ABSTRACT
Unemployment is a global challenge and has continued to be unabated, particularly in Nigeria. The rate of unemployment worldwide according to the International Labour Organization was estimated to be 5.8% and in Nigeria it was estimated to be 31.2%. The increasing level of unemployment in Nigeria had culminated in increasing rate of youth restiveness, armed robbery, drug trafficking, prostitution, Internet fraud and emergence of terrorist groups. Government through its policies has embarked on job creation and entrepreneurship scheme. Despite the effort, the problem seems to persist. Hence, the study examined the administration of entrepreneurship policy and employment generation between 2004 and 2014 in South West, Nigeria.
The survey design was adopted for the study. The population was the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) of Small Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and Bank of Industry (BOI) in South-West, Nigeria. Three states: Lagos, Ogun and Ondo were purposively selected and respondents enrolled by simple random sampling technique. A validated questionnaire measuring data collection regarding entrepreneurship development and employment generation was developed. Reliability test for each construct was conducted with the following Cronbach’s alpha coefficient values of 0.89 for Role of Entrepreneurship Policies (ROL-EP), 0.87 for Relevance of Entrepreneurship Policies (REL-EP), 0.91 for Impact of Educational System of on Entrepreneurship Development (IES-EP) and 0.88 for Challenges of Entrepreneurship Development (CED). Response rate of 94.8% was obtained from 1,014 copies of the questionnaire administered. In addition, in-depth interview was conducted with 12 officials of BOI and SMEDAN. The quantitative data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics while correlation and regression analyses were used in the testing of hypotheses at 5% level of significance. The qualitative data from the interviews were transcribed and content-analyzed.
Findings revealed that the entrepreneurship policies formulated by government in order to reduce unemployment had positive significant effect on the entrepreneurship development and employment generation (r =0.346; R2=0.119; p<0.05). Furthermore, the regression analyses revealed a significant impact on entrepreneurship development policies and employment generation (β=2.962; β=0.099; R=0.7320; R2=0.752; p<0.05).Similarly, the correlation analysis showed a positive significant association between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurship development in empowering prospective entrepreneurs towards addressing unemployment (r=0.054; p<0.05).
The study concluded that the entrepreneurship policy and employment generation are connected. If the Administration of Entrepreneurship Policies is strengthened and enabled, there will be a corresponding improvement on employment generation. It was therefore recommended that government needs to formulate relevant policies and proactive in the implementation mechanisms in reducing the level of unemployment to augment the role of SMEDAN and BOI. The educational system needs to encourage aspiring entrepreneurs through workable and valuable curricular content reform which could reduce the rate of unemployment.
Keywords: MSMEs, Entrepreneurship, Public Policy, Unemployment, Capacity Building
Word Count: 438
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Content Page
Title Page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgements iv
Abstract vi
Table of Contents vii
List of Tables xi
List of Figures xvii
Abbreviations xviii
List of Appendices xix
CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 4
1.3 Objective of the Study 5
1.4 Research Questions 6
1.5 Hypotheses 6
1.6 Significance of the Study 7
1.7 Scope of the Study 7
1.8 Operational Definition of Terms 8
1.9 Outline of the Study 8
CHAPTER TWO – REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.0 Introduction 9
2.1 Conceptualizing Entrepreneurship 9
2.2 Public Policy 14
2.3 Concept of Administration 16
2.4 Concept of Public Administration 17 2.5 Concept of Unemployment 18
Content Page
2.6 Empirical Review 22
2.7 Entrepreneurship Policy and Economic Development 26
2.8 Entrepreneurship development in Nigeria 29
2.9 Gaps in Literature 39
2.10 Theoretical Framework 40
CHAPTER THREE – METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction 43
3.1 Research Design 43
3.2 Population 43
3.3 Sample size and sampling Technique 44
3.4 Sample Selection 45
3.5 Method of Data Collection 46
3.6 Sources of Data 46
3.7 Instruments of Data Collection 47
3.8 Validity and Reliability of Research Instrument 47
3.9 Method of Data Analysis 48
3.10 Ethical Issues 48
CHAPTER FOUR – DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
4.0 Introduction 49
4.1 Analysis of demographic characteristics of the respondents (Bank of Industry) 50
