ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION AND YOUTH EMPOWERMENT IN KANO STATE

Abstract

This research examined entrepreneurship education as a veritable tool for youth empowerment in Nigeria. As the nation is presently experiencing challenges of unemployment, insecurity, and high rate of poverty, the study observed that one of the most efficient ways to empower the youth is through entrepreneurship education. The objectives of entrepreneurship education includes but not limited to equipping individual and creates in the person the mindset to undertake the risk of venturing into something new by applying the knowledge and skills acquired in schools. The paper took a critical look at the roles of entrepreneurship education such as provision of individual with adequate training that will enable creativity and innovative relevance to skill acquisition which encourages self-employment and self-reliant. It reviewed some techniques of acquiring entrepreneurship skills which includes industrial training exercise, workshop/seminar, excursion and this aid in the empowerments of youth and consequently eradication of poverty and extreme hunger. The paper identified challenges facing entrepreneurship education such as inadequate funding, lack of trained teachers, and non- availability of equipment.

CHAPTER ONE

• Background of the study

Nigeria, a country with an estimated population of 170 million people (NBS, 2013) is well endowed with abundant human and natural resources and a favorable geographical location in the world map. The current global financial crisis has impacted negatively on the macro and micro levels of the economy of Nigeria. As at present, the situation has poses serious threats and challenges to both government and well meaning citizens. Nigeria like most developing nations of the world is faced with myriad of problems which include youth and graduate unemployment, high rate of poverty, conflict and diseases, insincerity, over-depending in foreign goods, low economic growth and development, lack of capacity and skills needed to move the economy forward and urbanization. Unemployment has become a major problem bedeviling the lives of Nigerian Youth causing frustration, dejection and depending on family members and friends. The high rate of unemployment among the youths in Nigeria has contributed to the high rate of poverty and insecurity in the country (Ajufo, 2013). More than half of the Nigerian population is under the age of 30 according to the National Population Commission (2013). Awogbenle and Iwuamad (2010) observed from the excepts of statistics obtained from the National Manpower Board and Federal Bureau of statistics that Nigeria has a youth population of eighty (80) Million representing 60 percent of the total population of the country. Sixty four (64) Million of them are unemployed while one million six hundred thousand (1.6 million) are underemployed. According to Ossal and Nwalado (2012) the need for entrepreneurship education started emerging in the mid-1980s, when there were political instability and inconsistencies in the socio-economic policies of successive government, high level of unemployment, large scale lay off of workers and early retirements as a result of structural adjusted policies and bad economic trends. In the face of these challenges there was no encouragement from the federal government for public and private investors to embark on entrepreneurial activities. These situations pose great challenges to the very existence of individuals and the national development. To salvage these situations there is need for the training of educated man and woman who can function effectively in their society in which they live in terms of self-employment and self-reliant which only entrepreneurship education can provide. Based upon this premise, the paper examined entrepreneurship education as a veritable tool for youth empowerment in Nigeria.

Nigeria faces a number of challenges that can only be met if she has innovative, well-educated, and entrepreneurial citizens who, whatever their walks of life, have the spirit and inquisitiveness to think in new ways, and the courage to meet and adapt to the challenges facing them. At same time, given the current socio-economic and political stance of the country, a thriving economy would require a greater number of young people who are willing and able to become entrepreneurs; who can launch and successfully develop their own commercial or social ventures, and who will become innovators in the wider organisations in which they work. European Scientific Journal October 2013 edition vol.9, No.28 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e – ISSN 1857- 7431 114 It is a common experience that many graduates from the Nigerian universities find it difficult to get employment every year. This is partly due to the curricula of the universities and other tertiary institutions which lay emphasis on training for white-collar jobs (Osibanjo, 2006). The socioeconomic situation in Nigeria poses serious threats and challenges to both government and wellbeing of citizens of the nation as a whole. The unemployment problems further call for different strategies and actions for it to be ameliorated. Entrepreneurship education has been embraced by almost all the developed countries and its capabilities and efficacy in springing up economies is not in doubt. It is believed that refocusing education system will immensely contribute in developing the spirit and culture of entrepreneurship in country Entrepreneurial education is essential not only to shape the mindsets of young people but also to provide the skills and knowledge that are central to developing an entrepreneurial culture. Entrepreneurship education provides students motivation, knowledge, and skills essential for launching a successful venture company (Cho, 1998). Developing mindsets, generic attributes and skills that are the foundations of entrepreneurship can be achieved through indoctrination from an early age; that is, if it is incorporated into the national educational system with the seriousness it deserves. Because education is key to shaping young people’s attitudes, skills and culture, it is vital that entrepreneurial education is addressed from an early age and up into higher levels of education such as in the universities. Entrepreneurship education should be available to all college students regardless of major courses and choice of studies to enhance competitive advantage, not only for students but the societies and nations where they are involved. The relationship between education and development has been established, such that education is now internationally accepted as a key development index. The importance of education cannot be overemphasized; it is a fundamental human right, hence, the need for incorporating entrepreneurship in the educational system. In line with the above, this paper is discussed under the following heading: conceptual framework, importance of entrepreneurial education, need for entrepreneurial education, rationale for fostering entrepreneurship and its achievements as well as problems for effective implementation of entrepreneurial education in Nigerian universities. Finally, the way forward was highlighted.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

