Impact Of Social Policy Programmers (N-Power) On Youth Development, In Hong Local Government Area Of Adamawa State, Nigeria

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science (IJRIAS) | Volume VII, Issue I, January 2022 | ISSN 2454–6194

Impact Of Social Policy Programmers (N-Power) On Youth Development, In Hong Local Government Area Of Adamawa State, Nigeria

FELIX, Maxwell Gaya, WILLIAMS, James Geffery and SUNDAY, Tufang
Adamawa State College of Education, Hong,

Abstract
The study examined the impact of social policy programmes (N Power) on youth development in Hong Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to examine the impact of Social policy programmes (the N power) scheme in employment generation, economic wellbeing and job skills enhancement of youth. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to sample four hundred respondents and the data obtained were analysed using descriptive statistics. The results of the study revealed that N-power scheme create job opportunities, curtail incidence of poverty, training of youth as all the items were accepted. The programme improved living standard among youth as all the items were accepted by the respondents and the most common N-power programme is N-power teach. The scheme face challenges of supervision, delay in payment of stipulated allowance and attitudes of some volunteer. The study concluded that the programme meant to provide employment to unemployed youth but faced some challenges for the youth to fully benefit from the scheme. It was recommended that government should provide skills acquisition Centre, adequately funded, equipped and due attention should be given at all levels to serve as a hub for massive employment generation, ramp up pressures on state governments to absorb some of the volunteers who happened to be in good records, give incentive to both staff and volunteer of the programme and Local Government Areas should have office access to the National investment Headquarters at Abuja for complain, and for regular supervision.

Keywords: N-Power, social policy, programmes, youth and development.

Introduction

Unemployment is the most dangerous evil bedevilling the Nigeria youths today. Reports from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) (2005) shows how the “population in unemployment has maintain a steady increase from 17.7 million in 1988 to 66.7 million in 2004.” In 2010, the national Bureau of Statistics reported that 60.9%of Nigerians were unemployed.). To corroborate this assertion, the national Bureau of Statistics in the 2012 National Baseline Survey, posits that more than half of the Nigerian youths population in the country are unemployed.
N-Power programme is a youth empowerment scheme sponsored by the Federal Government of Nigeria. It addresses the challenge of youth unemployment by providing a structure for large-scale and relevant work skills acquisition and development while linking its core and outcomes to fixing inadequate public services and stimulating the larger economy. N-Power aspires to provide a platform where most Nigerians can access skills acquisition and development. N-Power is designed for Nigerian citizens between the ages of 18 and 35. The modular programmes under N-Power will ensure that each participant will learn and practice most of what is necessary to find or create work.
However, Nigeria, a country with an estimated population of 170 million people (NBS, 2018) is well endowed with abundant human and natural resources and a favourable geographical location in the world map. The current global financial crisis has impacted negatively on the macro and micro levels of the economy of Nigeria. As at present, the situation has poses serious threats and challenges to both government and well-meaning citizens. Nigeria like most developing nations of the world is faced with myriad of problems which include youth unemployment, high rate of poverty, conflict and diseases, insincerity, over-depending in foreign goods, low economic growth and development, lack of capacity and skills needed to move the economy forward and urbanization. Unemployment has become a major problem bedevilling the lives of Nigerian
Youth causing frustration, dejection and depending on family members and friends. The high rate of unemployment among the youths in Nigeria has contributed to the high rate of poverty and insecurity in the country (Ajufo, 2013). More than half of the Nigerian population is under the age of 30 according to the National Population Commission (2013).

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