4.2 Analysis of demographic characteristics of the respondents of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) 54
4.3 Effects of Bank of Industry and SMEDAN on Employment Generation in Nigeria 60
4.3.1 Relevance of Entrepreneurship Development Centre to Employment Generation
in South West Nigeria 64
Content Page
4.3.2 Contributions of Bank of Industry to Employment Generation in South West
Nigeria 66
4.3.3 Contributions of SMEDAN to Employment Generation in South West Nigeria 67
4.3.4 Contributions of National Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP) to
Employment Generation in South West Nigeria 68
4.3.5 Contributions of Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YOUWIN) to Employment Generation in South West Nigeria 70
4.3.6 Contributions of SMEDAN to Employment Generation in South West Nigeria 72 4.4 Formulation of Government Policies that affect Entrepreneurship Development
in South-West, Nigeria 74
4.4.1 Effectiveness of Policy on Entrepreneurship to Reduce Unemployment in South
West Nigeria 75
4.4.2 Favorability of Government Entrepreneurship Policies on MSMEs in South
West Nigeria 76
4.5 Impact of Entrepreneurship Development on Employment Generation in South
West Nigeria 77
4.6 Relevance of the Nigerian Educational System on Entrepreneurship Development
in South West, Nigeria 96 4.7 Relevance of Capacity Building on Entrepreneurship Development in South
South West Nigeria 106 4.8 Results of Hypotheses testing 115
4.9 Discussions of the results of Hypotheses Testing. 132
4.10 Jobs created by Bank of Industry 135
4.11 Analysis of Interviewee Responses (Bank of Industry, Lagos, Ogun and
Ondo State Officers) 137
4.12 Jobs Created by SMEDAN 139
4.13 Analysis of Interviewee Responses (SMEDAN, Lagos, Ogun and
Ondo Officers) 140
4.14 Discussion on Responses of Interviewees 142
Content Page
CHAPTER FIVE – DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
5.0 Introduction 144
5.1 The Causes of Unemployment in South-West, Nigeria 144
5.2 Administration of Entrepreneurship Policies in South-West
Nigeria in Promoting Employment Generation 146
5.3 Effects of Bank of Industry and SMEDAN in Addressing Unemployment in
South West Nigeria 151
5.4 The role of Entrepreneurship Education in Addressing Unemployment in
South West, Nigeria. 153
5.5 Challenges of Entrepreneurship Policy in Addressing Unemployment
Problems in Nigeria 154
CHAPTER SIX: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1 Summary 159
6.2 Conclusion 161
6.3 Recommendations 161
6.4 Suggestions for Further Studies 164
6.5 Contributions to Knowledge 164
6.6 Limitation of the Study 165 References 166
Appendices 188
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
3.1 The composition of the Bank of Industry’s MSMEs on borrowing
relationship with BOI in Lagos Zone, South West, Nigeria. 42
3.2 The composition of the Bank of Industry’s MSMEs on borrowing
relationship in the 3 states selected as a case study. 44
4.1 Gender distribution of the respondents (Bank of Industry) 48
4.2 Educational Qualifications of the Respondents (Bank of Industry) 49
4.3 Categories of Respondents’ Enterprises (Bank of Industry) 49
4.4 Years Respondents accessed loans from the Bank of Industry 50
4.5 Employment Generated by Respondents after obtaining loans from
Bank of Industry 51
4.6 Respondents Attendance of Entrepreneurship Empowerment Programme
(Capacity Building) (Bank of Industry) 52
4.7 Gender Distribution of the Respondents (SMEDAN) 52
4.8 Educational Qualifications of the Respondents (SMEDAN) 53
4.9 Reasons for attending SMEDAN Capacity Building 54
4.10 Categories of Respondents’ Enterprises (SMEDAN) 55
4.11 When Respondents received Capacity Building from SMEDAN 55
4.12 Relevance of Respondents’ Business Ideas to Capacity Building received
from SMEDAN 56
4.13 Correlation of capacity building received to the Respondents post-training
type of Business 56
4.14 Employment generated by Respondents after SMEDAN Capacity Building 57
4.15 Respondents access to loan after attending SMEDAN’s Capacity Building 58
4.16 Descriptive analysis of the effects of government agencies on employment
generation in South West Nigeria 59
4.17 Contributions of National Directorate of Employment (NDE) to
entrepreneurship development and employment generation in South Nigeria
(Bank of Industry) 60
Table Page
4.18 Contributions of National Directorate of Employment (NDE) to
entrepreneurship development and employment generation in South
West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 61
4.19 Contributions of Entrepreneurship Development Centers (EDC) to
employment generation in South West Nigerian (Bank of Industry) 62
4.20 Contributions of Entrepreneurship Development Centres (EDC) to
employment generation in South West Nigerian (SMEDAN) 63
4.21 Contributions of the Bank of Industry to employment generation in South West
Nigeria. 64
4.22 Contributions of SMEDAN to employment generation in South West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 65
