EDUCATION FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SELF RELIANCE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In Nigeria, entrepreneurial education programs aimed at empowering youths have grown in recent years. The days of the oil boom in the 1970s, when a graduate could easily find work in any available position, are long gone. All of this changed in the mid-1980s, however, as a result of global depression and a significant recession in Nigeria’s economy. This resulted in widespread unemployment around the world, particularly in developing countries such as Nigeria (Babatunde & Babatunde 2014).

Because of the high unemployment rate, societal vices like armed robbery and kidnapping for ransom flourished. Recent global economic disasters have resulted in skyrocketing young and graduate unemployment. Through support agencies, various governmental and non-governmental organizations have initiated policies to address unemployment among Nigerian citizens.

Among these are the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), the Small Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN), the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), and the Raw Materials and Development Council (RMRDC) (Olayinka 2010, Emmanuel 2012, Akluemonkhan, Raimi & Sofoluwe 2013).

These programs, agencies, and councils were established to promote self-employment and small business initiatives in order to unlock people’s economic potentials, increase society’s capacity to empower and equip individuals to participate in and benefit from the national economy, and facilitate economic development, which lays the groundwork for transformation (Ekpo & Edet 2011 in Babatunde & Babatunde 2014). To be sure, in keeping with the theme of National Productivity Day 1991, “Productivity for Self-Reliance and Excellence,”

The Nigerian government implemented entrepreneurship education in schools to instill in students a sense of self-sufficiency, self-sustainability, and self-support.

The goal is to ensure that graduates use their inherent resourcefulness to become self-employed. This is because entrepreneurship is the relentless pursuit of opportunities to create wealth by developing a product or service that meets the needs of customers while utilizing limited resources in a way that results in a growing enterprise that meets the expectations of stakeholders whose roles sustain the business (Babatunde & Babatunde 2014). Entrepreneurship education provides students with the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and motivation they need to succeed as entrepreneurs in any circumstance. It enables people to pursue investment opportunities (Azonuche & Umeri, 2012). The study intends to investigate entrepreneurial

In this regard, education and self-reliance among youth across the country are important.

1.2 THE PROBLEM’S STATEMENT

It has been observed that historically, university education lacked the necessary information and skills for significant economic development, instead relying on white collar jobs that are not readily available after graduation (Emeka, 2012). With the Nigerian economy in such bad shape, exacerbated by the dwindling price of crude oil on the global market, which is the country’s primary source of revenue, there is an urgent need to position Nigerian university curricula or education to stimulate economic growth and development through the production of graduates with entrepreneurial skills.

According to Obasi (2015), graduates are created on a yearly basis to work in the Nigerian government’s official sector.

economy, with a focus on graduate entrepreneurship. The general public, particularly industry participants (employers and human resource managers), observes that the majority of Nigerian graduates lack specific characteristics that boost their success on the job immediately after graduation. The primary source of this viewpoint is a lack of collaboration between university faculties and industry/employment. The fact that university education has been insufficient in providing students with the necessary skills and competencies for job creation and self-employment is at the root of the unemployment crisis.

This attitude of the majority of employers in Nigeria has made it difficult for many young graduates to find work, as virtually all job advertisements in the mass media seek candidates with a diverse range of work experience and abilities.

As previously stated, Nigeria’s capabilities The deficit remains a significant impediment. Despite their degrees, over 80% of Nigerian graduates are unemployed (Nwaoga & Omeke, 2012). Because of a persistent skills shortage and skills mismatch, unemployment in Nigeria appears to be a labor market conundrum. The skills gap among graduates (from postsecondary education) is viewed as a constraint on long-run economic growth and a factor in graduate unemployment. Graduates are unprepared for the workforce because they lack general competencies. As a result, graduate unemployment has undoubtedly grown into a massive national cankerworm that every administration must address (Obasi 2015). As a result, the majority of businesses hire recent graduates who have studied relevant subjects as trainees for a number of years before deciding whether or not to hire them on full-time.

Whether full-time or part-time.

1.3 THE STUDY’S OBJECTIVES

The primary goal of this research is to look into education for entrepreneurship and self-sufficiency. Other specific goals of this research include:

i. Determine whether there is a relationship between entrepreneurial education and self-sufficiency.

ii. To look into the factors that influence self-reliance and the implementation of entrepreneurial education.

iii. Determine whether entrepreneurial education has aided in the acquisition of skills and the reduction of youth unemployment.

iv. To assess the impact of entrepreneurial education on youth.

1.4 QUESTIONS FOR RESEARCH

The following research questions related to the study’s objectives will be addressed:

i. Is there a relationship between entrepreneurial education and self-sufficiency?

ii. What are the factors influencing self-reliance and the

Entrepreneurship education actualization?

iii. Has entrepreneurial education aided in the acquisition of skills and the reduction of youth unemployment?

iv. How does entrepreneurial education affect young people?

1.5 THE STUDY’S IMPORTANCE

This study is important because it emphasizes the critical need for entrepreneurial education and self-reliance among Nigerian youths by focusing on the educational system, tactics, and the resulting social developmental influence on society.

The study emphasizes the country’s education problems and their correlation to poverty levels in society as a result of a lack of employment or knowledge of how to start businesses; the result is a society that fosters healthy collaboration and motivation, affecting the nation’s development.

However, the research’s contribution to knowledge

rather than the United Nations resolution to increase budgetary details and the number of people who attend school, identifies what is critical for Nigerian youths and the economy, namely qualitative entrepreneurial education that is focused on the needs of youths, particularly during this period of unemployment. This is not the first study on entrepreneurial education and self-reliance; however, it contributes to the body of knowledge in the field and highlights the findings in order to determine which strategy would ultimately work for Nigerian youths in terms of truly eliminating unemployment.

1.6 STUDY OBJECTIVES

This research looks into entrepreneurship and self-reliance education. The study is specifically interested in determining whether there is a link between entrepreneurial education and self-sufficiency, as well as determining the

factors that affect self-reliance and the actualization of entrepreneurial education, determining whether entrepreneurial education has contributed to skills acquisition and reduction of unemployment among youths and determining the effect of entrepreneurial education on youths.

Respondents for this study were University of Jos students.

1.7 THE STUDY’S LIMITATIONS

The researcher encountered minor setbacks while conducting the study, as is typical of any human endeavor. Because there was a scarcity of literature on the subject due to the nature of the discourse, the researcher incurred additional financial costs and spent additional time locating pertinent materials, literature, or information, as well as during the data collection process, which is why the researcher chose a small sample size. Furthermore, the researcher pursued this investigation concurrently.

other intellectual endeavors. Furthermore, because only a small number of respondents completed the research instrument, the findings cannot be generalized to other secondary schools outside the state. Regardless of the study’s constraints, every area was minimized to provide the best results and most effective research.

1.8 TERM DEFINITION

Education: The process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, morals, beliefs, habits, and personal development is known as education. Education began as a means of passing down cultural heritage from one generation to the next.

Entrepreneurship is defined as the creation or extraction of value. According to this definition, entrepreneurship is defined as change, generally involving risk beyond what is normally encountered when starting a business, and may include values other than monetary ones.

 

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