FFMS 3rd International Conference;… Towards a Sustainable Economy

By: Olayiwola Tayelolu Ayobami

Nigeria’s economy, ever since the fall of the price of petroleum resources in the world market, has not gained its stance till date, this has left various sector of the economy in a sorry state. Thus, a need for a strong and enduring policy that can assist in tackling myriads of problems that have been plaguing various sector of the economy cannot be over-emphasized.

Faculty of Financial Management Studies’ 3rd international conference attempt to point a way forward as the theme for this year conference, “Fiscalism and Entrepreneurship Development: A drive towards Sustainable Economy” is targeted at studying and examining the effect of the country’s fiscal policy and entrepreneurship development on the sustainability of the country’s economy.

The four-day conference, which held from 25th to 28th of August was opened in grand style with the Opening ceremony program on the 26th of August. The first day, 25th of August was scheduled to be for participants’ arrival, as participants of the conference are from different part of the country.

The opening program of the conference, which was held at Conference Center had in attendance a hall-full of outstanding personality, part of whom are: The acting Deputy Rector of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Dr. Femi Ipadeola, representing the Rector, who happened to be the chairman of the program; the keynote speaker, Prof. Salawu, Rafiu Oyesola; the main guest of honour of the event, Dr. Fola Akinosun (the Agbaakin of Iroko land); the lead paper presenter, Prof. Akintoye Ishola Rufus; Dean, FFMS, O.I.O. Oyetunji, former ambassador of the Federal republic of Nigeria, who took the Health Talk in the program, Dr(Ambassador) Yemi Farounbi; Deans of Faculties; Heads of Departments, students, to mention but few.

In the opening address, given by the acting deputy registrar, Dr. Femi Ipadeola, he said “the 3rd edition conference theme is a thought provoking theme coming at a time when the government at all levels are yearning for potent and enduring policy that can assist in tackling myriads of problem that have been daunting.” He submitted that the conference will be a platform to address many of these debilitating challenges as various paper(s) presentation and numerous academic engagements would dovetail into policy thrust that various stakeholders could consume. He finally wished all the participants a peaceful stay and useful presentations all together.

Dr. Oyetunji, O.I.O., Dean, Faculty of Financial Management Studies, in his welcome address, fathom the role of the conference theme, as he said that the theme is predicated on the assumption that solutions to the policy dearth that might be plaguing the various institutions of government will receive positive attention via the scholarly papers and intellectual engagement that will follow. He pinpointed that the question and objective the conference would attempt to study would be to examine the effect of the country’s fiscal policy on entrepreneurship development.

He also added that the cutting-edge novelty would be a take away for the participants of the conference to build upon and become better academics in paper writing and presentations that the digital age of this era demands.

While addressing the participants, the guest of Honour, Dr. Fola Akinosun (Agbaakin of Iroko Land) commended the Music Technology Department for a second to none musical performance and gifted them a sum of one hundred thousand naira on the same spot. He also asked for permission from the school management to give a land space on campus to build an edifice that he will name after himself. And also ask for permission to extend his scholarship program to The Polytechnic, Ibadan.

The keynote speaker, Prof. Salawu, Rafiu Oyesola and the lead paper presenter talked extensively on the theme of the conference, “Fiscalism and Entrepreneurship Development: A drive towards Sustainable Economy.” Talking on entrepreneurship development the lead paper presenter, Prof. Akintoye Ishola Rusuf made it clear that, entrepreneurship development is a two-way traffic as it will enhance the realization of the entrepreneur’s full potential and also contribute to the welfare of the society.

However, he posited that various factors are limiting entrepreneurship development in Nigeria, among which are; lack of vision, dependency on others/ inferiority complex, poor education, lack of information, lack of finance, and many more.

Furthermore, health talk, as one of the items of the programme, was given by Dr. (Ambassador) Yemi Farounbi, during the talk, he made his point clear that one of the major qualities of being healthy is to be financially independent, which can come by being an entrepreneur.

The opening ceremony of the conference, which started by 11:00am was finally brought to an end with a closing prayer given by the Faculty Officer at 3:10pm, and was followed by group photographs The following days of the conference were used for paper presentation, the presentations were held at two different venues at the same time, ICAN Lecture Theater and FFMS Conference Hall.