Problems of Youth Entrepreneurship in Nigeria

INTRODUCTION Nigeria like most developing nations of the world is faced with myriad of problems and harsh realities which include poverty, unemployment, conflicts and diseases. These situations pose great challenges to the very existence of individuals in most developing nations thereby calling for the training of educated man and women who can function effectively in the society in which they live in. available information by National Universities Commission (NUC) (2004) reiterate the massive unemployment of Nigerian universities graduates in the country. This problem is said to be traceable to the disequilibrium between labour market requirements and lack of essential employable skills by the graduates. This obvious critical skill gaps inhibits the development of youths and the entire development of the nation. More than half of the Nigerian populations are under the age of 30 according to the National Population Commission (2001). Therefore it can be asserted that the economy of Nigeria is a youth economy. This reality leaves them without any meaningful means of sustainable livelihood. To make ends meet, they simply indulge in prostitution (both male and female), armed robbery etc.
The youthful period which is a very critical one that has been noted as an essential time for training in entrepreneurship, provides a positive distractive alternative from the self-destructive and aggressive behaviors that are frequently associated with adolescents and growing up (Woolflk, 1998). This critical age however is the right time to teach them the concept of entrepreneurship to help them learn wealth creation. The question then is what is entrepreneurship? Entrepreneurship has been defined by various professions to mean many things since the middle age. Stevenson and Gumpert (1985) define entrepreneurship as the process of creating value by pulling together a unique package of resources to exploit opportunity. However, the summary of what entrepreneurship means will