
Book Smart Versus Street Smart: A Qualitative Analysis Of Entrepreneurial Cognition Among ABIA Youths – By Dr. Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke
Book Smart versus Street Smart: A Qualitative Analysis of Entrepreneurial Cognition Among Abia Youths The ongoing debate between formal education ("book smarts") and experiential knowledge ("street smarts") holds particular significance in entrepreneurship, especially within emerging economies like Nigeria where infrastructural constraints and market volatility demand adaptive resilience. This discussion synthesizes insights from semi-structured interviews with five purposively sampled youth entrepreneurs (aged 24–35) from Abia State, representing diverse sectors including agriculture, retail, fashion, technology, and food processing. All participants operated businesses for an average of five years, with backgrounds ranging from vocational diplomas to postgraduate degrees. Uche Nwankwo, founder of Nwankwo…