Nzan Ogbe: Arise News Has Put Nigeria on Global Map

*Says Nigeria’s economy would’ve been worse off without contributions of entrepreneurs

Peter Uzoho

Serial entrepreneur and Chairman of Levene Energy Holdings, Mr. Nzan Ogbe, has eulogised the Chairman of THISDAY and Arise News Channel, Prince Nduka Obaigbena for his exceptional entrepreneurial spirit and accomplishments, stating that his broadcasting arm, Arise News Channel has put Nigeria on the global map.
Ogbe made the assertion during an exclusive interview with THISDAY, which centred on his journey into entrepreneurship and how it could help in solving Nigeria’s economic challenges among other issues, maintaining that if not for the immense contributions of small and big entrepreneurs in the country, Nigeria’s economy would have been worse off.
He described entrepreneurship as the bedrock of any economy, especially Nigeria, listing Obaigbena, Africa’s richest man and President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Chairman of United Bank for African and Heirs Holdings, Mr. Tony Elumelu; and the Founder of Coscharis, Mr. Cosmas Maduka, as big entrepreneurs that rose from almos

t nothing to build huge business empires that were contributing immensely to the growth of Nigeria’s economy.
He equally called for collaboration between government and the private sector players in order to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive in the country, describing the lack of an enabling environment as the biggest challenge facing business operators in the country.
The Cross River-born business mogul said through Arise News Channel, people around the world now listen to and hear Nigerian stories, which he noted, had showed that the importance of the media cannot be downplayed.
Ogbe said, “Imagine if you remove these people that I’ve mentioned from the scheme of things and what would become of Nigeria’s economy? So, this tells you of the power of entrepreneurship.

‘A man like Cosmas Maduka, I always refer to him, because I know his story. It’s not as if he had some family inheritance, but he built his business empire from nothing and there are many people like that in the East, also in the South-western part of Nigeria and also in the north.
“Alhaji Aliko. Yes, he might come from a privileged background but he worked hard to be what he is today through entrepreneurship. And these people have built huge entities that would leave a legacy in Nigeria and they will be more celebrated.
 “Even your Chairman, Nduka Obaigbena, who I’ve known for over 20 years. When you look at what he’s doing today, whether you like it or not, Arise has put Nigeria on the global map because people are listening to our stories now, people are hearing our stories now and you cannot downplay the importance of the media.

 “So, someone taking a bold step like that to build a media empire in Nigeria is a huge step. I always tell him, Publisher, what you are doing, posterity will remember you right. So, these are all entrepreneurs in essence.”  
Ogbe, however, called for collaboration between government and the private sector players in order to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive in the country, describing the lack of an enabling environment as the biggest challenge facing business operators in the country.
He said the government and the private sector also need to meet and do an assessment of the power sector and find a lasting solution to it.

According to him, there were a lot of hardworking Nigerians struggling to make their daily living, building businesses from nothing and doing things that were impossible in the country but were being challenged by the absence of an enabling environment for their businesses to thrive.

“By enabling environment, it’s not just the fiscal regime that looks at the various sectors and determines how government can intervene and exist, but we are talking about things like power. Power is one of the greatest catalysts of any economy because with power, you have industrialisation and the next thing is security.

“The reason people can walk around in England, in Dubai and all those places and business runs beyond 7pm to midnight is because there is electricity. Between day and night, there is hardly any difference.

“So, you are working in some areas in Dubai and its midnight, people don’t know and you are still shopping and spending money. Whereas our economy here closes at 7pm, except for people that are running night clubs, and even when you ask them of their biggest problem, it is power,” Ogbe explained.

 Aside the electricity challenge, he noted that taxes was also another problem facing businesses that government needs to address, arguing that while it was great for government to survive through taxation, it shouldn’t tax to the point of killing the businesses that pay the taxes.

By over-taxing businesses, he said government would only end up encouraging people to start looking for ways to avoid paying taxes, adding, “then, there needs to be interaction between the public sector and the private sector and a meeting of the mind to understand their challenges and what can government do to mitigate these challenges so that you can do more, because in doing more, you will also pay taxes”.