YOUTH EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM AND SOCIAL WORK PERSPECTIVE IN USELU COMMUNITY
ABSTRACT
Traditional techniques used in social work have become obsolete and ineffective in meeting the contemporary needs of the dynamic population. This has led to the development of new social work techniques that seek to achieve social transformation among the youth. These innovations which are being implemented by youth empowerment organizations are important not only to the social workers that utilize them and their clients but also for the upcoming professionals and institutions that provide services to the youth.
The overall objective of this paper is to unravel the emerging innovative social work techniques applied by youth empowerment organizations that seek to achieve social transformation among the youth. This study reviewed different articles related to social work techniques, social work methods, social work intervention books, youth empowerment programs, social innovations, and existing local and international literature using different material from related fields to get rich information.
This study recommends documentation of emerging social work interventions in youth empowerment and development programs, sharing of information and utilization on the new techniques and methodologies among social workers working with the youth. Social workers need to be trained on how to utilize social research to enhance their capacity in technique development, and organizing regular seminars and workshops where social workers can share and learn more about the new and emerging social work interventions.
TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER ONE
1.1    Background to the Study    -
1.2 Statement of the Problem    -    -
1.3 Objective of the Study    -
1.5    Research Questions    -    
1.5 Significance of Study    -
1.6 Definition of Terms    -
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Conceptual Clarification     -    
2.1.1 Youth    -
2.1.2 Unemployment among Youth    -
2.1.3 Unemployment among Youth: The Nigerian Situation -
2.1.4 Empowerment    -
2.1.5 Youth Empowerment -    -
2.1.6 Types of Empowerment     
2.1.7 Importance of Youth Empowerment -    -
2.1.8 Youth Empowerment: Implication for Social Work    -
2.1.9 Importance of Social Work to Youth Empowerment    -
2.2 Theoretical Perspective-    -
2.2.1    Humanistic Theory    
2.2.2  Social System Theory    -    
2.2.3 Psychosocial Theory -    -
2.2.4 Advocacy Theory -    -
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODLOGY    
3.1 Introduction    -    
3.2 Research Design    -    -
3.3 Population of the Study    -    
3.4 Sample Technique    --    
3.5 Sample Size    -
3.6 Research Instrument    -
3.7 Method of Data Analysis    -    
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION /ANALYSIS AND DISCUSION OF FINDINGS
4.0 Introduction
4.1 Analysis of Respondents Characteristics    -    
4.2 Analysis of Research, Presentation and Discussion of Findings    -
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, LIMITATIONS, CONCLUSION
AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Introduction     -    
5.2 Summary     -    
5.2   Recommendations -    
5.3 Conclusion    -
References    -
Questionnaire    -    
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1    BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Youth empowerment is  a  process  whereby  young  people gain  the ability  and  authority  to  make  decisions  and  implement  change  in their own lives. The youths form almost half of the world’s population with the majority under 25 years of age (Gribble, 2010). This population however is at a greater risk ranging from radicalization, terrorism, health among other maladjusted behaviour that put their lives and that of the community at risk.Youth empowerment ranges from economic empowerment to social, ideological, educational, technological and political empowerment.
No other time is the issue of youth empowerment and development more apt than the present time where youths are faced with a lot of unprecedented challenges. In the  world  of  over  seven  billion  population,  governments  and  policy  makers  are  increasingly finding  it  difficult  to  grapple  successfully  with  youth  unemployment, corruption, insecurity , among others make the world appear to be heading towards a dangerous precipice that has defied all known economic theories. This is why theprovisions of education, critical infrastructural facilities, improved health care services, employment opportunities and stabilized economy are sine qua non for any nation that anticipates a prosperous future.
Youth  empowerment  according  to  Jimba  (2006)  involves  different  ways  the  youth  can  be  facilitated  to  cause changes  in their life style. He maintained that youth empowerment means a way of inculcating into the youths the spirit of transformation of ideas into creativeness. It encompasses different ways youth can be exposed into different trades that may help them to engage in sustainable paid and self-employment.
Generally the youths are considered the future of the state since they determine its future development (Cohen, 2010). However, due to changes in the social institutions like the family and other factors like industrialization, urbanization, and environmental factors, the youth now face recurrent social problems in health, unemployment, drug abuse, and so on (Gribble, 2010). Half of Africa population is made up of young people, these Africa’s youth’s live on less than $2.00 a day (Mutuku, 2011). Besides earning low-income they are also faced with challenges hard to address, research shows that poor people die premature deaths, get married at a young age, and have large families, and experience malnutrition and ill health (Mwiti, 2006).
Young people in Africa are growing up in social environments where chances of living decent lives are negligible and with bleak prospects (Mutuku, 2011). These widespread challenges are “breeding” frustration, anxiety and despair, culminating in crime, drug addiction, and early pregnancy and alcoholism (Mbatia, 2009).
