Encouraging Entrepreneurship As A Way Of Reducing Unemployment In Bayelsa State

Encouraging Entrepreneurship As A Way Of Reducing Unemployment In Bayelsa State

Abstract

This study looked at how promoting entrepreneurship can help to lower young unemployment in Nigeria’s Bayelsa State. The study’s main goal is to assess if promoting entrepreneurship can help lower young unemployment. In Yenagoa, the capital of Nigeria’s Bayelsa State, 500 self-employed youngsters who run their own private enterprises were given questionnaires. This provided the study’s basic data.

The findings show a strong correlation between supporting entrepreneurship and reducing youth unemployment. Accordingly, the study suggests that the Federal Government of Nigeria build training facilities and the required tools so that young people can learn entrepreneurial skills. It also suggests that the government provide money in the form of loans so that people can start enterprises with ease.

Chapiter 1

Introduction

the study’s history

The study of entrepreneurship primarily focuses on the why, when, and how of opportunity generation, recognition, and usage for delivering goods and services through the founding of new businesses (startups), as well as inside already existing businesses, for both profit and non-profit purposes. Not all opportunities created will necessarily be for the benefit of society. A society’s reward system may also cause an unfavorable distribution of entrepreneurial talent. Here, effective entrepreneurial activity is the main focus. This entails the development, identification, and utilization of favorable chances in a manner that includes “innovation” or the delivery of “new combinations” of goods and/or services. Being entrepreneurial is a quality that emphasizes the risk and work taken by those who manage or own a business as well as the innovations that come from their quest for financial success. An entrepreneur is a creator of new concepts and commercial methods. The French word “entrepredre,” which denotes a person who leads a military expedition voluntarily, is where the word “entrepreneur” originated. In the seventeenth century, it was first employed during the first military history (Emmanuel, 2008). There is no single definition of entrepreneurship; it has been articulated by numerous authors and people.

Every civilisation on the planet faces unique issues and difficulties. Nigeria is not a unique case. She deals with her fair share of social, political, economic, and cultural issues as a developing nation, which has had a significant impact on the general welfare of the public. These issues, which have major effects on the development of the country, include youth unemployment and the rising tide of crime. Despite the country’s wealth in natural and human resources, the unemployment rate in Nigeria has remained high. In Nigeria, youth unemployment is a persistent problem. Thousands of graduates are created each year, but the majority of them are unemployed. Youth hawkers who would typically have found gainful employment in a business are all over the streets of Nigeria (Okafor, 2011). As they pose a severe threat if used by the political class for illegal and criminal actions, the vast number of unemployed youngsters has the potential to undermine democratic practice (Adepegba, 2011; Ibrahim, 2011; Lartey, 2011; Olatunji and Abioye, 2011; Okafor, 2011).

The definition of unemployment appears to be in agreement. Simply put, the condition of those without jobs is referred to as unemployment (Okafor, 2011). The number of people in the economically active population who are unemployed but accessible and looking for work, including those who have lost their jobs and those who have willingly quit their occupations, is defined as the unemployment rate by the International Labour Organization (ILO) (World Bank, 1993). The National Bureau of Statistics (2009) states that the labor force of a nation is a group of people or citizens who are willing and able to make available their efforts for gainful employment at any given point in time, while the unemployed are people who do not have jobs but are looking for jobs at the time of any study. Scholars have recognized a number of different types of unemployment. According to Adebayo (1999), Damachi (2001), Hollister and Goldstein (1994), and Todaro (1992), they include seasonal, frictional, cyclical, and structural unemployment. Although it is a global trend, unemployment mostly affects emerging nations and is accompanied by social, economic, political, and psychological effects. Therefore, widespread youth unemployment in any nation is a sign of far more serious issues (Okafor, 2009). According to the ILO data from 2007, the percentage of people without jobs globally is constantly rising, and the number of unemployed people reached a record high of more than 195 million (6.3%) in 2007. For example, the Middle East and North Africa had the highest unemployment rate in the world in 2007 (12.2%), followed by sub-Saharan Africa (almost 10%). The lowest unemployment rate, at 3.6%, was still found in East Asia. The survey confirmed that pressure on job creation was being put on by population increase, particularly in South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Description of the Issue

Every country addresses the socioeconomic issue of unemployment to the best of their unique abilities. The situation in Nigeria has gotten out of hand, as evidenced by individual research reports and other government statements, as approximately 75% of people who are willing to work cannot find gainful employment in Nigeria, particularly among school dropouts and graduates of tertiary institutions (NBS, 2014).

In Yenagoa, the state capital, job seekers who wish to work as small public employees submitted 46,985 applications to the Bayelsa State Employment and Expenditure for Results (SEEFOR) in 2019.

At the conclusion of their 12-month participation in the SEEFOR initiative, the beneficiaries were to be transformed into lifelong entrepreneurs through the training.

