7 Importance of Entrepreneurship Education in Nigeria

Here in this post, you are going to learn at least 7 importance of entrepreneurship education in Nigeria. This information is vital for those who are looking to start their own businesses and embrace financial independence.

Entrepreneurship education is a  process aimed at providing learners with knowledge, skills, and motivation to encourage entrepreneurial success in a variety of settings.

The objectives of entrepreneurship education are very clear. It creates all kinds of skills and experiences that give learners the ability to access, as well as transform opportunities within and outside their society.

The concept of entrepreneurship education goes beyond business creation. It includes improving the ability of students to anticipate and respond to societal changes.

If you look into the history of entrepreneurship education in Nigeria, you will observe that it has made a positive impact on the nations’ development.

7 Importance of Entrepreneurship Education in Nigeria

In Nigeria’s present economic situation, entrepreneurship education has become very vital due to its numerous benefits. Its importance includes:

1. Job Creation

Due to the alarming rate of unemployment in Nigeria, the nation requires an education that will provide opportunities for employment and generate income to youths and the nation at large.

Entrepreneurship education provides such education. In a most recently concluded survey carried out by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in collaboration with the Small and  Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) in 2014, Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) employ 84% of the Nigerian Labour force.

A current study is ongoing to determine the latest statistics. Majority of MSMEs are born out of entrepreneurship and this shows that they play a keep role in reducing unemployment.

As a functional education, it aims at empowering learners to create employment opportunities by equipping them with specific skills for self-employment and independence.

These skills include creativity, innovation, critical thinking, and reasonable risk-taking. It teaches students to think outside the box and become job creators rather than job seekers, thereby reducing the rate of unemployed individuals.

Also, by empowering them to create businesses through their hobbies, talents, or careers, the unemployment rate is reduced when such business expand and creates job opportunities for others.

2. Individual Competence and Self Development

Through entrepreneurship education, learners can gain key entrepreneurial skills such as creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, reasonable risk-taking, self-motivation, financial responsibility, and teamwork.

This education also helps youths to be self-reliant and confident enough in their own ability to take calculated risks necessary to succeed, and subsequently become independent when they achieve success.

In addition, it helps to instill self-discipline in its learners since it involves reasonable risk-taking as one of the skills it imparts.

3. Economic Growth

The importance of entrepreneurship education cannot be overemphasized. The United Nations University World Institute for Development and Economic Research  (UNU-WIDER) carried out a project on the role of entrepreneurship on economic development. Their work which was compiled into a book titled Entrepreneurship and Economic Development recognizes the need for using entrepreneurship as a tool for economic development.

Entrepreneurial activities have led to the economic growth of many nations such as China. According to the World Economic Forum, China’s economic development was propelled by encouraging entrepreneurship among its citizens.

In the SMEDAN/NBS 2014 survey, results showed that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) account for 48 % contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 7.3% to exports.

When entrepreneurs create job opportunities, produce goods and services, and contribute to exports, it boosts the economic growth of such nation.

It also creates wealth for the nation by producing new and improved products, services or technology which leads to the creation of a new market.

Thus, it lays the foundation for a self-reliant economy by equipping students with the necessary knowledge, skills, and competencies for survival and success in the business world.

4. Agent Of Social Change

The effect of entrepreneurship education in Nigeria is a positive one. Entrepreneurship education makes its learners; entrepreneurs to create and embrace social Change. By creating new products and services, entrepreneurs reduce dependence on obsolete technologies thereby improving and simplifying daily living.

For example, Henry Ford; an entrepreneur, improved daily living in terms of transportation by facilitating the mass production of cars in a cheaper and faster way.

Through job creation, jobs are created for the unemployed and this improves daily living, thus improving the standard of living.

5. Anticipating Future Needs

We live in a world that is constantly changing. Entrepreneurship education helps to impart skills such as opportunity recognition, problem identification and solving, critical thinking, and innovation.

These skills are very essential because as society is changing constantly, there is a need to anticipate tomorrow’s needs and fill in this need.

When properly taught, its learners enter the world not only trained to identify problems that need solving, but also determined to creatively solve problems and meet needs.

Also, the labor market constantly evolves. Entrepreneurship education provides its learners with the skills to adapt to these changes and improve their employability and life chances.

6. Promotion Of Innovation, Research, And Development

Entrepreneurship fosters research and development (R&D) as well as innovation.

Till date, entrepreneurs are responsible for so many innovations that have benefited us. By creating new products and services, they promote innovation.

When entrepreneurs get ideas to create new or improved products, services, and technologies, research is carried out before these products can be developed.

By carrying out research or providing funds for research and development with universities or research institutes, they promote the overall development of Research and Development.

7. Regional Development

When learners of entrepreneurship education complete their training and become entrepreneurs, they spark the growth and development of less developed regions and communities by setting up new businesses in such areas.

Indirect and direct jobs will be created in such regions. Also, the combined spending by the employees of these new businesses and that of other businesses will lift regional economies and promote regional development.

The growth of these businesses will also lead to improvements in infrastructure such as better roads, schools, health care, malls, as well as other essential public and private services which can be accessed by the community.

Provision of these will reduce the rate of rural-urban migration. This is because when jobs and infrastructure are made available in rural/less developed areas, the number of people who move from rural areas to urban areas will be reduced.

Conclusion

Even though there are various challenges of entrepreneurship education in Nigeria, we as a country must strive to sustain it.

Entrepreneurship education has made so many contributions that make it important not only for self-development of an individual but also to the nation at large. Implementation of entrepreneurship education in Nigeria should be encouraged and studied by Nigerian youths at all levels of education.

Entrepreneurship education in Nigerian universities should be made compulsory to all students.

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