ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILL TRAINING NEEDS OF BUSINESS EDUCATION GRADUATES OF COLLEGES OF EDUCATION FOR SELF-EMPLOYMENT IN NASARAWA STATE NIGERIA

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine the entrepreneurial skill training needs of Business Education graduates of Colleges of Education for self–employment in Nasarawa State. The study adopted survey research design to carry out this study. Five research questions and five hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The population for the study consists of

112 respondents made up of 49 graduates and 63 entrepreneurs. Since the population was sizeable, there was no sampling. The instrument for data collection was structured questionnaire named Skill Training Needs of Business Education Graduates Questionnaire (STNBEGQ) which was face- validated by three experts from the Department of Business Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The questionnaire was structured on a bipolar scale of expressed importance and level of  performance and it  contained 46 items. To determine the internal consistency of the instrument, Cronbach Alpha method was used and a reliability coefficient of 0.87 for expressed importance, and a reliability coefficient of 0.89 for level of performance were obtained. Mean and Training Need Index (TNI) were employed to analyze data for answering the research questions, while t-test statistic was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance with the use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).  The findings revealed that business education graduates needed creative thinking skills, managerial skills, interpersonal communication skills, problem–solving skills, and decision–making skills. No significant difference was found between the mean responses of entrepreneurs and graduates in all the entrepreneurial skill training needs  identified except managerial skills training needs that have a significance difference between the mean responses  of  entrepreneurs  and  graduates.  Based  on  the findings,  it was  recommended among others that government through the National Commission for Colleges of Education should set up special grants for regular training and retraining of business education graduates to prepare them for self–employment opportunities.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

Nigeria  is  a  nation  endowed  with  all  forms  of  resources,  yet  poverty  is  on  the increase. This has manifested in many ways such as youth  unemployment, crime, high mortality rate, among others. Entrepreneurship will therefore become the core skill which young  graduates  will  need  to  exploit  the  opportunities  emerging  from  science  and technology, culture and communications. Entrepreneurship has become the mainstay of nations across the world. Entrepreneurship is the most significant development in recent economic history. Heightened levels of entrepreneurial activity are being witnessed across the globe. In India, China, Nigeria, Ghana, Chile, among others, entrepreneurship has been significant in the mindset of the people [Ranjeeve (2013), Ezibe & Edafiogho (2014)] Wennekers and Thurik (1999) listed the roles of entrepreneur to include: an individual who assumes uncertainty associated with risk, an individual who employs factors of production, an individual who is a decision maker, and a person who manages.

With growing academic interest in entrepreneurship, a lot of recent researches have concentrated on the reasons for the apparent growth in entrepreneurship. Renjeeve (2013) stated that a lot of this entrepreneurship from the developing and underdeveloped countries was at a subsistence level and as a result of lack of employment opportunities. The author also discussed some of the major reasons for the current growth in entrepreneurial activities to include: problem of new technologies, increasing demand for new products, easier access to resources, and access to entrepreneurial education/training, rising dissatisfaction at job and high regards for self-employment. Major contributions of entrepreneurial firms according to Gana (2001) and Ranjeeve (2013) include job creation, economic growth, better standard of

living,  serving  small  markets,  and  increase  in  productivity.  If  entrepreneurship  is  given

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prominent role in the training of our young graduates there could be more employment/self- employment opportunities. However, entrepreneurship is faced with some failures (Madueme (2014) &  Renjeeve  (2013).  They  stated  these  problem  as:  lack  of  experienced  or  poor management, poor financial management, lack of or insufficient manpower, weak marketing efforts, lack of information, high cost of raw materials, high cost of production, political instability, educational training that emphasizes theoretical education to the detriment of skills and entrepreneurial development, and fear of competitors.

