ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION AND JOB CREATION AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF KADUNA STATE UNIVERSITY

The study examined entrepreneurial education and job creation among undergraduate students of Kaduna State University. Therefore, two objectives, two research questions and two hypotheses were formulated and tested. The study adopted a descriptive survey design in which questionnaire was used as the instrument for data collection. One hundred and fifty (150) 400 level students of Business Education in Kaduna State university in the 2024/2025 from the population of the study and all were used as sample for the study. The data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and t-test. The two research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while the two hypotheses were tested using t-test at 0.05 level of significance. Findings of the study revealed that entrepreneurial education has significant influence on identification business opportunities among undergraduate students of Kaduna State University, entrepreneurial education has influence on creativity and innovation to initiate business among undergraduate students of Kaduna State University. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that business education undergraduate students of Kaduna State University have discovered skills and talents necessary for identification of relevant business opportunities and can easily develop business idea and create products and services that satisfy will the customers through the influence of entrepreneurial education. The study recommended, among others, that entrepreneurial Education in tertiary institutions should be more practically oriented rather than theory as this will exposed the students to various lucrative skills

ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION AND SURVIVAL OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA

This study is aimed at investigating the contribution of Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) to the survival of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Lagos State, Nigeria. Descriptive cross-sectional survey technique was adopted and a sample size of 396 SMEs was selected. Data for the study were gathered through structured questionnaire and analyzed with both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicated that EO significantly influences the survival of SMEs in Lagos State. Specifically, the study discovered that risk-taking, proactiveness and innovativeness have significant and positive relationship with survival of SMEs in Lagos State while competitive aggressiveness and autonomy were not significant. It is therefore recommended that SMEs in Lagos State should deepen their engagement of EO, with focus on risk-taking, proactiveness and innovativeness. The government, through relevant agencies should continue to educate SMEs owners/managers on the benefits of EO and mode of integrating it into their business

INFLUENCE OF SKILLS ACQUISITION ON YOUTH DEVELOPMENT IN GUSAU TOWN

The study intents to examine the Influence of skills acquisition on youth Development in Gusau, Zamfara state.  The objective of this study is to specifically examine the extent of the influence of skills acquisition on youth self-reliance and development rate in the state. Data were obtained through the use of five point Likert scale with two items structured questionnaire.   Questionnaire were distributed to 60 youth’s respondents, although only 50 questionnaires were returned successful. The study also made recommendation that the establishing of skills acquisition in every nook and cranny of the state will enhanced the level of youth self-reliance and will also increase the rate of employability

OUTSOURCING AND THE PERFORMANCE OF FEDERAL MEDICAL CENTRES, OWERRI AND UMUAHIA, SOUTHEAST, NIGERIA (2014-2021)

Nigeria as a signatory to the United Nation’s (UN) Millennium Development Goal on health has over the years adopted various health care reforms to achieve this goal, among which was the introduction of the National Outsourcing Policy and Regulatory Framework for Nigeria (NOPRFN) in January, 2022. Sixteen years after the NOPRFN was introduced, it became imperative to ascertain the extent of its success. Hence, the major objective of study therefore, was to examine the effect of outsourcing on the performance of the Federal Medical Centres (FMC), Owerri in Imo State and Umuahia in Abia State, Southeast, Nigeria (2014-2021). The research was guided by two hypotheses which were drawn from the statement of problem and the objective of study. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design and data were sourced from both the primary (questionnaire and the interview) and secondary sources available. Simple statistical methods such as table, frequencies and percentage were used to analyze the responses from the questionnaire and multi-paragraph summary was used for the interview while chi-square (X2) and Horizontal Analysis were used to test the hypotheses formulated. The findings indicated that outsourcing has effect on management control system in Federal Medical Centres (FMCs), Umuahia and Owerri, due to the fact that the chi-square test results from the responses of the staff in FMC Owerri and Umuahia show that the calculated figures of 4.354 and 3.192 are greater than the Chi-square table values of 0.859 and 0.526 respectively. More so, the study found out that outsourcing has improved the financial management of Federal Medical Centres (FMCs), Umuahia and Owerri, reason being that the both organisations had five years of surpluses and two years of deficits each, of their financial statements in the years under review for the study. Finally, the study recommended among other things that managements should employ, monitor and maintain an adequate management control System in order to enhance their level of effectiveness, improve their revenue and enhance the overall performance of their organization