4.23 Contributions of NEDEP to employment generation in South West Nigeria
(Bank of Industry) 66
4.24 Contributions of NEDEP to employment generation in South West the Nigeria (SMEDAN) 67
4.25 Contributions of YOUWIN to employment generation in South West Nigeria
(Bank of Industry) 68
4.26 Contributions of YOUWIN to employment generation in South West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 69
4.27 Contributions of SMEDAN to employment generation in South West Nigeria
(Bank of Industry) 70
4.28 Contributions of SMEDAN to employment generation in South West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 71
4.29 Formulation of government Policies that affect entrepreneurship development
in South West Nigeria (Bank of Industry) 72
4.30 Effectiveness of Policy on Entrepreneurship to reduce Unemployment in South
West Nigeria (Bank of Industry) 73
4.31 Favorability of government entrepreneurship Policies on MSMEs in South
West Nigeria (Bank of Industry) 74
Table Page
4.32 Impact of entrepreneurship development on employment generation in South
West Nigeria (Bank of Industry) 75
4.33 T–Test for the Difference in Means for BOI & SMEDAN 76
4.34 Reliability Test on the variables 77
4.35 Effects of Insecurity of lives and properties to entrepreneurship development on employment generation in South West Nigeria (Bank of Industry) 78
4.36 Effects of Insecurity of lives and properties to entrepreneurship development on employment generation in South West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 80
4.37 Effects of Inconsistency of government policies on MSMEs in South West
Nigeria (Bank of Industry) 81
4.38 Effects of Inconsistency of government policies on MSMEs in South West
Nigeria (SMEDAN) 82
4.39 Effects of lack of electricity on MSMEs in South West Nigeria
(Bank of Industry) 83
4.40 Effects of lack of electricity on MSMEs in South West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 84
4.41 Effects of inaccessibility to finance on MSMEs in South West Nigeria
(Bank of Industry) 85
4.42 Effect of inaccessibility to finance on MSMEs in South West Nigeria
(SMEDAN) 86
4.43 Effect of multiple taxation on MSMEs in South West Nigeria (Bank of Industry) 86
4.44 Effect of multiple taxation on MSMEs in South West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 87
4.45 Effect of corruption on MSMEs in South West Nigeria (Bank of Industry) 88
4.46 Effect of corruption on MSMEs in South West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 89
4.47 Effect of high cost of doing business on the growth of MSMEs in South
West Nigeria (Bank of Industry) 90
4.48 Effect of high cost of doing business on the growth of MSMEs in South
West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 91
4.49 Effect of poor information dissemination on the growth of MSMEs in South West Nigeria (Bank of Industry) 92
Table Page
4.50 Effect of poor information dissemination on the growth of MSMEs in South West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 93
4.51 Relevance of the Nigerian educational system on entrepreneurship development
in South West Nigeria (Bank of Industry) 94
4.52 Relevance of the Nigerian educational system on Entrepreneurship Development
in South West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 95
4.53 Government inclusion of entrepreneurship education in the curricular of
education sector in South West Nigeria (Bank of Industry) 96
4.54 Government to enforce entrepreneurship education from secondary school level
in South West Nigeria (Bank of Industry) 97
4.55 Government to enforce entrepreneurship education from secondary school level
in South West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 98
4.56 Entrepreneurship education should be made a compulsory course in all tertiary institutions in South West Nigeria (Bank of Industry) 99
4.57 Entrepreneurship education should be made a compulsory course in all tertiary institutions in South West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 100
4.58 Making Nigerian educational system more responsive to the industrial needs of South West Nigeria (Bank of Industry) 101
4.59 Making Nigerian educational system more responsive to the industrial needs of
the South West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 102
4.60 Effect of form and quality of Nigerian educational system on high rate of
unemployment in South West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 103
4.61 Relevance of capacity building on entrepreneurship development in South West
Nigeria (SMEDAN) 104
4.62 Ability to be employed people in South West Nigeria depends on entrepreneurship
skill received (SMEDAN) 105
4.63 Relevance of the capacity building received from SMEDAN to the
entrepreneurship skill required by MSMEs in South West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 106
4.64 Relevance of capacity building received from SMEDAN to job seekers in South
West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 107
Table Page
