1.1 Introduction
Poverty reduction occurs largely as a result of overall economic growth. The incidence of poverty has brought variations in living standards around the globe. The strategy has been to render assistance to the people, thereby alleviating some difficult situations of their lives and at the same time putting similes and adding new hopes to their lives, as against their poor living conditions. Entrepreneurship is recognized as an integral component of economic development and a crucial element in the effort to lift countries out of poverty (Wolfenson, 2001). According to Sauser (2005), it is a means through which accelerated economic growth and rapid industrialization have been achieved which Harris et al., (2006) sees as engine of industrialization.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
The incidence of poverty has brought variations in living standards around the globe. Some people are fairly well off and others are not. Some individuals are considered rich and others poor. However, everything is relative and that is certainly the case with poverty. For instance, even in countries considered to be rich, we read and hear of such things as ‘Millions of Americans can’t make a decent living” (Schwarz October, 1998:14).
Similarly, a poor person in Nigeria might not be perceived as such by other Africans in dire economic needs. Thus poverty is partly a matter of how one person’s income stacks up against the other person’s and partly how one earns his living. Due to the arming increase of poverty, the Nigerian government has designed a lot of stabilization measures or programmes to curb or reduce the menace of poverty in this country. Each past administration came up with a unique programme mire in order to eradicate or alleviate poverty in Nigeria (Dike 2000:5). Some of these programmes include; General Olusegun Obasanjo’s Operation Feed The Nation of 1976, Alhaji Shehu Shagari’s Green Revolution Programme of 1979, General M. Buhari’s Operation “Go Back To Land Programme of 1983, Genral Babangida’s Directorate Of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFFRI) of 1986, Genral Sani Abach’s Family Economic Advancement Programme (FEAP). Chief Olusegun Obasanjo later came back to power on May 29, 1999 and introduced another Poverty Alleviation Programme (PAP) in the year 2000 (Dike 2000:7).
The above past poverty reduction programmes yielded minimal fruit or failed dismally. Despite all these programmes, Nigeria experienced worsening poverty situations in 1980s and 1990s. The incidence of poverty increased from 46.3% of the population in 1985 to 65.6% in 1996. The dept of and severity of poverty as well as income inequality also worsened during the period (National Policy on Poverty Eradication, NNPE, December, 200:2).
The result of the failures of these programmes manifested in unemployment, lack of access to credit, rural and gender dimensions of poverty. While none of these programmes was completely without merit, none of them had a significant, lasting, or sustainable positive effect. This is because several factors hindering the success of government’s efforts to reduce the level of poverty were identified, (NEEDS 2004:33). Most of the failures of those programmes included the fact that;
- The programmes were mostly not designed to alleviate poverty;
- They lacked defined policy frameworks with proper guidelines for poverty alleviation;
- They suffered from political instability, interference, policy and macroeconomic dislocations.
- They lacked consistency as well as continuity;
- They are riddled with corruption, political deceptions, outright kleptomania and distasteful looting, (Ali Garba, July, 28 – 29th 2006:4).
Thereafter, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s year 2000 Poverty Eradication Programme NAPEP), came up again with another poverty reduction programme otherwise known as National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) in 2003, whose primary aim was to create a new Nigerian citizen who values hard work and who realizes that one cannot have something for nothing. Achieving this aim may be the strongest action Nigeria can take to build a better future for its people. NEEDS is about the Nigerian people - their health, education, employment, happiness, sense of fulfillment and general well – being (NEEDS 2004:28).
The policy thrust of the NEEDS programme is not only to reform the economy in order to boost economic growth, but also to empower the people as a means of revitalizing the weakened and social pillar. Doing so calls for a human right approach to development effort. The added value envisaged by this approach is that the norms and values enshrined in it have the potential to empower the people. This is important, because it is now widely recognized that effective poverty reduction is not possible without doing so (NEEDS 2004:28).
Therefore, in Akwa Ibom State where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Impact of Entrepreneurship Training Programme on Poverty Reduction.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Previous Governments of Nigeria initiated policies aimed at poverty reduction in Nigeria, the strategy has been to render assistance to the people (the poor), thereby alleviating some difficult situations of their lives and at the same time putting similes and adding new hopes to their lives (emphasis mine), as against their poor living conditions. Some of these government programmes on poverty reduction in Nigeria have worked fairly well in some parts of the country but in other parts of the country, they failed due to lack of continuity, political interference, the fact that the programmes were not really meant to alleviate poverty, non-implementation f government’s programmes to the letter as well as corrupt political leaders who only enriched themselves, leaving the people wallowing in abject poverty in the face of plenty (Dike 2000:3).
These, coupled with the neglect of communities in which dams are cited by the state and lack of adequate compensation after the flooding, turned these areas into poverty stricken environments, lacking in mostly all basic social facilities, including the electricity generated from their communities (Abdu & Mustapha, 2005:173).
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to ascertain the Impact of Entrepreneurship Training Programme on Poverty Reduction in Akwa Ibom State. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To investigate the entrepreneurship training programme on poverty reduction in Akwa Ibom State reduced poverty in the lives of the poor participants in that area.
- To examine the issues of lack of continuity and consistency affect the entrepreneurship training programme.
- To analyze the political leadership of the area that has affected entrepreneurship skill acquisition.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- What are the issues of lack of continuity and consistency affect the entrepreneurship training programme?
- What is the political leadership of the area that has affected this entrepreneurship training programme?
- How would entrepreneurship training programme alleviate poverty in Akwa Ibom State?
- What is the entrepreneurship training programme on poverty reduction in Akwa Ibom State reduced poverty in the lives of the poor participants in that area?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
Hypothesis One
- H0: There is no significant relationship between the activities of entrepreneurship training programme and poverty reduction in Akwa Ibom State
- H1: There is a significant relationship between the activities of entrepreneurship training programme and poverty reduction in Akwa Ibom State
Hypothesis Two
- H0: Entrepreneurship training programme does not reduce poverty in the lives of the poor participants in Akwa Ibom State
- H1: Entrepreneurship training programme reduces poverty in the lives of the poor participants in Akwa Ibom State
1.7 Significance of Study
The study is relevant in the following ways;
- This study has theoretical relevance to students of Political Science, Local Government administration, as well as practical relevance to administrators in the field. That is, it will help to really understand the impact of the poverty reduction programme on the stated target population in Akwa Ibom State.
- It will also enable us understand in details the principles of continuity and consistency in government implementation of its poverty reduction programme on the poor participants in Akwa Ibom State.
- It will hopefully stimulate further research work on the intricacies of how the subsequent government’s programmes on poverty reduction in the Local Government and other states of the federation could achieve positive outcomes.
Besides, the study will serve as reference material for subsequent researcher in the field or related topics.
1.8 Scope of Study
The study focuses on the Impact of Entrepreneurship Training Programme on Poverty Reduction in Akwa Ibom State.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
1.10 Definition of Terms
The following definition of terms of the research work;
Impact: Here, this concept means the impression or effect on something or somebody. The impression or effect can be negative or positive in nature, e.g in poverty reduction.
Government: In this study, government means the particular administration that was in place during the inception and implementation of needs as development strategies to reduce poverty in the country, state or local government areas.
Programme: The programme has been designed to create employment, wealth, happiness, sense of fulfillment, education and lots more, in order to reduce the poverty of the poor participants.
Poverty: In this context, poverty is a state of want or being poor. A state of having limited resources or nothing to satisfy unlimited wants.
Reduction: In this piece of work reduction is seen as the way of lessening the hardships of life and making life a bit manageable for the people (the poor) through some strategies.