Entrepreneurship is a way of thinking, reasoning and acting that is opportunity based, holistic in approach and leadership balanced (Timons & Spinelli, 2004).According to Adebisi (2015), entrepreneurship is a process in which individuals pursue opportunities, fulfilling needs and wants through innovations, together with the attendant risks. Entrepreneurship is a process   of   bringing   together   creative   and   innovative   ideas,   combining   them   with management and organization skills in order to meet an identified need and thereby creating wealth (Agomuo, 2002). In this study, entrepreneurship is the ability to seek opportunities and establish an enterprise based on identified opportunities. It is also the creation of a skill in order to produce something new for a living. For entrepreneurship to thrive well and successfully, entrepreneurs must adequately possess the required entrepreneurial skills.

Entrepreneurial skills are those skills that enable the entrepreneur to perform successfully in his business or enterprise. Comfort and Bonaventure (2015) considered entrepreneurial skills as business abilities which are required by an entrepreneur to function effectively in the turbulent business environment as an independent or self-employed person in order to improve one’s economic status and the society at large. Salgado-banda (2005) characterised entrepreneurial skills as the ability to have self belief, tenacity, passion, empathy, readiness to take expert advice, desire for immediate result, visionary and ability to recognise  opportunity.  According  to  Kilby  in  Adeyemu  (2009),  entrepreneurial  skills

encompass innovations, command over scarce resources, taking responsibilities for internal management and external advancement of the firm in all aspects of the business.   Olagunju (2004) stated that entrepreneurial skill is the ability of an individual to exploit an idea and create  an  enterprise  (small  or  big)  not  only  for  personal  gain  but  also  for  social  and developmental gain. A skill according to Etonyeaku, Onuoha and Kanu (2016), is the ability to do something proficiently. It is the means by which man performs an activity. In this study entrepreneurial skills are those creative abilities entrepreneurs require to start and run an enterprise effectively and successfully for his or her personal gain and the society at large. Entrepreneurs, in this study are the graduates of business education of colleges of education and universities with experience of at least five years and above in entrepreneurship business.

According to Etonyeaku, Onuoha & Kanu (2016), skill is the ability to do something expertly. Okorie and Ezeji in Olatoke (2009) opined that skill is a well established habit of doing something involving the acquisition of the performance and capabilities in the most economic way. Skill therefore, is the ability to perform or carry out complex activity using one’s muscular dexterity and cognitive skills with ease of operation in order to achieve proficiency.

Skill is very important in the life of every human being for his development and the economy. Skill acquisition, according to peace (2009), is a process of training on a particular task or function and to become expert in it. In his own view, Abanyam (2014) stated that skill is the ability and capacity acquired through deliberate, systematic, and sustained efforts to smoothly and adaptively carry out complex activities or job functions involving ideas (cognitive skills), things (technical skills) and/or people (interpersonal skills).

The entrepreneurial skills include: creativity and innovation; a high degree of self- confidence; ability to scan environment; good problem-solving ability; tolerance for ambiguity; ability to integrate the 5ms(men, machine, materials, money and management);

and goal-oriented. The skills also includes: the ability to make quality decisions, technical ability, concentration, communication, motivation, organisational skills, management/administration, financial skills, marketing skills and avoidance of business failure. However, this study will focus on creative thinking skills, managerial skills, interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills, and decision-making skills required by business education graduates for self-employment.

Creativity is the generation of imaginative new ideas (Neweel& Shaw in Sefertzi,

2000), involving a radical newness innovation or solution to a problem, and a radical reformulation of problems (Sefertzi, 2000). Creativity involves some form of display of ability to do something and most often in a new way. In the view of this study, creativity involves the generation of new ideas or the combination of known elements into something new to  provide valuable solutions  to  a problem.  According  to  Sefertzi  (2000), creative thinking involves not only a cognitive dimension (the generation of new ideas) but also motivation and emotion, and is closely linked to cultural context and personality factors. Creative thinking in a disciplined manner can play a crucial role in innovation. Creativity and innovation are normally complementary activities, since creativity generates the basis for an innovation, which, in its development, raises difficulties that must be solved once again, with creativity (European Commission, 2010). According to Osemeke (2011) when creativity is absent, a coherent framework for the implementation of a strong entrepreneurial culture will equally be missing; thus, resulting in unemployment, lack of encouraged innovation, and growth of crime rate among others. Osemeke stated that creative thinking skills include: adaptability, discovery, negotiation, imagination, motivation, ideas perception, exploration, searching, innovation, and transformation skills.

