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ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION: A PROSPECT TO SOLVING 

UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM AMONG NIGERIAN YOUTHS 

 

OWO EMMANUEL CHINONSO 

E-mail: emmanelsonco@gmail.com 

Department of Council Matter, 

Registry Division 

 

Abstract 

It is a known fact that youth unemployment is one of the major problems facing 

developing countries, including Nigeria. Hence, the need to embrace entrepreneurship as 

an alternative means of survival is paramount among Nigerian youths. Entrepreneurship 

education has been identified as a gateway to youth empowerment and sustainable 

economic growth through the acquisition of necessary skills, which should be nurtured 

starting as early as the elementary education and progressing through all levels of 

education, including adult education.  This study therefore examines the role of 

entrepreneurship education in solving the problem of unemployment among Nigerian 

youth. The study sought to examine the problem and causes of unemployment in Nigeria, 

the concept of Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship education and its importance to 

Nigerian youths, as well as the prospects of entrepreneurship development in reducing 

unemployment in Nigeria.   

 

Introduction  

 In Nigeria today, education and training is beginning to take a new aspect as many 

people are diving  and embracing education in its totality. This singular act of being 

educated has resulted to enormous number of graduates from various universities, 

polytechnics, colleges of education etc. The perceptions of earning a living with  tertiary 

institutions certificate after graduation has endangered Nigerian system of education and 

have also generate an increase in the number of unemployed graduates. Youth 

unemployment is one of the major challenge confronting most developing countries. 

Nigeria has gotten one of the highest rates of youth unemployment in the world due to a 

lack of employment skills. Olubukola (2013) stressed that unemployment is a global 

phenomenon where suitable workforce of a nation is disengaged in the overhaul of the 

nation.  As indicated by statistics, Youth unemployment in Nigeria is observed to be on 

the increase, and various efforts seem not to be yielding significant results. According to 

the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s unemployment and underemployment rates 

are a combined of 55.7% at the end of the 2nd quarter in the Year 2020. The rate of 

unemployment among Nigerian graduates is a threat to the nation’s economy as tertiary 

institutions produces graduates yearly without commensurate job opportunities. Ekpo 

(2010) concisely stated that a study carried out by the Federal Ministry of Education from 

2005-2010 showed that seventy-one percent (71%) of graduate students from Nigerian 

mailto:emmanelsonco@gmail.com


 

 

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Universities and other forms of tertiary institutions are yet to get job. In similar 

development, Nwachukwu (2012) reported that Economic Survey in 2011 doted 

unemployment rate in Nigeria at 23.9%. In other words, over 38 million Nigerians are 

unemployed. It is disturbing to acknowledge that a greater number of this percentage are 

graduates from Nigeria universities, polytechnics and colleges of education who roam 

the street and in the job markets looking for non-existing jobs for lack of entrepreneurial 

skills. Lack of entrepreneurial skills is no doubt a major contributing factor to the 

problem of unemployment of graduates in Nigeria (Adebisi & Oni, 2012). The incidence 

of graduate unemployment is attributed to the educational system operated during pre 

and post-independence era in the country which placed emphasis on liberal education 

rather than acquisition of vocational skills which prepares school leavers and graduates 

with vocational skills for better employment opportunities.  Again, in spite of federal 

government efforts to create 2 million jobs every year, most Nigerian university 

graduates fail to get employed (Babalola, 2017). This is evident as many graduates stay 

4-5 or more years after graduation before getting a job or no job at all.  

 

In respect of the above sad and deplorable situation, the government has done little to 

reduce the misery and frustrations of the citizenry. This has foisted a state of hopelessness 

on the majority of young and old people who have resorted to any means including crime 

to succeed in life. They resort to vices because they are not gainfully engaged. In other 

words, they are unemployed not because they lack the qualification but because the 

system has crippled politically, economically, socio-culturally and even religiously 

(Anyadike, Emeh & Ukah, 2012). The need for entrepreneurship development in the 

country today and specifically the Nigeria private and public universities is necessitated 

by the fact that entrepreneurship development is a major factor in economic growth and 

development.  Again among thousands of tertiary graduates produced by tertiary 

institutions in Nigeria every year, only a few hundreds of them are lucky to secure paid 

employment. Hence, going through the higher institutions of learning and/or possessing 

professional qualifications in disciplines like accounting, law, engineering, and medicine 

is no longer a guarantee for getting the desired employment because of the shrinking 

economy. However, the way out is through encouraging the development of 

entrepreneurial skills which can help to transform the challenges into business 

opportunities (Odia & Odia, 2013).   

