…Float packages that may help students set up businesses at adult age
Capital Portfolio and Investment Systems (CAPIS) Limited has sealed a partnership deal with the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) to develop private schools in Nigeria. The highlight was the setting up of a N5bn ‘Entrepreneurship Education Fund’.
The partnership was sealed last week in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, South-South Nigeria to move from education to building generational prosperity. The event was highlighted by the unveiling of a N5bn Endowment Fund to offer grants to participating but qualified schools.
According to Paul Adonis Peters, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of CAPIS Limited, the scheme is created to help any child discover his/her talents and invest in it.
He said: ‘I invite you to imagine a child. Not a particular child. Any Nigerian child. Imagine that child beginning nursery school today. Like every parent, we hope that child will receive a quality education. We hope that child will discover his talents. We hope that child will become responsible. We hope that child will graduate with distinction. But then comes the question that every family eventually confronts.
CAPIS and NAPPS officials at the signing of the MoU.
‘What happens after education? What happens when knowledge meets the reality of limited opportunity? What happens when ambition encounters the absence of capital? What happens when talent has nowhere to grow? Ladies and gentlemen, that question is why we are here today. Because education should never end in frustration. Education should end in opportunity.’
He said opportunity should lead to enterprise; and that enterprise should create prosperity. ‘That is the future we have come together to build. Throughout history, every civilisation that achieved lasting prosperity understood one fundamental truth.
‘The greatest investment is not in buildings. It is not in oil. It is not in minerals. It is not even in technology. The greatest investment any society can ever make is the investment it makes in people. Every skyscraper first existed in someone’s imagination. Every scientific breakthrough began as curiosity inside a classroom. Every successful enterprise began as an idea in someone’s mind. If we desire a prosperous Nigeria, then we must first build prosperous minds. That responsibility belongs to education. But education alone is no longer sufficient.’
Peters said noted that the 21st century demands something more. ‘It demands innovation. It demands resilience. It demands creativity. It demands entrepreneurship. Our children will inherit a world transformed by artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology and industries that do not yet exist. The jobs many of them will occupy have not yet been invented. The businesses they will build have not yet been imagined. Therefore, our responsibility is no longer merely to educate children. Our responsibility is to prepare them to create the future. That is why entrepreneurship education can no longer be optional. It must become part of how we educate.
Okeoma Ebelechukwu Opusunju
‘This conviction led CAPIS to ask a simple but profound question. What if education and access to capital were intentionally connected? What if a child could receive an excellent education and also begin adulthood with a stronger financial foundation? What if schools themselves could gain access to sustainable funding that improves educational quality?
What if entrepreneurship became part of the educational journey rather than something discovered years after graduation?’
The CEO said those questions became a vision. ‘That vision became a partnership. today that partnership becomes reality. There could not have been a better partner than the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools. Across Nigeria, private schools have become indispensable partners in nation building. Long before many children become engineers, doctors, lawyers, scientists or entrepreneurs… Someone opened a classroom.
‘Someone employed a teacher. Someone believed that education could transform lives. That someone is you. To every proprietor present here today, I salute your commitment. I salute your sacrifice. And today I salute your willingness to become partners in shaping Nigeria’s future.’
At CAPIS, he stated, ‘We often say, we do not merely provide access to capital. We create pathways to opportunity. As a Securities and Exchange Commission licensed Venture Capital Manager, we understand that responsible capital has the power to transform lives when combined with sound governance, discipline and vision. That philosophy gave birth to the Kids Capital Trust. The KCT is more than a financial product. It is an expression of hope. It is a declaration that every child deserves not only education but also the opportunity to begin adult life on a stronger financial foundation.’
Going further, he said, ‘today we formally launch the Entrepreneurship Education Fund. Permit me to say something that I hope will be remembered long after this ceremony. The Entrepreneurship Education Fund is not a programme. It is not an intervention. It is not an event. It is an institution.
‘Institutions change nations. Institutions outlive governments. Institutions outlive founders. Institutions preserve vision across generations. That is exactly what this Fund has been designed to become. A perpetual educational endowment that will continue strengthening schools while preserving its capital for future generations.
‘Great institutions are not built merely by good intentions. They are built by good governance. That is why today we also launch the Entrepreneurship Education Fund Governance Charter. This Charter is more than a governance document. It is a covenant. A covenant that this Fund shall always be governed by transparency. By accountability. By stewardship. By integrity. By professional excellence.
Because trust is the currency upon which enduring institutions are built.’
On the partnership with NAPPS, Peters said: ‘To our distinguished NAPPS leaders across the South-South, your presence here carries significance far beyond today’s programme. You are not merely witnessing a launch. You are carrying a vision back to your respective states. May today’s gathering become the spark that ignites educational transformation throughout Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta, Edo and beyond. May future generations remember that the South-South chose to lead.
‘Permit me now to speak directly to the young people whose future we seek to shape. Although many of you are not physically present here today, every decision we take is about you. We believe in your potential. We believe your ideas matter. We believe your dreams deserve opportunity. We believe Nigeria’s greatest resource is not beneath our soil. Nigeria’s greatest resource sits inside our classrooms. And together, we will help unlock that potential.
‘As I conclude, allow me to leave you with one final thought. Planting a tree is an act of faith. The person who plants it knows someone else may enjoy its shade. Yet they plant it anyway. today, CAPIS and NAPPS are planting a tree. A tree whose roots are education. Whose trunk is entrepreneurship. Whose branches are opportunity. Whose fruit is prosperity. May generations yet unborn rest beneath its shade.