4.65 Government to organize awareness campaign on existing business development
services in South West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 108
4.66 The relevance of the contents of SMEDAN capacity building for MSMEs in
South West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 108
4.67 Organization of frequent trainings to encourage entrepreneurship development
and job creations in South West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 109
4.68 Development of a database of entrepreneurs that qualify for venture capital
investments in South West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 110
4.69 Government to maintain statistics of prospective graduates entering the
labour market every year for proper planning in South West Nigeria (SMEDAN) 111
4.70 Regression result for hypothesis one 112 4.71 ANOVA result for hypothesis one 113 4.72 Result of hypothesis on Bank of Industry’s effect on employment generation in
South West Nigeria 114
4.73 Pearson Test Statistics Result 115
4.74 Result of Hypothesis tested on the effect of SMEDAN in addressing
Unemployment in South West, Nigeria 118
4.75 Pearson Test Statistics Result 119
4.76 Results of regression analysis on administration of entrepreneurship
policy on unemployment in South West, Nigeria from the study of BOI 120
4.77 ANOVA result 121 4.78 Model summary of the regression analysis on the hypothesis tested on those that
received capacity building from SMEDAN 122
4.79 ANOVA result 123
4.80 Result of Hypothesis tested on significant effect of education on entrepreneurship . development from the study of BOI 124 4.81 Pearson Test Statistics Result 125 4.82 Results of Hypothesis test on effect of entrepreneurship education on
unemployment in South West, Nigeria from the study of SMEDAN
(Cross tabulation) 127
4.83 Pearson Test Statistics Result 128
Table Page
4.84 Results of hypothesis test on the effect of BOI and SMEDAN on unemployment
4.85 Model summary 129
4.86 ANOVA result of regression 129
4.87 Data of jobs created by Bank of Industry from 2004 to 2014 134
4.88 Data of total jobs created by SMEDAN from 2004 to 2014 137
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
1 Research (Conceptual) Framework 11
2 Concept of Public Policy 15
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix Page
I Letter of Introduction 188
II Questionnaire Administered to MSMEs in Bank of Industry 189
I11 Questionnaire Administered to MSMEs in SMEDAN 181
1V Interview Questions Administered to Officials of Bank of Industry 199
V Interview Questions Administered to Officials of SMEDAN 201
VI BUHREC
VII TURNITIN
ABBREVIATIONS
ABSCON Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria
AMEN Association of Micro Entrepreneurs of Nigeria
BOA Bank of Agriculture
BOI Bank of Industry
CBN Central Bank of Nigeria
EDC Entrepreneurship Development Centers
EDP Entrepreneurship Development Programmes
ITF Industrial Trust Fund
MAMSER Mass Mobilization for Self-Reliance and Economic Recovery
MSMEDF CBN’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund
MSMEs Micro. Small and Medium Enterprises
NASME Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises
NASSI National Association of Small Scale Industries
NBCI National Bank for Commerce and Industry
NDE National Directorate of Employment
NEDEP National Enterprise Development Programme
NERFUND National Economic Reconstruction Fund
NIDB Nigerian Industrial Development Bank
NIRP National Industrial Revolution Plan
OFN Operation Feed the Nation
SMEDAN National Policy on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
YOUWIN Youth With Innovation in Nigeria
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
In this era of globalization, entrepreneurship has an important role to play in employment generation. The experiences of developed economies in relation to the roles played by entrepreneurship buttresses the fact that the importance of entrepreneurship cannot be over emphasized especially among the developing countries. The quintessence of entrepreneurship is paramount in every economy that targets economic growth and development. However, no economic growth and development may be achieved without changes in factors of production and economic activities. These economic activities are best driven by entrepreneurs as agents of economic growth and development. Without adequate information and knowledge, the impact of entrepreneurship on generation of employment in any nation may be less than optimal. The import of entrepreneurship knowledge was identified by Block, Thurik and Zhou (2012) when they recognized that knowledge was “dispersed” throughout society with each person having a unique stock of information. Consequently, individuals or entrepreneurs bringing their varied talents, knowledge and skills to bear on the society would advance the economic standing of that society. One of the major roles of entrepreneurship is job creation, to reduce unemployment rate in the economy.
