ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION AS A TOOL FOR REDUCING UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA

ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION AS A TOOL FOR REDUCING UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

Education in Nigeria is devoid of the element crucial to averting the surging rate of unemployment in the country. The provision of entrepreneurial development through education will advance the economy of the nation if much credence would be given to it and ingrained with focus on profitable personal development. Unemployment prevails in the country, hence, the growth of violence, poverty and segregation amongst citizens, because the educational system itself fails to empower the ones passing through it. The core message of the evolving educational policy in Nigeria is devoid of a system of education that emphasizes on the need to culture the country’s youth through the knowledge of rudimentary entrepreneurial development, common cultural heritage, and identification of exploitable strengths of structures, systems and cultures of others. If anything, there is a greater need of its augmentation, which can propel the country to work towards enduring peace and harmony. This research work, therefore, was carried out to examine the strategies of entrepreneurial education carried out in two of the universities pioneering it Federal University of Technology, Akure, and Covenant University Ota, the former being a public university and the latter a private university. The objectives of the study were to appraise if  educational styles arouse the interest of students in the industries of their discipline; to explore the effectiveness of entrepreneurial development strategy in education in universities that implement it; to see if the current university educational system stimulates entrepreneurial creativity in its students The methodology adopted was a mixed analysis of quantitative and qualitative parameters based on the survey design which relied on primary and secondary sources of gathering data, through the use of questionnaires and interview instruments. Three hundred (300) questionnaires were administered, and two hundred and fifty four (254) were returned. The study adopted quota and simple random sampling technique. The data was analyzed and presented using tables and percentages. Consequently the findings on this research portrayed a huge disparity between the perception and conceptualization of entrepreneurship in the graduates of each university used in the study, creating the significance in the strategies being used to educate the students while in the university. The study shows that entrepreneurial education should be taught in the field and through practical approaches, rather than using theoretical approaches, as the former yields better results for the economy than the latter. It was discovered that  graduates from Covenant University have more aptness to creating value, and are self driven to developing some form of business whether or not they have an employment. The study recommends that there should be a working partnership, bridging the gap between the higher institutions and the industry; lecturers should have field experience to aid communication and teaching of the courses. The study also recommends that Universities should work toward becoming entrepreneurial hubs for students and young entrepreneurs; the government should also focus more on the youth age group for entrepreneurship development in the country.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0     INTRODUCTION

1.1     BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Nigeria is bedeviled by a myriad of problems which, despite her oil wealth, inhibit her development and even threaten her continued existence as a sovereign state. Nigeria’s sociopolitical and economic circumstances give the significant indication that many of her problems stem from an origin of artificial colonial construct which lumped together a variety of separate peoples. Fragmentation of the nation is seen as a distinct possibility unless its citizens can be induced to accept a new sense of Nigerian identity, involving a commitment to the survival of the present state as a cohesive entity. This would necessitate a number of radical changes, not only in the political and economic structure of the country but also in the psychology of the people. Nigerians have lived through series of administrations under different governments in Nigeria, and the question still arises, ‘is Nigeria a nation at all?’, a critical look at what the government calls reform results in personally instituted concept of governance, filling the seats of power with those they believe to be their kin, rather than have professionals in the positions of merit, and a breed of people typified by their integrity of heart, ingrained in the trainings and qualifications they have received in the course of service to the nation.

With an increasing number of those who are not gainfully employed or adequately educated in the country, they remain preys as political tools of violence, as it has been seen in the history of violence occurring in the country over a period of time. The country has depended much on oil as its major source of revenue for years, however, the current administration also

fails to recognize that the future of the country may very well depend on the economy of its people (the youths), which is possibly the only untapped, ill harnessed, most lucrative resource of the country. If it remains this way in the next ten years, putting into consideration the effect of increased poverty, lack of employment, poor educational system, it is unpredictable what the result will be.