Another of the entrepreneurial skills is the management skills. Management skills of an  entrepreneur, according  to  Okechukwu  (2009),  are  enormous  because it  involves  all

aspects of managing a business enterprise which include locating the business environment, identifying product line, recruitment of staff, staff remuneration, determining staff welfare, staff discipline and human capital development among others. According to Obora (2003), a manager of a business enterprise should be a generalist with basic skills and knowledge in managerial functions and coordinating. There are certain personality abilities which Okechukwu (2009) stated that can predict the future, efficiency and success of an entrepreneur. The abilities are intuition, goal oriented, responsibility, self-confidence, initiative, independence, cautiousness, discipline, persistence, optimism, fantasy, and persuasion among others. The level of skills required depends on such issues as whether one is working alone or with others, whether the development of a product or service is simple or complex, and whether one is working with tight schedules. The business education graduates need managerial skills to enable them to be successful entrepreneurs.

Similarly, an entrepreneur should have good interpersonal skills to work successfully with people. This is because it is critical to build great relationship with one’s team, customers, suppliers, shareholders, inventors and others. Osso (2001) stated that some people are more gifted in this area than others, but fortunately, one can learn and improve these skills. According to Okechukwu (2009), interpersonal skills refer to mental communicative algorithms applied during social communication and interactions in order to reach certain effect or results. The term “interpersonal” skill is used often in business contexts to refer to the measure of a person’s ability to operate within business organizations through social communication and interactions with others. It is how people relate to one another. In this digital era and highly competitive environment, where customerism is the key, interpersonal communication plays a vital role. An entrepreneur, therefore, needs these skills to enable him/her establish relationship; inform, educate, influence and satisfy his customers. Having good interpersonal skill means relating well to others and being sensitive to their needs,

giving a good listening ear, and being empathic (Ezeh, 2011). According to the author, entrepreneurs usually interact with a wide variety of people such as inventors, suppliers, customers, clients, government, donors and volunteers. Communication in interpersonal relations, according to Agboola and Adamiluyi (2011), is the means or the system of sharing and  exchanging  ideas,  attitudes,  opinions/decisions,  feeling,  information,  among  others within a person (intra-personal) and among persons (interpersonal) and collection of persons (mass). The author maintained that the effort to win and retain sponsorship and support also often demand superior interpersonal skills of the entrepreneur. These skills, according to the author, include: leadership and motivation, communication, listening, personal relations, negotiations, and ethics among others.

Furthermore,  a good  entrepreneur is required  to be equipped in decision-making skills. Decision-making, is very crucial in any business enterprise. The purpose of decision making is to solve problems (Eze& Okafor, 2011). According to the authors, it is a skill for choosing what is to be done, who is to do it and when, where and how it is to be done. Okoli (2004) stated that decisions are hypotheses put forward for the solution of a problem, or are propositions about the problem to be solved. Appleby in Eze and Okafor (2011) defined decision as choice making whereby a person forms a conclusion about a situation. This represents a course of behaviour about what must or what must not be carried out. The purpose of decision making is also to direct human behaviour towards a future goal. This means  that  a  decision  is  the  selection  of  alternative  course  of  action  from  available alternatives in order to achieve a given objectives. In this study, decision-making is the selection of alternative course of action from available alternatives in other to achieve a given objectives.  Some  decision-making  skills  include  gathering  data/information,  ability  to identify  alternatives,  evaluate  alternatives,  select  the  best  alternative,  ability  to  take  a decision and upon it, monitor the decision taken and review performance and feedback.

In the same vein, an entrepreneur needs to possess problem-solving skills for effectiveness and efficiency. Problem-solving is the searching for and the implementation of a solution to a problem or problems. According to Ezedumand Odigbo (2011), problem solving is a process that involves the application of divergent thinking, critical thinking and other  problem  solving  skills  in  order  to  provide  solution  to  problems.  When  people, especially the young graduates are faced with the problem of unemployment, they are forced to be creative and critical in their thinking to look for possible solutions to a problem. Problem-solving, according to Zwilling (2015), is the generation of ideas, involving a radical newness innovation or solution to a problem. The author explained that problem-solving is an activity or process that involves students in learning to recognize or develop an argument, use evidence in support of that argument, draw conclusions, and use information to solve problems. Problem-solving, therefore, is the process of using critical thinking by the entrepreneurs in obtaining or finding solutions to problems. A big problem confronting an entrepreneur is how to recognize early enough that a problem does exist. Many problems could be averted or solved very easily if they were identified in time. One of the ways to identify a problem is to monitor variances from set targets or objectives (Nwachukwu, 2005). He stated that reduction in sales, production; longer time to complete an assignment in the case of a service industry poses problems to an organization. Nevertheless, critical thinking skills, creative skills and problem-solving skills need to be learnt and acquired by business education graduates for them to succeed as potential or prospective entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial skills could be acquired or developed through training in the colleges of education, universities and other related skill acquisition training centres.

Entrepreneurial  skills  can  be  developed  to  reduce  unemployment  and  youth restiveness through business education programme. These entrepreneurial skills, according to Ubulom in Ubulom & Enyoghasim (2012), include the ability to: plan, organize and manage

small-scale or medium scale business; source for fund for the running of small-scale businesses, develop skill of keeping the accounting records of small-scale business, develop human and public relations skills, develop skills for the co-ordination of both human and material resources, acquire skills for effective supervision, develop skills for effective utilization of profit for the growth and develop a broad based investment planning and implementation skills. Others, according to the author, include: creative skills, flexible and visionary skills, interpersonal and managerial skills (personal image, attitude, habits and behaviour), techniques of communication (communication skills), problem-solving, and decision-making skills. The entrepreneurial skills could be acquired or developed through training in the colleges of education, universities and other related skill acquisition training centres.

Training is a systematic development of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required by employees to perform adequately on a given task or job. Abiodun (1999) explained that training can take placed in a number of ways – on-the-job, off-the-job, in the organization or outside the organization. Adeniyi (2001) observed that staff training and development is a work activity that can make a very significant contribution to the overall effectiveness and profitability of business enterprise. The effectiveness and success of an organization, therefore,  lies  on  the  people  who  form  and  work  within  the  organization.  It  follows, therefore, that for employees in an organization to be able to perform their duties and make meaningful contributions to the success of the organizational goals, they need to acquire the relevant skills and knowledge required.

New modem machines and equipment for increased production, high wastes in production, low performance, new working tools, and absenteeism among others are training needs indicators for entrepreneurs. In appreciation of this fact, organizations conduct training and development programmes for the different levels of their manpower. Training physically,

socially, intellectually and mentally is very essential in facilitating not only the level of productivity, but also the development of personnel in any business enterprise (Onamade,

2010). Therefore, training can be put in a context relevant to the job being done. However knowledge is the ability, the skill, the understanding, the information, which every entrepreneur requires in order being able to function effectively and perform efficiently.

Furthermore, other scholars that highlighted the usefulness of training are: Akintayo and Oguntimehin in Onamade (2010). They identified the functions of training to include increased productivity, improved quality of work; improved skills, knowledge, understanding and attitudes; enhance the use of tools and machines, reduces waste, accidents, turnover; capital management among others. The authors further explained that training brings incumbents to that level of performance which he needs for effective and efficient performance  for  the  job;  enhance  the  implementation  of  new  policies  and  regulations; prepares people for achievement, improves man-power development and ensures the survival and  growth  of  the  enterprise.  The  complexity  of  industrial  activities,  coupled  with  the inherent   limitations   of   human   performance,   make   it   critically   important   for   the entrepreneurial skills training needs. Ahukana and Ugorji (2009) pointed out that while the new technology is solving an existing problem, it creates new ones which borders on the training of manpower to cope with its demands. Entrepreneurial skills training needs should be given adequate attention in business education to adapt to new demands of employment.

