THE NEED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN A DEPRESSED ECONOMY, A CASE STUDY OF NASSI ENUGU STATE

THE NEED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN A DEPRESSED ECONOMY, A CASE STUDY OF NASSI ENUGU STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1    Background of Study

In a free enterprise economy, the problem of national economic development and growth sustenance is usually the joint responsibility of the public and the private sectors of the economy. While the public sector contents with adverse challenges to development and creates an enabling environment for effective private sector participation in developing the private sector responds to the favourable environment by increasing its investment in the economy which is the necessary catalyst for economic development.

Entrepreneurship plays a vital role in the economic development of nations even in a depressed. According to Onuoha (1994:16) entrepreneurship leads to the transformation of traditional industry; creates employment opportunities; has linkages effects. That is, it helps to link up the various factors of the economy: makes more efficient use of resources; (raw materials, capital and labor); generates income (locally and externally), contributes to regional activity and cooperation; helps to promote change in a gradual and peaceful manner; and provides training and learning ground for people at all levels and functions.

In recognition of the important roles of entrepreneurs in economic development, there has been a global shift of various nations’ reliance on a large corporations, and government for economic development. Various nations of the world have discovered the dynamism in small business, and are now focusing on entrepreneur development.

According to Drucker (1998:7), the United States for instance has shifted from a ‘managerial’ to an entrepreneurial economy. Small companies which were hitherto diminished during the rapid industrialization era have made a great come back. Big corporation rose to ascendancy during the period in fields where economics of scale were critical to success. Among these industries were railroads steel, automobiles, chemicals, and communications. The swift pace of technology change and fragmentation of markets are eroding the traditional economics of scale. The reaction is that these changes are erasing many of the costly entry barriers that protected these corporations from small ventures. Nigeria is not left out in this global shift. In an effort to bring about rapid industrialization, the federal government introduced various incentives to encourage the establishment of private industries.

According to Sule (1999:13), the industrialization strategy was based mainly on large scale industries, and these industries relied heavily on the important of capital equipment and technical manpower. The objective of government in setting up these industries achievement on high level local added technology did not materialize. Thus in response to the weaknesses of large scale manufacturing, government sought to promote small scale industries as a strategy for self-reliant industrialization.

THE NEED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN A DEPRESSED ECONOMY, A CASE STUDY OF NASSI ENUGU STATE