Hopelessness and desperation has made young people be vulnerable to armed rebel or insurgent movements as experienced in some African countries today (Cramer, 2011). To address these social problems, Social workers are mandated to apply evidence-informed practices based on emerging research findings and empirical evidence to provide quality services to the young people (NASW, 2013). The young population in Nigeria constitutes of 75 percent of the total population and it is estimated that this population is under the age of 35 years (Kahl, 2012). The Nigerian government has recognized that the youth have a role in shaping the country’s social, economic and political development (Owuor, 2008). However, Nigeria continues to experience a glaring mismatch between the aspirations of its youth and the opportunities available to them despite their high hopes and ambitions. (Agenda, 2013). This is clearly demonstrated by youth unemployment which is currently estimated to be over 70 percent in Nigeria and a major concern to policy makers (Nebe, 2012).
Nigeria, as one of the developing countries of the world is struggling with numerous problems at each  level  of  her  education  system,  inability  to  halt  continuous  increase  in  the  rate  of  youth unemployment,  redundant  artificial  restrictions  placed  on  self-employment,  job  creation opportunities and outright lack of social services  such as roads, water systems and electricity networks. If anything, the Nigerian youth have been denied opportunities to develop in diverse realms of humanendeavours.  Ineptitude,  mediocrity  and  intellectual  dearth  have  become  the  three hallmarks  of  the  Nigerian  youth.  In  a  national  survey  jointly  sponsored  by  the  National Universities  Commission  (NUC)  and  the  Education  Trust  Fund  (ETF)  in  2004,  61%  of  20 organizations  rated  Nigerian  science  graduates  poor in  skills  needed  in  the  work  environment such as literacy,  oral  communication,  information  technology,  entrepreneurship,  analytical, problem-solving and decision making (Okafor, 2011).
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The purpose of skill acquisition programme as a means of youth empowerment according to Ogundowolo (2008) is to prepare and equip the youths with appropriate skills that are beneficial to them in future. He maintained that ideal skill  acquisition  is  capable  of  ensuring  value  re-orientation  among  the  youths  and  transforming  them  into  creators  of wealth  and  employment  instead  or  seekers.  The  creation  of  wealth  and  employment  helps in  poverty reduction  and increase of welfare status of individuals in the country.In  line  with  the  above  view,  Ogbe  (2009)  stated  that  wealth  creation through  youth  empowerment  is expected to reverse the structural weakness and imbalances in the economy by providing strategic focus and direction and inculcating in the youths the right ethics, discipline, values, hard work, honesty, respect and humility among others.
Regrettably,  the  Nigerian  youth  are  grossly  unemployed  and  their  potentials  underutilized thereby  making  development  precarious.  With  over  ten  million  almajiris (child  beggars) wandering the streets of Northern Nigeria; 23.9% ofemployable Nigerians unemployed; and 112 million Nigerians (61%) living on less than a dollar per day (Muhammed, 2012), Nigeria’s future prosperity becomes insecure. Low economic growth, low economic activity and low investment have been adduced as factors contributing  to  low  job  creation  and  due  to  increase  in  population  growth,  the  small  labourmarket is unable to absorb the resulting army of job seekers in Nigeria (Emeh, 2012).
The increase  in  the  population  of  youth  who  are  not  in  education,  employment,  or training (NEET) hinders development. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, MallamSanusiLamidoSanusi, is thereforejustified to have said:
…the youth constitute 18% of the world population but African countries under invest on the  youth  at  great  consequences  such  as  breeding  an unproductive  segment  who  live under the poverty line of two dollars a day.
If anything, the Nigerian youth have been denied opportunities to develop in diverse realms of human endeavours. Ineptitude, mediocrity and intellectual dearth have become the three hallmarks of the Nigerian youth. In a national survey jointly sponsored by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Education Trust Fund (ETF) in 2004, 61% of 20 organizations rated Nigerian science graduates poor in skills needed in the work environment such as literacy, oral communication, information technology, entrepreneurship, analytical, problem-solving and decision making (Okafor, 2011).
The National Youth Policy is full of platitudes and little has been done to bring it into full implementation despite several reviews of the policy since its formulation in 1981. Admittedly, the federal government noted that policy attempts hardly provided a concrete framework for addressing the heightened problems confronting the youth in the 1990’s. This was partly because the implementation mechanisms of the policy were weak and ineffective (SNYPD, 2009). Bondzi-Simpson (2011) was therefore right to have asserted that enforcement challenge undermines the rate of development in most African states. Until 2007, there was no separate ministry for youth development in the country.
Governments at all levels have continued to lay claim to several jobs created. Yet, the jobs are nowhere to be found by the massive youth. Dwindling economy resulting from corrupt practices (Otumba, 2013), lack of entrepreneurial skills (Alao, 2013), job creations, marketable and productive skills (Emeh, 2012) have all been identified as the root causes of youth unemployment. The crux of the matter is that apart from the youth unemployment rate put at 23.9 percent in 2011, there is the problem of unemployable youth arising from gross incompetence. There is a wide gap between employers’ needs and employees’ skills. The commonly suggested way out from these precarious situations is youth empowerment that will drive development in several sectors of the economy.
