Scarcity or shortage of entrepreneurship in the Nigeria economy is worrisome and there is an urgent need to tame the monster or arrest the ugly trend before it degenerates further.
Entrepreneurship is a process that involves many activities like establishment of a business, operating the business and sustaining the recorded success. It also involves the utilization of resources and materials which will eventually lead to the creation of a venture.
The entrepreneur is therefore an innovator who searches for change, respond to it and exploit it as an opportunity. Entrepreneur helps to train the young ones and even the older ones. He adds to human capital formation or development. Entrepreneur must first imagine what he desires, then he wills that which he imagines and at last, he creates what he wills.
First and foremost, corruption is a clandestine economic philosophy of Nigerians by which they ostensibly combat the phenomenon of poverty. Majority has determined to travel a short toad to success. Nigeria is poverty ravaged; poverty is a manifestation of low national income and low capital income. Highest numbers of people live below the poverty line and so are ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed and ill-educated.
The pressures of indigenization, privatization and commercialization in Nigeria provided reasons for new and existing entrepreneurs to come into business with a desire to make profit useful in acquiring power and getting closer to seat of governments.
Opportunities are abound in various sectors; they must be established and tapped into. Surprisingly, able and energetic young men are busy roaming the streets looking for white collar jobs instead of thinking of what they can do for themselves and the country at large. Although, this may not be their fault in its entirely because there is no enabling environment for this type of venture.
However, opportunities are not in short supply but entrepreneurs capable of capitalizing on existing business or of creating new ones are those in short supply.
School syllabus at various levels from primary to higher institutions must offer courses on the development of entrepreneurial skills. In other words, there should be inclusion of entrepreneurship as a subject at every level of education.
Entrepreneurial skills should be adequately acquired in marketing, personnel, accounting and production management. Students must be exposed to courses in management development and organization behaviour. The objective must be to make them generalists instead of specialists.
Government has no business being in business. The business of business is business and must be performed only by business while government regulates. This is so because public enterprise runners in Nigeria are riddled with corruption, eye-service, make-belief and shameless profligacy.
Certificates of those concerned could be used as collateral while a low interest rate is fixed on obtainable loans with a one year moratorium.
Majority of churches and mosques have enormous resources for economic development of their members. They therefore need to encourage entrepreneurship pursuits of their members. More so, one can serve the true God better if one is economically well and financially buoyant.
In fact, religious organizations should emulate Baptist, Redeemer, Winners Chapel, Ahmadiyya, Ansarudeen, etc in the provision of support for entrepreneurship through the establishment of schools, hospitals, etc.
The prosperity of Nigeria depends on the number of its entrepreneurial citizens in the area of innovation, creativity and character,
If the best of social infrastructures are provided, the richest of development plan introduced, the most suitable capital granting schemes or agencies established, nothing developmentally worthwhile may be achieved if the competence of entrepreneurs are not developed, enhanced, motivated both technically and managerially.
In conclusion, entrepreneurs must endeavour to be socially or morally responsible so as not to undermine their success in the long run. They must apply the principle of greatest good for greatest number by maximizing goods and minimizing evils in their dealings. They need to put it at the back of their minds that business is grown from loss to Cost-Volume-Profit, otherwise known as Break Even Point and finally to profit.
Abiola Ayankunbi, MD/CEO of AbingMO3 Marketing Management Consultancy
abiolaayankunbi@yahoo.com
0802 305 1315
