Mrs Fatahiya Halidu Imoro, Executive Director of Malwin Foods, has urged students to set their minds on developing business ideas that will enable them create jobs before they complete school.
She said the scarcity of jobs and the increased interest in entrepreneurship education where many educational institutions were offering courses on the subject, provided ample opportunity for students to learn and practise what they learnt.
Mrs Imoro was speaking at the University for Development Studies’ (UDS) Faculty of Sustainable Development annual entrepreneurship seminar on the theme: “Entrepreneurship for Practice: Stimulating Entrepreneurial Spirit in Students.”
The seminar, organised by the Department of Development Management and Policy Studies (DDMPS), was to create platform for students of UDS to compete in an entrepreneurial skills development programme, which aimed at unearthing the critical thinking and problem-solving skills of students.
Mrs Imoro encouraged young persons to aim high and psyche themselves up for setbacks that might hinder their entrepreneurship dreams of promoting positive change as they made impact.
Dr Baba Musa, Head of DDMPS said the Department expected students to identify the basic problems of society that would require profitable and innovative ways of solving them.
He said, “A growing number of employers are no longer looking for graduates with the most impressive degrees, because they do not believe academic success is a sign of professional success.”
He called for measures such as more engagement of youth in decision-making, teaching attitude in class, exposing students to real life situation and introduction of entrepreneurship and French as compulsory subjects in the educational curricular from primary to tertiary.
He said, “The youth have been depending so much on the government. It is high time they took decisions and tried to do something for themselves like entering a business in support of what the government is doing. That is the first step to curb unemployment in the country.”
Dr Sulemana Achanso, Dean of Faculty of Sustainable Development Studies, UDS noted that one of the greatest challenges facing graduates was how to find employment.
Mr Iddrisu Abdul Rashid, An Entrepreneur, Lecturer and Consultant at UDS, encouraged the students to pursue their business ideas to explore various business pitching competitions to realise their goals.
