CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The desire to help others appears to be an essential aspect of human nature. According to Widjaja (2010), one particular type of helping behaviour is volunteerism. Voluntary action has been a consistent feature of our society, but with the current socio-economic problems facing the vast majority of the people, the weight of expectation about the contribution that volunteerism can make to individual development, social cohesion and addressing social need has never been greater. Volunteering offers skills, energy, expertise and local knowledge, all of which have the potential to assist governments in delivering better public programmes and policies. The potential for voluntary action to contribute to the fight against key global issues (including the fight against economic depression) was also recognized by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 1978 by the designation of 2001 as the international year of volunteers (IYV), (UN General Assembly, 2005). With the huge human resources in Nigeria, particularly the teeming youth population, it can be anticipated that when the voluntary sector is fully mobilized, trained and supported it can provide the much needed manpower in fighting the social and economic unease bedeviling the nation now. As an agency, some transcendently real presence of entities called youth has gained a wide currency and has been variously classified into such age brackets as 15-24 years (World Bank and United Nations); 15-29 years (Common Wealth Youth Programmes); while for many countries, the figure varies from 13 -18 years, 20 - 25 years, and 12-20 years (Bello-Kano, 2008). On the other hand, the Nigerian Council on Youth Development defines youth as “all young males and females aged 18-30 which are citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria” (National Youth Policy of Nigeria, 2001:4). What is also very factual is that virtually every country and multilateral institutions have a “Youth Policy” as well as a “Youth Action Plan”. For instance, the Nigerian National Youth Policy, The ECOWAS Commission Youth Policy, African Youth Charter, Commonwealth Youth Charter, United Nations World Programme of Action for Youth, etc. It could also be recalled that in his second-coming, Rtd. President Obasanjo in 2006 established the Ministry for Youth Development. Generally therefore, the youth described as “the greatest asset that any nation can have…..the future leaders …the greatest investment for a country’s development .and …a virtual resource (National Youth Policy of Nigeria, 2001:1) all point to the reality of the existence of young people as naturalized entities that are assets to any society. Thus the notion of youth as discernible in the discursive practices of many institutions like the State (government department concerned with youth employment and development), family and society (traditional family anxious about youth behavior and transition to adulthood), and the market economy (market advertisement concerned with youth culture), all shows the importance of youth agency which necessitates the crucial roles that the State as an institution must play in mainstreaming the youth agency towards re-engineering the transformation of the Nigerian economy. Empowering the youths have always been used as a propaganda during political campaigns, yet, no action has been put in place to mainstream the youths into all sectors of the economy, i.e. political, social, economic and development efforts. Arising from the above is the fact that national security and economic development starts with the process of eliminating the obstacles that hinder people from transforming their physical, biological and socioeconomic environment for their individual fulfillment and for the benefit of the society as a whole ( Onuoha, 2006:4). In this respect, the rate at which these obstacles can be reduced or eliminated according to Onuoha (2008), depends to a large extent on the government’s method and manner of utilization of societal human and material resources. To him, this underscores the role of governance in the area of political leadership as well as how power and resources are committed towards eliminating the obstacles. Also, Roberts (2007) opines that to realize the potentials of youths as the engine of (national security and economic) development, governments have a salient role to play in addressing these obstacles and facilitating a successful transition to adulthood through pursuit of programmes and policies that alleviate poverty and expand opportunities for employment. In an empirical study of 123 countries by Braungart and Braungart (1989) cited by Onuoha (2008), a strong relationship was demonstrated between the size of youth population and national development in terms of the level of opportunities the nations provided their young population. This according to Onuoha (2008) “suggests that a nation’s development is largely dependent on the extent to which the enormous potentials of its youths are harnessed and utilized by the government to promote and sustain economic growth and social progress. This is usually achieved through a patterned process of youth development or empowerment, hence the interface between youth unemployment, poverty and national development. Thus, when youths are schemed out, not mainstreamed into the fabrics of the society’s socio-economic and political processes or disempowered, it

1. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Youth participation is an essential strategy for ensuring young people’s optimal socio economic development and for achieving wider socio economic development goals for society.

Failure to provide opportunities for youth to build their capacity to participate in socio economic development would be a missed opportunity to harness the huge potential in human capital, and this could have enormous economic, cultural, political and social consequences.

Efforts must therefore be made to listen to youth and engage them in the process of strengthening participatory democracy. Their involvement can lead to better decisions and outcomes. Finally, several researches has been carried out on the roles of youth in nation building but not even a single research has been carried out on an assessment of youth in the socio economic development of Makurdi local government area of Benue State.

1. AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main aim and objectives of the study is to assess youth in the socio economic development of Makurdi local government area of Benue State. Other specific objectives of the study include;

1. to determine the effect of youth participation in the socio economic development of Makurdi local government area of Benue State.
2. to determine the factors affecting youths’ participation in the socio economic development of Makurdi local government area of Benue State.
3. to determine the extent to which youth contribute to the socio economic development of Makurdi local government area of Benue State.
4. to proffer possible solutions to the problem.  
   1. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is the effect of youth participation in the socio economic development of Makurdi local government area of Benue State?
2. What are the factors affecting youths’ participation in the socio economic development of Makurdi local government area of Benue State?
3. What is the extent to which youth contribute to the socio economic development of Makurdi local government area of Benue State?
4. What are the possible solutions to the problem? 
   1. RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

Ho:  Youth has no significant effect in the socio economic development of Makurdi local government area of Benue State.

Hi:   Youth has a significant effect in the socio economic development of Makurdi local government area of Benue State.

1. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study on the assessment of youth in the socio economic development of Makurdi local government will be of immense benefit to the entire Benue State in the sense that it will educate the government to understand that young people constitute a significant share of our population and will continue to do so.

It should be recognized that despite the challenges associated with youth socio economic development like inadequate access to education, the young people of today are, on average, better educated than their parents.

They are better connected to the rest of the world than any of the earlier generations of youth, and they are, as a result, more determined to find options to close the gap between their limited opportunities and what they perceive to be possible in the global economy.

Young people constitute a significant share of our population and will continue to do so. It should be recognized that despite the challenges associated with youth socio economic development like inadequate access to education, the young people of today are, on average, better educated than their parents.

They are better connected to the rest of the world than any of the earlier generations of youth, and they are, as a result, more determined to find options to close the gap between their limited opportunities and what they perceive to be possible in the global economy.

Participation promotes the well-being and socio economic development of young people, strengthens their commitment to an understanding of human rights and democracy, and provides them a form of protection; it also allows them to take part in decision-making processes.

Finally, the study will contribute to the body of existing literature and knowledge to this field of study and basis for further research.

1. SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study on the assessment of youth in the socio economic development of Makurdi local government area is limited to Benue State.

1. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Time Constraints: One of the challenges experienced by the researcher is the issue of time; the research will simultaneously engage in departmental activities like seminars and attendance to lectures. But the researcher was able to meet up with the deadline for the submission of the project.

Financial Constraints: Every research work needs funding; however lack of adequate funds might affect the speed of the researcher in getting materials for completion of the project.

1.9   DEFINITION OF TERMS

Assessment:    The process of considering all the information about a situation or a person and making a judgment.

Youth:     The period between childhood and maturity.

Development: The process of developing or being developed.