Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, has challenged young people to look beyond conventional career paths, identify overlooked business opportunities and reinvent their skills to create wealth, insisting that innovation and quality service delivery can turn modest beginnings into thriving enterprises.
Eno said success often comes from recognising opportunities others ignore, urging youths to rethink existing approaches, acquire relevant skills and develop services that meet people’s needs.
“You can look at things others may not have seen, the smaller things or what others may scoff at, rebrand your service delivery, reinvent the wheel, and you will smile your way to the bank,” the governor said.
He spoke Tuesday, at the 2026 Ibom Ignite Conference in Uyo, where he linked the conference theme, “Reinvent: Rethink, Reimagine, Redesign and Become,” to his administration’s efforts to promote entrepreneurship, skills acquisition and youth development under the ARISE Agenda.
The governor cited his experience in building the Royalty Group as an example of how innovation and service delivery could drive business growth, recalling that he started with a five-room hotel before expanding into a conglomerate serving international oil companies and other segments of the hospitality industry.
“From a five-room hotel, we ended up as the second-largest employer of labour in the state after the state government,” Eno said.
He attributed the growth to a willingness to challenge established practices and pursue approaches he believed would produce better results, urging young people not to assume that success could only be achieved through a single career path.
“One of the takeaways I want you to go with is not to be lulled into the false belief that following one path is the only way to succeed in life. There certainly are other ways: you must reinvent to reignite,” he said.
Eno also outlined his administration’s investments in vocational training and entrepreneurial support, disclosing that 2,000 youths had been trained through Ibom-LED, with each participant receiving a start-up package worth ₦750,000.
He added that another 2,000 trainees at the Dakkada Skills Acquisition Centre (DASAC) received start-up grants of ₦1 million each, while Youth Development Centres were being built across the headquarters of the state’s 31 local government areas to equip young people with marketable skills for a technology-driven economy.
The governor said the interventions were designed to prepare youths for changing economic realities by combining practical skills with the capacity to identify and exploit emerging opportunities.
“We are intentionally developing our youths because the future belongs to those who aspire, Reinvent, Rethink, Reimagine, Redesign and, in the process, become more,” he said.
He added that his interest in youth development predated his full entry into public service, explaining that he had long been driven by the desire to help young people explore alternative routes to self-improvement, fulfilment and economic independence.
According to him, entrepreneurial and leadership skills would also prepare young people who eventually enter public service to handle responsibilities more effectively.
“Life is an evolving enterprise. What seemed cool, great and dandy yesterday may become obsolete today,” Eno said, stressing that continuous learning and adaptation were essential to remaining relevant.
Also speaking at the conference, Rev. Prof. John Kennedy Opara urged participants to combine ambition with measurable results, identifying passion, performance and possibilities as three principles for achieving success.
“I want you to keep these three things in mind: passion, performance, and possibilities. First, passion—the passion to do great things. Second, performance. Third, possibilities. When you have passion, you will perform. When you perform, the impossible becomes possible,” Opara said.
The conference brought together the governor, guest speakers Apostle Joshua Selman and Dr. Maxwell Ubah, and other participants to discuss personal development, entrepreneurship and pathways to greater achievement among young people.