Unemployment is a universal challenge except that the rate of prevalence differs from one economy to the other. The World Bank reports (2016) on unemployment revealed that the rates of unemployment in some African nations like Cote d’Ivoire (4.0 per cent), Ghana (2.4 per cent), Guinea (1.8 per cent) can compare favourably with some developed economies like Spain (24.7 per cent), United States of America (6.2 per cent), United Kingdom (6.3 per cent) and France (9.9 per cent). However, the challenges of unemployment are more pronounced in the developing economies than the developed economies where social security and other poverty alleviation programmes for the unemployed are in place. In Nigeria, unemployment which as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics was 31.2 per cent as at the end of September, 2016, against world unemployment rate of 5.8 per cent (ILO, 2016). According to Bassey and Atan (2012), there has been an alarming increase in the rate of youth unemployment as thousands of university graduates are roaming the street without jobs. In spite of the enormous natural and human resources in the country, unemployment still remains a challenge. For instance, the South-West geopolitical zone is rich in cash crops such as cocoa, cola nuts, coffee and rubber. The greatest source of wealth for the Northern states is massive fertile land conducive for wide range of agricultural activities while the South-South states like Rivers, Delta and Akwa Ibom are blessed in petroleum reserves (Badmus, Olurin, Ganiyu and Oduleye, 2013); (Alabi A. B et. al. 2013), yet there is high incidence of poverty and high rate of unemployment (Yakubu and Akanegbu, 2015; Uzoigwe, 2007). Nigeria is still one of the poorest countries in the world and has one of the highest rates of youth unemployment in the sub-Sahara Africa (Ucha, 2010; Amaghionyeodiwe and Adediran, 2012; Chukwuma, 2013).
The predicament of Nigeria as a developing economy with a lack of impactful entrepreneurship policy after over 55 years of independence can be traced to the deficit that we have experienced in governance and unfriendly entrepreneurial environment. The importance of entrepreneurship development was not appreciated until many employable Nigerians could not find jobs to the embarrassment of the government and at threat to national security. This situation propelled the government to initiate one form of entrepreneurship policy and/or job creation scheme or the other.
One of government’s attempt towards policy implementation to address unemployment in Nigeria led to the introduction of Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDP) as a panacea to economic development and growth (Osemeke, 2012). These programmes are usually targeted at owner-managers of small business firms as well as those identified to possess potentials for self- employment (Dandago and Muhammad, 2014). For instance, participants in Nigeria’s National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and similar programmes in the country are expected to undergo EDP training. This usually includes entrepreneurial tools which range from the preparation of a business plan with emphasis on production, management and marketing, identification of new business opportunities, alternative suppliers and market, sources of finance, cash flow analysis and record keeping to train people to think and act like successful entrepreneurs (Amaeshi, 2007).
The importance of entrepreneurship development cannot be overemphasized. Its contributions are quite obvious and visible in economic transformations. This is why almost every successive government emphasizes it (Arowomole, 2000). The Federal military government in 1976, under General Olusegun Obasanjo introduced Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) scheme. In 1985, the General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida administration introduced a programme tagged Mass Mobilization for Self Reliance and Economic Recovery (MAMSER). All of these were aimed at stimulating economic growth and boost entrepreneurial spirit among the people.
