Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo has disclosed plans to purchase shares in the Dangote Group of Companies for 500 young entrepreneurs in the state as part of efforts to promote investment, wealth creation and financial inclusion among youths.

Aiyedatiwa disclosed this at the 2026 Ondo State Entrepreneurship Agency (ONDEA) Entrepreneurs Summit held at the International Centre for Culture and Events, The Dome, Akure, the state capital.

The governor said the initiative was designed to expose young entrepreneurs to investment opportunities beyond running businesses and encourage them to build long-term wealth.

He said the government was committed to creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem that would connect ideas with skills, businesses with finance and entrepreneurs with markets.

He explained that owning shares in a major Nigerian company would allow the young entrepreneurs to participate in the wider economy while developing an understanding of investment, savings and asset ownership.

Aiyedatiwa said the intervention was part of his administration’s broader effort to ensure that support for young people went beyond grants and business equipment to include opportunities capable of building financial independence and creating wealth over time.

He urged the prospective beneficiaries to see the investment as an opportunity that should be preserved and nurtured rather than treated as an immediate financial benefit.

Aiyedatiwa, who also unveiled the Lucky Light Initiative, said the programme would provide reliable, clean and affordable solar electricity to 1,000 small businesses across the state’s 18 local government areas.

According to him, the initiative would commence this year with businesses benefiting in batches, stressing that electricity remained a major component of the cost of production for small businesses.

The governor also announced grants and business support packages for 20 young entrepreneurs whose ideas emerged from the ONDEA My IDEA screening and selection process.

He urged the beneficiaries to use the opportunities responsibly, build sustainable businesses, create jobs, pay their taxes, and mentor others.

Aiyedatiwa said his administration was repositioning the state’s economy by focusing on agriculture and agro-processing, cocoa, tourism, the blue economy, oil and gas, solid minerals, technology, renewable energy, manufacturing, logistics and export-oriented businesses.

He said the government was determined to move Ondo from merely producing raw materials to processing, packaging, branding and exporting value-added products.

In his keynote address, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said entrepreneurs would play a central role in the Federal Government’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy by 2030.

The Minister, who was represented by his Special Adviser, Toba Oyedele, urged entrepreneurs in the state to position themselves to take advantage of emerging opportunities created by economic reforms, innovation and investment.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Investment, Dr Summy Smart Francis, urged young entrepreneurs to deliberately pursue opportunities, stressing that successful entrepreneurship required clarity, discipline and velocity, which he described as speed in the right direction.

He urged the entrepreneurs to develop clear visions and work backwards from their desired future rather than merely having wishes without definite paths.

Francis described the summit as the largest gathering of entrepreneurs in Nigeria and said its theme was closely aligned with the seven-point OUR EASE Agenda of Governor Aiyedatiwa, which he said was designed to create an enabling environment for citizens, businesses and investors. (Sunday Tribune)