With a population of over 120 million people, Nigeria is the most populated black African nation in the world. Estimates show that youth constitutes over a half of the total population. Despite this pool of active human resources, much has not been achieved in channeling this useful resource to contributing to the expected overall economic development. The unemployment rate is still very high; this is because Nigerian youths go after white-collar jobs, which are hardly available. This trend needs to be given attention to, and reversed if possible.
Some of the problems that serve as a deterrent to youths venturing into the entrepreneurship world in Nigeria include:
Motivation – most youths are not motivated to start and manage businesses because of the supposed harsh environment that affect business growth in Nigeria.
Lack of finances – even when there is little motivation it is usually frustrated by the lack of funds or inability to access start–up capital or seed grants.
Basic management skills – most youths do not have the basic skills to manage small businesses. There are a good number of young Nigerian graduates who desire to own and manage their businesses. In most cases the choice of business is usually different from their area of academic specialization. Since the skills for being a successful entrepreneur differ, youths need to learn more techniques of managing a business in other to achieve set goals.
Infrastructure – the infrastructure that directly or indirectly affect businesses are not adequately provided for in Nigeria. Such amenities include electricity supply, drivable roads, portable water and effective transportation amongst others.
Information – vital information about the availability of raw materials, required technology, effective business management, access to capital and other capacity building initiatives are lacking.
Mentoring/Coaching – recent studies have revealed the importance of having someone more experienced than one, to look up to, in whatever endeavour one is involved in. The outcome of mentoring and coaching programs has been tremendous because it provides the protégée/mentor with the opportunity to share one's problems and challenges with a more experienced person who can guide and offer necessary assistance when needed.
Government Policies – for a budding enterprise to blossom it needs the required habitat to grow. The role of the government in making this come to pass, by consciously formulating and implementing policies that will make this possible, cannot be over emphasized.
Despite the above constraints a lot can still be achieved through:
Vision – it guides the potential entrepreneur and makes him aspire towards greatness. Having a vision is like having a road map: it is a morale booster. It also provides an avenue for self-assessment. Nigerian youths should have both personal and national visions that can guide them on their way to the top.
Self Motivation – a notable motivational speaker once said that, “it is your attitude not your aptitude that determines your altitude". Nigerian youths need to have a positive attitude towards having an alternative means of livelihood other than the white-collar jobs. They should seek to deal with the ‘entrepreneurship-phobia’. If this can be handled, then the race into greatness through entrepreneurship would be a much easier one to run. Most, if not all successful persons that we refer to today, were first self-motivated, and determined to face all odds, before they climbed to the top.
Finance – there is no doubt that capital is one of the crucial factors that affects business. In the Nigerian scenario, both the government and the organized private sector (OPS) should be involved in making funds available to budding and existing entrepreneurs. The contribution from the OPS which is a form of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) will go a long way in helping youths achieve more, rather than being idle.
However, in the absence of these forms of support, youths can explore alternative sources of funds like loans from friends and family amongst others. If a business idea is well communicated and people can explicitly see the value derivable from it, it is likely that those sources would assist.
Failure – failing in a particular venture or endeavour does not infer that the person is automatically a failure. Failure is part of growth and youths should view it from a positive perspective. There is no crime in failing. The crime is not learning from the lessons posed by such failures. We can learn from John Maxwell by learning to “fail forward”. Failure would only make youths learn a better way of doing things.
Growing steadily – some youths are so eager to make millions in the first few years of venturing into business that they lose focus, before reaping the dividends from their labour. This should not be so. In most cases, the few years of starting a business need be used to create the right systems and consolidating on whatever one has been able to achieve. Youths need to know that success is gradual and should be willing to give it all it takes to reach the apex.
Getting requisite business management skills – there is more to handling or managing a business than just personal interest or suggestions from people. Most syllabuses that youths must have studied do not usually include business management techniques adaptable in the real business world. A good number of youths that want to start a business are not aware of what a business plan is, nor its importance. Only a fragment can even develop a winning business plan. Youths should avail themselves of such knowledge and skills through available institutions that have the capacity to offer such. Support and Training Entrepreneurship Program (STEP) and the Fate Foundation are good examples of youth-focused business development institutions.
Partnership – studies have shown that most entrepreneurs in Nigeria (including youths) feel more comfortable working alone as sole-proprietors. This may not be helpful in all cases – youths can pull resources together to form an alliance that can achieve more, than if they were operating as single entities or entrepreneurs.
ICT – The Information and Communications Technology is a useful tool that youths can leverage upon for their businesses. With a click of the button, youths can access a wide range of information that can be helpful for their businesses, through the internet. They can trade beyond their national boundaries through the advantages provided by e-commerce and can also exchange useful information with others.
Mentoring and Coaching – there are a lot of people that have threaded in the paths that most of the youths may be venturing into. By carefully seeking them out, youths can afford themselves the opportunities of gaining experience and getting first-hand assistance from notable entrepreneurs who have succeeded in murky waters and risen to the top. This provides an opportunity of learning to avoid mistakes and the pitfalls such people have experienced.
Networking – youths can achieve more if they can take time out to identify people of like minds they can rub shoulders with. This provides a forum for learning more and sharing with others, thereby creating a synergy that cannot be underestimated.
Volunteering – this is an area that Nigerian youths need to explore. There are times they might need to offer their services for free to gain experience, by volunteering in some organizations (especially the ones they intend to focus on later). Youths can gain a lot of experience that will be useful when they eventually start their own enterprises.
Investing in oneself - growth is continuous. The moment one stops growing, one starts dying. One of the ways by which youths can continue to be relevant as a successful entrepreneur is by investing in themselves. Youths should not limit themselves to the basic education they have acquired in school, but should aspire to learn and make a conscious effort to know more. We live a dynamic and fast-growing world and only those who are ready for change will be poised to succeed. The people that invest in themselves have a better competitive edge than their counterparts in the near future. Personal development, knowledge and skills acquisition should be an integral part of a youth’s vision and personal mission statements. They should also seek out information that will take them from a lower level to a higher and better one.
Contributing to one’s community - it is high time that Nigerian youths start giving back to their country. There should be less focus on what one can constantly get. We need to ask ourselves, how much have I contributed to the growth of this nation to expect something from it? Giving should be mutual, that is, symbiotic and not parasitic. This can be done by starting from one’s locality or community. I see contributing to one’s community from a multi-faceted approach. It could be contributing towards law and order, by obeying the set rules and regulations or guidelines. It could also include a conscious effort at striving to add value in one’s little way rather than folding one’s arms till the bad gets worse. Contribution should be everyday life – seeking to extend a helping hand, believing in people and encouraging them to contribute too. Youths shouldn’t wait till they are multi-millionaires before contributing because little drops of water make the mighty ocean. If they cannot practice that now, it is not likely they would do better if given better opportunities in the near future.
Government Policies – including entrepreneurship in the academic curricula – both from the primary to the varsity level is an area that the Nigerian government might need to consider. This will stimulate more participation, which in turn will have a long-run positive multiplier effect on the economy, if well implemented and monitored. Not only that, there should be a strategic plan to make funds and/or seed grants available to youths, in order to encourage them to start businesses. This could be achieved by setting up Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) or collaborating with existing ones. This will contribute towards the reduction in the current high unemployment rate and decrease the ‘mad chase’ for scarce white-collar jobs. Similarly, since it is the main responsibility of government to provide social infrastructures, the unavailability or inadequacy of these basic needs will not be helpful in achieving the required results. Governments should adopt a holistic approach to solving problems.
Entrepreneurship is an area where youths can be fully utilized to cause a turn-around in the developing (or is it collapsing?) economies of the Third World.
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