International Journal of Sub-Saharan African Research (IJSSAR)

Background: Limited job opportunities exist for young graduates of Mass Communication in today’s Nigerian labour market. However, the rise in the use of smartphones for photography provides ample entrepreneurial opportunity for utilisation of the knowledge and skills acquired from their trainings in photojournalism courses to earn a living. Meanwhile, not many studies have been done in this area, leaving a knowledge gap and academic lacuna that requires systematic scientific enquiry.
Objective: This study investigated how smartphone photography can serve as an entrepreneurship strategy for reducing unemployment among Mass Communication graduates in South-West Nigeria
Method: The total population was 6,000, sample size of 361 and returned questionnaire of 297 were shown in Table 1. The breakdown of the figures for each of the universities was included. The data was generated through structured questionnaire. The data were analysed with descriptive statistics: mean and standard deviation. They were also analysed with inferential statistics: correlation regression analysis. Presentation of data was done with tables.
Result: The analysis revealed that all the predictors contributed significantly to lowering unemployment; frequency of smart photography became the most notable predictor (Beta = 0.754, p = 0.00); then proficiency (Beta = 0.532, p = 0.00); marketing (Beta = 0.228, p = 0.00); and client relationship management (Beta = 0.172, p = 0.00). The multicollinearity tests confirmed the independent effect of these variables on the unemployment outcome.
Conclusion: The conclusion of this study is that all of practical involvement, technical know-how and digital marketing, supplemented by customer relationship management, serve to enhance employability options for Mass Communication graduates. Hard-skills and soft-skills investments are a prerequisite for coping with ultra-young unemployment contingencies.
Unique Contribution: This study presents a robust regression model demonstrating the correlation between competencies in venture mobile photography and decreased unemployment of graduates in Mass Communication in Nigeria, thereby contributing fresh empirical insight to this urgent socioeconomic issue.
Key Recommendation: The study recommends curricular focus on practical digital skills, up scaling training in technical proficiency and digital marketing, improving client management capacity, providing entrepreneurial-support programs, and empowering stakeholders to tighten education-labour market alignment are recommended. All of these undertakings aim to enable graduates to acquire the skills crucial to sustaining their employment opportunities within digital and creative economies.