Evidence from a range of sources including the report of the National

Committee on Job Creation and Putting Nigeria to Work (World Bank 2010) reveals that the biggest drivers of Nigeria’s current youth unemployment crises are:

– Lack of jobs

– Lack of skills and experience

– Mismatch between supply and demand for labour

– Numerous barriers to youth entrepreneurship

Plethora of job creation interventions in the public, private and nonprofit sectors, including Nigerian Directorate of Employment (NDE), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), but reaching fewer than 100,000 youths a year.

These initiatives struggle to transform the lives of Nigerian youth because of their:

– Limited scope and scale

– Limited focus on the unique needs of young Nigerians

– Poor collaboration and cooperation across the sectors

– Outdated and theoretical training models

– Distance from the grassroots.

In the ‘NeXT Generation Report’ of the British Council in 2010, it is highlighted that Nigeria needs to develop the infrastructure that will underpin a world class economy, spending up to an additional 4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on this task. It should diversify away from oil, with an emphasis on sectors that will improve employment prospects for young people, while removing obstacles to economic growth and private enterprise. The oil industry contributes as much as 40% to national GDP, but is highly capital-intensive and employs only a tiny fraction of the population. Other industries still in their infancy offer greater potential to Nigeria and Nigerians: communications; manufacturing (textiles, clothing and footwear; automobiles); and the mining of resources other than oil.”Clearly, national development cannot be spoken of without the citizenry first believing in a common goal that obliterates segregation between people of differentiated peculiarities in a community, this is critically supposed to be heaved on the responsibilities of the government. Poverty and lack, illiteracy and miseducation, bad leadership and poor governance are the threading of the society, that when weaved with the economy of the people, brings about dissociation from any that shares no particular quality with themselves. However this has to be changed through changing the mindset of people through the quality of education received within the walls of our institutions.

According to National Bureau of Statistics (2009:238; 2010:2), the national unemployment rates for Nigeria between 2000 and 2009 showed that the number of unemployed persons constituted 31.1% in 2000; 13.6% in 2001; 12.6% in 2002; 14.8% in 2003; 13.4% in 2004; 11.9% in 2005; 13.7% in 2006; 14.6% in 2007; 14.9% in 2008 and 19.7% in 2009. Lack of entrepreneurial education, that creates a self-reliant ideology in people will lead to gross unemployment, which results in poverty and lack; this in turn creates survival instincts in individuals, and then brings about segregation among the people, Nigeria could never attain integration with the current educational strategy it breeds.

Entrepreneurial education will however lead to increased employment, reduce poverty level, bring about entrepreneurs working together for common good, therefore establishing a stronger economy than the present Nigerian economy. Entrepreneurs can take advantage of the nation’s state to grow their businesses, create jobs and employment for required skill sets they will find within their societies and grow. Poverty entails more than just the lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihoods. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion as well as the lack of participation in decision-making. Various social groups bear disproportionate burden of poverty.

A social perspective on poverty should contribute to the debate on the effectiveness and limitations of current poverty reduction strategies, one of which is education. Education is critical to the development of personal economy from poverty level to at least the level of self-sustenance, however, the current curriculum of the Nigerian educational system, prepares the average graduate to be prepared to become employed by the available firms or business owners in the society, which in turn grows the number of unemployed in the society. This emphasizes more on the quality of education administered, than the number of students that pass through school, according to the goals of the United Nations for developing countries.

Among the barriers that would hinder progress within the current Nigerian education systems certainly are (these are however, not unique to the educational sector):

·        Rigidity of systems: Certain people benefit from the status quo, and are resistant to change. Others are unable to see the possibilities for change, or lack the commitment, courage or energy needed

·        Governments, or local leaders, who are generally not held accountable for how much money is spent, and how education systems are managed

·        Sufficiency attitude – what is provided for the poor is good enough

·        Inadequate pro-poor infrastructure or support systems – this makes it difficult to implement successful poverty eradication interventions

·        A lack of systematic tracking of propoor interventions – in this way it is extremely difficult to know if the activities and programmes implemented have had any impact at all.

Nigeria cannot combat the ills of the society just by raising its budget; there should be a strategic systematic approach to education that exists, and bridging the gap between its service delivery and its effectiveness in the country.

