National Economic Empowernment Development Strategy (NEEDS) as a Panacea for Employment Creation and Self Employment and Self Reliant

Abstract

This study assessed the ratings of lecturers in universities in Edo State on the role of entrepreneurship education in the realizations of NEEDS. Two research questions were formulated to guide the study. The population consisted of two hundred and sixty-four academic staff members from faculty of education and management of University of Benin and Ambrose Alli University. The survey research design was employed for the study. The instrument used was validated by three experts. Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation coefficient was used to compute reliability of the instrument which yielded a correlation coefficient of 0.72. There was no sampling as the entire population was used for the study while two hundred and thirty six respondents were used for data analysis. Questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. Data collected were analysed using the descriptive statistics. From the results of the analysis of data it was discovered that entrepreneurship education roles in meeting NEEDS goals in Edo State are creation of employment and self employment & self reliant. Consequently, it was recommended among other things that a robust micro finance scheme be given top priority by government at all levels of governance. The development of entrepreneurship should be a major option for employment generation and income growth in Edo State. Edo State government should provide robust legislation towards encouragement and development of entrepreneurship education by commercial banks. Finally recommendations were made for further studies.

DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2015.v5n2p61