Entrepreneurship Education: Solution to Youth Unemployment in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper emphasises properly designed and well implemented Entrepreneurship Education as the solution to youth unemployment problem in Nigeria. Youth unemployment is potentially dangerous as it sends disturbing signal to all segments of the Nigerian Society. The rate of youth unemployment in Nigeria is high, even at the period of economic normalcy i.e. the oil boom of the 1970s (6.2%); 1980s (9.8%) and the 1990s (11.5%). To reduce unemployment, the paper suggests among others, the development of skills, infrastructure and sound curriculum as well as training of trainers and removal of barriers to youth entrepreneurship. This paper sets out to discuss the role of entrepreneurship education and training in solving the lingering problem of unemployment, particularly among the youth, in developing countries such as Nigeria. This role includes developing human resources through formal programs in entrepreneurship education, training teachers to implement new curricula that emphasize the development of entrepreneurship knowledge and skills, and promoting entrepreneurship and small enterprise creation and growth within local communities through training programs and consultancy services. This study also highlights the importance of supporting entrepreneurship skills by embedding entrepreneurship teaching throughout the education system, providing information, advice, coaching and mentoring, facilitating access to financing and offering support infrastructure for business start-up with the penultimate result of mitigating youth unemployment problem in the country. The paper further sees hope for Nigeria only if Youths are mobilized by way of genuinely socializing them into taking their roles in the economic development processes. The study concludes with a description of an educational change initiative that is supporting the creation of an "enterprise culture" through entrepreneurship education.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Youth unemployment, Enterprise creation, Skill acquisition, Nigeria.