Socio-Economic Determinants of Entrepreneurial Needs of Unemployed Youths Participating in Youth Empowerment Programmes in Abia State, Nigeria

Currently, Nigeria is experiencing high rate of youth unemployment. This is evident in the involvement of youths in unnecessary idleness resulting to social vices such as Internet fraud, kidnapping, drug trafficking, drug abuse, human trafficking etc. Against this background, this study identified socio-economic factors which could possibly determine the entrepreneurial needs of unemployed youths participating in youth empowerment programmes in Abia State as a way of ameliorating the high unemployment rate. The study adopted descriptive survey design with three [3] research questions and three [3] null hypotheses. The population of the study comprised all the unemployed youths currently participating in different youth empowerment programmes in Abia State. A sample of 200 unemployed youths was selected from the population of the study using stratified random sampling technique. Instrument used for the study was questionnaire titled, “Determinants of Unemployed Youths Entrepreneurial Needs Questionnaire” (DUYENQ). The questionnaire was face validated by three experts and reliability was determined using test-retest procedure after two weeks interval in Enugu State which was outside the area of study. Cronbach alpha statistic was used to determine the overall reliability co-efficient of 0.90. The researchers involved five trained research assistants in the process of data collection who were briefed on the modalities for administering the instrument. Data collected were analyzed using percentages, means and standard deviation for the research questions while t-test was used to test the three [3] null hypotheses at 0.05% level of significance. Findings showed that vocational interest, financial motives and prior education/training are major socio-economic determinants of entrepreneurial needs of unemployed youths participating in youth empowerment programmes in Abia State. It was also shown that gender did not significantly influence these major determinants of entrepreneurial needs of unemployed youths participating in youth empowerment programmes in Abia State. These findings were exhaustively discussed with far reaching conclusion and recommendations on the need to consider these major determinants of entrepreneurial needs by relevant stakeholders in promoting sustainable youth empowerment programmes for unemployed youths in Abia State in particular and Nigeria in general.