DEPARTMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION

ABDU GUSAU POLYTECHNIC TALATA

MAFARA ZAMFARA STATE

HNDII MASS COMMUNICATION

(EVENING)

ASSIGNMENT
ON
ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT
(EED 413)

BY
MUSA AINO
2001933016

QUESTION
Discuss briefly the origin of entrepreneurship in Nigeria?

TO BE SUBMITTED TO MALLAM: ABDULMUJIB JELANI

INTRODUCTION/BODY

WHAT IS ENTREPRENEURSHIP?

Entrepreneurship simply means when an individual who is business minded, seeks to

provide or design or bring into existence an uncommon or a common but very unique
product into the market economy in other to sell and make a profit off it.
Entrepreneurship also has to do with the deliberate launching of a small scale business
with the interest to grow it up and make it a larger scale business that would one day
run the economy of the market.

This is regarded solely as the foundation on which the market economy of a country is
built on, and it is known also as a highly risky business that involves the use of trust
gained and the goal is always profit, no matter what is being dealt with, an entrepreneur
that does not see the goal of profit AHS not done anything yet with his or her hands.

Entrepreneurship is a willing act that involves the capabilities to manage and construct a
business plan that will not only yield a profit but be beneficial to a targeted capacity of
people who are to use the product.

Entrepreneurship is defined as the ability of an entrepreneur to act on a hunch, or on an

idea that was neither stolen nor borrowed, but thought of by him or her, and enacted
into business immediately. It is also an opportunity given to people to come out of their
shells and holes and walk a path of greatness which they have never walked before.

WHO IS AN ENTREPRENEUR?

An entrepreneur plays a very vital role in the entrepreneurship business and in the
growth of the country’s economy. An entrepreneur is like a middleman between the
public and his products, he is given the assignment to make sure that his product is not
only safe for the public to use or consume it is also effective in the things that it says it
is. An entrepreneur is clever, but can never be a dishonest person as this could go to
great lengths to put the public at risk.
Aside from being high-risk takers, these sets of people seek action in place of being
gullible, they are sent on a mission to liberate the public from foreign influence, with the
types of products they bring into the economy, and they are creative in their mindset
and are able to predict when a situation pertaining to the economy would not be
favorable in any way.

Entrepreneurs are able to set a goal for themselves and make sure that such goal is
headed towards profit at the end of the day. Like I said, entrepreneurs re selfless human
beings who devote their lives to the public economy of the country and seek the best for
people who would be using their products.

HISTORY OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN NIGERIA

Entrepreneurship began when people produced by themselves more products than they
needed. This made them seek for ways to get it out of their stock. Therefore, they
exchanged these surpluses with others who were in need of it. For example, if a farmer
produced more potatoes than he needed, he exchanged the extras he had with a
blacksmith’s extra axes which were what he needed. This way, Nigerians in the olden
times were involved in entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship in Nigeria came into being when a formidable group of people brought
about a product in increased numbers that could be beneficial to the public. However,
something needed to be done about the products that were manufactured in very large
quantities, and a system was introduced into the country’s economy which was termed
as ‘barter system’
Nigerians had to exchange these products that they needed with something that they
had, and this went on for a long time—as long as you needed the product, you could
come exchange it for something you have less value for.
The producers at this point in time saw this as a great business opportunity and
exploited more on it, and Nigerians continued with the ‘barter system’ for a while. This
was how entrepreneurial trade found its stand in the Nigerian economy.
During the time of the colonial rulers, a handful of Nigerians had the capacity or ability to
kick-start a business in buying and selling and in trade generally. In this period, it was
paramount to make use of banking sectors either to borrow money or save money from
your business, and this opportunity was only given to some people who settled in urban
areas in Nigeria at that time. In other words, there was a great limitation to the number
of people that could start a business and see it through. The banks were mostly used to
satisfy the interests of the colonial masters, however, a Nigerian who did not have a
large sum of money, or did not know someone on government was not given loans to
start any kind of business.
Nigerians HD suffered for so long, and after a while, when the colonial rule ended
abruptly, Nigerians were granted the opportunity to reshape the country to soothe their
personal interests, especially when it came to the business sector which birth the
entrepreneurship business.
The federal government at that time, made a declaration that indigenization and
privately owned enterprise should be the order of the day, to liberate people from
poverty and help to build a stable and balanced economy.

The modern type of entrepreneurship, therefore started while the colonial masters were
still ruling, and the concept was given birth to from that moment onward.

PRESENT BARRIERS TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN NIGERIA

Other barriers that discourage the Nigerian people from engaging in entrepreneurship
include:

1. Difficulty in obtaining venture capital to finance businesses.

2. The policies of the Nigerian government that are detrimental to the success of
large scale businesses. These include repealing laws that will promote free
enterprise.
3. The inability to enforce Nigerian patent laws discourages many from
commercializing their ideas and inventions.
4. The constant political instability in the country discourages foreign investors
 5. The high level of religious intolerance and ethnic warfare discourages investors
and also hinders progress as it affects existing businesses.

ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITIES IN NIGERIA

Nigeria has gone through its own share of economy decline since the 1980s and this
has created a not too pleasant environment for businesses. Also, the high cost of doing
business in Nigeria, which is due to such reasons as the lack of adequate electricity and
other basic needs also stifle entrepreneurial efforts. However, lower taxes have
encouraged many to look into starting up their own businesses. The Nigerian
government has also put in place a process that promotes exports from Nigeria to other
countries. This will help entrepreneurs who seek to do business in Europe or the United
States. Also, with the Nigerian government increasing investments in modern
technology, this will create a more conducive environment for businesses to thrive.
Entrepreneurial activities are high in Lagos, the commercial hub of the nation and also
in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.

CONCLUSION

Concept of entrepreneur and entrepreneurship has been vividly discussed, also how it
started and how it has affect the country and countrymen has also been looked into,
entrepreneurship is a center focus of most developed countries, set an enabling
environment for their citizen to strife well. Take time to read through lines and paragraph
of the topic to understand the history of entrepreneurship. That’s all for the history of
entrepreneurship in Nigeria.
REFERENCE

Abraham, D. B., Grilo, I., Thurik, A. R. (Eds). The Handbook Of Research On

Entrepreneurship Policy. Cheltenham, Uk: Edward Elgar, 2007.

Carree, M. A., Thurik, A. R. "The impact of entrepreneurship on economic growth" In:

Audretsch, D. B., Acs, Z. J. (eds). Handbook of Entrepreneurship Research.
Berlin: Springer Verlag, 2010.

Grilo, I., Thurik, A. R. "Determinants of entrepreneurial engagement levels in Europe

and the US" Industrial and Corporate Change 17:6 (2008): 1113–1145.

Lamballais Tessensohn, T., Thurik, A. R. "The relation between different kinds of

nascent entrepreneurship and the business cycle" In: Braunerhjelm, P. (ed).
Entrepreneurship, Norms and the Business Cycle. Örebro, Sweden: Swedish
Entrepreneurship Forum, 2012.