Campbell, Omolara

Dr. Omolara Campbell is a citizen of Nigeria. She has been an AGRODEP member since October, 2012. At the present, Omolara is a Professor at the Lead City University, Ibadan. In this position, Omolara Conduct research in Development Economics and Human Capital-Related Issues. Before joining Lead City University, Ibadan, Omolara worked for . She holds a BS in Economics from University of Ibadan, a MSc in Economics from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile- Ife, and a Ph.D. in Economicss from Lead City University under the supervision of Department of Economics, University of Ibadan.. She is specialized in Development Economics. She is interested in <p>Youth Unemployment and Entrepreneurial Intervention in University Education: The Nigerian Experience. Background and Problem Setting The International Labour Office and the United Nations, as reported by Okojie (2012), classifies “youth” as those between ages 15-19 years otherwise referred to as teenagers, plus those in the category of 20 -24 years. This implies that the youth are between the ages of 15-24. This definition however varies from country to country. In Uganda for example, youth is classified from 12 to 30years, while in Nigeria, it is between 18 to 35 years (ILO, 2005). Over 200 million Africans are now officially referred to as youth. (i. e. aged 15 to 24. This group makes up 40 percent of Africa’s working population age. Available statistics indicate that Africa compared to other regions of the world has the largest segment of young people in its population. Meanwhile, youth aged 15 -24 years make up between 19 - 23 percent of the populations of majority of African countries. The 2006 census puts Nigeria’s population as a young population in which about 44.69% of the population are in the age group of 0 -14 years (UNDP, 2008), while about one – fifth of the population (20.18 %) are aged between 15- 24 years( National Population Commission, 2010). Youth development and empowerment are vital stages in building life. The human capital formed in youth is thus an important determinant of long term growth that a nation can invest on. A youthful population is an important asset for innovation and creativity in economies and society. The only way this can be realized in any nation is to ensure that youths are productively employed and integrated into the society (Okojie, 2012). An assessment of the trends in youth unemployment rates in Nigeria in the past decade and even earlier shows that Nigeria’s performance is well below expectation. Available data from the National Bureau of Statistics - NBS (2012) exposes the fact that unemployment rates for those in the youth age category 15-24 increased from 25.9% in 2007 to 37.7% in 2011, while that of prime age category of 25 -44 declined from 49% in 2007 to 22.4% in 2011. Youth unemployment in Nigeria is presently close to 50 percent. This is about 4 times the average rate of 12.6 percent for Sub-Saharan African region. The Nigeria’s youth unemployment almost doubles the rate for the Middle East and North Africa of 27.9 percent. The dissatisfaction caused by high youth unemployment rates in these areas have been cited as one of the key underlying reasons which triggered the Arab Spring of 2011(ILO Youth Unemployment Trends, 2012). If we assess Nigeria’s performance against the full employment objective of about 4 percent frictional unemployment rate, then Nigeria’s rate is 12 times higher than what it should be. This however partially explains the reason for Nigeria’s economic and political instability. It is important to note at this juncture that NBS data as cited in Diejomaoh(2012) notes that about 2 million new entrants are entering the Nigerian labour force daily. This rather than being seen as a problem should be recognized as presenting an enormous opportunity and potential for economic and social development. It is however worthy to note that the rate of new entrants into the labour market is lower than that of new employment opportunities being created annually. Youth unemployment is a global persistent problem. For instance, global youth unemployment increased by 8 million between 1995 and 1999. By 2005, it has increased to 66 million (ILO, 2005). This situation is however worsened by the case of underemployment in which people were working below their capacity. Too many young people do not have decent work and are thus faced by diverse challenges in the labour market (ILO, 2012). A recent OECD report reveals that the average rate of youth unemployment in OECD countries is 16 percent while troubled economies of Greece and Spain are struggling with youth jobless rates of above 50 percent. The concern for youth unemployment led to the formation of a Global Alliance for Youth Employment which was to explore imaginative approaches to the challenge of youth unemployment. Faced with the daunting challenge of youth unemployment, the Nigerian federal and state governments have always put in place initiatives, policies and programme to promote employment/self-employment. All these were articulated in the various Development Plans in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as well as in the past two decades, NEEDS I and II, The National Seven Point Agenda are prominent of these policies. Other initiatives include National Youth Policy -2001; National Employment Policy -2002; The National Directorate of Employment – 1986; The National Poverty Eradication Programme-1999; Programmes and agencies established by state governments to facilitate youth employment creation; establishment of micro finance institutions by federal and state governments; Entrepreneurial Development Programme (EDPs) which was initiated by the Central Bank of Nigeria with centres in various geo- political zones of the country; other EDPs including Bank of Industry, Federal Ministry of Youth Development and so many others. More recently, the federal government earmarked annual budgetary allocation of 50 billion (about US dollars 310 million) for employment generation. It also launched a youth entrepreneurship programme titled UWIN and the Public Works Employment Project all of which could create about 500,000 jobs if effectively implemented. Informal employment is very important in developing countries where it accounts for between half and three- quarters of non – agriculture employment (48% in North Africa and 72% in Sub- Saharan Africa (ILO, 