Introduction to Unizik Business School

UNIZIK Business School, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, is a school with a vision of breaking new grounds in Business and leadership training, and, becoming a management centre of excellence. Its vision is to galvanize the plethora of businesses and leadership talents that abound in emerging economies such as ours, properly re-orient and galvanize them towards assuming respectable global position, while contributing to the improvement of local business environment.

Globally, as well as locally, the socio-political environment of business is becoming more intriguing and complex as businesses continue to face diverse problems that require Business Schools with the right mind-set, knowledgeable faculty, to act in unusual ways, as they deploy new theoretical models, strategies and best practices to transform these businesses and give them sustainable lease of life. Today, Nigeria, over the years has been steeped in economic and socio-political crises, including but not limited to, the problems of decreasing productivity, collapsing companies and businesses, poor liquidity ratio and declining value of the national currency, hyperinflation, growing unemployment, scarcity of essential food items, widening poverty in the land as more than 65 percent live below the poverty line. All of these seemingly complex problems which are situated in the business, economic and socio-cultural landscapes require multi-disciplinary interrogation. Indeed proffering solutions to these problems may demand the jettisoning of existing paradigms and the evolution of new insights about how to effectively organise, and motivate people, how to build sustainable businesses, and how to be entrepreneurial.

Interestingly, the situation in South East, Nigeria, the host politico-geographical environment of UNIZIK Business School calls for greater attention, particularly against the deluge of unsustainable business adventures or enterprises. What problems do local businesses have, even with massive capital injection, that they cannot survive the death of their founders? The high rate of business failure may in large part, be attributed to lack of succession planning, amongst other intervening variables.

How do we assist the somewhat ubiquitous number of local traders, who are grappling with different business challenges, to overcome these obstacles? How do we intervene to provide the necessary intellectual capital to assist these traders, firms and organizations to grow and become competitive nationally and globally? UNIZIK Business School is poised to become a problem solving platform. UBS was established primarily to help in laying the necessary framework for tackling the magnitude of problems facing several people and their struggles for livelihood, by the contextualization of Management, business and leadership training. The narrative of Business Schools has focused on the private Sector, but it is necessary for a reimagining of Business School Practice to capture the intricate nexus between the state and the private sector. UBS shall work towards mobilizing the different state governments in the South East and South-South Zones of Nigeria towards ensuring the creation of suitable environment(s) for businesses, vocations to flourish, and withstand the interminable jolts of unexpected rough weather. UNIZIK Business School is committed to giving heightened attention to the hitherto neglected informal sector. UBS is as much interested in large corporations, and also, making small businesses grow, even beyond the fortunes and dreams of their owners.

In line with global best practices, to gain traction and realize its core mandate UBS shall be run professionally with a sense of business. It is fashioned to operate outside the strict confines and limitations of the traditional university bureaucracy, also insulated from perennial disputes ravaging the University system, although reports directly to the University Senate, while cooperating with the Post Graduate School in matters of Admission, Examinations and Convocation of graduands. It is expected that because of its peculiar nature, its business and private sector orientation, that the Business School shall not take part in the usual University strikes and disputes. This is the same situation in other business schools in Nigeria. The UNIZIK Business School has a Governing Board of Directors, Management Committee and Technical Implementation Team (TIT), all of which function for the overall guidance, growth and development of the school.

Given the enormity of resources required to enable the Business School perform optimally, it is expected that the University shall enter into partnership with likeminded, public spirited, business inclined individuals and corporate bodies who may be asked to make financial investments on equity that shall be mutually agreed on towards the growth of the School. Even with this expectation, Nnamdi Azikiwe University is expected to make available the sum of one hundred million naira as seed money to enable the Business School take off.

UNIZIK Business School shall therefore operate primarily, as a business while pursuing excellent academic and professional training in all the programmes it offers.