A simple way to transform the Nigerian economy, By Kenneth Amaeshi

The experience of Imo shows that village-owned businesses are not just theoretical. They are real, they work, and they can be scaled. What is left is for governments, philanthropists, and community leaders to take this model seriously, support it, and expand it. If every village in Nigeria had a business, the transformation of the economy would not be a distant dream. It would be an everyday reality.

Sometimes, the biggest solutions come from the simplest ideas. One such idea is this: What if every village in Nigeria owned a business? It may sound almost too simple to be taken seriously, yet its potential to transform the Nigerian economy is enormous.

After all, governments in Nigeria already own businesses. The Federal Government owns the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). Lagos State owns Ibile Holdings. Enugu State has the Presidential Hotel and even a new airline. Akwa Ibom runs Ibom Air. Imo State owns Concorde Hotel and Adapalm. Edo and Rivers states both own plantations and oil ventures. If national and state governments can own and run businesses, what stops villages, towns, and communities from doing the same? The honest answer is nothing, except our imagination.

Take Imo State as an example. It has more than 1,000 villages. The South-East as a whole has no fewer than 7,000 villages. Across Nigeria, with 8,809 political wards and an estimated 10 villages per ward, the number of villages may well exceed 80,000. Now, imagine if just half of these (i.e., 40,000 villages) each had a business. If each business engaged only 200 people, that would create eight million jobs. At the current minimum wage of ₦70,000 per month, those jobs would generate ₦6.72 trillion annually in salaries alone. The effect on purchasing power, local productivity, and GDP would be nothing short of transformative.

To put this in perspective, Dangote Cement employs about 20,000 people. First Bank has around 17,000 employees. Even if we assume that every bank in Nigeria employs 20,000 people, the total number of jobs across the banking sector will still not reach one million. By contrast, the village-business model could create eight million jobs. The difference is staggering for a nation of more than 200 million people, with unemployment biting hard.

The real obstacle lies in how we view entrepreneurship. In Nigeria, entrepreneurship is typically seen as a personal journey. An individual starts a business, struggles to grow it, and dreams of becoming a big success. Even those who prefer to remain small usually go it alone, convinced it is easier that way. This “one man, one business” mindset dominates not only culture but also education and policy.

The results speak for themselves. In just 20 months, OKOBI has supported the creation of more than 450 businesses and over 13,000 jobs in Imo State. For context, the state government employs about 50,000 people, including teachers and civil servants. In less than two years, community-driven OKOBI businesses have already created more than a quarter of the number of jobs sustained by the entire state government workforce. That is a remarkable achievement.

But African wisdom tells us otherwise: if you want to travel fast, you can go alone; if you want to travel far, you must go together. In reality, no entrepreneur succeeds alone. Every business needs teams, partners, suppliers, and communities. No one claps with one hand. Entrepreneurship works best when it is collective, not just individual.

This is important for policy, too. Governments often chase after large corporations, offering them incentives to set up shop. Big firms are valuable; they bring capital, technology, and networks. But they are not the biggest employers. Small and medium enterprises create most of the jobs. Ignoring them leaves a dangerous gap. If African governments genuinely want to tackle unemployment, then supporting small-scale, grassroots businesses is the way forward.

Then, there is the issue of informality. In Nigeria, the informal sector contributes more than half of the GDP and provides more than 70 per cent of jobs. But these jobs are usually unstable, underpaid, and unsustainable. Informality is not the future we want. Village-owned businesses can change this. Properly registered and structured, they can provide professional, sustainable jobs, while preserving the benefits of local communities.

This is precisely what the Imo State Government, under the leadership of Senator Hope Uzodimma, is doing through its One Kindred One Business Initiative (OKOBI). OKOBI is built on group entrepreneurship. To qualify, a business must be registered with the government, owned collectively by a kindred or community, profit-oriented, job-creating, and place-based. The aim is to empower people from the grassroots up.

The results speak for themselves. In just 20 months, OKOBI has supported the creation of more than 450 businesses and over 13,000 jobs in Imo State. For context, the state government employs about 50,000 people, including teachers and civil servants. In less than two years, community-driven OKOBI businesses have already created more than a quarter of the number of jobs sustained by the entire state government workforce. That is a remarkable achievement.

The lesson here is powerful. If OKOBI can work in Imo State, it can work elsewhere. Other South-Eastern states can adopt it. And if it works in the South-East, why not across Nigeria? Imagine villages all over the country establishing enterprises, whether in agriculture, food processing, transport, tourism, or manufacturing. Each business would not only provide jobs but also strengthen community bonds, reduce rural-urban migration, and energise local economies.

The best part is that these are not charity projects. They are real businesses owned by real communities, generating profit and building wealth from the bottom up. OKOBI is about self-help, about communities refusing to wait endlessly for government jobs or outside investors. It is about taking ownership of the future. And already, there are stories of families lifted out of poverty and villages transformed by new economic activity.

The lesson here is powerful. If OKOBI can work in Imo State, it can work elsewhere. Other South-Eastern states can adopt it. And if it works in the South-East, why not across Nigeria? Imagine villages all over the country establishing enterprises, whether in agriculture, food processing, transport, tourism, or manufacturing. Each business would not only provide jobs but also strengthen community bonds, reduce rural-urban migration, and energise local economies.

Nigeria has a chance to rethink what entrepreneurship means. It should not only be about lone hustlers or multinationals. It can also be about villages and communities coming together to own and grow businesses. This is a simple idea with the power to transform the entire economy.

The experience of Imo shows that village-owned businesses are not just theoretical. They are real, they work, and they can be scaled. What is left is for governments, philanthropists, and community leaders to take this model seriously, support it, and expand it. If every village in Nigeria had a business, the transformation of the economy would not be a distant dream. It would be an everyday reality.

Kenneth Amaeshi is a professor of business and sustainable development at the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, as well as a professor of sustainable finance at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy.