YOUTH ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT: A PANACEA FOR OVERCOMING SECURITY CHALLENGES AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA

Nigeria has a large youth population that often plays a key role in the conflict, most especially violent ones. Youth unemployment in Nigeria constitutes a security challenge and can endanger socio-economic development. This paper examines youths’ entrepreneurial development as a panacea for overcoming security challenges and unemployment in Nigeria. The study was carried out using the survey design. Both primary and secondary data were utilized for the study. The descriptive statistics of simple percentages, frequencies, tables, means, and standard deviation were employed to analyze the data, while inferential statistics of z-test was used to test the hypotheses. The findings of this study revealed that causes of security challenges in Nigeria are unemployment, lack of good governance, corrupt practices of government officials, lack of quality education, lack of basic infrastructure facilities, poverty and marginalization of the youth. The researchers recommended that entrepreneurial education through training and skill acquisition could be a means through which the government may curtail security and unemployment situation in Nigeria. The most effective way for these youth to become catalysts for change and economic growth is through entrepreneurship. This research implies that no meaningful development would be achieved without first dealing with unemployment situation in Nigeria.