ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION AND SELF RELIANCE
The study examines entrepreneurial education as a tool for reducing unemployment in Nigeria. Specific objectives are; to find out if entrepreneurial education has been a useful tool for reducing unemployment in Nigeria, to ascertain if there is compulsory entrepreneurial education for all students in Nigerian higher institutions and to find out if the available entrepreneurship education in the institution can stimulate entrepreneurship skills in future graduates.
In the methodology, data used for the study was gathered through primary sources (questionnaire). The sampling technique was used to select 200 students from the entire population of 300 and 400 students of Uniuyo. The data to be obtained out there in the field shall be presented in a tabular form and analyzed through the use of a mean and standard deviation… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
INTRODUCTION
The activities of entrepreneurial education in the empowerment of youths in Nigeria have increased over time. Gone are those days during the era of oil-boom back in the 1970s when a graduate gets easily absorbed into any available job vacancies. But all these changed in the mid-1980s, with worldwide depression and significant depression in Nigeria’s economy. This resulted in unemployment around the world, most especially developing countries such as Nigeria. The outcome of the high rate of unemployment was social vices like armed robbery and kidnapping for ransom. More recent is the global economic meltdown that led to youth and graduate unemployment to hit the roof.
In this regards, various governmental and non-governmental organizations have initiated policies through support agencies such as National Directorate for Employment (NDE), the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), Small Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN), National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Raw Materials and Development Council (RMRDC) among others to address the problems of unemployment among Nigerian citizens (Olayinka 2010, Emmanuel 2012, Akluemonkhan, Raimi and Sofoluwe 2013)… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
What really instigated the study on entrepreneurial education and self-reliance among youth in Akwa Ibom state was a result of a high crime rate and unemployment in Akwa Ibom state. The rate of unemployment has significantly affected the socio-economic well being of the youth in Nigeria (Okon, 2004). Most research has been done on entrepreneurial education but just very few have been done on entrepreneurial education and self-reliance in Nigeria… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
The main aim of the research is to examine entrepreneurial education and self-reliance among youths in Akwa Ibom State. Other specific objectives of the study include:
- to examine the relationship between entrepreneurial education and self-reliance
- to determine the effect of entrepreneurial education on well being of youths in Akwa Ibom State… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
LITERATURE REVIEW
A consistent universal theory does not unilaterally exist for entrepreneurship, but it, however, consists of several different approaches including sociology, psychology, anthropology, regional science, and economics. There is no common theoretical framework that exists to synthesize the different points of view.
Some trials to develop a multidimensional approach to entrepreneurship study the problems also mainly from the perspective mentioned above in some well-established disciplines. In trying to combine economic and social context in the same multidimensional model we run into severe methodological difficulties. Many of the studies assume and generalize that all the entrepreneurs, including the owners of small businesses and high-growth innovative ventures, are similar.
The diversity of entrepreneurial phenomena and new ventures should be taken into account in modeling entrepreneurship. However, no single taxonomy captures all of the important differentiating variables of entrepreneurship. But more accurate differentiation in categorizing entrepreneurs gives the possibility to combine different traditions and theories in approaching the multidimensional phenomenon of entrepreneurship… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
Unemployment, by default, is the difference between the labor gainfully employed at the wages and working conditions that exist, and the amount of labor available, however, Gbosi(2006) defined unemployment as a situation in which people who are willing to work at the prevailing wage rate are unable to find jobs. This implies that not just anyone who is to be counted as part of the unemployed labor force, in order to avoid overestimation of the official rate of unemployment.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines unemployed in this manner, “the unemployed is a member of the economically active population, who are without work but available for and seeking for work, including people who have lost their jobs and those who have voluntarily left work (World Bank, 1998).
