By Nnasom David
Professor Mercy Modupe Adeyeye, one of Nigeria’s leading entrepreneurship scholars, has called for a clearer distinction between entrepreneurship and small business management, arguing that the two concepts represent different academic fields with separate objectives and approaches.
Adeyeye, who has spent decades researching and teaching entrepreneurship, said the discipline goes beyond business ownership and focuses on opportunity recognition, innovation, value creation and solving societal challenges.
She argued that entrepreneurship is often misunderstood in Nigeria, where it is frequently used interchangeably with small business management.
According to her, entrepreneurship should be viewed as a process of identifying opportunities, creating innovative solutions and generating economic and social value rather than simply starting and running a business.
Adeyeye has contributed to entrepreneurship scholarship through research, teaching and publications aimed at developing indigenous knowledge in the field.
She holds a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) in Entrepreneurship and Management from the Universitat de Barcelona, Spain, and a PhD in Entrepreneurship from the University of Essex, United Kingdom.
Her international academic profile was strengthened through her appointment to the Governing Council of the British Academy of Management between 2010 and 2012.
One of her major contributions to entrepreneurship literature is her book, A Fundamental Approach to Small and Medium Scale Enterprise, first published in 2008 and revised in 2018.
The publication examines enterprise development while challenging the perception that entrepreneurship is limited to owning and managing small businesses.
Adeyeye later published A Handbook of Social Entrepreneurship and NGOs with Case Studies in 2022, a work that focuses on social entrepreneurship from an African perspective.
The book examines how entrepreneurial approaches can be used to address social challenges, create employment opportunities and promote sustainable development.
Her research has also highlighted the growing importance of social entrepreneurship, which she describes as a shift from traditional profit-focused entrepreneurship towards creating measurable social impact.
Adeyeye has argued that social enterprises should be recognised as a distinct field separate from charity, philanthropy and corporate social responsibility.
Beyond research, she has held several leadership positions in Nigerian academia.
During her 19 years at the Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUT Minna), she became the institution’s first and only Professor of Entrepreneurship. She was also the first female Head of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Business Studies and the first female Dean of the School of Innovative Technology.
In May 2024, she became the first academic in the School to deliver an inaugural lecture.
Adeyeye later moved to the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), where she currently serves as the university’s only Professor of Entrepreneurship.
She continues to supervise postgraduate research, mentor scholars and contribute to the growth of entrepreneurship studies in Nigeria.
Her expertise has also been applied to development programmes, including serving as Team Lead for the Nigeria Gender Analysis under a USAID-supported five-year development strategy.
She has also worked with the World Bank as a Social Standards Facilitator during Training of Trainers programmes.
Adeyeye received the Distinguished Entrepreneurship Award on World MSME Day in 2022 in recognition of her contributions to entrepreneurship research and national development.
Through her academic work, publications and mentorship, she has continued to advocate for entrepreneurship as a tool for innovation, employment creation and economic transformation rather than merely a pathway to business ownership.