Toma, Grigorea and Marinescu (2014), in their studies of economic development and entrepreneurship, argued that no nation would break the barriers of development without a critical mass of entrepreneurs. This orientation has helped many developed and developing nations to accelerate their pace of development by focusing on appropriate incentives to support entrepreneurship activity. Mmadu (2014) argued that the factors of production formed the bedrock of Schumpeterian model and that it is the entrepreneur who generates the critical momentum an economy requires for economic growth by breaking new grounds in human endeavour as a result of the vital characteristics or attributes they possess. Entrepreneurship should be paramount to Nigeria, judging by the number of individuals being certified yearly by various Educational institutions. Unemployment rate among the youths in Nigeria especially the graduates, is put between 32.8 per cent and 56.1 per cent (National Bureau of Statistics, 2016). People go into one entrepreneurial venture or another because of that, but unfortunately they are not adequately prepared to face the challenges of venturing into such enterprise. This underscores the expediency of expanding entrepreneurial know-how, for instance, by accommodating it in the curricular of these graduates whilst in educational institutions. Entrepreneur development should be about helping people to start and grow dynamic businesses that add immense value to the nation’s economic growth.
However, the Nigerian entrepreneur is constantly faced with daunting challenges; a cursory look at the Nigerian predicament throws up ironies. There are abundant mineral deposits that remain largely untapped; about 60% of Nigeria’s arable land is uncultivated but there are over a hundred tertiary institutions turning out more than 200,000 graduates every year. An estimated 17 million highly skilled Nigerian professionals live and work outside the country. In spite of these resources, Nigeria remains stagnated. The poverty situation has consistently deteriorated such that by 2010, the incidence of poverty was 69 per cent (National Bureau of Statistics, 2010). The absence of adequate infrastructure compounded by poor maintenance and policy summersault present great challenges to emerging entrepreneurs in providing jobs for the teeming population.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The high level of unemployment in Nigeria has been a major economic and social challenge to the government. The unemployment rate in Nigeria was 13.4 per cent in 2004 and averaged 14.60 per cent from 2006 to 2011, reaching all-time high of 31.2 per cent in May, 2016 (National Bureau of Statistics, 2016). In South-West, Nigeria (Lagos, Osun, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti and Oyo States), the average unemployment rate was 5.82 per cent, 14.08 per cent and 27.74 per cent in 2004, 2009 and 2010 respectively (National Bureau of Statistics, 2012). The figures revealed clearly the rising and worrisome trend in the unemployment rate in Nigeria and the need for realistic government interventions to abate the tide. The increasing rate of unemployment and poverty is not only embarrassing, given the country’s enormous potentials in human and natural resources but has also become a huge security problem across the entire nation.
However, various entrepreneurship policies have been put in place before and after 2004 to address these challenges: National Directorate of Employment (NDE) 1986, Mass Mobilization for Self-Reliance and Economic Recovery (MAMSER) 1986, The National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND) 1989, Bank of Industry (2001), Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC) 2003, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) 2003, Youth with Innovation (YOUWIN) 2011, and National Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP) 2013. They were focused primarily on entrepreneurship development and employment generation. In spite of these policies, the rate of unemployment continues to escalate (Adebayo, 2015). In fact, some unemployed youths formed a pressure group known as National Association of Unemployed Graduates in 2013 with the aim of drawing government attention to the problem. (Punch Newspapers, 2013).
The high level of unemployment culminated in the high turnout of a large number of job seekers in the March 15, 2014 recruitment exercise by the Nigerian Immigration Service. With less than 4,000 to be employed, over a million applicants turned up in all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The scramble for the few vacant positions left over 20 people dead and others seriously injured (Punch Newspapers, 2014). It is, therefore, apparent that the nation is inundated with an acute problem of gross unemployment. In spite of the efforts of successive government in Nigeria to ameliorate this scourge, Nigeria is facing growing levels of unemployment.
The security challenge posed by the restive, active but unemployed youths and the effect of the various entrepreneurship agencies such as Bank of Industry (BOI) and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) informed this study which examined the administration of entrepreneurship policies in Nigeria and the extent to which they have addressed the unemployment problems between 2004—2014.
