INFLUENCE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS SKILLS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF BENUE STATE UNIVERSITY, MAKURDI

ABSTRACT This study investigated the influence of entrepreneurship education on the development of business skills among undergraduate students of Benue State University, Makurdi. Four research questions and four research hypotheses guided the study. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The population of study was the current total population of 200 and 300 level of BSU undergraduate students estimated to be 8,231 students. Out of this population, 400 students were sampled using simple random sampling technique The researcher used self-developed questionnaire titled: Entrepreneurship Education and the Development of Business Skills among Students Questionnaire (EEDBSQ). The data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive statistics of mean scores to answer the research questions while chi-square was used to test the null hypotheses at .05 level of significant. The finding of the study revealed that entrepreneurship education has significant influence on the development of managerial skills, marketing skills, innovative skills and customer service skills among undergraduate students of Benue State University, Makurdi. Based on these findings, the study recommended among others that there is need for entrepreneurship education lecturers to constantly expose students to the practical aspect of the entrepreneurship education to enable students acquire practical knowledge, competencies and skills in business working environment.