The acting Rector, Kaduna Polytechnic, Dr. Catherine Uloko, Tuesday, warned against dire consequences in Nigeria if government fails to address issues of unemployment.
Addressing newsmen at an Engineering Conference organized by the College of Engineering of the Institution in Kaduna, she stated that, “lt is the unemployed youths that are kidnappers, they are the armed robbers and substance abusers today.
“In order to correct it, the entrepreneurial skill must start from the scratch, that is, the primary school level.
“In Kenya, they teach entrepreneurship education in primary and secondary schools and then take it to the tertiary level. So that by the time you reach the tertiary school level nobody will tell you to go and create a job.
“Because we are in the time of recession, there is need to indoctrinate students to have an entrepreneurial mindset. If you don’t begin to make students imbibe that entrepreneurial mindset at the end of the day what we are talking about today will be a child’s play compared to what will happen in the next five years when you have a Tsunami of unemployed youths.
“I think that government should take entrepreneurship education to the lower level right to the primary schools because if you finish primary six without furthering your education, you can now do a business. If you drop out from secondary school, you can do a business and become an entrepreneur.”
In a remark, Dean, Faculty of Engineering, University of Jos, Professor Stephen Mallo, noted that entrepreneurship was the process of designing, launching and running a new business.
He added that it evolved beginning as a small business, such as a startup company, offering a product, process or service for sale or hire.
Professor Mallo stated that the national policy on education had undergone some reviews as well as the curriculum to encourage more entrepreneurship.
Professor Mallo said the introduction of Entrepreneurial studies in Nigerian Tertiary institutions was barely one decade old, having started in the 2007/2008 academic session.
“We must admit that even though the impact may not be very visible, for now there is awareness on the need for graduating students to think out-of-the-box to take advantages of opportunities for self actualization in the midst of dwindling employment opportunities in government organizations ,” he explained.