ASSESSMENT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS NEEDED BY BUSINESS EDUCATION GRADUATES IN DELTA STATE IN NIGERIA

Background to the Study

Entrepreneurship deals with the process of recognizing a business opportunity, operating and maintaining that business. However, people engage in it without acquiring much skills and competences that will enable them to effectively operate businesses and also enhance their success in whatever walk of life (Salome, Osita & Marcel, 2012). The greatest of human endowments are intelligence and entrepreneurship (Ottih, 2000). Entrepreneurship is an exciting field of study. According to Hisrich, Peter and Shepherd (2008), it is now widely accepted by the society in general that individuals who study entrepreneurship are three to four times more likely to start a business, and will learn 20 to 30 percent business success strategies more, than students studying in other fields. The benefits of entrepreneurial activity are not restricted to entrepreneurs alone. Rather, entrepreneurs have impact on the well-being of the economy as a whole.Entrepreneurship is a process of bringing together creative  and innovative ideas, combining them with management and organization

skills in order to combine people, money and resources to meet an identified need and thereby create wealth (Agomuo, 2002). It is the willingness and ability of an individual to seek out investment opportunities, establish and run an enterprise successfully. Entrepreneurship is thus, the process of learning the skills needed to assume the risk of establishing a business. Entrepreneurship refers to an individual‟s ability to turn ideas into action. It includes creativity, innovation and taking calculated risks, as well as the ability to plan and manage projects in order to achieve objectives. The knowledge of entrepreneurship supports people in their day-to-day life activities thus thus enhancing economic survival (Marques, 2010).

Akpotowoh and Amahi (2006) opined that the skills acquired in business education promotes training in entrepreneurship as well as equipping graduates with requisite skills to establish and run small businesses of their own. According to Ademiluyi (2007) entrepreneurship skills are simply business skills which individuals acquire to enable them effectively function in the turbulent business environment as an entrepreneur or in self-employment. Akinola (2001) pointed out that it takes special skills to succeed as an entrepreneur. Erhurun (2007) also

noted that most entrepreneurial skills come by learning and practicing.

Nevertheless, the various skills embedded in business related programmes vis-à-vis business education need to be explored and learnt by prospective graduates for them to succeed as later entrepreneurs and or to aid them for economic survival in a turbulent economy. However, graduates of business education without the relevant entrepreneurial skills will find the labour market most unrewarding and unfavourable in terms of creating jobs, instead they will be seeking jobs where non-exists (Salome, Osita & Marcel, 2012).

The concept of employability has in recent times remained the focus of government, employers, job seekers and educators. Brown and Hesketh (2004) defined employability as the relative chances of getting and maintaining different kinds of employment. However, graduates are concerned with what actually constitutes employability skills. According to Kazilan, Hamzah and Bakar (2009), employability skills which are synonymous with entrepreneurial skills refer to a group of important skills instilled in each individual in order to produce productive workforce. According to Hillage and Pollard as cited in Imeokparia and Ediagbonya (2012), employability refers to a person‟s capability for gaining and maintaining employment. For individuals, employability depends on the

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA) they possess, the way they present

those assets to employers and the context (e.g. personal circumstances and labour market environment) within which they seek employment. Employability skills or entrepreneurial skills are the skills needed by individuals to function effectively and efficiently in the world of work either as an employee or an employer of labour.The skills possessed by graduates seem to be different from what the employers want. Some employers have tried to outline some of these skills they want from job seekers. In a bid to creating harmony in their skills, the Secretary, Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS), prepared reports on ways of assisting educational institutions and schools in producing younger generations who are willing to work. The report outlines both „fundamental skills‟ and „workplace competencies‟ to include: basic thinking, personal qualities, resources, interpersonal information, systems technology skills (SCANS, 1991; 2001). The above skills are no doubt invaluable to Business Education graduates.

A detailed study carried out by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (2012), using data from the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration showed that from 2007-2009 the number of people seeking jobs exceeded the number

of job vacancies for Higher Education Institution graduates. With a high percentage of graduates looking for jobs. e.g., 26.7 percent in 2009, Malaysia also faced high graduate unemployment rates. According to the Malaysian study, graduates of technical studies and ICT were more likely to be employed, but even at that they found it hard to find jobs as reported in the ICT case study from Malaysia, with 39.3 percent being unemployed at the time of the survey in 2008.

The World fact book, (2008) published by the Central Intelligence Agency puts the unemployment rate in Nigeria at 5.8%. Their estimate was done in 2006, as reflecting the 2007 and 2008 rates. Going by this estimate, Nigeria ranked 69 out of 199 countries contained in the CIA list in ascending order of unemployment rate. But Nairaland (2006) doubted the credibility of CIA‟s figure, stating that it was a gross underestimate of the problem. It observed that most educated people are involved in menial jobs that the CLA could have mistaken for full gainful employment. At the local level, Uzendu (2007) reported in Daily Champion newspaper that National Directorate of Employment (NDE) had registered over 3.3 million unemployed persons in Nigeria. In a statement credited to the Director-General of NDE, Engr. Samuel Adelogun, the figure was arrived at after a nation- wide survey it conducted in July, 2007 Grouping the data on the basis of the siX geo–political zones of the country, the unemployment figure reads: North West 846, 872; South West 718, 789;

North East 547, 759; South East 430, 845; South South 401,234; North Central 386, 590. This leaves the exact figure at 3, 323 089.

Of this number, 17% were graduates. Expressed in figure, NDE survey showed that by July, 2007 there were a total of 566, 455 unemployment graduate in the country. But Bello (2003) expressed doubt over official statistics on unemployment stating that there is always a sharp disparity between the official statistics on the phenomenon and the reality on ground. This, according to him, “is because of the nature of unemployment in the country where many job seekers do not see the need for registration as unemployed due to expression of futility in the exercise” Hogan (2006) observed that a large number of workers especially women do not register when made redundant. Even the Director- General of NDE stated that this July 2007 survey was limited in credibility “due to inability of some people to ascertain their employment status, cultural and religious barriers, and lack of information.” The implication of their observations is that the rate of unemployment in the country is certainly higher that the official figure of the CIA and NDE.