 

Problem of unemployment in Nigeria   

Unemployment and Poverty remains key developmental challenges in Nigeria over a 

very long time. According to Udu and Agu (2015), unemployment is “a situation in 

which persons capable and willing to work are unable to find suitable paid employment”. 

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) (2007), unemployed workers 

are those who are currently not working but are willing and able to work for pay, 

currently available to work and have actively searched for work. Ekpo, P. (2010)) defines 



 

 

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unemployment as “the facts of a number of people not having a job; the number of people 

without a job; the state of not having a job”. Nigeria does not seem to have credible data 

on the rate of unemployment because no institution has been able to produce accurate 

figures showing the current rate of unemployment (Udu and Agu, 2015). The great need 

for entrepreneurship development in Nigeria today, more than ever, is necessitated by 

the rate of unemployment and its effect on both the people and the nation and the need 

for small and medium enterprises. According to Eme, O.I. (2014) despite the abundant 

human and natural resources notwithstanding, Nigeria is still one of the poorest countries 

in the world and has one of the highest rates of youth unemployment in sub-Sahara 

Africa, in spite of its alleged strong economic growth.  

 

Causes of unemployment in Nigeria 

Going by the study, scholars have recognized some leading causes of youth 

unemployment in Nigeria as follows: 

1. Rural urban migration:  In Nigeria, there exists a rapidly growing urban labour force 

arising from rural urban migration. The factor is aggravated and triggered by the lack 

of infrastructural facilities, which makes the rural life unattractive. Youths move to 

urban areas with the probability of getting lucrative and productive employment in the 

industries. In addition, there is the focus of social amenities in the urban centres. This 

implies that the rural areas are neglected in the allocation of social and economic 

opportunities.  

2. Rapid population growth: Going by Nigeria National Bureau of Statistics of 2012, the 

total population of citizens in Nigeria was around 166.2 million people, and 

projections for the future indicate that the population could be over 180 million by the 

year 2021, given the annual growth rate of 3.2 percent (National Population 

Commission and ICF Macro, 2012). With this population, Nigeria is the most 

populous nation in Africa and the high population growth rate has resulted in the rapid 

growth of the labour force, which is far exceeding the supply of jobs.  

3. Corruption: This crime which has pervaded the entire social structure of Nigeria, has 

raided the country of developing a vibrant economic base. Funds meant for 

development projects have been misappropriated, diverted, or embezzled and stashed 

away in foreign banks, while some ineffectual and corrupt bureaucrats cum 

administrators in the public parastatals have discharged these establishments (Okafor, 

2011). The ruling (political) class failed since they traded the vision, policy, and 

strategy, that should be the thrust of every leadership with dealings (contract award 

and other mundane money- related activities), as each successive government 

patiently took turns to target on the nation’s wealth, by using public power, resources, 

good will, utilities, instrument of abuse, and personal gains. As such, this cripples the 

economy and intensifies unemployment that generates abject poverty, hunger and 

frustration which is killing the zeal and means for entrepreneurship development in 

the Nigerian youths. 



 

 

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4.  Lack of sustainable entrepreneurship Development Programme and training: 

Entrepreneurship Development Programme is increasingly recognized as important 

driver of economic growth, generating employment, fostering innovation and poverty 

reduction through the empowerment of young men and women (UNCTAD, 2010). 

Poor entrepreneurship development has also been identified as an immediate reason 

for the increasing youth unemployment in Nigeria. Entrepreneurship Development 

Programmes (EDPs) have been described by Maina, (2013)  as a purposeful 

intervention by an adult (the teacher) in the life of a learner to impart entrepreneurial 

qualities and skills to enable the learner to survive in the world of business. Its aim is 

to equip learners with skills, knowledge and disposition that can help them develop or 

implement innovative social or business plans. 

 

Entrepreneurship 

According to Mba & Godday (2014), entrepreneurship is a process of identifying 

opportunities, allocating resources, and creating value through identifying unmet needs 

or opportunities for change. In a job-scarce environment where unemployment is rife, 

the need for fostering entrepreneurship, especially among Youth, is a primary concern.  

The entrepreneur has been seen as an actor, innovator or a developer of technology. 

