ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION AN APPROACH TOWARDS YOUTH EMPOWERMENT (EDUCATION PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Nigeria faces a member 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 the 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 entrepreneur, who can lauch and successfully develop their own commercial or social ventures, and who will become innovators in the wide organizations in which they work.
It is 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 Socio-economic situation in Nigerian poses serious treats and challenges to both government and well-being of citizens of the nation as a whole. The unemployment problem further call for different strategies and actions for it to be ameliorated. Entrepreneurship education has been embraced by ad mast all the developed countries and its capabilities and efficiency in springing up economics is not in doubt. It is believed that refocusing education system will immensely contribute in developing the spirit and culture of entrepreneurship in country.
The term entrepreneurship has a history that dates back to 1732 when the Irish economist “Richard Cantillon” used the word in reference to individual with a willingness to carry out forms of arbitrage involving the financial risk of a new venture. (Minniti& Levesque, 2008). Defining entrepreneurship is complex and there is no universal theory of it. Entrepreneurship has been defined by various professions to mean many things since the middle age (Igba 2006). However, the summary of what entrepreneurship means will reflect the individuals defines point of view is (Oviawe, 2010). Drucker (1985) called entrepreneurship as an innovative act, which includes endowing existing resources for new wealth producing capacity, while this definition may seeplausible, many researcher argue that entrepreneurship as such is still a field with no clear boundaries and that it lacks a clear conceptual framework (Bruyat&Julien, 2001). Busenitzetal, 2003; Ireland & Webb 2007; Shane &Venkataraman, 2010). Gartner (1985) described it as the “creation of new organization”. It is important to note, however, that entrepreneurship, a primary source of innovation, may involve the development of new visions and new organisations.
