. To be successful, a sales person should first determine if a customer is an introvert or an extrovert and adjust his own personality to accommodate the customer’s behavioural style. He defined an entrepreneur as a person who solves problems for profit, adding that if you do what you love, the money will come. Furthermore, he gave us the four keys to wealth. They are:
•Self awareness – which is the ability to understand our true nature.
•Self confidence – which is a product of knowledge, experience and positive feedback.
•Personal boundaries – which is the ability to define what we are and not willing to accept being defined by others. It involves you learning how to say “NO,” knowing that people will attempt to distract you but the depth and level of your focus will determine the depth and level of wealth.
•Self esteem – is essential to moving forward despite the obstacles we meet on a regular basis throughout life. Self esteem tells us we are worthy of the continued effort that is essential to achieving goals and wealth.
He highlighted that all of these keys are vital ingredients in creating wealth. Therefore, even if it appears you have failed, it is only a feed back for you to try again.
He also said that your roots determine your fruits. Your roots are the things your mind feeds on i.e. the mental, emotional and spiritual ingredients you feed your mind. According to him, only in the past four years has he come to realize that of these three, the biggest piece is the spiritual side which is the belief in God. He advised every one to pay attention to what they do best because what you focus on grows. This he called the universal law of attraction.

Technorati tags: Marc Schwartz, Manifesting wealth, Commander, Organiser 

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Mrs. Susan Oyemade, the opening speaker for today’s seminar was represented by Mrs. Modupe Fasusi of Bumans Services Ltd. Mrs Oyemade was unable to attend the seminar, Unilagfaces.com gathered, because she is presently attending a conference outside the country. Mrs. Fasusi began the lecture with a brief description of the company: Forever Living Products (FLP) – a family of related companies with distributors marketing FLP products around the world. According to her, FLP provides its distributors with best quality products, support staff and a generous marketing plan. Mrs. Fasusi, in her definition of wealth informed participants that wealth is not about having great possessions but having few wants. Wealth is the financial freedom to choose what to do, buy, and where to go at any time. She also informed participants that one can create wealth about  ‘what’ (product or service value),  ‘how’ (method or process) and  ‘when’ (time and timing value).
According to her, wealth is enabled by capital, while information and data analysis provide knowledge which can be converted to wealth. Also, She said that boundary-less wealth could be created through participation in multinational or global businesses, investment, international trading, export businesses, cross-continental franchising, multi-level marketing; to mention but a few.
At this point, Mrs. Fasusi directed her lecture to the structure of the FLP business. FLP, she said, is a multilevel marketing company with a simple model that adopts a team exponential output that enables individuals to attain wealth. Its marketing plan offers a bonus structure to achieve personal growth, volume bonuses, and leadership bonuses. It offers the individual the opportunity to take their businesses to an international level. In conclusion, Mrs. Fasusi pointed out that FLP invests in quality products and people.

Technorati tags: CTO, Wealth, Mrs. Modupe Fasusi, Unilag

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