Mbuotidem Okorie dreamt of having his own business, but his disability forced him to beg for a living without hope of work. A Shell programme in Nigeria supporting young entrepreneurs has helped him and others achieve their ambitions.
Without the use of his legs, and having no wheelchair or work, 21 year-old paraplegic Mbuotidem Okorie struggled to get around the streets of his hometown of Uyo on his hands, begging for food. It was a stark contrast to his dream of owning a shoemaking business.
“I was begging on the streets just to survive,” he says.
Nigeria suffers from very high levels of youth unemployment. For those with disabilities, finding work is particularly hard, and there is little social protection on offer.
Watch a short film to see how people with disabilities in Nigeria are making a better life with help from Shell LiveWIRE.
Title: Shell LiveWIRE Nigeria - helping young entrepreneurs succeed in business
Duration: 3.22 minutes
Transcript
[Music – African drums]
[Caption]
Shell LiveWIRE – supporting bright young business
[Visual]
Shots of communities in Nigeria
[Music stops]
[Voice over]
Though speech impaired, Chidimma Onyenforo, thank you.
[Visual]
Chidimma Onyenforo doing sign language
[Caption]
Chidimma Onyenuforo, LiveWire trainee]
[Visual]
Atim Inyang Bassey doing sign language and waving
[Caption]
Atim Inyan Bassey, LiveWire trainee
[Voice over]
For Atim Inyang Bassey, another speech impaired LiveWire beneficiary, nothing can best express her innermost feelings. She says "I love you".
[Music stops]
[Visual and caption]
Ngozi Nwagoro, LiveWire Trainee
I am very happy; I appreciate Shell for giving this rare privilege to persons living with disabilities in the state.
[Visual and caption]
Chinaka Kelechi, LiveWire Trainee
Shell have done marvellous. We thank them for their magnanimity.
[Voice over]
The foregoing tells the success story of Shell LiveWire programme in the Niger Delta. Since inception in 2003, LiveWire Nigeria has trained 5,575 Niger Delta youths in enterprise development, business skills and business management capacity development programmes.
[Visual]
People sewing, mending shoes, bead making, dying fabric and practicing hairdressing.
[Visual and caption]
Bolarinwa Onaolapo, Sustainable Development Shell Companies in Nigeria
We always start with attitude training programmes and the business management programme, and then follow up with the start up support.
[Visual]
Disabled person practicing hairdressing, people giving presents, people carrying out mobile phone repairs and people training.
[Voice over]
Many of these youths have now started successful businesses becoming contractors for Shell and are currently supporting as resource persons for training others.
[Visual and caption]
Belema Ogbuigwe, Executive Director, Centre for information and development
I was one of the first few people that participated in the programme.
I think it’s a good thing that the liveWIRE actually recognise this wealth of experience and invited me to come in as a trainer and as a facilitator of the programme.
[Visual]
People sewing and doing hairdressing. Award illustration image and caption.
[Voice over]
The life-changing efforts of Shell LiveWire Nigeria have won it accolades. They include Social Enterprise and Reports Award SERA (2010) and the African Leadership Magazine Award for youth development (2011).
[Caption]
Corporate Awards
Social Enterprise and Reports Award SERA (2010)
African Leadership Magazine Award for Youth Development (2011)
Central Bank of Nigeria Entrepreneurship Award (2008)
Go and Trade Enterprise Linkage Award (2011)
[Music starts (African drums) and then stops]
[Visual]
Disabled person getting off a motorbike, training in mobile phone repairs and a lady in a wheelchair in a sewing room.
[Voice over]
Indeed, for Shell LiveWire, empowering the physically challenged is a priority project. It rolled out programmes. The programme covered six States in the Niger Delta.
[Music starts (African drums) and then stops]
[Visual]
Map showing the six States in the Niger Delta and then shows disabled people training.
[Voice over]
A total of 180 persons living with disabilities were given the opportunity to learn skills in the following trades: Barbing, mobile phone repairs, bead making, and tailoring.
[Caption]
Skills acquired – Barbing, Mobile phone repairs, Bead making, Tailoring.
[Voice over]
Other trades were hairdressing, poultry, Tie and dye and shoe making.
[Caption]
Skills acquired – Hairdressing, Poultry Farming, Fabric dying, Shoe making.
[Voice over]
The high point of this programme was the handover of starter packs and cheques of six million naira for each state amounting to two hundred thousand naira per beneficiary.
[Visual and caption]
Mercy Odochi Orji, First lady - Abia State, Nigeria
Shell has done well by training all these disabled people and giving them their start up kits.
[Visual and caption]
Okey Okoro, Commissioner for Petroleum and Environment, IMO State
I think the LiveWire programme by Shell joint venture is a wondering thing .. and as a Government and as a Minister, we are so happy.
[Visual and caption]
Glory Emmanuel Edet, Commissioner for women affairs & social welfare, Akwa Ibom State
For them (Shell) to empower them (physically challenged) not only with the start packs, with the assistance of two hundred thousand naira each. I mean it has gone a long way and Shell will keep on growing.
[Music starts – African drums]
[Caption]
The LiveWire Nigeria project is financed by The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd. (SPDC) and its joint venture partners.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporate
Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd
Nigeria Agip Oil Company.
www.shellnigeria.com/livewire
Mbuotidem was nominated by officials from his home state of Akwa-Ibom for the social investment programme called Shell LiveWIRE, which offers knowledge and support to young entrepreneurs, helping them to turn ideas into successful businesses. The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) broadened the scheme in 2014 to include people with disabilities. Around 180 disabled people took part.
Mbuotidem trained as a shoemaker through Shell LiveWIRE, which also provided him with a wheelchair. When he completed the course he received financial assistance to start his own business using his new skills.
Now he makes and sells shoes in his own shop. “I no longer have to beg,” he said.
Mbuotidem is one of around 5,700 young Nigerians to have benefited from Shell LiveWIRE since launched in the country in 2003.
“The Shell LiveWIRE Nigeria programme is a first step in an exciting journey to success,” said Nedo Osayande, Sustainable Development and Community Relations manager at SPDC. “This is the first time the programme is focusing on people with disabilities. We are sure they will continue the successes of thousands previous Nigerian participants.”
Agnes Udo, who is severely hearing and speech impaired, survived on the charity of friends and family until she took part in Shell LiveWIRE. She now runs a successful poultry farm, using her business training and start-up grant.
Thirty-year old Tom Ezekiel, who is blind, was unemployed before starting the training. Even before finishing the course, he too had opened a chicken farm.
“I was doing nothing before the training,” Tom says. “With the support of the programme, I am really pleased that I am now employed.”
LiveWIRE also offers training for disabled people already in work who want to improve their skills or set up on their own.
Although 32 year-old Joseph Richard lost his sight when he was 15, he manages a shop selling ceremonial beads that are an important part of Nigerian culture.
“I learnt how to improve my bead making skills and how to be independent,” Joseph says. “I also learnt how to run a business.”
Joseph is now planning to set up his own bead-making company, a venture that could create employment for others.
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