THE PROBLEM OF INDIGENOUS ENTREPRENEURS IN OFU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF KOGI STATE

This research work examined the Problem of indigenous entrepreneurs in Ofu local government area of Kogi State. This work sees entrepreneur as a person who creates something new with value by devoting necessary time, receiving in return monetary rewards, personal satisfaction and independence. It is axiomatic to posit that entrepreneurship is a major contributing factor to economic growth and development in any polity. Despite all the efforts of government, progress of entrepreneurs in Ofu local government area and Nigeria at large is still limited due to financial, infrastructure and business climate Problem etc. The researcher used survey design for the study. The population of the study comprises of the population of indigenous entrepreneur business in Ofu Local Government area of Kogi State. The indigenous entrepreneurs were divided into ten zones; comprising of semi-skilled and illiterate entrepreneurs. The sample size was one hundred and twenty five and it was determined using the Yaro Yamane formula. The researcher used both primary and secondary sources of data in the course of the study. The primary data were collected through the instrument of questionnaire, interviews and observation. The secondary data were collected from text books, journals, magazines, newspaper and libraries. Also chi-square was used in testing the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The finding of the research work revealed finance, infrastructure and lack of management-know-how as the greatest problems facing indigenous entrepreneurs. The study recommends that entrepreneurship is essential for rapid and sustained economic growth but there is urgent need to change the mindset of the average Nigerian especially the youth towards embracing self-employment and de-emphasize the search for white collar jobs that are non-existent.