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Business mogul and Founder of The Dome Entertainment Centre, Dr. Obiora Okonkwo, has instituted an entrepreneurial research chair at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, UNIZIK, Awka, Anambra State, into Onitsha Main Market as a central hub of Igbo enterprise development.
The research will document the beginning and development of entrepreneurship at Onitsha main market.
Announcing this at UNIZIK after he was conferred with Business Philanthropist of the Year award by the institution’s Business School at the ongoing second edition of its International Conference in Awka, Okonkwo said the coming generation of Nigerians has a lot to learn from the entrepreneurial spirit of the Igbo man, which was developed at Onitsha Main Market.
He stated that before the emergence of large markets in Lagos, the main market held sway as the hub of Igbo enterprise, adding “at that time, every Igbo billionaire took off from the main market in Onitsha.”
He noted that most Igbo businessmen and women of the time had their offices at Onitsha and only travelled to Lagos on holidays.
He said though the trend had changed, a proper study of the market and the growth of the apprenticeship system in Igbo land, will add value to new business innovations that will sustain growth and ensure enterprise survival.