The goal of the collaborative agencies, he continued, “is not to continue to make them lifelong beneficiaries, but entrepreneurs who will soon become well-known employers of labor.”

He clarified that beneficiaries were chosen based on their unique needs, which included the size of their households and the number of recipients’ dependents.

Every year, more graduates and school dropouts add to the number of young people without jobs, which fuels their resentment and hostility toward the society that has failed to support them. The threat of youth unemployment has been addressed in a number of ways by successive governments, but it doesn’t seem that these efforts have had much of an impact on the rate of unemployment, as it has continued to rise across the nation. The growing rate of unemployment in Nigeria has been addressed by studies such as (Ekong and Ekong, 2016; Akanwa and Akpanabia, 2013; Anyadike et al, 2012; Emeh, 2012; Ibrahim, 2010; Kaegon and Nwogu, 2012; and Udeorah, 2014), all of which have recommended entrepreneurship growth as a definite way to do so. In keeping with this, the goal of this study is to determine whether promoting entrepreneurship can help Bayelsa state’s unemployment rate.

1.3 The study’s aim and objectives

The study’s main objective is to investigate how promoting entrepreneurship might help Nigeria overcome its rising unemployment rate.

However, the particular goals are to:

Identify the extent to which the state government supports and offers training for entrepreneurs.

Find out if the state’s support for entrepreneurship has an impact on Bayelsa’s unemployment rate.

Consider how the expense of doing business in Bayelsa may impede the growth of entrepreneurship.

Find out how much the government’s incentives for small firms can affect the growth of entrepreneurship in Bayelsa.

1.4 Research Prompts

To help determine the goals of the study, the following research questions were posed: 1. How much may the percentage of unemployment in Nigeria be influenced by pertinent governmental institutions and other entrepreneurial training?

2. To what extent can Nigeria’s high business costs impede the growth of entrepreneurship?

3. How much can government support for small enterprises affect the growth of entrepreneurship in Nigeria?

1.5 Research Propositions

To help the study’s goals and reinforce the analysis, the following null hypotheses were developed:

Ho: Boosting entrepreneurship won’t change Nigeria’s high unemployment rate.

Ho: The cost of doing business in Nigeria cannot impede the growth of entrepreneurship.

Ho: The degree of entrepreneurship development in Nigeria cannot be influenced by government incentives for small enterprises.

1.6 Importance of the Research

The research will add to the body of literature, advancing understanding in the field. As can be observed from prior research in the field, entrepreneurship development has been the go-to remedy for lowering Nigeria’s rising unemployment rate. Additionally, the policy discussion that will result from the findings will be extremely beneficial to a variety of groups of individuals, including the government, current and potential businesses, students, researchers, and the general public.

1. The government: The government would be well-informed about how to make entrepreneurial development have a substantial impact on unemployment.

2. Currently operating and aspiring entrepreneurs: These groups of people would have better knowledge on how to get access to government incentives to expand their operations by lowering operating costs.

3. Students and Researchers: This group will find the findings extremely helpful because they provide a solid foundation for anyone who may want to pursue more research in the field.

4. The General Public: The public will benefit since a rise in entrepreneurs will improve the general well-being of the populace.

1.7 The study’s scope and limitations

This research focuses on entrepreneurship promotion as a means of lowering unemployment in Bayelsa State.

1.8 Terms Explained

When a person of working age is unable to find employment while wanting full-time employment, they are said to be unemployed.

The process of creating, launching, and operating a new business—oftentimes a small business—is known as entrepreneurship. According to one definition, entrepreneurship is the “ability and willingness to establish, organize, and manage a business enterprise together with any risks it may have in order to turn a profit.

Youth: The period of time between childhood and adulthood (maturity) is commonly referred to as youth. The characteristics of a youthful person, such as their appearance, freshness, vigor, spirit, etc., are another definition for it.

All UN statistics are based on this age group, and the UN cites education as the source of these statistics, which it defines as those between the ages of 15 and 24. The UN also acknowledges that this differs from other age ranges indicated by member nations, such as 18 to 30, without prejudice.

1.9 The Study’s Structure

The study’s main focus was introduced in this chapter. The chapter also provided the study’s backdrop and identified the research challenge and knowledge gap. The chapter also examined the particular research questions that served as the project’s roadmap. This report also outlined the purpose of the investigation and its restricted focus on five Nigerian non-governmental organizations. The significance of the study has also been discussed, along with definitions of the words employed in the research. The research questions served as the framework for this review’s second chapter, which provided an overview of the study’s prior literature. The research methodology used for the study was outlined in Chapter 3. The conclusion of the data that had been gathered in accordance with the study questions was covered in Chapter 4. The primary findings were then presented in Chapter 5 along with a summary of the numerous research conclusions made in accordance with the research questions.