International Journal of Contemporary Education & Management Published by Oxford Research and Publications Vol. 6 No. 4 January, 2016 Oxford Publications and Research International www.oxfordpublications.org.uk | ISSN 3609-7086 1 ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES AND YOUTH EMPLOYMENT IN JIGAWA STATE, NIGERIA Mustapha Hussaini 1 & Bashir Usman Abubakar 2 1 School of Preliminary Studies Sule Lamido University, Kafin Hausa, 2 Department of General Studies, Institute of Information Technology, Kazaure Abstract The study investigates the relationship between Entrepreneurship Development Programs (EDPs) and Youth Employment in Jigawa State, Nigeria for the period (2007-2014). The motivation for the study is due to high rate of youth unemployment in the state with entrepreneurship development seen as one-way of reducing the challenge. Data for the study was collected through the administration of Questionnaire checklist on some selected representative samples of skill acquisition training and fund recipients. An OLS model was used to estimate the relationship between Youth Employment (YE) and the two measures of EDPs. Our result from the regression analysis shows that there is positive relationship between entrepreneurship development program components (training and funding) on the one hand, and youth employment, on the other hand during the period under review which is contrary to some earlier cited works. While the sign of our coefficients are positive suggesting a positive relationship, both the two coefficients are statistically insignificant. Thus, the paper concludes that Entrepreneurship Development Programs through Skills Acquisition in Jigawa State does not adequately support the establishment of entrepreneurial ventures among youth and does not produce the desired level of jobs for the youth. The study therefore recommends that government should involve the private sector in the design and implementation of EDP and that both the level of training and funding should be improved in order to give recipients the necessary skills and funding to start their own businesses. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Skill Acquisition, Youth-employment, EDPs and OLS.