EFFECTIVE YOUTH MOBILIZATION AS A TOOL FOR POVERTY REDUCTION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

2011-10-06T07:39:00.000-07:00

EFFECTIVE YOUTH MOBILIZATION AS A TOOL FOR POVERTY REDUCTION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT – A CASE STUDY OF NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE CORPS (NYSC) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SERVICE (CDS) IN KWARA STATE, NORTH CENTRAL NIGERIA

OLUWATOSIN S. QUADRI

FOR

VOLUME 1 PUBLICATION OF THE ACTS OF MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGs) AMBASSADORS – FOCUSSING ON MDG 1

(Eradication of Extreme Poverty/Hunger)

September 15, 2011

TABLE OF CONTENT

1. Introduction

2. Problem Statement

3. Case Study

(a) Scope

(b) Objective

(d) Data

(e) Interpretation

4. Mobilization Strategies for Sustainable Development

5. Conclusion

INTRODUCTION

‘’Rejected by their prospective employers, scores of corps members on compulsory one-year service in Lagos are stranded and dejected’’

This is the caption of an article in the Tell magazine of March 18, 2002 (page 20) by Olusola Fabiyi. This article was laced with the grim picture of corps members with frustration written all over their faces, with no idea of what next! This is a graphic illustration of the position of the National Youth Service Corps scheme and by extension, the Nigerian Youth population in general. Ten solid years down the line and four administrations (Obasanjo, Obasanjo, Yar’adua, Jonathan) in the saddle, the situation rather than abate has made remarkable somersaults in reverse. It is for instance, a sad commentary that in spite of the nearly four decades of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, since 1973; Nigeria remains an ethnic-based polity. Ethno-religious sentiments is still as strong, if not stronger than the pre-civil war era. A negative score card indeed for an institution (NYSC) that was created from the ashes of the Nigerian Civil War mainly to build the bridge of unity; but largely a serious indictment/failure of the ruling class.

I have often wondered about the humble and fantastic beginning of the NYSC model, from the days when corps members were treated like Kings and Queens in their host communities, with grandiose welcome and send forth parties, conferred with Chieftaincy titles, offered suitors/married across tribal divides. I recall with ecstasy when corps members of yester-years were offered free accommodation, free food and automatic employment; when communities virtually handled them like eggs, showered with special love and care, and often shed tears when they have to leave at the end of the service year. Alas! Gone are those days in sharp contrast with nowadays when corps members are often harassed, discriminated, raped, attacked and slaughtered in broad day light, in their places of National assignment. A very scary and dangerous development indeed that is not only threatening the scheme but vibrating the foundation of our sovereign existence as a Nation.

Regrettably, we have regressed over the years to our current position where we must by our actions make a choice of swimming or sinking together as ethnic nationalities. We must in our joint interest re-enact the famous Nigerian resilience with a deep sense of understanding, fairness and sincerity, to necessarily avoid the unpalatable and recurrent experiences of the Tutsis/Hutus, shittes/shunnis, Thais/Cambodians, Talibans/Natives, Tivs/Jukuns, Beroms/Fulanis, Ifes/Modakekes, Ijaws/Itshekiris, Irish/English etc and the roaring monster of indigenes and settlers of this world; without going back to the trenches.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

In the face of deepening poverty, great National stress and an alarming proportion of crime wave, occasioned by large scale unemployment and social seclusion and dislocation, the Nigerian Federal Government have continued to promote development and poverty reduction initiatives mostly on paper, rhetorics and multiple point agendas without clear deliverables. In spite of the fact that Nigeria is abundantly blessed with human resources (part of which is the availability of a pool of young graduates of various disciplines, on a regular basis in the NYSC scheme), large land area covering about 923,768KM² (double the size of France and four times the size of Great Britain) and climate that effectively support agriculture and under which are massive layers of solid minerals, apart from the golden liquid; our people still wallow in abject poverty and chronic unemployment. Joblessness amongst the youths particularly corps members has reached a breaking point.

Nigerian mothers and infants die avoidable deaths, a significant proportion of our population is illiterate. The Nigerian child is malnourished and people are generally hungry in the midst of plenty. Graduates and able bodied citizens are roaming the streets with many embracing the high temptation of crime to survive. There is so much child abuse in the land due to poverty and ignorance. Children are made to waste their childhoods in the streets hawking, in the bush farming, in the desert tending cattle, in the creeks brandishing weapons, thereby rendering their future hopeless. The area boys/street children syndrome has gradually metamorphosed into several layers of ethnic, religious and political militias terrorizing the society.