Business education is that type of education that inculcates in individuals attitudes, knowledge, skills, values that are required in the business world. It is a means of producing healthy, literate self-reliant citizens that would create wealth for human development, when they become self-employed.  Agwumezie in  Ezeani  (2012) sees  business  education  as  a programme  in  education  that  prepares  students  to  enter  and  advance  in  jobs  within  a business. Aliyu (1999) sees business education as an educational programme which involves

acquisition of skills, knowledge and competencies which makes the recipient/beneficiary proficient in business world. Business education is an umbrella under which all business programmes take a shield, such as marketing, business administration, secretarial studies and accounting (Osuala, 2009). According to Igboke (2000), business education is a dynamic field of study, geared towards preparing youths and adults for and about business. It is a preparation for a career in business when instruction is designed to prepare youths and adults for actual practice in the world of business. Ubulom and Enyoghasim (2012) see business education as an aspect of educational process, which provides an individual with the pedagogical and business competencies necessary for teaching of business concepts, knowledge, attitudes, and skills for personal use as an employee or employer and for participation as a business teacher. In this study, business education is a broad range of competencies and advancement in it.

The objectives of business education at NCE level, according to NCCE Minimum Standards  for  Vocational  and  Technical  Education  (FRN,  2012),  among  others  are:  to produce well qualified and competent NCE graduates in business education who were able to teach all business subjects in secondary schools and other related educational institutions; and to equip NCE graduates in business education with the right skills that will enable them engage in a life of work in the office as well as self-employment. Business education is offered at various levels of tertiary education: Universities, Polytechnics, and Colleges of Education.

College of Education, according to the Nigerian Academy of Management Administration (2014),  is an educational  institution created to prepare individuals to be leaders and practitioners in education and related human service fields. It is also responsible for expanding and deepening understanding of education as a fundamental human endeavour in helping the society define and respond to its educational responsibilities and challenges.

Ubong and Wokocha (2009) stated that a College of Education prepares the individual for careers in teaching, employment in industries, civil service and business establishment as well as self-employment. In this study, college of education is an educational institution saddled with the responsibilities of training students and or preparing the individuals for careers in teaching, and other areas of employments. There are three Colleges of Education in Nasarawa state, namely: Nasarawa State College of Education, Akwanga; Ipere College of Education, located at Agyaragu, and Hill College of Education, Gwanje Akwanga. All the three colleges of education offer Business Education programme, which leads to the award of Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) to graduates after three years of study in the colleges. Nasarawa State College of Education is owned by the state government, while Hill College of Education and Ipere College of Education are owned by private individuals approved by the state government.

The colleges of education in Nasarawa state produce NCE graduates including business education  every year. Since the state is a civil service state,  all the graduates compete for civil service jobs that are not always available. However, only few of the business education graduates are being employed by the state government for the teaching job. This is because the state government has placed embargo on employment for the past six years (2011 – date). As a result, the unemployment rate in the state is high since the state government cannot absorb all the graduates including the NCE business education graduates. Only very few of the NCE business education graduates are absorbed in secondary schools to teach business studies. The majority of the business education graduates are found roaming about in the state in search of jobs that are not available, thus increasing the unemployment rate in the state, and other social vices such as: youth restiveness, drug abuse, social conflicts, hooliganism,  poverty,  thuggery,  ethnic-political  clashes.  Some  of  the  NCE  business education graduates interacted with by the researcher, lamented their going to FCT-Abuja for

jobs only to find none, after tendering their academic transcript of the Nigeria Certificate in Education before the various organizations. The implication of the above is that Business Education programme, which is aimed at graduating knowledgeable, skilled, and competent individuals that can be self-employed and also create jobs in the society, thereby reducing the unemployment problem in the state, is not achieving her objectives. A good business education programme should be able to adequately prepare the graduates for both paid and self-employment.

