Exploring the Influence of Effective Entrepreneurial Education on Youth Employment in Nigeria

Abstract

In Nigeria, youth employment has remained a persistent challenge for successive governments. Despite numerous entrepreneurship and job creation programmes, the outcomes have been insufficient to reverse the trend, resulting in socio-economic issues such as high unemployment, underemployment, insecurity, and poverty. Data from the World Bank and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicate that youth unemployment fluctuated between 6.3% and 33% from 2010 to 2020, as millions of young people in their twenties entered the labour market annually with limited employment opportunities. Although the decline in unemployment to 4.3% in 2024 appeared promising, it was met with skepticism because poverty levels remained high at 38.3%, underscoring persistent structural and socio-economic challenges.
These socio-economic challenges have produced two distinct categories among Nigerian youths. The first comprises those who, due to unemployment and limited opportunities, resort to criminal activities and contribute to insecurity. The second category includes youths who, driven by necessity, engage in small-scale entrepreneurial activities in line with the Necessity-Based Theory of Entrepreneurship. While these ventures may serve as survival strategies and avenues for poverty reduction, many of these young entrepreneurs lack the requisite skills to establish and sustain viable businesses. This study, therefore, seeks to promote entrepreneurial education with an effective curriculum that strategically equips youths with competencies in innovation, business planning, risk management, and financial literacy, thereby enhancing their capacity for sustainable enterprise creation.
This research utilizes a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative strategy to critically review existing literature and theoretical concepts of the study; and quantitative strategies to analyze historical statistical data from the World Bank and NBS.
A pilot study was conducted using structured questionnaires distributed to a purposive sample of 90 alumni members of a secondary school, with a focus on identifying those who are self-employed. From this group, 18 valid responses were received. The data from this pilot study are analyzed descriptively to generate preliminary insights into the experiences, challenges, and entrepreneurial trajectories of young entrepreneurs. These findings complement the broader statistical and theoretical analysis by offering micro-level evidence.
The theoretical foundations of this study are grounded in four key perspectives. First, the Necessity-Based Theory of Entrepreneurship explains how limited employment opportunities compel individuals to establish small ventures as a survival strategy. Second, the Psychological Theory of Entrepreneurship emphasizes the role of individual traits—such as self-reliance, risk-taking, and autonomy—that influence entrepreneurial intentions and the pursuit of self-employment. Third, the Human Capital Theory which emphasizes education and skills. Fourth, Institutional Theory which are government interventions to support entrepreneurship. Together, these frameworks provide a lens through which the interplay between structural constraints and individual agency in youth entrepreneurship can be understood.