Leadership and cancerous corruption is our bane; and these are the main precursor for poverty. A people’s income level is a crucial variable in the totality of survival strategies. The reality today is that most families cannot provide the basic needs of its members. This again predisposes the family to a number of socio-economic ‘infections’ that are better imagined than felt, with its terrible consequences on the National psyche.

CASE STUDY

Scope of the Study

The respondents as stated in this study refers to National Youth Service Corps members. The data collected and consequent analysis carried out on this project involved all NYSC inspectorate zones of Kwara State. The zones are as stated below.

Zone 1: Ilorin West, Ilorin East, Ilorin South and Asa Local Government Areas.

Zone 11: Oyun and Offa Local Government Areas.

Zone 111: Irepodun, Isin, Ekiti and Oke-Ero Local Government Areas.

Zone IV: Ifelodun, Moro, Patigi and Edu Local Government Areas.

Zone V: Baruten and Kaiama Local Government Areas.

The respondents considered in this report are the ‘millennium’ 1^st-tier corps members in Kwara State.

Aims of the study

The main focus of this study is a critical field diagnosis of Community Development Service (CDS) as the epi- centre of the NYSC scheme using Kwara State as baseline. The study probed into the various CDS project descriptions vis-à-vis construction/Engineering, Environmental Improvement, Farm/Agricultural and social services, undertaken by respondents during the service year. A major interest of the study is to also be able to measure the relevance of critical variables such as gender, employers disposition, project preference, depth of knowledge, project finance, host communities relations and corps motivation to the success of CDS.

Methodology

· Questionnaires

· Focused Group Discussions

· Interview

DATA

TABLE 1 A: GENDER DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS BASED ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

	LOCAL GOVT.	MALE	FEMALE	TOTAL
1.	Ilorin West	131	108	239
2.	Ilorin East	56	66	122
3.	Ilorin South	25	38	63
4.	Asa	15	7	22
5.	Oyun	37	14	51
6.	Ekiti	35	10	45
7.	Irepodun	84	48	132
8.	Isin	30	13	43
9.	Oke-Ero	33	11	44
10.	Ifelodun	54	17	71
11.	Kaiama	14	4	18
12.	Baruten	5	3	8
13.	No. LG	10	10	20
	TOTAL	529	349	878

TABLE 1B: GENDER DISTRIBUTION BY ZONES


ZONE	MALE	FEMALE	TOTAL
1	227	219	446
11	37	14	51
111	182	82	264
1V	54	17	71
V	19	7	26
TOTAL	519	339	858

TABLE 2A: EMPLOYER DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS

		EMPLOYER
	LOCAL GOVT.	GOVT.	PRIVATE	NONE	TOTAL
1	Ilorin West	143	95	1	239
2	Ilorin East	91	31	-	122
3	Ilorin South	41	22	-	63
4	Asa	20	2	-	22
5	Oyun	43	6	2	57
6	Ekiti	41	4	-	45
7	Irepodun	80	49	3	132
8	Isin	40	2	1	43
9	Oke-Ero	44	-	-	44
10	Ifelodun	39	32	-	71
11	Kaiama	18	-	-	18
12	Baruten	7	1	-	8
13	No. LG	9	11	-	20
	TOTAL	616	255	7	878

TABLE 2B: ZONAL DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS’ EMPLOYERS

ZONE
	1	11	111	1V	V	TOTAL
GOVT.	295	43	205	39	25	607
PRIVATE	150	6	55	32	1	244
TOTAL	445	49	260	71	26	851

TABLE 3A: PROJECT TYPE DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS

		PROJECT TYPE
	LOCAL GOVT.	INDIVIDUAL	GROUP	BOTH	NILL	TOTAL
1	Ilorin West	7	177	43	12	239
2	Ilorin East	11	82	17	12	122
3	Ilorin South	4	53	4	2	63
4	Asa	-	16	6	-	22
5	Oyun	1	43	7	-	51
6	Ekiti	3	13	28	1	45
7	Irepodun	2	87	40	3	132
8	Isin	-	36	7	-	43
9	Oke-Ero	9	9	26	-	44
10	Ifelodun	6	43	21	1	71
11	Kaiama	3	7	8	-	18
12	Baruten	4	-	4	-	8
13	No. LG	1	11	4	4	20
TOTAL		51	577	215	35	878

TABLE 3B: ZONAL DISTRIBUTION OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF PROJECT

		ZONE
		1	11	111	1V	V	TOTAL
PROJECT TYPE	INDIVIDUAL	22	1	14	6	7	50
	GROUP	328	43	145	43	7	566
	BOTH	70	7	101	21	12	211
TOTAL		420	51	260	70	26	827

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2011-09-28T04:09:00.001-07:00

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EFFECTIVE YOUTH MOBILIZATION AS A TOOL FOR POVERTY REDUCTION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

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