A 500-Level Law student at the University of Ilorin(UNILORIN) is neck-deep in entrepreneurship, employing fellow students, empowering women and rewriting the narrative for young Nigerians in a country where unemployment remains one of the harshest realities to contend with. MUTALIB JIBRIL (UDUS) reports.<\/p>\n
In her early 20s, Mohammad Nimatallahi Kpayero, a 500-Level Law student at the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN)\u00a0 has taken an age-long trade from Baruten Local Government and transformed it into a thriving business that employs students, empowers women, and is catching the attention of customers globally.<\/p>\n
For Nimatallahi, entrepreneurship is not just about money. It\u2019s about identity, culture, and rewriting the narrative for young Nigerians in a country where unemployment remains one of the harshest realities.<\/p>\n
Heritage as a catalyst<\/p>\n
Nimatallahi hails from Baruten Local Government in Kwara State. Growing up around women who produced shea butter in large quantities but received little recognition inspired her to start her venture.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese women have been doing this for years, but their contributions weren\u2019t acknowledged. I wanted to spotlight them, to turn what they do into something bigger,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
With that resolve, she began processing and packaging shea butter products \u2014 from natural\/raw butter to refined versions and skincare lines such as glow butter, baby butter, and hair-growth butter. That decision gave birth to her brand name, Baru Shea Butter.<\/p>\n
Persistence pays<\/p>\n
Like most entrepreneurs, her journey hasn\u2019t been smooth. Moments of doubt came when sales dwindled, and the burden of academics collided with business demands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were times I thought of quitting. No sales today, sales tomorrow. It was frustrating. But later I came to understand that\u2019s part of business. I decided no matter what, I wouldn\u2019t give up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Balancing entrepreneurship with a demanding law curriculum has been among her toughest challenges. To overcome this, she devised a system: weekdays for lectures, weekends for deliveries. If orders are urgent during the week, she arranges dispatch riders \u2014 even at extra costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlanning is everything. They say failing to plan is planning to fail. If you don\u2019t organise yourself, school and business will overwhelm you,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Her resilience has become her hallmark. Today, she employs fellow students, proving that undergraduates can contribute to reducing Nigeria\u2019s unemployment crisis.<\/p>\n
Creating job opportunities, not just income<\/p>\n
Nigeria\u2019s youth unemployment crisis is alarming. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), for youth (aged 15-24) unemployment\u00a0 stood at 8.4 per cent\u00a0 in Q1 2024, dropping to 6.5 percent\u00a0 in Q2 2024.<\/p>\n
By 2050, Africa is projected to have nearly a billion young people under 30 entering the workforce. Experts caution\u00a0 that without adequate opportunities, this surge could fuel social unrest and accelerate brain drain. Around the same time, higher education scholar Toyin Falola urged African universities, governments, and regulators to place greater emphasis on job creation and entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n
Instead of adding her voice to the chorus of complaints, Nimatallahi decided to act. Her shea butter venture does more than provide income \u2014 it creates jobs. She has employed\u00a0 5 staff,\u00a0 students, and hopes to expand in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost youths are just complaining. But I told myself: I must contribute solutions. If I can employ 5 now, I hope to employ 1000 people in the future through my shea butter company,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
One of her staff, Mohammed G. Mohammed, who\u2019s also a student, said: \u201cIf not for this job, I don\u2019t know how I\u2019d cope financially. I don\u2019t\u00a0 disturb my parents for basic needs again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0Charity Amodochi , another staff member, said: \u201cWorking with Baru shea butter has been instrumental. I have been able to sort out my little bills by myself while in school and I also buy some things for my personal needs without any hassles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recognition and validation<\/p>\n
Her work hasn\u2019t gone unnoticed. At an event on campus, a provost from another institution, invited as guest speaker, highlighted Nimatallahi\u2019s shea butter business as a model for students nationwide.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt on top of the world. My name was displayed on the screen as he was making a presentation. It was overwhelming,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The feedback from customers has also been her greatest motivation. Reviews from within and outside Nigeria affirm the quality of her shea butter skincare products.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen a customer texts me saying my butter worked for their skin or their baby, I jubilate. That\u2019s my affirmation,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Between Law and entrepreneurship<\/p>\n
As a law student, one might expect her to dream of practising law. But for Nimatallahi, she doesn\u2019t really find joy in lawyering.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really find joy in lawyering. I enjoy entrepreneurship \u2014 the struggles, the sleepless nights, the joy of creating jobs. Maybe one day I\u2019ll juggle both, but for now, shea butter is my passion,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Expert insight: balancing business and academics<\/p>\n
In an interview with a lecturer of Clinical Pharmacy at Usmanu Danfodio University Sokoto(UDUS), Dr Ibrahim Abayomi Ogunyinka, he noted that combining entrepreneurship with academics is admirable, but often overwhelming for undergraduates.<\/p>\n
\u201cJuggling the two is encouraging, but it\u2019s also overwhelming for students. It\u2019s even harder for students who aren\u2019t good at multitasking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His advice for students who aspire to do both is simple but crucial<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an undergraduate, know yourself. If you can\u2019t multitask perfectly, one of the two will suffer \u2014 either your academics or your business, because there aren\u2019t well-structured programmes for entrepreneurship,\u201d said.<\/p>\n
He added that early entrepreneurial ventures are important in tackling unemployment, but government support is crucial.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll be better, easier and more effective if the government infuses well-structured programmes for students with an entrepreneurial eye. The students will thrive exceptionally,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 500-Level Law student at the University of Ilorin(UNILORIN) is neck-deep in entrepreneurship, employing fellow students, empowering women…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[84,4203,56,76155,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-168474","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-entrepreneurship","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-unilorin","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}