Marrying education and entrepreneurship signifies the idea of dove-tailing or tailoring education with or towards the direction and advancement of entrepreneurship - entrepreneurial skills, innovations, etc, for the purpose of combating or solving unemployment, by facilitating and maximazing job creation and self-employment in Nigeria.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
It is noteworthy that enterprise related ventures are profit-driven in nature, clearly distinct and distinguished from non-profit establishments. From the foregoing, entrepreneurship is basically concerned with the act or process of undertaking personal initiatives which involve coordination and mobilization of both human and material resources (ideas, knowledge, time, energy, capital, etc), to establish profit making ventures. While an entrepreneur is one involved in coordinating and carrying out the act stated above.
THE NEED FOR CHANGE IN THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC CULTURE OF NIGERIA
A paradigm shift, a change in attitude or attitudinal re-orientation, as well as inculcating new ways of thinking and doing things, in the society vis-a-vis socio-economic ventures or enterprises, away from the traditional, achaic, and old fashion pattern influenced mainly by colonial heritage, which has outlived its usefulness or importance. Based on the existing socio-economic realities, given the significant evolution and metamorphosis in socio-economic structures, necessitated by social changes, manifested in massive unemployment as a result of government's incapacitation in accommodating or absorbing the entire work force, entrepreneurship naturally becomes the way out of the economic factor.
The pre-colonial economy of Africa and specifically Nigeria, was interrupted by the advent of European colonialists, whom after subjucated the locals, instituted or superimposed a system which was totally alien, to enable them administer the territory effectively - an action which its interest was purely economic-centred. This social change eroded the old way of thinking and doing things, to a great extend, and coerced the locals to learn and adapt to the new socio-economic realities, specifically the new socio-economic structures (emerging industries or means of livelihood of the time). Many decades after the departure of the colonialists, the system and pattern left behind, have continued to pose serious threat or become a cog in the wheel of Nigeria's efforts in charting a new course and setting a unique and perculiar agenda - that old or previous way of thinking and doing things (during the colonial era), which is the colonial heritage carried forward to the independence era, is what should be re-orientated, eroded or knocked out in Nigeria (i.e. Nigerians must do away with the old and accept or inculcate the new ways of thinking and doing things).
The new or existing socio-economic realities, is the state of unemployment, signifying government's incapacitation to provide all citizens with employment - this attitude of regarding government as the only provider of jobs and other economic opportunities, is what Nigerians must change from, and imbibe the attitude of self-econonic initiatives that will lead to or enable job creation and self-employment - that is basically what entrepreneurship is centred around.The change in attitude can only effectively occurred through entrepreneurship education, which will involve having a well designed system with roburst curriculum, which dove-tails or speaks to the socio-economic reality in the country.
CURRENT GOVERNMENT'S EFFORTS: PLANS AND PROGRAMMES
The acknowledgement of this reality by the Minister of Education, Dr Maruf T. Alausa, who stated that "The world is changing rapidly. Technology is reshaping industries, and many traditional jobs are disappearing. Even as new opportunities emerge, if we do not prepare our young people adequately, we risk widening the gap between education and employability,” Incidentally, he made the remark at the launch of the Federal Government's entrepreneurial initiative programme for students in the tertiary institutions known as "The Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Business Incubation Certificate (EIBIC) programme", designed for the purpose of preparing them ahead of life (before and after graduation), as a critical, timely, and effective response to changes in the socio-economic culture of Nigeria.
THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP, INNOVATION AND BUSINESS INCUBATION CERTIFICATE (EIBIC) PROGRAMME
This Federal Government initiative launched in March 2026, by the Federal Ministry of Education, is designed for students in federal tertiary institutions, kick-started with 14 federal universe in Nigeria, with intention for expansion in subsequent years, across all the tiers of tertiary institutions. The 14 pioneering federal universities selected across the six geo-political zones of country, in no particular order, include:
1. University of Benin
2. University of Port-Harcourt
3. University of Nigeria, Nsukka
4. University of Ibadan
5. Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
6. University of Jos
7. University of Abuja
8. University of Lagos
9. Uthman Danfodio University, Sokoto
10. Bayero University, Kano
11. University of Maiduguri
12. Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife
13. Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka
14. Abubakar Tafewa Balewa University, Bauchi
The EIBIC programme is a compulsory entrepreneurship training programme designed for students to undertake along side conventional academic programme, which on graduation, they will bag both degree and vocational certificates, meant to build self-reliance, job creation and self-employment, to address or end unemployment challenge among graduate. This is a typical example of how education is marrying entrepreneurship in Nigeria.
THE STUDENT VENTURE CAPITAL GRANT (S-VCG)
The initiative introduced by the Federal Government of Nigeria, is focusing on providing support to innovative ventures by undergraduates in STEMM, which is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medical Sciences. The initiative is furnished with up to N50 million in equity-free funding, aimed at enabling the transitioning of students' innovations from an idea stage to monitized, enterprise-driven establishments stage. The occurrence of students successfully translating innovative ideas into concrete profitable ventures and commercialization, signifies education marrying entrepreneurship successfully.
THE NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE CORPS (NYSC) SAED PROGRAMME
The NYSC's Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme, designed for corps members is a welcome development - a well thought out initiative which government needs to take a second look at, in terms of its result or productivity. Over the years, It has recorded a very low and unimpressive result, due to poor design and implementation. Although it serves as an introductory phase, which after passing out from the camp, corps members are expected to carry it forward, by getting enrolled outside the scheme, to gain mastery of their chosen skills from Consultants, during their service year. On the aspect of poor design and implementation, it lacks a follow up plan which should be captured or factored in, within the one year national service, not issuing a less than three weeks entrepreneurship development certificate, at the end of camping. It should be designed in such a way that corps members, before registration for enrollment into NYSC programme, determine what skill they intend to acquire (this is the point where the EIBIC Programme should dove-tail and transit into NYSC SAED programme) during their service year, while the same diligent effort applied in earning the discharge certificate should also be replicated on the skill certificate, else no approval for service completion should be granted to corps members. This will demand the relevant corps directorate to upscale monitoring and supervision in order to achieve effective implementation.
Furthermore, the orientation camp as the name implies, should be made to serve the purpose it was created, i e. attitudinal re-orientation of corps members, specifically, in terms of the existing socio-economic reality, i.e. entrepreneurship (for job creation and self-employment), as they would be gearing up to join the labour market fully. From an eye witness report, the indifferent attitude of corps members in camp (2015 Batch B stream 1), towards the entrepreneurship development programme, revealed that lots of fresh graduates have not really come to term with the change in socio-economic structures in the country. Poor design and implementation of entrepreneurship development programme, ignorance, etc can be attributed to why more than half of the corps members in camp participate passively in the SAED programme, only for the sake of fulfilling camp, requirements, because they think those who participate actively are either mediocres (known as the never do well) and those who are not highly connected in the society, and may have difficulty gaining employment immediately after passing out, while the issuance of certificate after three weeks camping was not impactful and effective testament of the programme.
Finally, if education get married to entrepreneurship in Nigeria, based on the current efforts and direction of government, the serious challenge of unemployment will be considerably addressed, while leading to Nigerians adapting to new and emerging industries or socio-economic structures, cementing the new ways of thinking and doing things (attitudinal re-orientation) in the country vis-a-vis socio-economic.
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