Association Canvasses Entrepreneurial Skills For Youths

The Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises
(NASME) wants Nigerian youths to acquire entrepreneurial skills to reduce unemployment
in the country.

The association’s Executive Secretary, Mr Eke Ubiji said in
Lagos, that this was necessary as many youths were confused about how to earn a
living.

According to him, if the youths were taught entrepreneurial
skills, they would be armed with various options on the kind of business they
could undertake.

“The problem started with our educational system; there was
nothing like entrepreneurial education before, if you graduate you either go
and teach or find a job somewhere.

“The inclusion of relevant entrepreneurship training in
schools’ curricula will encourage youths to create jobs for themselves and
others,” he said.

He suggested that youths should be exposed to business
skills that would be beneficial to them and their communities at an early stage
in life.

“Some universities now have entrepreneurship departments;
this is highly commendable but not enough.

“It (entrepreneurship) should be made a compulsory course for all undergraduates in Nigerian tertiary institutions; it should be a prerequisite for graduation,” Ubiji said.

He also appealed to the Federal Government to integrate a
six-month practical entrepreneurship training into the National Youth Service
Corps scheme (NYSC).

The executive secretary described the three weeks training
in business skills for NYSC members at the orientation camp as too short.

Ubiji said that many NYSC members did not take the training
seriously because of its packaging, adding that it was usually short, full of
theory and not comprehensive.

“Stakeholders should be involved in taking the youth through
a six-month practical training out of the one-year service year to achieve the
desired results.

“Corps members should not be made to teach in a remote
village for one year after which they return to the cities in search of jobs
that are not available; they should be properly equipped to face the challenges
ahead,” he said.