Sometimes, a government programme becomes much bigger than the speeches delivered from the podium. Saturday, September 19, 2026, was one of those moments.
Inside The Dome in Akure, hundreds of young entrepreneurs gathered for the 2026 ONDEA Entrepreneurs Summit. There was an unmistakable sense of anticipation in the room – the quiet conversations, nervous smiles and that familiar excitement that comes when an opportunity suddenly feels within reach.
But as I looked around the hall, I found myself seeing beyond the ceremony.
I saw future Dangotes.
I saw future Dangotes because every great enterprise starts somewhere – with an idea, a little courage, determination and someone willing to believe that the idea can become something bigger.
And there could hardly be a more fitting example than Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man and one of the continent’s most prominent entrepreneurs.
Dangote’s story is, in many ways, a story of how a business can grow from humble beginnings into an industrial empire.
He started in commodity trading before expanding into manufacturing and building what has become the Dangote Group, with interests spanning cement, sugar, salt, flour, energy and other major sectors.
Today, Dangote stands as Africa’s wealthiest individual, with Bloomberg’s September 20, 2026 Billionaires Index putting his fortune at about $35.5 billion.
But perhaps the most important part of the Dangote story is not the billions. It is the journey!
The journey from an idea to an enterprise. From enterprise to industry. And from industry to an economic force capable of creating jobs, attracting investment and contributing significantly to the wider economy.
That was what came to mind as I watched the young entrepreneurs gathered at The Dome.
When the 20 beneficiaries of the ONDEA My IDEA programme were announced, the atmosphere changed. The hall erupted in cheers. There were hugs, laughter and genuine excitement.
For those beneficiaries, it was clearly about more than financial support. It was the feeling that someone had looked at their ideas and said: Yes, this is worth supporting.
For me, that was the most powerful moment of the summit. Because sometimes, what a young entrepreneur needs is not just money. Sometimes, it is encouragement. Sometimes, it is access. Sometimes, it is someone saying, keep going; your idea has value.
That is where the broader philosophy behind ONDEA becomes important.
Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa’s message was straightforward: youth empowerment should go beyond simply giving people money. It should create an environment where ideas can grow into businesses and businesses can create jobs.
Young entrepreneurs are being supported with skills, business registration, equipment, finance, mentorship and access to markets.
The objective is to give them more than a one-off intervention. It is to help them build something that can last.
Even those who did not make the final 20 were encouraged not to see the outcome as failure.
There is value in going through the process of developing an idea, defending it, receiving criticism and learning how to make it better. Sometimes, the process itself is part of the opportunity.
The summit also saw the unveiling of the Lucky Light Initiative, a phased programme designed to provide clean and affordable solar electricity to 1,000 small businesses across Ondo State’s 18 local government areas.
For an entrepreneur, electricity is not a luxury. Electricity is production.
A fashion designer needs power to operate machines. A food processor needs power to produce. A barber needs power to work. A digital entrepreneur needs power to remain connected.
As the Governor put it: “Power the entrepreneur, so the entrepreneur can power the economy.”
And perhaps that is the bigger idea behind the summit.
To create an environment where young people can move beyond merely looking for jobs to creating businesses, employing others, owning assets and building enterprises that can outlive their founders.
That is the kind of journey the Dangote story represents.
A young person with an idea today may have a small shop, a workshop, a farm, an online business or a service enterprise.
It may look small.
But so does every beginning.
The Dangote story reminds us that the size of a business today does not necessarily determine the size of its future.
That young entrepreneur may not become another Aliko Dangote. But with the right idea, discipline, knowledge, access to capital, mentorship and an enabling environment, that business can become significantly bigger than it is today.
As I left The Dome, I kept thinking about the faces I had seen – the excitement, the dreams and the possibilities ahead of them.
Today, it may be a small business. Tomorrow, it could become an industry. Today, it may be one entrepreneur. Tomorrow, that entrepreneur could become an employer of hundreds.
So, from my seat inside The Dome, I saw more than beneficiaries.
I saw possibilities.
I saw ambition.
I saw enterprise.
And yes, I saw future Dangotes.
Hon. Kikelomo Isijola,
Special Assistant to the Governor on Digital Media