1.2     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Education in Nigeria is devoid of the element crucial to averting the surging rate of unemployment in the country, therefore the breeding of psychological dependence on direct access to money. Entrepreneurial development through education will advance the economy of the nation; much credence should be given to it and ingrained with focus on profitable personal development.

Unemployment prevails in the country, hence, the growth of violence, poverty and segregation amongst citizens, because the educational system itself fails to empower the ones passing it, therefore not catering to the economy its results should enhance by default.

This should be the core message of the evolving educational policy of Nigeria which is devoid of a system of education that emphasizes on the need to culture the country’s young through the knowledge of rudimentary entrepreneurial development, common cultural heritage, and identification of exploitable strengths of structures, systems and cultures of others. If anything, there is a greater need of its augmentation, which can propel the country to work towards enduring peace and harmony.

1.3     OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

·        To appraise if educational styles arouse interest of students in the industries of their discipline.

·        To explore the effectiveness of entrepreneurial development strategy in education in universities that implements it.

·        To see if the current university educational system stimulates entrepreneurial creativity in its students

1.4     RESEARCH QUESTIONS

·        Do the educational strategies arouse mature curiosity in the students in the industries of their discipline?

·        Are the entrepreneurial development strategies being implemented truly effective?

·        Does the university classroom stimulate creativity necessary for entrepreneurship in the students?

1.5     SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The focus of this study brings to the fore the crucial need for entrepreneurial education in Nigeria, putting more consideration on the educational system, strategies and its eventual social developmental effect in the society.

The study highlights the problems of the level of education in the country and its equivalence to level of poverty in the society by virtue of lack of employment or knowledge of how to startup businesses; the resultant effect of which is a society that breeds healthy partnership and motivation, impacting on the development in the nation.

One of the MDG goals highlights education as a critical factor to reduce poverty and dependency on in developed nations, however, the contribution of this thesis to knowledge identifies what is important to the economy, which is qualitative education focused on the needs of the economy per time, rather than the resolution of the United Nations to increase budgetary details, increasing the people that go through school. This is not the first paper on entrepreneurial education; however, it is the first to do a comparative study on what is being implemented by different universities to see the effectiveness and brings to light the results in order to ascertain which strategy would eventually work for the Nigerian economy in truly eradicating unemployment in Nigeria.

1.6     SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study examines the role of education in the social development of Nigeria, its significance in the reduction of the unemployment in Nigeria and comparison between universities that implement para-entrepreneurship educational systems. The study considered the undergraduates of the current university teaching system, from levels one to the final year, assumably those who gained admission into the university in the last five (5) years. The study considers period to be relevant because of its immediate impact on the future of Nigeria, in order to be able to discover if the role education plays currently in Nigeria will facilitate national development.

The study will consider students and graduates of Covenant University, Ota and Federal University of Technology, Akure as case studies, and it will be a comparative study between the two universities; the former being a Christian private university, and the latter a federal university, because they already have embraced entrepreneurial education as part of their curriculums for at least three (3) years. This will help in giving insight into how it is operated and the effectiveness to consider which system will work determining if the country would be able to survive the huge downpour of graduates that will be on the increase as against the limited jobs from available employers.

1.7     LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

In the study, the limitations to getting more robust analyses on the research include:

·        Classroom observations were inhibited due to long ‘due process’ permissions to carry out research.

·        Knowledge of lecturers about research would impede the regular style of lecturing to attempt including entrepreneurial mentions during classes

·        Responses from some undergraduates were possibly laced with ideals rather than realistic perspective of what they do experience (please see chapter four)

·        There was no comprehensive data on graduate employment statistics from the universities involved.

REFERENCES

National Bureau of Statistics (2005) The Nigerian statistical fact sheets on Economic and Social Development, FOS, Nigeria.

National Bureau of Statistics (2009), Annual Socio-Economic Report, Nigerian Unemployment Report

National Bureau of Statistics (2010), Annual Socio-Economic Report, Nigerian Unemployment Report

National Bureau of Statistics (2011), Annual Socio-Economic Report, Nigerian Unemployment Report.

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