- Objective of the Study
The general objective of this study is to examine the effectiveness of the administration of entrepreneurship policies on employment generation in South-West, Nigeria. The specific objectives are to:
- identify the causes of unemployment in South- West, Nigeria;
- evaluate the effects of Bank of Industry and SMEDAN on the implementation of the National Policy on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in addressing unemployment in South West, Nigeria;
- examine the entrepreneurship policies of government aimed at promoting employment generation in Nigeria since 2004;
- determine the role of entrepreneurship education in addressing unemployment in South West, Nigeria, and
- identify the challenges of entrepreneurship development in addressing unemployment in South-West, Nigeria.
1.4 Research Questions
Consistent with the problems identified above, the following are the research questions addressed in this study:
- What were the causes of unemployment in South-West, Nigeria?
- To what extent did the Bank of Industry and SMEDAN’s implementation of National Policy on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises address the issues of unemployment in Nigeria?
- How did the various entrepreneurship policies assist in addressing unemployment?
- What role did entrepreneurship education play in addressing unemployment in Nigeria?
- What are the challenges of entrepreneurship development in addressing unemployment in South-West, Nigeria?
1.5 Hypotheses
H01: Bank of Industry and SMEDAN have no significant effect in adder ssing issues of unemployment in Nigeria
H02: The administration of the entrepreneurship development policy has no impact on unemployment in Nigeria
H03: Entrepreneurship education has no significant effect in addressing unemployment in Nigeria
1.6 Significance of the Study
The study would be of assistance to policy makers on issues of entrepreneurship development and employment generation and how to avoid the cause of failures of previous policies on the issues of unemployment. The study would assist the government, relevant agencies and ministries to evaluate the effectiveness of their entrepreneurship policies in promoting entrepreneurship development and addressing unemployment problems in Nigeria. The study would give existing and potential investors and other stakeholders a better understanding of the need to develop and implement sound and effective entrepreneurship policies that would maximize the rate of employment generation in the country. The study also contributes to existing literature on formulation and implementation of entrepreneurship policies that are expected to minimize the rate of unemployment in the Nigerian economy.
1.7 Scope of the Study
The study focuses on the activities of the Bank of Industry and SMEDAN as they affect entrepreneurship development and employment generation in South-West Nigeria. The study covers issues of unemployment and the significance of entrepreneurship development on the two agencies from 2004 to 2014. The scope of this study covered between 2004 and 2014 because of data availability from the two entrepreneurship agencies of the government. The Bank of Industry which was reconstructed in 2001 from the defunct Nigeria Industrial Development Bank did not commence full operations until 2003 while SMEDAN that was established in 2003 did not commence capacity building programmes until January, 2004. This period of 10 years gives the study the sufficient period coverage needed to make valid observations.
The South-West, especially Lagos State, is seen as the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria which attracts the highest number of individuals who are in search of employment and a better life. However, the study selected three States in the South-West, namely: Lagos, Ogun and Ondo. This is because, majority of businesses are located in Lagos and Ogun States while Ondo is highly endowed with many natural resources that could be gainfully explored to create employment.
1.8 Operational Definition of Terms
The frequently used discipline-specific terms in this study are defined as follows:
- Administration: This is the act of organizing public policies and programmes to achieve specific goals of the government
- Capacity Building/ Training: This refers to intentional training and mission driven efforts aimed at improving an individual’s ability to exploit his or her potentials in the aspect of human endeavor.
- Entrepreneurship: This refers to a person’s capacity and willingness to develop, organize, and manage a business venture along with any of its risks in order to make a profit
- Public policy: This is a series of programmes and decisions put in place by the government for the benefit of the general public or part thereof as it affects socio-economic development of the country.
- Unemployment: This refers to situations where people who are willing and capable of working are unable to find suitable paid employment(s).
- Unemployment Rate: This is the number of unemployed people as a percentage
of labour force which comprises the employed and unemployed (i.e. those seeking
employment but could find none).
1.9 Outline of the Study
This study is discussed in six chapters. Chapter one is the introduction and it contains background to the study, the statement of problem, the objectives of the study, the research questions, the hypotheses and the significance for the study. Chapter two is a review of literature and relevant theories and also provides the theoretical framework for the study. Chapter three presents the research design, population of the study, sample selection, sample size, sources of data and validity and reliability of research instrument. The chapter also contains data sources, collection and analysis techniques. Chapter four presents the analysis and interpretation of data collected while chapter five presents findings. Finally, chapter six provides the summary of the study, conclusion and recommendations.
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