AN EVALUATION OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP CENTRES AND ITS IMPACT ON JOB CREATION IN NIGERIA

Background to the Study: Human economic development will greatly contribute to the promotion of people' interest and aspiration inside the country through well-planned education and training activities (Egwu, 2009). Technical and vocational education and training (TVET), through assisting individuals in obtaining meaningful work, can have a significant influence on economic growth, full employment, and social inclusion. TVET programs are skill-based programs designed to assist students prepare for direct entrance into desired or interested jobs. Successful completion of the program results in a technical and vocational qualification that is highly relevant in the labor market and is fully recognized by the Ministry of Education (MoE) and employer groups in Nigeria (UNESCO, 2007).

Entrepreneurship efforts, on the other hand, have been advantageous since the Nigerian private sector, which is made up of small and medium businesses, employs over half of the country's population and produces half of the country's industrial output (Ariyo, 2005; Oyelola et al, 2013). Many other nations have been able to improve and turn existing entrepreneurship centers into active and fascinating ones, resulting in significant reductions in unemployment and poverty. Unfortunately, the opposite is true in Nigeria. According to a World Bank report on the Nigerian economy issued in 2011, the unemployment rate increased from "12% of the working population in 2006 to 24 percent in 2011." Despite being one of the richest states in the country in terms of crude oil production and federal allocation, Akwa Ibom State's unemployment rate is rising at an alarming rate. This is not exclusive to Akwa Ibom State; it is a nationwide phenomena. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Akwa Ibom State had the second highest unemployment rate in the south-south zone in 2010, at 36.1 percent. Available records clearly demonstrate that unemployment and its attendant result, poverty, were not a national problem in the last two decades of Nigeria's independence (1960s and 1970s), as they are now.

In these economic years, the pace at which graduates enter the labor market in the country is unmanageable, resulting in unemployment, underemployment, and the stress of social hazards connected with unemployment and protracted inactivity."

According to the International Labour Center, youth discontent has been a major element in protest movements throughout the world this year, making it difficult for graduates and young people to find work that is part-time, menial, or transitory.

Governments all across the world are attempting to discover new solutions through labor market interventions such as skill mismatches, job search assistance, and entrepreneurship training.

The impact of entrepreneurship centers on employment creation in Nigeria was explored in this study, which used the University of Uyo's entrepreneurship center as a case study.

1.2      Statement of the Problem

In Nigeria, unemployment, as it is known, has been a looming problem. This has developed to the point that a simple campaign or word of mouth will not suffice (Nwankwo & Ifejiofor, 2014). To establish a long-term strategy to combat this threat, individuals and the government of the country in particular, as well as the globe at large, must work together. Unemployment in Nigeria has had a wide range of socio-economic effects on the young and the country's economic progress. It is apparent that the issue, particularly that of youth unemployment, has had a significant impact on Nigeria's growth in a number of ways. Apart from the economic waste it has caused, it has also caused political upheaval in the country (Ipaye, 1998). As a result of this circumstance, the number of crimes and other social vices in our society has been steadily increasing in recent years. Several techniques have been created in all sectors of human endeavor to rescue this dreadful predicament. All of these tactics may be found in the world of entrepreneurship.