NEIC II, THE HUB FOR NOUN YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS IN THE NE REGION
Welcome to NOUN North East Incubation Centre II (NEICII), Bogoro, Bauchi State. This Centre was established in September 2019. Making it the Seventh (7th) of the already six (6) existing Incubation Centres of the Directorate for Entrepreneurship and General Studies (DE&GS) of the renowned and largest degree-awarding institutions in Nigeria (the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN). The NEIC II was set up by the University Management to cater for NOUN students and stakeholders around the North Eastern part, with the view to supporting them to explore, develop and deliver Entrepreneurial Creative and Innovative ideas which would contribute to growth in Nigeria’s GDP by increasing job creation, reducing poverty and societal social vices. Above all, it will support lifelong learning and skills development among learners.
ABOUT THE CENTRE
NEIC II is situated in Bogoro Study Centre, Bogoro in Bauchi State. Bogoro is one of the most agrarian communities within the North Eastern region. The communities are predominantly crop farmers and wildlife breeders. Some of the common crops produced in Bogoro are Acha (Fonio), Sugarcane, Rice and Corn. The essence of establishing incubation centres in all the regions of Nigeria is for such centres to be able to identify and nurture those with innovative and creative enterprise ideas within the zones. This is made possible through the learning of a series of entrepreneurial courses such as GST302: Business Creation and Growth and a host of others. The NEIC II is fully equipped with modern incubation equipment, most of which are donations from patriotic stakeholders, and others supplied by TETFUND and the University directly. Some of the value chains our centre is incubation are: Accah processing, Leatherwork, Fashion design, Hair Salon, Knitting, Food Items business, Cosmetics, Herbal Tea/food drinks Products, Motorcycle Ignition Coil production among others.
Each successful semester rounds up by harvesting students with the most viable enterprise ideas from those that registered GST302-Business Creation and Growth who are able successfully to make presentations, and their products are found to be innovative. Those selected are inducted as resident or non-resident incubates and are so nurtured for a stipulated time period depending on the level of idea development.
NEIC II STAFF
The Centre has the following staff:
The Coordinator- Prof Simon Madugu Yalams
Admin. Officer I: Mr Ezra Ibrahim Shehu
Admin Officer II: Mr. Karuwa Yalams Yohanna
Centre Secretary- Mr Dogara Y. Maidawa
Technical Officer- Mr. Habila Sambarka
Driver- Mr. Haruna Amos
ICT Officer (Shared with Study Centre) – Mr. Garba Dulungkunya
Cleaners: Mrs. Solomi Garba and Mr. Bukata Dogara
THE NEIC II SERVES AND SUPPORTS THE FOLLOWING STUDY CENTRES WITHIN THE NE ZONE:
- Wukari Study Centre- Taraba State
- Jalingo Study Centre- Taraba State
- Gombe Study Centre- Gombe State
- Azare Study Centre- Bauchi State
- Bauchi Study Centre- Bauchi State
- Bogoro Study Centre- Bauchi State
FUNCTIONS AND ACTIVITIES OF NEIC II, BOGORO
- Coordinating all activities within the Incubation Centre and all Study Centres under it.
- Ensures that the provided facilities and equipment are in good order
- Coordinates students’ Business Creation and Growth activities within the zone
- Identifies and recommends suitable and successful entrepreneurs in the zone for induction by DE & GS
- Provides suitable spaces and coordinates Resident and Non-Resident Incubatees within the business incubation period
- Provides guidance, mentorship and a well defined step-by-step follow-up of the Incubatees to bring to reality their dreams whilst undergoing the incubation period
- Organizes training of all kinds relating to the entrepreneurship needs and desires for the Incubatees
- Monitors, trains, supervises and attends to incubatees’ needs both face-to-face and virtually
- Identifies and connects individuals, corporations, agencies and other bodies for possible networking and grand support to Incubatees.
SDG GOALS TARGETED
To ensure that through the Centres in the respective zones; the Directorate and the mother body (NOUN) adhere to the universal call of action to reduce poverty to the nearest minimum, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity, the Directorate for Entrepreneurship and General Studies thereby mandated the Incubation Centres to select the target goals and organize students to respond through their business ideas proposal presentation towards contributing their quota to make the planet sustainable. Therefore, among the 17 SDGs, the NEIC II focuses on Goal No. 3: Good health and well-being; and Goal No. 9; Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure.
FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT
The NEIC II has the following:
- A well-furnished Virtual Laboratory/Board room equipped with computers, a projector, a smartboard, and internet services
- Heavy industrial machines for welding and fabrication, industrial sewing machines, Knitting machines and other assorted machines and industrial tools.
STATISTICS OF INCUBATEES AND CHALLENGES
Currently, there are 15 Incubatees; 5 residents and 10 non-residents. Some of the constraints from the incubatees include Distance from their home states, lack of housing accommodation when they visit the centre, lack of installation of some of the workshop equipment for their use, erratic internet connections, and lack of stable electricity.
ACHIEVEMENTS RECORDED
The following are some of the achievements of the Centre, thus far:
- Complete installation of the Centrs’ Acha (Faio) processes (Dehulling and Destoning) machines for mass production and distribution to which we were able to produce and distribute samples of the product.
- Two of our Incubatees (Mr Garba Isa and Mr Timothy Garkuwa) were selected and they participated in a National Technology and Innovation Research (TIR) exhibition in Abuja in 2022.
- Had successful advocacy of the centre and NOUN for entrepreneurship activities in the zone.
- Established contacts with practising entrepreneurs in the zone.
- Currently the Centre is facilitating Business Names Registration with Corporate Affairs Commission.
- Facilitating online registration with Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN).
- Developing a platform for virtual entrepreneurship education and practice.
- Mentoring resident and none-resident Incubatees that are at their different levels of idea developments.
- Ongoing process of acquiring NAFDAC and SON approval for mass production of the Centers’ Acha product.
Thank you
Prof. S. M. Yalams
Zonal Coordinator, North East Incubation Centre II, Bogoro
+2349094357427 (WhatsApp)
syalams@noun.edu.ng