2012). In Nigeria, a substantial proportion of youth are engaged in informal sector activities, while only a small proportion are engaged in the formal sector. At the institutional level, universities and other institutions of higher learning have been given the mandate to play a leading role in inculcating students with entrepreneurial knowledge and skills that will be useful in future career endeavours (Nurmi and Passio,2007). The federal government in collaboration with the National Universities Commission (NUC) has given directive that all Nigerian Universities must establish entrepreneurship development centers as at the 2007/2008 academic session. Also, centres for Entrepreneurship and Knowledge Transfers are to be established through clear directive from the NUC. Also it is now a policy of the NUC to encourage Nigerian universities to integrate Entrepreneurship Education (EE) in the curricula of undergraduate programmes so that they can be self-employable after graduation. The NUC has designed an entrepreneurship course titled Graduate Self Employment (GSE301). This is to enable universities to develop their entrepreneurship training programme. According to the NUC policy decision, the aim of the entrepreneurship course is to empower graduates, irrespective of their area of specialization with skills that will enable them engage in income yielding ventures while unable to secure jobs in the public sector. The policy expects EE to re-orientate students from the “take –a-job” to the “make-a-job” mentality (NUC, 2004). The role of entrepreneurship in economic development has been well recognized in literature. It is however surprising that despite the inclusion of EE in the university curriculum and the various government programs put in place to curb the rate of youth unemployment, youth unemployment is still on an increasing trend in Nigeria. Also, available literature has hinted that many Nigerian graduates participate in entrepreneurship activities only when they cannot secure jobs in the formal sector of the economy. It is therefore expedient to investigate the major determinants of entrepreneurial inclination among undergraduate students in Nigerian Universities and attempt to examine how the curriculum content and delivery approach of EE in the universities could influence university student’s propensity to participate effectively and productively in the informal sector of the economy via entrepreneurship. The Objectives of the Research Based on the identified problem, this study intends to: (a) identify the objectives of EE program at all levels of education, (b) consider the relationship that exists between the stipulated method of integration of EE into the university curriculum by NUC and the adopted mode by Nigerian universities. (c) investigate the determinants of entrepreneurial inclination among students in Nigerian universities. (d) assess the teaching methodologies of the EE curriculum in Nigerian universities. Research Questions The following are the research questions designed to achieve the objectives of this study: (i) What are the objectives of EE program at all levels of education? (ii) What relationship exists between the stipulated method of integration of EE into the university curriculum and the adopted mode by the Nigerian universities? (iii) What are the determinants of entrepreneurial inclination among students in Nigerian universities? (iv) What are the teaching methodologies of the EE curriculum in Nigerian universities? Research Hypotheses Ho1 - The entrepreneurial curriculum and content does not increase the likelihood of Nigerian university students to be more entrepreneurially – inclined. Ho2 - The entrepreneurial internship programme does not increase the likelihood of Nigerian university students to be more entrepreneurially – inclined. Ho3 -The teaching methodologies of the EE curriculum and content does not increase the likelihood of Nigerian university students to be more entrepreneurially – inclined. . Empirical Evidence and Theoretical Framework. Stam (2008) among others empirically investigates the effect of entrepreneurship on economic growth in high and low income countries. The study however found out that entrepreneurship does not have an effect on economic growth in low –income countries. The reverse is however the case with transition and high – income countries. Entrepreneurs in low – income countries were found to start businesses because they have no other way of earning a living. Research has been extensively focused on the field of EE which has enjoyed exponential growth level internationally. This is evident from the strands of studies which have been conducted on the ability of entrepreneurship to create new jobs and the importance of EE in producing potential entrepreneurs from the educational system. Volery and Mueller (2006) highlight the possibility of the role of EE in influencing an individual’s decision to become an entrepreneur. Participation in EE in this regard has been associated with the increasing interest towards choosing entrepreneurship as a viable career option (Gorman, 1997). The major challenge of entrepreneurship in relation to education is the appropriateness of curriculum and teaching methods in developing student’s entrepreneurial competencies and skills (Garavan and O’ Cinneide, 1994). In line with this, Brown (1999) indicates that the entrepreneurship course content should be informal with an emphasis on “hands on” teaching methods. He proceeded to outline the core structure of teaching entrepreneurship courses which include: • Critical thinking • Reliance on experience • Thinking about entrepreneurship as a career and • Use of guest speakers who are experienced entrepreneurs. Relevant research had been done on issues related to EE and Training, University’s role in promoting EE, major challenges of entrepreneurship in relationship to education, influence of demographic and family background on individual’s inclination towards entrepreneurship, ability of entrepreneurship to create new jobs and the importance of EE in producing potential entrepreneurs from the educational system, will all be considered reviewed in this study. However, it is very obvious that much work has not been done in the area of examining the relationship between the stipulated and adopted mode of integration of EE into the curriculum of universities. Also within the Nigerian context much research has not