Entrepreneurship is also seen as the willingness and ability of an individual to seek out 

investment opportunities, establish and run an enterprise successfully. Esomomu, (2018) 

defined entrepreneurship as the effective manipulation of human intelligence, as 

demonstrated in a creative and innovative performance. The National Directorate of 

Employment (NDE, 2012) in Onyebueke and Ochnongo (2012) sees entrepreneurship to 

be an art which involves recognizing a business opportunity, mobilizing resources and 

persisting to exploit that opportunity. Tijani-Alawiye (2014), defines entrepreneurship as 

the process of adding to the stock of existing small, medium and big enterprises available 

to a country by creating and promoting many capable entrepreneurs who can successfully 

run innovative enterprises, nurture them to grow and sustain them, with a view to 

achieving broad socio-economic development goals. It is also the process of bringing 

together creative and innovative ideas and copying them with management and 

organizational skill in order to combine people, money and resources to meet an 

identified need and thereby creating wealth. Shepherd and Douglas, (2011) in Akanwa 

and Akpanabia, (2012) observe that entrepreneurship development is the ability to 

envision and chart a course for a new business venture by combining information from 

the functional disciplines and from the external environment in the context of the 

extraordinary uncertainty and ambiguity which faces a new business venture. 

Entrepreneurial development has been found to be capable of making positive impacts 

on the economy of a nation and the quality of life of the people. However, it has to be 

noted that only business that have been able to adopt and actually practice the principles 

of creativity and innovation are positively impacting the economy and add value to the 

life of the people. The only thing that is constant in this world is change. So, if one wants 



 

 

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to meet his or her steps with the rest of the world then in this scenario it is imperative for 

him or her to adopt new phenomenon, new methodologies and new technology. In this 

regard, the phenomenon of innovation and creativity is very important. Nowadays, 

businesses, entrepreneurs and individuals, are adopting the concepts of innovation and 

creativity.  

 

Entrepreneurship Education  

In order to reduce the rate of unemployment among Nigerian number of graduates 

roaming about on the street with certificate qualification without having a meaningful 

source of livelihood, the concept of entrepreneurial education (training) was introduce 

into tertiary education in Nigeria.  The aim of entrepreneurial education was for 

knowledge acquisition by students to enable them in setting up and hovering a business 

with other skills needed for its survival and also to become successful entrepreneurs. 

Maina, (2013) sees entrepreneurial education as part of the total educational system that 

involves the acquisition of skills, ideas and management abilities necessary for job 

creation.  For Gibson (2011), entrepreneurial education is defined as the process of using 

private initiative to transform a business concept into a new venture or to grow and 

diversify an existing venture or enterprise with high great potential. Entrepreneurial 

education is a lifelong process, starting as early as the elementary school and progressing 

through all levels of education, including adult education. It is seen as a tool which equips 

an individual to be an entrepreneur (Antoncic & Hisrich, 2013).  Entrepreneurial 

education can also be seen as the purposeful intervention by educators in a learner's life 

to impact entrepreneurial qualities and skills to enable the learner to flourish   in the 

business world. The purpose of entrepreneurship education is to come up with individuals 

who are capable of starting new business ventures . Entrepreneurship education can 

increase student entrepreneurial skills and intention, and entrepreneurship activities 

stimulate economic growth. It has been more than 70 years since the first 

entrepreneurship course was developed at Havard Business School in 1947. Since then, 

the number of entrepreneurship courses has increased significantly worldwide. Most 

tertiary institutions in Nigeria lack entrepreneurial content that would have enabled 

graduating students to become job creators rather than job seekers. With inadequate skills 

and few opportunities, graduates are confronted with a future of low-wage employment 

and underemployment in the informal sector with little job security and prospects. 

According to Onuma (2016), the present youth unemployment challenge facing Nigeria 

has been traced to students' lack of entrepreneurial skills. According to Martin, & Iucu 

(2014), entrepreneurship education develops students" entrepreneurial skills and 

attitudes. The purpose of entrepreneurship education in Nigeria is to inculcate skills for 

job creation. Teachers are vital to entrepreneurship education because they are the 

facilitators and multipliers of knowledge that help students acquire entrepreneurial skills. 

According to Karimi, Biemans, Lans, Mulder & Chizari (2012), entrepreneurship is 

essential to the increase of economic efficiencies, market innovation, creation of new 



 

 

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jobs, and raising of employment level. Entrepreneurship education helps students to 

develop skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to achieve the goals they set for 

themselves. An effective teaching method is required to acquire entrepreneurial skills. 

