MENTORSHIP IN ENTERPRENUERSHIP DEVELOPMENT A BEACON FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: EMPIRICAL STUDY OF TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This paper seeks to echo the relevance of mentorship in entrepreneurship development and a beacon for national development. Theoretical support evidence for entrepreneurship mentoring has been adducing due to its efficacy and significant achievement in the development of dependable and successful entrepreneurs toward nation-building and development. But the trend of practice and acceptance since inceptions of entrepreneurship as a discipline till recent times in Nigeria is distinguished with resistance. Manifesting as creeping-gaps in tertiary institution’s course curriculum in entrepreneurship education, due to the conspicuous omission of the mentoring topic of thought in neither theory nor practical pedagogical approaches in entrepreneurship curriculum in Nigeria institution. Therefore, the objective of this study includes: to investigate the impact of mentorship as a training tool to educate and empower potential entrepreneur in Nigeria. This study empirically employed primary and secondary data, hypotheses, extensive literature review, theoretical framework, structured and adapted questionnaire on an estimated population of 300 students, with a sample size of 171 as respondent undergoing entrepreneurship education in three selected tertiary institution in Nigeria, using stratified random sampling. The study adopted measurement from notable experts in the field. Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) and SPSS analytical methods are used to analyze the collected data. The study revealed that “informal mentoring is positively impactful to entrepreneur developmentin Nigeria” And base on the research findings, the researcher recommends that entrepreneurship mentorship should be incorporated into the school curriculum at both secondary and tertiary institution in Nigeria.