Self-employment is where one works for himself and takes control of all decisions about the business as a worker-manager. Abdulkarim (2012) defined self-employment as working for oneself. This means that the owner is his own boss as he takes control and decisions concerning the business. Self-employment is mostly available in skill-oriented areas such as plumbing, computer business centers, independent marketers, wholesalers, retailers, and other professional areas such as insurance and micro-finance banking (Osuala,

2008).  Other  self-employment  jobs  identified  by  Anyaegbu  (2015)  include:  fashion designing, and bag/shoe making among others. According to European Employment Observation Review (2010), job creation through self-employment in Bulgaria, France and Iceland, is a key to labour market policies. Self-employment skills are for entrepreneurship and job creation. Self-employment is seen as a way of reducing poverty and unemployment as it contributes to the government’s goal of achieving growth and more jobs (Weligamage,

2009).  To  be  self-employed,  the  NCE  business  education  graduate  must  acquire  the necessary entrepreneurial skills required for sound control over a business enterprise or paid job. Self- employment, therefore is a situation where one is working for himself or herself e.g. an individual that is engaged in the business of transporting goods and services from one place  to  other  places,  or  a  person  who  owns  a  poultry  farm  rearing  chickens  for  the production of eggs and meat.

It is worthy of note that one of the objectives of vocational and technical education (business education inclusive), according to FRN (2004), is to give training and impart the necessary skills leading to the production of craftsmen, technicians, and other skilled personnel who were enterprising and self-reliant. From the foregoing it is clear that every business education graduate should possess entrepreneurial skills to enable him/her to be self-employed. This is because business education graduates are mandatorily or compulsorily required to take courses in entrepreneurship education before they can graduate from colleges of education. The graduates therefore, supposed to have acquired entrepreneurial skills such as creative thinking skills, interpersonal communication skills, managerial skills, decision- making skills, and problem-solving skills for self-employment, through business education programmes while they were in the college. Incidentally the high rate of unemployment among the graduates shows that they lack the entrepreneurial skills requisite for self- employment. It is the absence of these skills that retard their progress in a venture whether paid or self-employed, and also den them employment both in the public and private establishment. It is against this background that the researcher finds it imperative to conduct this study to determine the entrepreneurial skills required by Business Education graduates of Colleges of Education for self-employment in Nasarawa State.

Statement of the Problem

The objective of business education at the College of Education (NCE) level is to equip the graduates with the right skills that will enable them to engage in a life of work in paid or self-employment. An outstanding human capital assumption is that after finishing formal tertiary education, graduates should be able to make successful transition from their institutions of higher learning to become productive workers, self-reliant entrepreneurs, responsible parents, good citizens, selfless leaders and healthy lives. It is also believed on

graduation, that young people should have developed additional skills through training and experience that could further enhance their opportunities, capabilities and success in their life endeavours especially for self-employment.

However, the available business opportunities and conducive business environment in Nasarawa state notwithstanding, business education graduates still roam the street in search of jobs especially those who could not be employed as teachers by government and even private proprietors. There are many colleges of education that produce business education graduates every year. Incidentally, the state governor, Alhaji Tanko Almakura on assumption of office in 2011 put embargo on employment for all levels of the civil service including teaching, which has caused very high rate of unemployment in the state. This high unemployment situation has caused lots of frustration and inferiority complex amongst graduates including NCE business education graduates. This situation could lead to youth restiveness, drug abuse, social conflicts, hooliganism, poverty, thuggery, ethnic-political clashes and other social ills in Nasarawa State.

It is believed that self-employment is the solution that can address the unemployment issues among the graduates in Nasarawa state. Although, the graduates were taught entrepreneurship education in the colleges of education they attended, they seem not to have acquired the appropriate entrepreneurial skills required for self-employment, as a result of lack of these requisite skills, failure will follow instead of success. It is on this note that the study sought to determine the creative thinking skills, managerial skills, interpersonal communication skills, problem-solving skills and decision-making skills training need of business education graduates of colleges of education for self-employment in Nasarawa State Nigeria.

Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to find out the entrepreneurial skills training needs of Business Education graduates of Colleges of Education for Self-employment in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study sought to determine the:

1.   Creative thinking skill training needs of the business education graduates for self- employment in Nasarawa State.

2.   Managerial  skill  training  needs  of  the  business  education  graduates  for  self- employment in Nasarawa State.

3.   Interpersonal  skill  training  needs  of  the  business  education  graduates  for  self- employment in Nasarawa State.

