ECONOMIC RECESSION IN NIGERIA: A CHALLENGE TO BUSINESS EDUCATION

Thesis Overview

INTRODUCTION1.1   Background of the Study        The emergence of economic recession in Nigeria was triggered off by the global economic meltdown. The recession imposed severe pressure on the various sectors of the Nigerian economy. The manufacturing sector seems to be the hardest hit. The sector faced challenges which centered on massive decline in sales, patronage, profit margin, low production, retrenchment, difficulty in obtaining dollars, increased production costs, factory closure, low power supply, abrupt increase in tariff as well as losses on foreign exchange loans (NNPC, 2017). These challenges seem to confront the roles of management accountants working in the manufacturing sector, as management accountants are internal managers in the firms whose activities involve raw material acquisition, staffing and human resources management, customers maintenance/retention, fixing prices, and so on (Adeniji, 2008).        Business education is one of the occupational areas that are richly provided by vocational and technical education in Nigeria. Business education refers to a programme of instruction that offers various skills in accounting, marketing and Office Technology and Management (OTM). Major topics include: office practice, book keeping, business mathematics, business communication, secretarial duties, word processing, advertising (Ajisafe, Bolarinwa & Edeh 2015).        Edokpolor and Egbri (2017), explained that the first two goals involve education ‘for’ business, which is aimed at equipping recipients with the requisite attributes (knowledge, skills, competencies, and attitudes) to become gainfully employed in the world of work, whereas the later addresses education ‘about’ business, which is aimed at providing a sound basis for further studies at the graduate and post-graduate levels.        Some contemporary thinkers in education and training conceive of business education as a major contributor to human resource, entrepreneurial and national development. Despite these laudable roles, available indications have shown that Nigeria have been handling business education with levity (Ekpenyong, 1992; Ekpenyong & Nwabuisi, 2003; Oladunjoye, 2016; Edokpolor & Egbri, 2017). Edokpolor and Egbri (2017) added that this situation has consequently deprived business education from adequate provision of funds, qualified manpower, modern facilities, quality curriculum, and proper attention. Although, business education have attracted bulk of research within these areas (Nwodoh, n.d; Ohiwerei, 2006; Nino, 2010; khan, Shah, & Azam, 2011; Shalini & Ullash, 2012; Ojimba, 2012; Ugwuogo, 2013) leaving a gap in literature pertaining to empirical support. Also, it remain unclear how the possibilities of overcoming the issues and challenges of business education would help in promoting national development. However, adequate optimization of resources for the effective delivery of business education in Nigeria is receiving a growing attention (Agbo, 2012; Ekpenyong & Edokpolor, 2015a; Edokpolor, Edokpolor & Olupajimo, 2016; Edokpolor & Imafidon, 2017; Edokpolor & Oduma, 2017). This is because vocational education in general has been considered as a viable programme that helps to promote sustainable economic growth and development (Cantor, 1985; Ul-Haq & Haq, 1998; Tilak, 2002; Asian Development Bank, 2004; Agrawal, 2013). It is believed that for any nation to help in promoting sustainable economic growth or development, effort shall be made to invest sufficient amount of financial resources on business education programme.