CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Entrepreneurial education programs aimed at empowering youths in Nigeria have grown in recent years. Gone are the days of the oil boom in the 1970s, when a graduate could readily find work in any available position. However, all of this changed in the mid-1980s, as a result of global depression and a substantial recession in Nigeria's economy. This resulted in widespread unemployment around the world, most notably in emerging nations like Nigeria (Babatunde & Babatunde 2014).

As a result of the high unemployment rate, societal vices such as armed robbery and abduction for ransom flourished. More recently, the global economic catastrophe has resulted in skyrocketing young and graduate unemployment. Various governmental and non-governmental organizations have initiated policies to address unemployment among Nigerian citizens through support agencies such as the National Directorate for 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), among others (Olayinka 2010, Emmanuel 2012, Akluemonkhan, Raimi & Sofoluwe 2013).

The purpose of these programs, agencies, and councils was to develop 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 accordance with the theme of the 1991 National Productivity Day, "Productivity for Self-Reliance and Excellence," the Nigerian government introduced entrepreneurship education in schools as a means of instilling in students a sense of self-sufficiency, self-sustainability, and self-support.

The objective is to guarantee that graduates utilize their inherent resourcefulness to become self-employed. This is because entrepreneurship is the relentless pursuit of opportunities to create wealth through the innovative creation of 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 equips students with the information, skills, attitudes, and motivation necessary to succeed as entrepreneurs in any situation. It enables individuals to pursue investment possibilities (Azonuche & Umeri, 2012). The research intends to analyze entrepreneurial education and self-reliance among youth across the country in this respect.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

It has been noticed that historically, university education lacked the requisite information and skills for substantial economic development, relying instead on white collar jobs that are not easily available following graduation (Emeka, 2012). With the Nigerian economy in such bad shape, exacerbated by the dwindling price of crude oil on the world market, which is the country's primary source of revenue, there is an urgent need to position the curriculum or education of Nigerian universities 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 official sector of the Nigerian economy, with minimal emphasis on graduate entrepreneurship. The public, particularly industry participants (employers and human resource managers), observes that the majority of graduates in Nigeria lack specific characteristics that boost their success on the job shortly after graduation. The primary cause for this view is a lack of coordination between university faculties and industry/employment. Underpinning the unemployment crisis is the fact that university education has been insufficient in educating students with the necessary skills and competencies for job creation and self-employment.

This attitude of the majority of employers in Nigeria has made it difficult for many young graduates to acquire jobs, since practically all job adverts in the mass media want candidates with a variety of work experience and abilities.

As previously stated, Nigeria's skills deficit continues to be a significant impediment. Over 80% of graduates in Nigeria remain jobless, despite their degrees (Nwaoga & Omeke, 2012). Unemployment in Nigeria appears to be a labor market conundrum, owing to a persistent skills shortage and skills mismatch. The skills gap among graduates (from postsecondary education) is viewed as a limitation on long-run economic growth and a factor in the occurrence of unemployment among graduates. Graduates lack general competences and are unprepared for the workforce. Thus, graduate unemployment has surely developed into a gigantic national cankerworm that every administration must deal with (Obasi 2015). As a result, the majority of businesses recruit recent graduates who studied in relevant subjects as trainees for a number of years before deciding whether to hire them on a full-time or casual basis.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The primary objective of this study is to examine education for entrepreneurship and self reliance. Specifically, other aims of this study are:

i.          To investigate whether there is a link between entrepreneurial education and self-sufficiency.

ii.        To investigate the factors that affect self-reliance and the actualization of entrepreneurial education.

iii.      To determine whether entrepreneurial education has contributed to skills acquisition and reduction of unemployment among youths.

iv.      To determine the effect of entrepreneurial education on youths.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following researchquestions which are in line with the objectives of this study will be answered:

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

ii.        What are the factors that affect self-reliance and the actualization of entrepreneurial education?

iii.      Has entrepreneurial education contributed to skills acquisition and reduction of unemployment among youths?

iv.      What are the effects of entrepreneurial education on youths?

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