Director Makes Case For Entrepreneurship Dev Centres

An expert at the Yaba College of Technology, Mrs Olukemi Oyelola, has said that Centres for Entrepreneurship Development can promote self employment, if adequately funded.

Oyelola, Director, Centre for Entrepreneurship Development at the college, made the assertion in an interview with our on Wednesday in Lagos.

According to her, the poor funding of most of the centres has hampered their objective of promoting self employment among Nigerians.

“It is praiseworthy that the government has set up Entrepreneurship Development Centres but they are not adequately funded to perform their twin objectives of creating jobs and encouraging self employment.

“The government needs to inject more funds into these centres so that those who have been trained can access seed loans, start something on their own and create employment for others,“ she said.

Oyelola praised the incorporation of compulsory entrepreneurship studies into the curriculum of tertiary institutions in the country.

She urged the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to review the curriculum by the International Labour Organisation, so as to cater for the peculiar training needs of the Nigerian youth.

“The entrepreneurship studies curriculum as prepared by the NBTE from ILO‘s recommendations focuses more on theoretical work and so does not allow for much practical.”

“There should be a review of the curriculum to make it more practical-oriented to adequately equip the students with all the skills they need to succeed as entrepreneurs,” she said.