MICROFINANCE SERVICES AND PERFORMANCE OF MICRO BUSINESSES IN ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

This paper examined microfinance services and performance of micro businesses in Ondo State Nigeria. The study makes used of quantitative research technique by administering two hundred and forty (240) questionnaire. This study used four (4) licensed microfinance banks operating in Ondo and Akure town in Ondo State. Both descriptive such as frequency, percentages, mean and standard deviation; and inferential statistics such as Anova were used in analyses of this study with the use of SPSS for the analysis.   Findings show that the significant effect of microfinance service (F =428.834; p = 0.000) have a positive impact on the survival of these micro businesses, it also discovered that microfinance services have a positive impact on the productivity (F =13.757; p = 0.000). The study concluded that availability of micro finance services has a significant influence on the survival and productivity of micro business in Ondo State Nigeria. The study recommended that micro business should be able to access microfinance services for appropriate assistant

INFLUENCE OF SELF-EFFICACY AND CAREER ASPIRATION ON STUDENTS’ CHOICE OF COMMERCIAL SUBJECTS IN KOGI STATE SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS

The study investigated the perceived influence of self-efficacy and career aspiration on students’ choice of commercial subjects in senior secondary schools in Kogi State, Nigeria. A Descriptive survey research design was adopted on a target population of 830 (SSS 3) students offering financial accounting, commerce and economics from 73 public senior secondary schools in the Kogi State Teaching Service Commission (KSTSC) for 2020/2021 session. The entire population was used as sample for the study because the population was considered to be of manageable size. The instrument for data collection was a self-constructed questionnaire titled “Self-efficacy and Career aspiration Questionnaire (SECAQ)” that was administered to students after validation and tested for reliability. The analysis of the data was done using mean and standard deviation for research questions and independent t-test analysis was used to test the two null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Strongly Agree and Agree was collapsed into Agree while Disagree and Strongly Disagree was collapsed into Disagree. The findings from the study revealed that students have positive perception towards Self-efficacy and career aspiration on students’ choice of commercial subjects in senior secondary schools. Based on the findings, part of the recommendations made are that since self-efficacy is an individual's belief in their capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments, parents and school councilors should not force any student on the choice of a particular subject. And that a strong parent-child relationship is essential in shaping the students career choice. In this regard, it is recommended also that parents should take time to discuss different career choices with their children. Whenever necessary, the parents should express satisfaction with the child’s decision in order for them to realize their career aspiration

THE CORRELATION BETWEEN ENTREPRENEURIAL RISK-TAKING AND PROFIT MAKING AMONG MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN NIGER STATE

Entrepreneurial risk-taking is an important factor in business success, and there is a growing body of research on the relationship between risk-taking and profit-making in micro, small, and medium enterprises. The relationship between risk-taking ability and profit-making among micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Niger State was explored in this study. A survey research design was adopted, and data was collected from the population sample size of 400 MSMEs in Niger State using a standardized questionnaire. The findings revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between risk-taking and profitability (R = 0.998a, p < 0.05). That is, risk-taking explained approximately 99.6% of the variations in the level of profitability. This study concluded that moderate risk-taking and profit-making are key factors in achieving higher operational performance among micro, small, and medium enterprises. It was recommended that micro, small, and medium enterprise owners in Niger State prioritize risk-taking within a moderate range, as doing so can help them achieve higher profits and remain competitive in the long term

THE MEDIATING ROLE OF RISK TOLERANCE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMOTIONAL BIAS AND INVESTMENT DECISION OF PENSION FUND ADMINISTRATORS IN NIGERIA