The educational   system   in   Nigeria  is devoid  of the element crucial to averting the surging rate of unemployment in the country, thus the government through its monitoring ministry, and academic agencies made entrepreneurship education compulsory for tertiary institutions (Araba, 2012; Akarue and Adogbeji, 2013). Corroborating this view Araba (2012) noted that Entrepreneurial development through education will advance the economy of the nation and that much credence should be given to it and ingrained with focus on profitable personal development thus translating to overall development of the nation. This action if implemented is believed will reduce the present level of unemployment that is plaguing the Nigeria nation thus reducing the rate of violence, poverty and segregation amongst citizens. The reason deduced for this is due to the fact that the nation’s educational system has fails to empower the young graduate leaving the system thus making them unemployed instead employers of labor.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is to ascertain the importance and the role of entrepreneurship education in youth empowerment in Kano state Nigeria, precisely the study seek to:

1. Evaluate the importance of entrepreneurship education amongst youth in Kano
2. To ascertain how well entrepreneur education as enhance youth empowerment

• To ascertain the effect of entrepreneurship education on the productivity of the youth

1. To evaluate how well is entrepreneurship education implemented in our school.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION

The following research question was postulated for the successful completion of the studies

• What is the merit of entrepreneurship education?
• How does entrepreneurship education enhance economic growth?
• What is the role of entrepreneurship education on youth productivity?
• How has entrepreneurship education enhance youth empowerment?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is imperative to know that at the completion of this studies the findings will be beneficial to the government (ministry of education in curriculum formulation), the potential entrepreneurs and entrepreneur in human capital development, and skill acquisition, the academia, lecturers, teachers, researchers and the general public.

1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of this studies covers entrepreneurship education and youth empowerment in Kano state. However, this studies has some limitation, which are:

Finance: finance is a major limitation to the study as resources allocated to the study is limited

Time: time is a major constrain to the research as time allocated to the study is very limited.

Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.

1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is an enterprising individual who builds capital through risk and for initiative. The term was originally a loan word from French and was first defined by the Irish – French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to help launch a new venture or enterprise and accept full responsibility for the outcomes. The word entrepreneur was coined from a French word called ‘entrepredre’ which means a person who voluntarily head the military expedition. It was first used during the French military history in the seventeenth century. Ojeifo (2010) in his book, a Handbook on Entrepreneurial Development in Nigeria defined an entrepreneur as the owner or the manager of business enterprise who through risks and initiative, attempts to make a profit.

Entrepreneurship

 According to wikipedia, “is the act of being an entrepreneur” or “one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods”. This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response to a perceived opportunity. The most obvious form of entrepreneurship is that of starting new business which is referred to as start up company. Entrepreneurship has been simply captured as the use of human courage to seek investment opportunities and establish a profit-oriented enterprise (Ikeme & Onu, 2007). Entrepreneurship is generally viewed as a process of creating something new. Doing this involves a lot of time and effort devoted to ensure the tasks at hand and the resultant effects include monetary and personal satisfaction as well as independence. Entrepreneurship involves creation process, conscious devotion of time and effort, involves risk and has some rewards. Gana (2001), defined it as willingness and ability of an individual to seek out investment opportunities in an environment and be able to establish and run an enterprise successfully based on identified opportunities. Hisrich and Peters (2002), simply captured the term as the dynamic process of creating incremental wealth. They went further to explain that entrepreneurship is the personalized version of actualizing one’s desire, ambition, and expression.

Entrepreneurial education

Entrepreneurship education in Nigeria amongst other things seeks to provide students in tertiary institutions with the knowledge, skills and motivation to encourage entrepreneurial success in a variety of ventures. Variations of entrepreneurship education are offered at all levels of schooling in Nigeria, from primary to secondary schools through the graduate university programs. It is a life long learning process. The concept of lifelong learning is essential to the competitiveness of the knowledge economy. It applies to all levels of education and training and concerns all stages of life as well as the different forms of apprenticeship. Therefore, the move by the government through the Federal Ministry of Education to make entrepreneurship education one of the compulsory general studies for students in universities across the country should be seen as a positive step in the right direction. This is to inculcate in the youths the spirit of self-reliance. This development will not only address the problem of unemployment and underemployment but will also ensure an entrepreneurial human capacity for national development. It is the hope that with the introduction of entrepreneurial education in our tertiary institutions the universities will better be repositioned to become centers of excellence with the equipping of technical laboratories both at secondary and tertiary levels. This will put the country on the path to join communities of nations that have fought poverty through strengthening of small scale businesses.

YOUTH EMPOWERMENT

Youth empowerment is a process where children and young people are encouraged to take charge of their lives. They do this by addressing their situation and then take action in order to improve their access to resources and transform their consciousness through their beliefs, values, and attitudes. Youth empowerment aims to improve quality of life. Youth empowerment is achieved through participation in youth empowerment programs. However scholars argue that children’s rights implementation should go beyond learning about formal rights and procedures to give birth to a concrete experience of rights. There are numerous models that youth empowerment programs use that help youth achieve empowerment. A variety of youth empowerment initiatives are underway around the world. These programs can be through non-profit organizations, government organizations, schools or private organizations.

Youth empowerment is different than youth development because development is centered on developing individuals, while empowerment is focused on creating greater community change relies on the development of individual capacity.

Empowerment movements, including youth empowerment, originate, gain momentum, become viable, and become institutionalized.^[1] Youth empowerment is often addressed as a gateway to intergenerational equity, civic engagement and democracy building. Activities may focus on youth-led media, youth rights, youth councils, youth activism, youth involvement in community decision-making,^[4] and other methods.

1.8 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows

Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), statement of problem, objectives of the study, research question, significance or the study, research methodology, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlight the theoretical framework on which the study its based, thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.  Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study.

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