The application of this definition across countries has been faulted, especially for the purpose of comparison and policy formulation, as countries’ characteristics are not the same in their commitment to resolving unemployment problems. (Douglason et al, 2006)… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION AND ITS CONSEQUENCE IN NIGERIAN ECONOMY
Entrepreneurship is not a new concept in Nigeria, however, as much as it is popularly discussed, it can be figuratively stated that it is being poorly or rarely implemented. As it is, according to Omolayo (2006) is the act of starting a company, arranging business deals, and taking risks in order to make a profit through the education skills acquired. Another view of entrepreneurship education is the term given to someone who has innovative ideas and transforms them to profitable activities.
Summarily, entrepreneurship can be described as the process of bringing together creative and innovative ideas and coupling these with management and organizational skills in order to combine people, money, and resources to meet an identified need and create wealth… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
This chapter presents the design and methodology employed by the researcher for the purpose of conducting the research. The procedure for data collection and the relevant data used to address the research questions and hypotheses.
According to Kerlinger (1986), the research design is the plan, structure, and strategy of investigation conceived so as to obtain answers to research questions and to control variance. Thus, the research design that was adopted in this study was Descriptive design. The adoption of this design was informed because the study involved the collection of data to accurately and objectively describe existing phenomena and determining the nature of a situation as it exists at the time of investigation population under investigation… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
Method of Data Analysis and Statistical Tool
The data to be obtained out there in the field shall be presented in a tabular form and analyzed through the use of a mean and standard deviation. A mean of 3.5 and above are considered to be ‘Agreed’ based on the responses or opinions on the topic being researched on. However, the statistical took employed to test the earlier stated hypotheses study is chi-squared, a non-parametric test; chi-square (x2) tests are on important statistical took used for the hypothesis with a view to making inferences.
Basically, it is used when one wishes to compare an observed distribution with an expected distribution… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
RESEARCH FINDINGS, ANALYSIS, AND DISCUSSION
This chapter deals mainly with the presentation and analysis of research findings through the data collected from the questionnaire. It reveals the results, the hypothesis tested and its interpretation was also considered. The data collected was be analyzed statistically by applying the appropriate statistical formula.
4.1 ANALYSIS OF THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE RESPONDENTS
Table 4.1: Distribution by gender
| Response | Frequency | Percentage (%) |
| Male | 114 | 57 |
| Female | 86 | 43 |
| Total | 200 | 100 |
This shows that the proportion of the respondent that is male is 57% to that of females, which is 43%. The reason for this is that most people concerned were learners and only a few females responded to it.
Table 4.2: Age distribution
| Response | Frequency | Percentage (%) |
| 20-25 | 138 | 69.0 |
| 26-30 | 61 | 30.5 |
| 31 and above | 1 | 0.50 |
| Total | 200 | 100 |
The table above shows that the response of age 20-25 is the highest number of respondents representing 69% of the total sample size while age group of 31 years and above is the lowest number of respondents with 0.5%. However, age group 26-30 has 61 respondents representing 30.5% of the total sample size… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
It is not impossible that when a university provides adequate instruction and creative inspiration for entrepreneurship, the possibility of choosing an entrepreneurial career might increase among young people. This is crucial in economies that are as open as Nigeria’s economy. As Wu (2008) states, engineering students have the highest tendency to start a business.
Thus, it seems that academic environments should provide applied practical learning environments to complement academic exercises or case study approaches Bell, Callaghan, & Demick, (2004) to increase student understanding of market knowledge. Persuading business-oriented teamwork or improving the relationship between the university and the industry, for example, could be tools for developing such projects.
It is possible to argue that universities that are interested in fostering and motivating students to embrace entrepreneurial activities should provide educational courses focusing on entrepreneurship and business… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
We have to recognize that the effect of education supersedes the education itself and goes onto forming an ideology, and creating a concept in the minds of the learner subconsciously to build a future that inadvertently creates a new environment.
There should be a working partnership between the industry and the universities. This could be encouraged if the government would give incentives such as tax returns or tax cuts for every organization that involves in the partnership.
Lecturers should have field and industry experience in the fields which they profess to be experts, as theoretical experiences and ideology of the academia possibly reduces exposure to idealistic, rather than realistic perspectives… (Scroll down for the link to get the Complete Chapter One to Five Project Material)
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