Do Nigerian Undergraduate Students have what it takes to be Successful Entrepreneurs? An Enquiry into the Entrepreneurial Capacity of Nigerian Undergraduates

In an effort to reduce the massive graduate’s unemployment, the Nigerian Government decided to promote entrepreneurial education among undergraduates by introducing entrepreneurship in tertiary education curricula. But it is not known whether or not this has improved entrepreneurial capacity of the students. Therefore, the study was designed to examine the entrepreneurial capability of students in selected universities in North – Central Nigeria. Respondents were selected from six universities using simple random sampling technique. The study used questionnaire as instrument to collect data. Data were analysed using cross tabulation, Pearson’s chi-square test, correlation analysis and binary logistic regression analysis. The result of the Pearson’s chi-squared test indicates a significant relationship exist between entrepreneurial intention and entrepreneurial capacity among the students X2 = 1021.48; correlation between entrepreneurial capacity and faculty of the student is statistically significant (r = 0.113, p-value of 0.0107); students’ age group have significant relationship with entrepreneurial capacity (r = 0.098 and p-value = 0.0282). The study concludes that students with entrepreneurial intention are equally likely to have the capacity to start a business and manage it successfully. It was recommended that students should be encouraged to study those courses that help in developing their entrepreneurial capacity.

Keywords: economy, employment, entrepreneurship, institution, personality