This article is written by Gbenga Afolabi on youngmoneyuk.blogspot.co.uk
"The reason why I chose to do my News Item on the subject of Youth Entrepreneurship is connected with my background and upbringing. As someone coming from Nigeria, a country where the rate of unemployment is 7x the rates obtainable here in the UK, entrepreneurship is a ubiquitous phenomenon. Almost everyone runs their own petty or large business alongside working for others. It is not uncommon to see university lecturers selling hand outs in order to supplement their wages, which is usually quite low. A lot of students run their own business alongside their studies.
As a student in Nigeria, I had at least two streams of income. This helped me with my upkeep. And this has stayed with me till today even in the UK, as I am always engaged in one form of business or another. Nigeria is a country where Winston Churchill’s famous saying “ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country” holds true more in the aspect of youth entrepreneurship than in the UK. The difference between Nigeria and UK couldn’t be more stack in this respect. Perhaps this is why commentators have deemed Nigerians as the happiest people in the world- the ability to decide your own destiny.
As a welfare state, the UK makes provision for her populace in form of unemployment benefits, income support, and housing benefits etc., something that is Utopian in Oil rich Nigeria. Nonetheless, the fact that many British people get handed everything on a “platter of gold” in my opinion, makes a tangible amount of people less competitive and unproductive and perpetually living on the breadline. Many will live out their lives never using their innate skills and talents because of the lack of an environment where creativity and entrepreneurship is actively encouraged.
Thankfully, now, there is a case for youth entrepreneurship. With unemployment among young people hovering around the one million mark, it is time to start debating the topic as well as shining some light on its intricacies. And since obviously the media shapes our worldview in a larger way than we are aware of, there isn’t a better time than the present to put the subject of Youth entrepreneurship in the headlines."
Read on http://youngmoneyuk.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/why-young-money.html
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