Increasing entrepreneurship education is required to enhance students" creativity in job 

rotation. Nwangwu, (2017)  observed that the lack of tertiary education success to imbibe 

entrepreneurship education belief in students has led to wastages in both human and 

natural resources. According to Brixiová, Ncube, & Bicaba (2014), Fundamental changes 

need to be made to the educational system. Entrepreneurship courses should be 

introduced at the early stages of education, and the benefit of entrepreneurship should be 

better marketed. Universities should employ entrepreneurial education lecturers who 

have practical experience alongside teaching and learning aids. 

  

Importance of Entrepreneurship education to Nigerian Youths  

According to Iyamu & Ojeaga (2015), the following can represent the significance of 

entrepreneurship education: 

1. To build up individuals who will be properly equipped with skills for productive 

work life.  

2. To build up people who will be capable of meeting modern business and 

technological challenges.   

3. To bring up the youths with positive skills and attitudes toward work.  

4. To Furnish the youths with the necessary knowledge and skill for employee or 

self-employment.  

5. To bring up a couple of reliable and competent technical manpower capable of 

being mobilized in times of national economic emergency.  

6. To prepare the Youth for meeting community skills and national economic 

aspirations.  

7. To let the Youths decide a perfect area of business education for which they have 

aptitudes and interest.  

8. To teach the learners to develop skills for making rational economic decisions.  

9. To enable the learners to relate their expertise to the needs of their communities.  

10. To prepare business and industrial managers who will be capable of industry 

11. To provide vocational and technical knowledge in various areas of business. 

 According to the NYP (2019), one of the strategies to improve youth inclusion's welfare 

is the introduction of obligatory entrepreneurship training in the curriculum of 

polytechnics and universities. Entrepreneurship training assists creativity in technical 

and vocational skills and instils in the individual the necessary abilities to be self-reliant 

through technical education.  

 

Prospects of Entrepreneurship Development in Reducing Unemployment  

Ogundele, Akingbade and Akinlabi (2012) stated that the contribution of 

entrepreneurship training and education on unemployment through youth empowerment 



 

 

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will be much significant if entrepreneurship is encouraged at all levels in the economy. 

Also, Akpan, C. and Etor, C. (2013) observed that through entrepreneurial studies, which 

is inter-disciplinary training that focuses on the acquisition of relevant skills needed to 

start and run a new business venture, unemployment and poverty can be reduced. As 

Onyeizugbe, Orogbu and Oyigbo (2015) have observed, attempts to provide solution to 

societal problems often set processes in motion such that the opportunities for engaging 

human efforts called job creation are provided. They noted that jobs are created when 

firms established by entrepreneurs employ people with requisite skills to occupy vacant 

positions. To Tijani Alawiye (2014), entrepreneurs successfully run innovative 

enterprises, nurture them to growth and sustainable level so that more hands can be 

engaged in the running of the enterprise. Through such processes, he remarked, job 

opportunities are created. Entrepreneurship development affords the youth the 

opportunity to be productively engaged so as to divert their attention from negative vices 

such as crime, militancy and so on. According to Rasmussen and Stroheim (2015), the 

major role of entrepreneurship development is wealth creation. Persons engaged in 

entrepreneurship, either on their own efforts or inside an organization to pursue 

opportunities without regard to resources under their control. Also, Ezeanokwasa, F.N. 

and Nwachukwu, O.P. (2014) emphasizes the need for youth entrepreneurial 

empowerment to harness their potentials and intellectual creativity. This, to him, is 

because its potency is capable of lowering unemployment and poverty level and elevating 

living standards and quality of life of Nigerians. 

 

Conclusion  

Entrepreneurship is essential for rapid and sustained economic growth and development. 

It creates the required manpower and skills necessary for accelerated growth, reduced 

unemployment and alleviates poverty. In order to achieve this, it is recommended that 

students be encouraged to embrace entrepreneurship education or training which will 

enable them to become wealth creators by being self-reliant. Also, there is the need to 

empower other vocational and skills acquisition centres, by providing them with the 

necessary materials in entrepreneurship education, in order that they can assist in the 

development of entrepreneurial skills required by individuals to set up cottage industries. 

Moreover, government should be consistent in youth entrepreneurship policy as well as 

the provision of grants to youths for the development and utilization of the skills acquired 

from entrepreneurship training. Finally, curriculum builders should consider the 

inclusion of entrepreneurship education courses in the curriculum of studies from the 

primary to tertiary education level. This will go a long way to encourage the youths to be 

self-reliance after graduation.  

 

 

 

 



 

 

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