The Federal Government has directed tertiary institutions in the country to offer from the 2007/2008 academic session, Entrepreneurship Education programme to enhance the skill acquisition of university and polytechnic graduates for self-employment.

The chairman of the Presidential Committee on Entrepreneurship Education, Hajiya Uwani Yahya stated government position while declaring open, a two-day sensitisation/curriculum development workshop on Entrepreneurship Education organised by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) at Hamdala Hotel, Kaduna.

A statement by the Head, Media and Publicity of NBTE, Mr. Lawal Hafiz said the chairwoman revealed that the directive was informed by the realisation that the type of education offered to our students in most of the tertiary institutions has constrained the entrepreneurial capacity of the youths to contribute meaningfully to national development.

According to her, the training the students receive has not been fully successful in equipping them for the world of business by giving them little exposure to business opportunities in their environment, pointing out "The realisation of this very critical fact underlies the directive of the Federal Government to all tertiary education regulatory agencies to establish necessary mechanisms for the introduction, development and sustenance of entrepreneurial culture among Nigerian youths".
Hajiya Yahya said entrepreneurship education has come to denote all forms of knowledge delivery that seek to empower the individual to create real wealth in the economic sector, thereby advancing the cause of development of the nation as a whole.

While stressing that the Federal Government expects all institutions to have started providing instructions in the area of entrepreneurship with effect from the 2007/2008 academic sessions, Hajiya Yahya commended the Executive Secretary of NBTE, Dr Nuru Yakubu for the systematic and consistent approach which the board has developed towards the issue of entrepreneurship and vocational education.

She solicited the cooperation of the polytechnic sub-sector in achieving the government's objectives, adding that the committee in partnership with funding and international agencies were working collectively to nurture and carefully plan all activities leading to a national re-orientation among all tertiary institutions on issues of entrepreneurship through the development of appropriate curriculum, capacity and the establishment of Entrepreneurship Study Centre in all the institutions.

The Executive Secretary of NBTE, Dr Nuru Yakubu, in his address, said the introduction of Entrepreneurship Education was informed by the high level of unemployment among graduates and the need to change the mindsets of our youths towards creativity, innovation and enterprise in order for them to be job creators rather than job seekers.

He disclosed that entrepreneurship education would be incorporated into all programmes run in our institutions just as the board has already taken steps to produce draft curriculum and arrangements to produce Teachers Guide and Training Manuals.