ENTREPRENEURAL EDUCATION AS A TOOL OF ERADICATING
POVERTY AMONG NIGERIAN YOUTHS.
Abstract
Poverty is an epidemic that has eaten deep into the
fabrics of socio economic environment of our society. It affects our youths who
form a substantial proportion of our virile population and these youths will
definitely transform to adults later, no doubt. Hence, if the present crop of
youths can be prepared towards self reliance and dependence, definitely we are
preparing a good future for our adults overtime which inadvertently will cut
down the poverty level of the polity.
This
study is a descriptive research the population of this study consist of all
youth in Nigeria,
with special focus to akure North local government area of Ondo state This study sampled five (5) youth each
selected villages in Akure South. Hence, a total of ten (10) respondents were
selected from each town of the local government. A total of fifty (50)
respondents were adequately selected using simple random sampling techniques.
The study used frequency, count, tables and simple percentage as method of
analyzing the data collected from the field of survey. The results were
presented in chapter four of this project work.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the study
Poverty
is the main obstacles and problem of the people are facing particulaarly in the
world [1]. As of 2013, there were about 2.47 billion people in the world living
in poverty with an income of USD 2 or less a day most of them from developing
or under developing countries located in African and Asian continent [1]. The
population living under poverty only declined from 2.59 billion to 2.47 billion
between 1981 and 2013 [1]. Hence the declines principally are seated mostly in
developed countries [1].
Poverty
means the lack of income or shortage of assets; the lack of competence,
confidence, disempowerment, etc.; has also deprivation of national currency; it
is also common to speak of an poor understanding, or culture, or spirit [2].
Poverty may arise from low productivity of the households and they face
financial constraints and lack of other incentives of entrepreneurship [3].
Alan E. Singer in 2006 said that the best cure for poverty alleviation in any
region of the world lies in encouraging more on business activity and startup
the new ventures through entrepreneurship development [2]. Moreover,
entrepreneurship provides a basis for economic change through new knowledge
creation and application [2].
On
the other hand, development and growth require shifts from low to high productivity,
the creation and adoption of new goods and services, new skills and new
knowledge [4]. These shifts are made possible by entrepreneurs who are the
architects of “capacity creation‟ for productivity and growth [4]. Mobilizing
the specific factors of capital, labor and technology which are generally
imperfectly marketed, may not otherwise be allocated to activities supplied
where productivity could be the greatest [4]. The creation of successful new
ventures locally also helps to generate indigenous growth and reduce the
reliance on the mercurial character of foreign direct investment [4]. However,
entrepreneurship consistent source of income earnings not only to the
entrepreneur and labor but also other factor inputs and given the long-term
focuses and the growth potential of entrepreneurial activities [3]. The
entrepreneur and labor with all income earners become more economically
independent and confident to confront the challenges of life and it can,
therefore, be stated that entrepreneurship promotes income empowerment in an
economy and in the modern world; entrepreneurship provides a new approach for
fighting poverty and stimulating economic growth in developing countries [3].
Entrepreneurship
development contributes to poverty reduction when it creates employment through
the startup of new entrepreneurship or the expansion of existing ones and they
increases social wealth by creating new markets, new industries, new
technology, new institutional forms, new jobs and net increases in real productivity,
increases income which culminates in higher standards of living for the
population then it is logically to state that if the number of entrepreneurs of
any given country increase the poverty indicators will decrease [5]. In 2013,
Bruton, G. D., D. J. Ketchen Jr, et al. examined the extant knowledge about
entrepreneurship and where the future research on this important topic should
move to enhance the knowledge about entrepreneurship as a pathway to reducing
poverty [1].Individuals are living in poverty is a critical issue which is
focuses on how entrepreneurship will help to solve the poverty, on the other
hand, those who living under poverty create their own business, ultimately,
entrepreneurship is a process which is creating long lasting solutions to
alleviate poverty [1].
Poverty is an epidemic that has eaten deep into the fabrics
of socio economic environment of our society. It affects our youths who form a
substantial proportion of our virile population and these youths will
definitely transform to adults later, no doubt.
Hence,
if the present crop of youths can be prepared towards self reliance and
dependence, definitely we are preparing a good future for our adults overtime
which inadvertently will cut down the poverty level of the polity.
Poverty
in itself is a living standard below the acceptable level according to Famoriyo
{1994} who described it as one of the most phenomenal, yet real and contentious
issues that have confronted both the theory of economic and its practitioners
from the classical to the Keynesian period.
Considering the situation in Nigeria, Ojo
{1976}, likens poverty to an elephant which is more recognized than defined. It
demonstrates the growing unemployment, mismanagement of available resources,
technological backwardness, low capacity utilization and the prerdominance of
agrarian economy which leaves the citizens to live a low standard of life.
In order to achieve core objective of
this study, this paper is organized in this sequence. What follows this
introduction is the conceptual framework, section three discusses the different
types of entrepreneurship practice in Nigeria and sector four discusses the
problems and prospects of these practices and how they can help in reducing
poverty. Section five discusses conclusion and recommendations.
In line with the context therefore,
who is an entrepreneur and what is entrepreneurship education?
Entrepreneurial
education will however lead to increased employment, reduce poverty level,
bring about entrepreneurs working together for common good, therefore
establishing a stronger economy than the present Nigerian economy.
Entrepreneurs can take advantage of the nation’s state to grow
their businesses, create jobs and employment for requireed skill sets they
will find within their societies and grow.
Poverty entails more than
just the lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable
livelihoods. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access
to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion as
well as the lack of participation in
decision-making. Various social groups bear disproportionate burden of poverty.
A
social perspective on poverty should contribute to the debate on the
effectiveness and limitations of current
poverty reduction strategies, one of which is education. Education is critical
to the development of personal economy from poverty level to at least the level
of self-sustenance, however, the current curriculum of the Nigerian educational
system, prepares the average graduate to be prepared to become employed by the
available firms or business owners in the society, which in turn grows the
number of unemployed in the society. This emphasizes more on the quality of
education administered, than the number of students that pass through school,
according to the goals of the United Nations for developing countries.
Statement
of the Problem
The problem of poverty among rural people in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized in the
socio-economic development of Nigeria.
It is often stated that a person living in poverty nowadays will likely lives
in poverty in the future. The main argument is that a poor person becomes
‘trapped and there is little chance of breaking through the economics
conditions that put him or her there in the first place.
In addition, many people believe that a person does
have the inspiration to retain a low economic status by low income support
programmes of the government. In view of the above, it is very important to
investigate how enterprenural education can reduce poverty among youth
Purpose
of the Study
The main purpose of this study is to investigate entrepreneurial
education
Other specific objective are
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