4.   Problem-solving skill training needs of the business education graduates for self- employment in Nasarawa State.

5.   Decision-making skill training needs of the business education graduates for self- employment in Nasarawa State.

Significance of the Study

This study would be of significant benefit to government, curriculum planners, administrators of business education in Colleges of Education, business education graduates and researchers.

The government, through both state and federal ministries of education, are instrumental to policy formulation. Therefore the findings from this study would assist government make policies on entrepreneurship to assist the graduates to be self-employed. The findings will furthermore, accelerate deliberations among the educational policy makers for the purpose of improving Business Education curriculum to enable effective self- employment of business education graduates in the state.

The findings would hopefully afford the curriculum planners the opportunity to identify  those  skills  and  pedagogical  practices  that  are  in  line  with  contemporary technological changes, spirit of probity and accountability that were imbibed in the students in schools to assist the graduates for self-reliance. The findings from all the skills will assist the curriculum planners in the regular review and update of the curriculum for graduate self- reliance, wealth and job creation.

Similarly, the findings would help the graduates of business education in Colleges of Education   to   understand   the   need   to   adopt   appropriate   methods   in   teaching   the entrepreneurial skills to be identified. This will improve the entrepreneurial skills of the students on graduation for work in paid or self-employment.

Furthermore, the outcome of the study will provide information to business education graduates at various levels of post-secondary education to have a better understanding of the importance of entrepreneurial skills such as the creative, managerial, interpersonal relation, problem solving, and decision making skills for self-employment of the graduates. Consequently, business education graduates, upon acquiring these skills, will not only make them to be skilful and saleable, but will also in turn make them self-employable and thereby assist in reducing unemployment and its associated social ills.

Finally, the findings of this study were of immense benefit to future researchers as the findings would provide reference materials for in-depth research of similar studies. The findings will help future researchers to effectively carry out empirical studies in entrepreneurship and other related areas.

Research Questions

The following research questions guided the study:

1.   What are the creative thinking skill training needs of business education graduates of colleges of education for self-employment in Nasarawa State?

2.   What  are  the  managerial  skill  training  needs  of  business  education  graduates  of colleges of education for self-employment in Nasarawa State?

3.   What are the interpersonal skill training needs of business education graduates of colleges of education for self-employment in Nasarawa State?

4.   What are the problem-solving skill training needs of business education graduates of colleges of education for self-employment in Nasarawa State?

5.   What are the decision-making skill training needs of business education graduates of colleges of education for self-employment in Nasarawa State?

Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses formulated for the study were tested at0.05 level of significance:

HO1: There is no significant difference between the mean responses of entrepreneurs and business education graduates of Colleges of Education on the creative thinking skill training needs of the graduates for self-employment.

HO2: There is no significant difference between the mean responses of entrepreneurs and business  education  graduates  of  Colleges  of  Education  on  the  managerial  skill training needs of the graduates for self-employment.

HO3: There is no significant difference between the mean responses of entrepreneurs and business  education  graduates  of Colleges  of Education  on  the  interpersonal  skill training needs of the graduates for self-employment.

HO4: There is no significant difference between the mean responses of entrepreneurs and business education graduates of Colleges of Education on the problem solving skill training needs of the graduates for self-employment.

HO5: There is no significant difference between the mean responses of entrepreneurs and business education graduates of Colleges of Education on the decision-making skill training needs of the graduates for self-employment.

Scope of the Study

This study is focused on the entrepreneurial skill training needs of business education graduates   of   colleges   of   education   for   self-employment   in   Nasarawa   State.   The entrepreneurial skills required by business   education graduates of Colleges of Education include:  information  and  communication  technology  skills,  marketing  skills,  creative thinking  skills,  managerial  skills,  financial  accounting  skills,  decision-making  skills, problem-solving skills, interpersonal communication skills, but this study is delimited to creative thinking, management, interpersonal communication, problem-solving and decision- making skill training needs of business education graduates of colleges of education for self- employment in Nasarawa State. The researcher surveyed registered entrepreneurs and the NCE business education graduates in Nasarawa State to achieve the objective of the study.

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