In the light of rising unemployment and the current economic recession in Nigeria, policy-makers and stakeholders have consistently reiterated the need for the younger generation to take up entrepreneurship as a means of livelihood rather than wait around for non-existent white-collar jobs.
The Director of Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI), University of Ibadan, Professor Ayotola Aremu has however revealed that there is more to entrepreneurship than simply establishing a business as a means of livelihood. She noted that entrepreneurship is more than setting up a venture in an over-saturated enterprise or simply engaging in buying and selling.
Speaking at an interview with CEOAfrica on its online television programme Community Today, on Thursday 10th August 2017, the Professor of Educational Technology, Department of Science and Technology Education, at the University of Ibadan explained that entrepreneurship entails identifying an opportunity, recognising a gap, spotting a societal need and then providing solutions which can be built as a business.
According to Prof Aremu, “an entrepreneur is somebody that identifies opportunities, identifies gaps in the society, depending on the person’s inclinations, interests and finds solutions to those gaps. So, the key things there are; the person sees opportunities, spots some gaps and has the skills to provide solutions to those opportunities by building it into a business that will make profits.”
Prof Aremu explained that a lot of young people in their bid to be self-employed and start up their own independent businesses, find themselves venturing into industries that are already over-crowded which may in the long run affect the profitability of such business. She stated that rather than blindly establishing a business, it is important for young start-ups to first identify a need they can meet or a gap they can fill in their areas of interest which will be innovative and unique.
“A lot of young people go into businesses like; fashion, make-up and others. Some of these ventures are already over-saturated with practitioners. Instead of doing what others are doing, you can do something different and innovative in your area of interest. If you are interested in fashion designing, rather than going into the conventional fashion, you can chose to make uniforms. If you are a mechanic, you can rise above the conventional roadside mechanic by doing something different and more innovative in your field,” she stressed.
(R-L) Director of UI CEI, Prof Ayotola Aremu and Mr Cletus Ilobanafor at the Interview
Prof Aremu blamed the lack of entrepreneurial insight among youths on the nature of Nigerian educational system which according to her makes little or no provision for teaching entrepreneurial skills. She noted that many youths graduate from schools are only armed with employable skills and not entrepreneurial skills – a norm which is only flooding the labour market with job seekers who are searching for non-existent employments.
She explained “The university system was initially established to train employable people who will be functional in government and corporate organisations. Students had companies waiting to employ them immediately after graduation. Along the line, the society changed and required people who will create jobs rather that look for jobs. Unfortunately, the university remained the same. It still churned out students who were trained to seek employment rather than create employment.”
The Professor further noted that some institutions that make an attempt to include entrepreneurship training in their curricula have lecturers who do not have the practical entrepreneurial knowledge teaching entrepreneurship to students. She explained that because most lecturers who teach entrepreneurship in schools have never established businesses, they only pass theoretical knowledge to the students.
While identifying these as challenges to entrepreneurial development in the country, the CEI Director mentioned that the University of Ibadan Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation was established to bridge this gap with the purpose of training students on entrepreneurship and how to successfully set up small and medium scale enterprises. She added that the centre collaborates with established entrepreneurs and business owners who train and mentor the students on how to be self-employed.
Explaining the other functions of the CEI, Prof Aremu said “CEI is the answer to the partnership that is supposed to exist between the society and the university. There should be synergy between the gown and the town. We do researches that will benefit the society. We conduct entrepreneurship training and education for undergraduates and post-graduates. Over the years, we have conducted various workshops and trainings for small and medium scale enterprises.
“One very key area that the centre works on is helping to get patents to protect the intellectual property of researchers. People conduct researches; they come out with innovative ideas which they want the society to benefit from. Such works need to be protected, so we do that for our researchers and other people that have come up with innovations. Also we have various collaborations with different organisations and enterprises that partner with us to create awareness on entrepreneurship; they fund our students who have business ideas.”
Prof Ayotola Aremu (Seated R) surrounded by Journalists present at the Interview
Speaking about the uniqueness of the University of Ibadan Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Prof Aremu mentioned that the Board of the Centre consist of academics and entrepreneurs who teach courses and conduct seminars for students on entrepreneurship. While stressing the importance of theoretical knowledge, the Professor noted that the practical aspect of entrepreneurship has not been over looked by the Centre.
The Professor of Educational Technology further clarified that the major emphasis of the CEI is on entrepreneurial skills, not vocational skills. She explained that the centre is focused on teaching people how to come up with profitable business ideas, how to write good business plans and how to grow a business. She said “When people ask me why we don’t have a vocational or craft centre, I tell them that the best place to learn a vocation or a craft is from a craftsman.
“The Centre does not teach vocation or craft. What the centre does is to impact entrepreneurial skills like spotting business opportunities, starting up a business, growing the business, writing a business plan that will get some funding, marketing the business, involving ICT into the business, conducting corporate social responsibility with the business. These are the things that CEI concentrates on.”
Prof Aremu submitted that it is high time students in tertiary institutions have business mind-sets and entrepreneurial skills before graduating. She encouraged youths to take up vocational training in areas they are passionate about, identify a gap in their area of expertise and then use their entrepreneurial skills to set up a profitable and innovative venture. She also advocated for a shift away from the conventional SMEs and urged youths to engage more in critical innovations and problem-solving inventions.