‘May they remember that visionary educators and responsible institutions once came together and decided that Nigeria’s future was worth investing in. Let history record that on the 18th day of August 2026, in Rivers State, the journey from Education to Enterprise gathered momentum. May God bless NAPPS. May God bless CAPIS Limited. May God bless every child whose future will be touched by this partnership. May God bless Rivers State.’
Explaining the scheme earlier what she called official presentation of the CAPIS-NAPPS partnership, Okeoma Ebelechukwu Opusunju, said the overriding vision of CAPIS Limited as a venture capital firm is to invest in businesses and sectors that solve real market frictions, facilitate capital accumulation, and expand access to capital through our platform access services, thereby creating opportunities for financial inclusion and meaningful economic participation.
‘As a responsible venture capital firm licensed and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria, we believe that expanding access to capital through productive economic activities provides one of the most sustainable pathways to addressing rising poverty in Nigeria. When more people are equipped with access to capital and opportunities to participate productively in the economy, we create the conditions for individuals, families, businesses, and communities to prosper.’
She said the Kids Capital Trust (KCT) represents one of CAPIS’s flagship platform access services. ‘It combines access to capital with ongoing financial and investment advisory support to provide an enabling foundation for every successive generation to achieve greater financial outcomes.
‘This is what the KCT represents: an oasis of manifold opportunities crafted by CAPIS, gifted by parents to their children, and ultimately received by tomorrow’s young adults as a foundation upon which they can build an excellent life. The KCT is, in essence, a gift that continues to create opportunities across generations.’
She said the NAPPS is the apex association representing proprietors of private schools in Nigeria. ‘Collectively, its members have played a significant role in shaping Nigeria’s educational landscape and in sustaining the private education sector through periods of significant national challenge. No nation can achieve sustainable development without sustained and substantial investment in education.
‘Education remains the foundation upon which human capital, innovation, entrepreneurship, productivity, and national prosperity are built. The CAPIS-NAPPS Strategic Partnership is therefore a partnership founded on a shared understanding that education and economic empowerment must advance together. Discussions around this strategic partnership commenced in 2021 and culminated in the signing of a Strategic Partnership Agreement between NAPPS Rivers State Chapter and CAPIS Limited on 9 March 2022.’
She further stated thus: ‘today also marks the birth of the Entrepreneurship Education Fund (EEF), a perpetual education endowment fund established to support qualitative and sustainable educational development across the private school sector, for this generation and for successive generations. The EEF represents our shared conviction that the future of education cannot depend solely on today’s resources. We must build institutions and financial structures capable of supporting educational development long into the future. Through the EEF, we seek to create a sustainable mechanism for supporting innovation, strengthening educational institutions, promoting entrepreneurship education, and contributing to the continuous development of the private education sector.’
In his welcome speech, Adafe Sunday Jaja, chairman, chairman of NAPPS, said the day marked a significant milestone in the journey of private education in our state and across the South-South region. ‘Your presence here is a testament to our shared belief that education remains the most powerful investment any society can make. I extend a special welcome to our distinguished NAPPS leaders from Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Akwa Ibom States. Your presence demonstrates the unity of purpose that defines our Association and reinforces our collective commitment to advancing educational excellence throughout our region.
‘I also warmly welcome the leadership of CAPIS Limited, our strategic partner, whose vision and commitment have made today’s gathering possible. Ladies and gentlemen, Private schools have consistently played a vital role in complementing government efforts to provide quality education for our children.’
He said however, they also recognise that the challenges facing education today required more than traditional solutions. ‘They require innovation. They require collaboration. They require strategic partnerships that extend beyond the classroom.
‘That is why NAPPS Rivers State embraced this partnership with CAPIS. This collaboration is about more than financial services. It is about creating opportunities for our schools, empowering parents, preparing our children for the future and strengthening the educational ecosystem through sustainable initiatives.
‘One of the most exciting outcomes of this partnership is the establishment of the Entrepreneurship Education Fund. The launch of this Fund reflects a shared commitment to nurturing entrepreneurial thinking among our young people while supporting educational development through a sustainable and professionally governed framework.
‘We believe that education should equip children not only with knowledge but also with the confidence, creativity and entrepreneurial mindset required to succeed in a rapidly changing world.’
As school proprietors, he went on, ‘We are not merely custodians of educational institutions. We are moulders of character. We are builders of future leaders. We are partners in nation building. The CAPIS-NAPPS Strategic Partnership provides us with another opportunity to fulfil this responsibility with even greater impact. On behalf of NAPPS Rivers State Chapter, I wish to express our sincere appreciation to the leadership of CAPIS Limited for their confidence in our Association and for their unwavering commitment to building a partnership founded on mutual trust, transparency and shared values.’
He commended the president and leadership of NAPPS South-South Zone for their steadfast support and encouragement, which he said had been instrumental in bringing this initiative to fruition.
‘today is not the end of a process. It is the beginning of a journey. A journey that we believe will create lasting value for schools, parents, pupils and generations yet unborn. As we proceed with today’s programme, I encourage every stakeholder present to embrace this vision and become an active participant in its success. Together, we can build stronger schools. Together, we can raise more innovative young people. Together, we can contribute meaningfully to the future prosperity of our nation. Once again, I warmly welcome you all to Rivers State and to this landmark event.’
Officials of the SEC were on hand to explain the status of CAPIS, saying the organization is fully registered and recognized by them. Goodwill messages also came from state branches and the royal father of Woji community, each commending the vision in the strategic scheme from CAPIS and their partner, NAPPS.