been done in the area of investigating the determinants of entrepreneurial inclination among university students. Assessment of the teaching methodologies of EE curriculum and content is still a fallow area researchers have not broken grounds into. These are the gaps in literature meant to be filled by this study. Theoretical Issues: The following theories are found applicable to this study and would be explicitly reviewed. They are: Classical Theory of Employment, Keynesian Theory of Employment, The Classical Thought on Entrepreneurship, Neo- Classical Thought on Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship and Schumpeter, Entrepreneurship and Knight, Entrepreneurship and Kirzner. Research Methodology This research will adopt quantitative and qualitative survey research approach to answer the research questions designed to pilot this study. The research will consider sampled 300 and 400 level students in 6 universities purposively selected from the South- West geo-political zone of Nigeria (3 public and 3 private universities).This selection is made out of the approved 50 private universities, 36 state and 37 federal universities spread all over the six geo-political zones of the country. The purposively selected (based on their year of establishment) 3 private universities are: Babcock University Ilishan, Ogun State, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State and Lead City University, Ibadan, Oyo State. While the 3 public universities selected are: University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State and University of Lagos, Lagos State. Structured questionnaires would be administered among selected 300 and 400 level students in all the departments in the faculties of Science and Social Sciences. The sample frame will be based on the number of students enrolled in the faculty in the 2011/2012 academic session in the sampled universities. Questionnaire will also be administered among the lecturers teaching the entrepreneurship course at all levels. Both questionnaires are categorized basically into 7 sections: demographic and family background, future career planning / entrepreneurial inclination, the role models, the university’s role in promoting entrepreneurship, the entrepreneurial curriculum and content, teaching methods for entrepreneurship courses and the entrepreneurial internship programmes. The scales used in the questionnaire will be based on a 5 – point Likert Scale with 1= strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = no opinion, 4 = agree and 5 = strongly agree for each close ended question. Prior to the conduct of the study, a pilot test would be conducted in order to ensure the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. Appropriate descriptive and inferential statistical tools will be used to analyse the responses of the respondents and test the significance of the stated hypotheses. It is also important to note that a factor analysis would be employed in order to reduce or re-group the variables used in measuring entrepreneurial inclination of university students in Nigeria. Lessons to be learnt/ expected Utility of the Research Output. This research will come up with definite statements on the status of the mode of EE integration into the curriculum of Universities in the South –West geopolitical zone of Nigeria as compared with the NUC stipulated mode and even world – wide best practices (as found in literature). The study will also find out the determinants of the entrepreneurial inclinations of university students in Nigeria. From this, deductions will be made on factors responsible for persistent youth unemployment trend in Nigeria. The research will shed some new insights on the existing literature on youth unemployment and entrepreneurial intervention in Nigerian universities. References Brown, C (1999) Teaching New Dogs New Tricks: The Rise of Entrepreneurship Education in Graduate Schools of Business. DIGEST . 99(2): 1 -4. Diejomaoh, V (2012) Accelerating Youth Employment Creation in Nigeria: The Challenge of Sustained Implementation. Being a paper presented to the 53rd Nigerian Economic Society Annual Conference. 27th – 30th August, 2012. Abuja. Nigeria. Garavan T and O’Cinneide, B (1994) Entrepreneurship Education and Training Programme: A Review and Evaluation – Part 1. Journal of European Industrial Training. 18 (8): 3- 12. Gorman, G and Fogel, D (1994) Environments for Entrepreneurship Development: Key Dimensions and Research Implications. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. 18 (4): 43-62. International Labour Office: Youth Employment Trends. Geneva. 2012. National Bureau of Statistics NBS (2012), Employment Survey Report for 2010. Abuja. 2012. National Population Commission(2010), Population Distribution by Age and Sex in State and Local Government Area. Republic of Nigeria. 2006. Population and Housing Census, Priority Table, Vol. IV, NPC. Abuja, April, 2010. NUC (2004), Draft Curriculum on Entrepreneurial Studies for the Nigerian University System being a paper prepared for the Universities Curriculum Workshop. July 2004 Nurmi,P and Passio, K (2007) Entrepreneurship in Finnish Universities. “Education and Training 49(1): Pp 56-65. Obembe, O and Adeleye, O (2012) Entrepreneurial Education and Entrepreneurship Intention among selected Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Members in Nigeria, being a paper presented at the 53rd Annual Conference. 27th -30th August, 2012. Abuja. Nigeria. Okojie,E (2012) The Jobless, Under- Employed, Young and Poor in Nigeria: The Gender Dimension, being a paper presented at the 53rd Nigerian Economic Society Annual Conference. 27th – 30th August, 2012. Abuja. Nigeria. Schumpeter, J (1943) Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. London: Unwin University Books. Siyanbaola, W; Afolabi, O et al (2009) Determinants of Entrepreneurial Propensity of Nigerian Students. Journal of European Industrial Training. 33(2) : 142-159. Stam, E (2008) Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy in B. Nooteboom and E, Stam (eds) Micro – Foundation for Innovation Policy. Amsterdam: Amsterd University Press and Chicago University Press. Volery, T and Mueller, S (2006) A Conceptual Framework for testing the Effectiveness of Entrepreneurship Education Programmes towards Entrepreneurial Intention.51st ICSB World Conference. Melboune, Australia.</p>
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