Developing Small Business Entrepreneurs through Assistance Institutions: The Role of Industrial

The purpose of this study is to determine how assistance institutions are contributing to the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria, with special reference to Industrial Development Centre (IDC), Osogbo, Nigeria. Survey research was used in order to carry out the study. Three hundred and forty (340) respondents from university students, trade union congress and private entrepreneurs in Nigeria were sampled. Four research questions were generated from the literature review, questionnaire on developing small business entrepreneurs through assistance institutions, and the responses elicited from respondents were numerically quantified, tabulated and analyzed using the Likert Scale. The analysis showed that assistance institutions in Nigeria, especially IDC, have really contributed immensely to the promotion of small and medium enterprises as well as entrepreneurship development generally. The paper also looked into some problems confronting SMEs in the developing nations like Nigeria. Based on the findings, it is recommended that efforts should be made to commercialize the products of IDC so as to meet the demand of the people, and special fund should be set aside to encourage entrepreneurs who may be financially handicapped after training on SMEs development