Youth Empowerment Programme and Poverty Reduction in Akwa Ibom State

Nigeria is poor in terms of the living conditions of its citizens. This makes it a paradox that poverty is prevalent in the country despite rich resource endorsements, economic and financial crises became manifest in the country in the early 1980s and the initial austerity measures proved inadequate in redressing deep seated and structural problems. The study applies the participating appraisal technique in identifying the various approaches and strategies employed by the government and non-governmental agencies to reduce poverty and mobilize the youth toward sustainable development. It employed a descriptive survey design, and was conducted in the three (3) senatorial district of the state using a sample of one hundred and twenty (120) respondents randomly selected from the two (2) Local Government in each of the senatorial districts. Data were elicited using a structured interview, and structured questionnaire schedule complemented with the observation method. Primary and secondary data were used to carry out the study. The research instruments were subjected to reliability and validity test. The analysis of the data was done using the descriptive statistics (simple percentages (%), to analyze socio-demographic data of respondents, and the inferential statistics (chi-square techniques (x2 ) to test the research hypotheses. The decision theory provides the conceptual guide in the study. The findings of this study shows, among other things that there are quite a good number of strategies / techniques / approaches employed by government in solving poverty problems in the state but they have not yielded positive effects. The study recommends that government should redirect the educational curriculum to focus more on practical aspect and also include entrepreneurial / vocational training programmes as part of the tertiary education system to equip youth with necessary entrepreneurial skills that would prepare them for future challenges. Also the Nigerian government should shift its attention from over-dependence on oil and place more attention on the development of small and medium scale enterprises for sustainable economic growth in the country.