Idoma’s next 100 years must be about wealth, not survival — Sonny Echono

The Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Arc. Sonny Echono, has challenged the Idoma people to make wealth creation, entrepreneurship and economic empowerment the central focus of their next century of existence, declaring that the era of merely surviving must give way to an era of prosperity and innovation.

Echono made the call while delivering a keynote address at the Idoma Centenary Plus celebration, where he reflected on the achievements and shortcomings of the Idoma nation over the past 100 years.

According to him, while the Idoma people have produced distinguished military officers, academics, jurists, civil servants, medical professionals and political leaders, those accomplishments have not translated into the level of collective prosperity and economic influence the community deserves.

“The first one hundred years were about surviving as a people. The next one hundred years must be about thriving as a power,” he declared.

The TETFund boss noted that generations of Idoma elites had excelled in public service and other professional careers but failed to build a strong culture of enterprise capable of creating lasting wealth and economic power for the community.

He argued that the future of Idomaland depends on deliberate investments in entrepreneurship, technology, agribusiness, renewable energy, manufacturing and other wealth-generating sectors capable of transforming the local economy.

Echono lamented what he described as the “talent export problem,” where many of the community’s best professionals build successful careers outside Idomaland without corresponding investments back home.

He also identified the inability to transfer businesses from one generation to another as a major factor limiting economic growth among the Idoma people.

According to him, many successful enterprises established by earlier generations disappeared after the death of their founders because there were no succession plans or structures to sustain them.

To reverse the trend, Echono proposed what he called a “40-40-20 Career Architecture,” under which 40 per cent of young Idoma people would be encouraged to pursue wealth-creating ventures, another 40 per cent would enter critical service professions such as law, medicine, engineering and academia, while the remaining 20 per cent would focus on public leadership.

He further called for the establishment of an Idoma Professional Renaissance Network, an annual professional excellence forum for secondary school students and a mentorship initiative requiring senior professionals to mentor younger generations in business development and wealth creation.

Echono urged Idoma professionals at home and in the diaspora to channel more resources into investment-driven development, stressing that the community must move beyond what he described as “consumption philanthropy” to strategic investments capable of creating jobs and opportunities.

He said the centenary celebration should serve not only as a moment of reflection but also as a turning point in the quest for economic transformation.

“Our fathers gave Nigeria its soul and its safety. It is time for this generation to give the Idoma people their wealth and their future,” he said.

The event formed part of activities marking 100 years of the creation of the Idoma Division, bringing together traditional rulers, political leaders, academics, professionals and community stakeholders from across the country.