THE IGBO APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM, GOVERNANCE AND ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHEAST NIGERIA

Abstract

Entrepreneurial development has helped in shaping the economy of most of the advanced and developed nations for centuries. In recent times, the entrepreneurial performance of the Igbo people of Nigeria has been described as naturally enterprising, ingenious and outstanding. The Igbo Apprenticeship System (IAS) is an enduring practice by the Igbos in Nigeria. It is popularly described as the biggest and most enduring business incubator in the world. It is an indigenous model of job and wealth creation practiced by the Igbos. The Igbo entrepreneurs, mostly through the IAS have successfully established businesses that are not only bringing heavy returns on investment to them, but have also made life easy for the Nigerian people particularly in the areas of transportation, trading, electronics, and so on despite the hast economic and political environment. The paper examined nexus between the IAS and Entrepreneurial development in Southeast Nigeria with special focus on the role of government of the five Eastern States. The study is exploratory and documentary in nature with qualitative descriptive method used in our analysis. Anchoring our discourse on the theory of the Developmental State, findings amongst others revealed that; hash economic environment, failed policies by the government, high and multiple taxations by different tiers of government and their agencies, have all contributed in obstructing
entrepreneurial development; also high level of insecurity in the country such as kidnapping, terrorism / insurgency, financial fraud among others have equally effecting the people who are involve in the IAS and entrepreneurial development. However, the paper recommends amongst others that; there is need for the government to go into partnership agreement with these entrepreneurs through the establishment of a trust fund which will serve as start-up capital for the newly graduated entrepreneurs from the IAS. There is also the need for the government to involve other critical stakeholders both in the economic and political environment to help salvage the waning IAS and revi talized entrepreneurial development.