- Unemployment: Don Urges Govts to Invest in Entrepreneurship
A lecturer in the Department of Economics and Business Studies, College of Management and Social Sciences, Redeemer’s University, Ede, Prof. Adeleke Adepoju, has urged governments, universities as well as private organisations to pay more attention to entrepreneurship.
The don said doing this would help to ensure industrial development in the nation as well as help to address the problem of youth unemployment.
The don stated this in Ede on Monday while delivering the fourth inaugural lecture of RUN titled, ‘Development by choice and prime in performance: Entrepreneurship for industrialisation’.
According to him, massive deployment of resources and time into entrepreneurship by governments and universities will help Nigeria to become industrialised within a short period and will help tackle the problem of unemployment and crime.
Adepoju said all students must be taught one useful skill or another that would enable them to be self-reliant after graduation, adding that this was the only way they could stop wasting away in the name of searching for paid jobs.
The don also advised Nigerians to start engaging themselves in entrepreneurial activities, saying this would improve theirstandard of living and eradicate poverty.
He stated, “There are different factors that are affecting Nigeria and through entrepreneurship, some countries are making it. Nigeria is better than Malaysia and Indonesia but because they embraced entrepreneurship in developing their countries, you can see where they are now. Malaysia, in particular, is a case study of cocoa and rubber.
“Nigeria can develop without going through steel rolling mills. Entrepreneurship introduces individuals to build initiatives and create solutions. We can start from individuals at homes, learn something new, do something new that is lucrative, do something that is progressive, and that is the time Nigeria will be a better place to live in.
“About 179 universities produce graduates and I believe if we are investing in entrepreneurship, it will help us to develop. That is what the developed countries have adopted.”
