BIG-THREE HYPOTHESIS AND ENTREPRENEURIAL PHOBIA AMONG FEDERAL CIVIL SERVANTS IN FCT ABUJA, NIGERIA: PERCEPTION SURVEY

Umar Elems Mahmud, Yusuf Abdullahi Ogwuzebe and Yakubu Shehu Ibrahim, PhD
Volume 8 Issue 1

Abstract

The well-being of an employee can be substantially improved when earnings are diversified. For this reason, states in Nigeria, including Rivers and Benue, institutionalized various programmes aimed at encouraging civil servants to engage in personal entrepreneurial ventures such as farming, on work days officially declared work-free for the purpose. Literature and empirical studies reviewed recognize the role of an individual’s personality trait in entrepreneurial achievement. Nonetheless, there is obvious dearth of empirical studies in the nature and causes of the entrepreneurial phobia of civil servants in FCT, Abuja and the consequential diminution in well-being, due to the inadequacy of pension earnings. The objective of this study, therefore, is to bridge the gap. Using purposive random technique, a sample of 1,000 retirees in Abuja was selected and employed in a survey, supported with interviews, to examine the attitude of entrepreneurial engagement of respondents during the active service years and post-retirement periods. Underpinned by Big Three Hypothesis variant of Personality Trait Theory, the study analysed primary data obtained from retirees resident in FCT, Abuja, using simple per centage tool, in line with practices in management and social sciences procedures. Critical among the findings was a pervasive phobia for entrepreneurial engagement by civil servants in FCT, Abuja during the active service years, due to the very low desire for achievement, lack of selfconfidence and excessive risk aversion, all of which characterize Trait Theory. Consequently, it was recommended, among others, that government at all tiers should institutionalize policies and programmes aimed at developing entrepreneurial appetite and impetus in civil servants, so as to propel the beneficiaries to self-confidence and risk bearing, for extra-official productivity and diversified earnings, instead of the last-ditch entrepreneurial syndrome. Key Words: Entrepreneurial Phobia, Personality Trait, Civil Servants, Retirees, Achievement.

Download Paper