Theatre entrepreneurship and the management of graduate unemployment in Nigeria.

Abstract

The number of graduates being produced by tertiary institutions in Nigeria has increased tremendously. Therefore, the need to create job opportunities for the Nigerian youths underscores the emergence of entrepreneurial skills acquisition programmes which the Federal Government of Nigeria adopted as measures of intervention for the promotion of entrepreneurship and youth empowerment. However, enough consideration has not been given to the exploration of theatre or performing arts entrepreneurial opportunities in the said government measures of intervention. Through the deductive and interview techniques, this paper identifies forty entrepreneurial potentials inherent in the performing arts which Nigerian youths cum graduates of theatre or performing arts can explore in their quest to be self-reliant and contribute to the economic development of Nigeria. This paper concludes that there is need to create enabling environment for young entrepreneurs not only through the establishment of empowerment programmes but also to encourage, prioritize, patronize, finance and recognize the significance of young entrepreneur to the development of a nation. Furthermore, the Federal Government of Nigeria should incorporate entrepreneurial potentials of the Performing Arts into its empowerment programmes.