To meet up with these challenges facing the youths, different skill acquisition programmers were initiated and put in place by the Federal and State governments throughout the country to instill in them the habit of acting through repetition and practice (FGN, 2004).Prominent among the reasons for the growth and expansion of skills acquisition programmes in Nigeria was the need for the survival of the youths through self-reliance programmes. Initially, the efforts of the  government towards youth  empowerment  was  in  agricultural  production  but  as  time  went  by,  the  idea  was  diversified  into  agricultural, industrial  and  handcrafts  production  that  can  yield  income  and  make  the  youths  viable.  In recent years, in order to achieve the desired goal, different training programmes were instituted by the Federal and State government to imbibe in the youths the culture of creativity and entrepreneurship.
This studyassesses youth unemployment as a growing challenge in Uselu Community as well as the Nation as a whole in the social work perspective.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main objective of the study is to assess the impact of youth empowerment programme using the social work perspective in Uselu community.
1.    To assess the impacts of youth empowerment to Uselu Community.
2.    To assess factors that hinder youth empowerment in Uselu Community.
3.    To identify the level of youth empowerment in Uselu community.
4.    To ascertain the roles of the government to youth empowerment.
5.    To ascertain the roles of social workers on youth empowerment.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.    What are the impacts of youth empowerment programmes to Uselu Community?
2.    What are the factors that hinder youth empowerment in Uselu Community?
3.    What is the level of youth empowerment in Uselu community?
4.    What are the roles of the government to youth development?
5.    What are the roles of social workers to youth development?
1.5    SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The significant of this research work are enormous. First, the work addresses one of the key issues of contemporary Nigeria. It touches areas  that  affect  the  conduct  of  democratic  principles  in  Nigerian polity  which  is  the  National  Economic  Empowerment  and Development  Strategy  (NEEDS).  Hence,  the  study  is  of  benefit  tostudents  of  international  relations,  politics,  development  studies, history, and even those in the social sciences.
The importance of youth empowerment development cannot be underestimated in Uselu community.  Creation of employment opportunities and utilizing it as a major source of livelihood and income generation by youth through micro enterprises is a crucial issue. Though theconcept of youth empowerment is progressively gaining momentum within the Edo Society, various studies have much focused on the analysis of  socio-economic  conditions  and  problems  faced  by  youth,  but  the  studies  on  youth empowerment  and  their  economic  contribution  is  extremely  limited.  Problems and potentials of youth empowerment in social and economic context virtually remain untouched.
Thus, this study will contribute to the growing body of knowledge in youth empowerment as it looks at the concept from a different angle.  The  findings  of  this  study  will  shed  light  on  the  challenges  and  prospects  of  youth empowerment  in  Uselu community for  the  following  stakeholders:  researchers;  policy  makers; donors;  empowerment  educators;  and  the  youth  development  practitioners  who  are enthusiastic  about  developing  youth  empowerment  in  Uselu community. This study will also aid other researchers who might want to carry out research in related area.
1.6    DEFINITIONS OF TERMS
Unemployment: Unemployment people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past five weeks. The unemployment rate is a measure of the prevalence of unemployment and it is calculated as a percentage by dividing the number of unemployed individuals by all individuals currently in the labour force.
Employment: This is a relationship between two parties, usually based on a contract, one being the employer and the other being the employee. Youth development, the process of growing up and developing one’s capacities, happens no matter what we do.
Youth Development: -Refers to intentional efforts of other youth, adults, communities, government agencies, and schools to provide opportunities for youth to enhance their interests, skills, and abilities into their adulthoods.
Nation-building: - Refers to the process of constructing or structuring a national identity using the power of the state. This process aims at the unification of the people within the state so that it remains politically stable and viable in the long run.
Youth: - Time between childhood and adulthood (maturity). "Youth are also regarded as those persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years.
Economics: - Is the social science that studies economic activity to gain an understanding of the processes that govern the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services in an exchange economy.
Empowerment: - Refers to increasing the economic, political, social, educational, gender, or spiritual strength of individuals and communities.
Youth  Empowerment:  Youth  empowerment  is  an  attitudinal, structural,  and  cultural  process  whereby  young  people  gain  the ability,  authority,  and  agency  to  make  decisions  and  implement change in their own lives.
Non-Governmental  Organizations:  A  non-governmental organization (NGO) is a legally constituted organization created by natural  or  legal  persons  that  operates  independently  from  any government  and  a  term  usually  used  by  governments  to  refer  to entities that have no government status.
Social Work:Is a helping profession that seeks to improve well-being of people especially for the vulnerable populations.
Social Work Implication:This refers to the significance of social work in the tackling of the challenges of youth empowerment.