By Aduragbemi Omiyale
An investor in the palm oil industry, Mr Joshua Joseph Idiong, has received N10 million from Heritage Bank and the fund is expected to boost his business.
Mr Idiong is into the oil palm processing business. He is the chief executive of the Akwa Ibom State-based Josult Oil Processing Company.
He was one of the contestants of the prestigious The Next Titan Season 7. In fact, he won the edition of the programme themed The Unstoppable.
The Next Titan is an entrepreneurial reality show sponsored by Heritage Bank and aimed to support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
Mr Idiong, who is a graduate of Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) with Bachelor Degree in Environmental Science, emerged winner after competing with Ifeanyi Nkwonta, Chidinma Eriobu and Ifeoma Benjamin at the grand finale in Lagos.
Idiong’s entry on the show was amongst the 18,000 entries, followed by online auditions before the top 16 moved into the Titan House for 10 weeks to compete against top-notch young entrepreneurs in real-life entrepreneurial tasks.
They were grilled by a panel of judges who are technocrats with the perfect blend of entrepreneurial requisite skills comprising Kyari Bukar, co-founder/CEO of Trans-Sahara Investment; Lilian Olubi, CEO of Primera Africa Securities Ltd; Chris Parkes, Chairman/CEO of CPMS Africa and Tonye Cole, co-founder of Sahara Group.
The winner, who highly commended Heritage Bank for its continued supports to entrepreneurs and sponsorship of the Next Titan, said, “Heritage Bank is an amazing bank that has stood strong on this show. My love for Heritage Bank stems from the fact that this is my second time on this show but before I came in, I have learnt so much from the show.
“This means that Heritage Bank is truly affecting the lives and businesses of entrepreneurs positively, alongside the viewers. This is a bank that has differentiated itself from other banks in boosting the strength of SMES in Nigeria.”
Speaking at the grand finale, MD/CEO of Heritage Bank, Mr Ifie Sekibo, stated that the programme easily aligns with the primary focus of the management of Heritage Bank to promote every laudable entrepreneurial idea meant to broaden economic horizon of the country for the benefit of citizens and other residents of Nigeria.
Mr Sekibo who was represented by the Divisional Head, Corporate Communications, Mr Fela Ibidapo, further affirmed, “as a catalytic institution in the empowering of entrepreneurs in the MSME sector, Heritage Bank has continued to make relentless efforts in this space to empower entrepreneurs in Nigeria through championing several empowerment schemes like the HB Innovation Lab Accelerator programme (HB-LAB), Ynspyre Account, Youth Innovative Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YIEDP), Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) on Young Entrepreneurship Business Training Programme (YEBTP), Young Entrepreneurs and Students (YES) Grant and Nigerian Youth Professional Forum (NYPF), Big Brother Nigeria, Lagos Comic Con, amongst others.”
The Executive Producer of The Next Titan, Mr Mide Kunle-Akinlaja, in his address explained that the project was created and designed as a deliberate attempt to provoke the spirit of entrepreneurship of young Nigerians, not only the contestants on the show but another multitude of aspiring entrepreneurs who can watch the show on TV.
He said that Season 7 was designed to search for business ideas that are immune to any pandemic, innovations that break boundaries and technologies that can survive any lockdown.
“It does not matter what your business idea is all about or its focus, but you must be able to prove that your business has what it takes in terms of ideas or technologies to survive any future pandemic or lockdown,” he said.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Dipo Olowookere