Investment decision is very crucial in directly determining how an organization's resources are allocated, shaping its long-term finance, profitability and growth. As important as it is, investment decision made by managers on behalf of their organization may be susceptible to one form or more of emotional bias. This study examined influence of emotional behavioural biases on the investment decisions of Pension Fund Administrators (PFA’s) in Nigeria, which can lead to suboptimal strategies, compounded by risk tolerance. Drawing on behavioural finance theories, the study addresses how emotional biases—regret-aversion, status-quo bias, self-control bias —affect institutional decision-making within the pension fund sector. Using Survey research design, data were collected from licensed PFAs operating in Nigeria. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the direct and mediated relationships between behavioural biases, risk tolerance, and investment outcomes. The findings reveal Regret Aversion and Status-Quo Bias are significant; while Self Control Bias is insignificant on Investment Decisions of PFA’s in Nigeria. In addition, the mediating effect of risk tolerance on Regret Aversion and Status-Quo Bias was significant, Self Control Bias was insignificant.  Based on these findings, this study highlights the critical role of risk tolerance in PFA’s mitigating these effects, better adaptability to market conditions and improved decision-making, even in the presence of emotional biases. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers, financial advisors, and institutional investors aiming to improve the efficiency and resilience of pension fund management in Nigeria

EFFECTS OF USING KNOWLEDGE OF CHEMICAL CONCEPTS ON COSMETOLOGY PRODUCTION AS PATHWAYS FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILLS, AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Fermentation process is one of chemical concept that can be demonstrated inform of practical teaching and a necessities for average chemistry students to partake in it. This could have directed their minds towards entrepreneurship development after school that is capable of reducing unemployment, poverty and other social crimes within the society. This study was therefore set out to determine the effect of cosmetology on chemistry students regarding the use of knowledge of chemical concepts as pathway to entrepreneurial skills development. The study is empirical and adopted descriptive survey and quasi experimental research design using multi-stage sampling procedure. The populations were all science student in the public secondary school in Kwara state and the sample consist of 110 SSII science students. Three instruments were used they are Chemistry student Achievement Test (CAT) and Students Awareness and Interest of the use of Knowledge of Chemical Concept in cosmetology as pathways for Entrepreneurship Skill Acquisition using Questionnaire with Linkert scale. A pilot test was conduct among 20 non participants and the reliability coefficient of 0.82, 0.83 and 0.72 using Cronbach Alpha formula. Research questions were answered using means standard deviation while research hypotheses were tested at p = 0.05 using t-test. The results showed that there is significant difference in the performance and the achievement of student at p = 0.05). The study concluded that the use of knowledge of chemistry concepts had effect on entrepreneurial skills and achievement on secondary school students as pathways for entrepreneurship skill development in Kwara State. The study therefore recommended that there is an urgent need for the government and education stakeholders to develop a comprehensive framework to see how entrepreneurship skills acquisition could be part of core course in the chemistry school curriculum; teacher should see chemistry teaching beyond the classroom situation and the government should ready be to give adequate financial support in the realization of the objective

FINANCIAL INCLUSION AND THE PERFORMANCE OF SMALL SCALE ENTERPRISES IN KOGI STATE

The main objective of this study is examining the financial inclusion and performance of Small Scale Enterprises in Kogi state. The study investigated how Financial inclusion (regulations and policies on financial inclusion and affordability and use of financial services affected the performance of the selected SSEs in Kogi state. (cash flow management and risk mitigation) of the selected Small Scale Enterprises (SSEs) in Kogi state. The study adopted a survey research approach where primary data was collected from the respondents with the use of questionnaire administered to all the managers and owners of selected small enterprises in Kogi with a population of (667). Due to the large size of the population 667, Taro Yamane formula was used to determine the sample size (266). Out of 266 copies of questionnaires were administered, 250 (representing 94 % response rate) were retrieved and used for analysis. Multiple regression was used to test the two hypotheses in line with the objectives of the study and the results led to the rejection of the two null hypotheses showing that financial inclusion significantly effects the performance of Small Scale Enterprises in Abuja. The study concluded that there was a positive significant effect of financial inclusion (regulations and policies on financial inclusion and and affordability and use of financial services on performance of the selected SSEs in Kogi state.( cash flow management and risk mitigation) of the selected Small Scale Enterprises (SSEs) in Kogi state. The study recommends that the government should develop an acceptable, transparent workable and favourable fiscal policies such as provision of low lending rate and insured credits which ultimately will enhance the risk management of the selected Small Scale Enterprises (SSEs) in Kogi state