Abstract

Entrepreneurship education has been introduce into the Nigeria educational system to help provide the necessary skills ,competences, and understanding to help prepare the Nigerian graduate to be self reliant and help in developing the nation. This research examines entrepreneurship education and small-scale business development In Nigeria. Data was obtained through self-administered questionnaire. Simple frequencies, mean, and percentage, was employed to analyze the study. The result indicates that the respondents believes entrepreneurial education is a good policy and it has come to stay, they see it as a possible solution to the problem of high level unemployment, through self-employment and job creation, source of revenue to government; will promote industrialization, innovation and technology. The findings also revealed a significantly positive between entrepreneurship education perception and age and program. Furthermore, some perceived challenges to entrepreneurship education includes- Poor funding Inadequacy of competent lecturers in the field of entrepreneurship, Ineffective style of teaching that stresses theory instead of practical’s, amongst other. Recommendation such as better funding of tertiary institution to carry out entrepreneurship training and making entrepreneurship education compulsory at all level should be encouraged.

CHAPTER ONE

1.1      Introduction

continued to feature as a captivating theme in local conferences, workshops and international conferences because of its potency as tool for reducing unemployment and other social-economic challenges inhibiting sustainable development in all parts of the globe, of which Nigeria is not exempted (Akarue and Adogbeji, 2013). Corroborating this view Idogho and Ainabor (2011) opined that the role of entrepreneurship in the economic development of any nation is so crucial that it cannot be over-emphasized. They further pointed out that most economies in African countries are characterized by a growing population and a general decrease in formal employment. Similarly, Akhuemonkhan, Raimi, Sofoluwe, (2013) are of the view that Nigeria is a nation of paradox, blessed with enormous wealth, but larger proportion of the citizens live in abject poverty and face worsening unemployment, and that In a bid to mitigate the scourge of poverty and unemployment, previous governments of Nigeria initiated diverse poverty reductions polices (PRPs) with the objectives of boasting industrial production and level of employment thereby checkmating joblessness, hopelessness and crime. The Federal Government of Nigeria in combination with these diverse strategies the PRPs precipitated a romance with Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) the Nation also made it compulsory for the inclusion of entrepreneurship education in the curricula of the Universities, Polytechnics, and Colleges of Education, this is expected to inculcate in students the practical skills and experience needed to be self-employed and be selfreliant, through the management of small-scale businesses, thus generating full employment which will guaranty stability, security and balanced economic development (Idogho and Ainabor, 2011; Aliu and Ibe, 2013; Akhuemonkhan, et al., 2013; and Nwekeaku, 2013) Pursuant to the above directive, the Federal Government set up a Presidential Committee on the implementation of entrepreneurship education with a broad based membership drawing from National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) Education Trust Fund (ETF), International LabourOrganisation (ILO), United Nations Education ,Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the HamitleConsult, a consulting firm on entrepreneurship education in the country with the NUC as a coordinating agency. The expected goal of entrepreneurship education is to inculcate the trainees with the ability to;

 1. Identify and solve problems using critical and creative thinking;

2. Work effectively with others as a proactive team member and cultivate the ability to resolve conflict;

 3. Organize and manage one-self and one’s activities

 4. Collect, analyze, organize and critically evaluate information (to make decisions that must be carried through);

5. Communicate and negotiate effectively;

 6. Reflect on experiences and explore various strategies for effective learning … learning to learn at all times;

 7. Become curious leading to readiness to experiment and innovate (being never satisfied with the status quo); and

8. Consider self-employment as a viable option upon graduation from their institution. Okojie, (2009) express fears that although the Federal Government made entrepreneurship education compulsory, some universities are yet to commence it with a modicum of seriousness. By making entrepreneurship studies compulsory, government is aiming at producing opportunity or knowledge-based entrepreneurs who are expected to be critical growth.

Entrepreneurship education contributes to the development and growth of the nation’s economy, generation of employment opportunities for the teaming school leavers, production of high quality goods and services, and the provision of the much needed skills for the management of business enterprises. The Indigenization Decree of 1971 and the Nigerian Enterprises Promotion Decree of 1972 facilitated the development of entrepreneurship in Nigeria. Entrepreneurs serve as agents/link to government and large business enterprises. Enhancing entrepreneurial activities in form of entrepreneurship education, the Federal Government of Nigeria recently introduced entrepreneurship training and development to the Polytechnics, Colleges of Education and Universities’ students as a compulsory course to equip them with the necessary skills to be self-reliant/job creator instead of job seekers in already saturated labour market. The National Population Commission (NPC), (2001) cited in Oviawe (2010) while discussing Nigeria’s population revealed that more than a half of the population were under the age of 30 years.

2.1 Statement of the 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 entrepreuship 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 labour.

1.3      objective of the study

the main objective of this studies is to evaluate the effect of entrepreneurship education and culture on small scale enterprise growth.

Categorically to:

I)            Evaluate the business culture of the small scale business

II)         To check the efficiency of the education procedure of the management.

III)       To ascertain the effect of educational culture on the long run profitability of the firm.

IV)        To examine the benefit of entrepreneurial educational culture on the profitability of the firm.

1.4      Research question

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

i)             What is the business culture of the firm?

ii)           What is the relationship between education and profitability?

iii)          Is there any benefit of having a good business culture?

iv)         What method can the organization adopt to ensure good entrepreneurial educational culture?

1.5      significance of study

    It is conceived that at the completion of the study its findings would be beneficial to:

a)   the owners of small scale enterprise

b)  the investors who are interested in the profitability of the business

c)   the prospective investors

d)   the researchers, academia   and the general public

1.6       scope and limitation of the studies

The scope of this studies covers the effect of entrepreneurial education and culture on small scale enterprise growth. 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.

Small scale business

Sometimes called a small business, a small-scale enterprise is a business that employs a small number of workers and does not have a high volume of sales. Such enterprises are generally privately owned and operated sole proprietorships, corporations or partnerships. The legal definition of a small-scale enterprise varies by industry and country. However this definition can be either:

·        by size

·        financial measure

·        and economic impact.

By size:The U.S. Small Business Administration states that small-scale enterprises generally have fewer than 500 employees within a 12-month period in non-manufacturing industries. A company must consider any individual on its payroll as an employee. In Australia, however, a small-scale enterprise is one that has fewer than 15 employees on payroll, as defined by the Fair Work Act. The Small Business Act for Europe states that small enterprises are those that have 250 employees or less. Small-scale enterprises in Asian countries generally have 100 or fewer employees, while small-scale African enterprises hire 50 or fewer workers.

By financial measure: In some countries, the definition of a small-scale enterprise is bound by financial measures such as net profits, balance sheet totals, the value of assets and annual sales. In the United States, for example, a non-manufacturing small-scale enterprise is one that does not earn more than $7 million in a year. Financial measures can vary by industry, as annual receipts may be higher for industries that have higher overhead costs to operate. In general, small-scale enterprises are businesses that do not dominate their respective industry.

By economic impact: While large enterprises employ many individuals, small-scale enterprises in the United States account for nearly half of the gross domestic product. Small-scale enterprises help stimulate local economies by providing local individuals with jobs, as well as products and services to community members. Moreover, such enterprises help diversify and grow their respective industries, as many women and minorities make significant contributions to the small-business world. When there is a rise in small-scale enterprises, countries may see reforms in basic rights. For example, some U.S. states now allow sole proprietors without employees to have access to group health care. In times of recession, however, the SBA states that small-scale enterprises can account for a large number of employee layoffs.

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