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AN EVALUATION OF IMPACT OF POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROGRAMME ON THE YOUTH IN ADO LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCIL EKITI STATE

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Local Government is seen as political subdivision of a nation, which is constituted by law and has substantial control of local affairs. It is regarded as the third tier of government in Nigeria, created for the purpose of grass-root development (UNO, 1961). In Nigeria the system of local government has over the years undergone series of changes, beginning from when the British colonial administration introduced the native authority system. In 1921 the basic structure of this native authority system features prominently throughout the country and continued until 1950s, the period Nigerians began to participate actively in legislative functions. (Hassan, 2002).

The primary function of every local government is to improve the welfare of the entire grass-root people. In this regard, the effort of the local government is directed towards the improvement of the living standard of the people thereby achieving socio-economic development. These include the improvement of education, healthcare, shelter, provision of food, employment opportunity, access to basic infrastructure and provision of good roads, electricity and water and so on.

Although the various local councils in the country were created in the early 1950s to perform localized function and to bring government nearer to the people and to implement government programmes, many of them were found to be ineffective and evidence of poor performance shown by local government council led to their reconstitution after the country attained independence. In 1976, a major reform was introduced by the Federal government in response to their cognition that local government should occupy their rightful position in the political framework of the nation and as a basis for the return to civilian rule. The reform recognized the local government councils as third tier of government in the country. The reform also stressed that local government can only be created within an area with 150,000-800,000 people, the leadership of local government must be democratically elected, and each State should create Local Government Service Board which would oversee the recruitment, training, deployment, promotion and discipline of local government staff within the State. These highlights were incorporated in 1979 constitution.

Following this brief historical development of local government in Nigeria, the question is what has local government council done in alleviating poverty in their various area councils. Poverty affects every aspects of human life, such as physical, moral, psychological part of life. Majority of Nigerians are now living below poverty line (i.e. one dollar per day) and this is extremely unbecoming. Hence there is need for adequate attention to the basic needs of life such as food, cloth, shelter, healthcare, employment, and affordable education to be addressed properly. (Hassan, 2002).Thus the federal government initiative to execute the poverty alleviation programmes is timely and highly commendable. The schemes are multidimensional and are intended to tackle the multidimensional nature of poverty. The schemes include The Youth Empowerment Schemes (YES), The Rural Infrastructure Development Schemes (RIDS), The Natural Resources Development and Conservation Scheme (NRDCS), and The Social Welfare Service Scheme (SOWESS). This initiative by the government is intended  to spread down through the State and Local Government Areas to the grass root. In this regard Ado Local Government area council should be poised to embrace and implement full heartedly these programmes as it dives towards development and to enhance and improve the living standard of the people. This calls for the assessment of the impact of the poverty alleviation programmes in this Local Government Area.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Nobody can convincingly define poverty until he passes through it, for it is better felt than seen. However economic indices focus on poverty as lack of basic necessities of life such as food, shelter and cloths and also the general sign of economic stagnation namely; unemployment, low consumption, low purchasing power, low productivity, poor health care, poor education system etc. (Magaji 2005 Pp 33-35).Government at all levels, be it Federal, State and Local levels are faced with many functions and obligations. One of such obligations, though difficult but indispensable is how to reduce or totally eradicate poverty among its populace. Basically the main statement of the problem of this research study is the programme implementation and monitoring which are of course heavily politicized, to the detriment of the overall success of the programme in Ado Local Government Area. This makes Fayose, Ekiti State Governor to attribute the current state of the economy to lack of strong fiscal discipline, weak revenue base and low level of transparency in Government. In his statement Fayose said “the problem arose from distorted incentives, structures, which promote self seeking activities pre-occupied with cake sharing rather than cake baking, mismatch between effort and reward, a culture of expecting something for nothing and a poor attitude to public resources and services delivering among others, (Fayose, p8)

Nonetheless, it is evident that poverty scourge has assumed an unprecedented upsurge in Ado Local Government Area due to Government insensitivity to the allocation of resources and to the plight of the poor youth and the less privileged ones. As a grass root approach, it is evident that the stark reality of poverty and unemployment, robbery prostitution alcoholism are explicitly evident in the rural area, therefore, the situation demanded a pragmatic approach to stamp out the yoke of poverty In this case Nigeria is poor not because it is a poor country, Nigeria is a very rich country, which is blessed with both human and material resource. Nigeria has earned more than two hundred and filthy million dollars ($250m), considering that huge amount every Nigerian’s suppose to live as rich men. But irony is the case, few continue to become rich and majority continues to be impoverished the more.

In another dimension, Nigeria is known to be one of most richly endowed Third World Countries, thus its poverty stand in contrast with its abundant resources. The average Nigerian can be likened to someone struggling to wash his hands with spittle in the middle of the ocean. Therefore how can the State involve the various communities, and non-governmental organizations to ensure reliability and effectiveness of the programmes?

It is undoubtedly known, that government core poverty alleviation institutions have little or no impact on the people (youth). Some apparent reason for the failure of previous programmes of government include; multiplicity of implementing agencies which allows for gross managerial inefficiency, unhealthy and counter productive rivalries, and lack of adequate sense of commitment and haphazard implementation.
1.3. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
Given the magnitude and spread of poverty in Ado Local Government and the desire to reduce its size and curb the spread, poverty alleviation is seen as a strategy aimed at effecting developmental changes in the area.

Basically, the objectives of this research study are as follows:
1. To find out if the intention of government to alleviate poverty and plan initiative and method of simulating economic growth through engagement of the youth in semi-skilled and unskilled labour in productive activities are being achieved in Ado Local Government Area in the provision of Job for youth.
2. And to also suggest the need for Government to commit fund on the programmes to
facilitate the socio-economic development as well as setting up of monitoring bodies to
check the haphazard implementation.
3. To identify the constraints on policies/programmes and suggest possible solution aimed at immediate reduction of poverty in Ado Local Government.

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY:
It is imperative to examine the level of poverty in Ado L.G.A (ie lack of education, lack of food, cloths, lack of good healthcare, good road network etc) as a consideration for raising the standard of living on the populace especially the youth. This will help to attain a sustainable socio-economic development. Unless Nigerians began to adequately tap their human resources, many of them may remain in poverty for long. (Adeoye,2005). Simply because Nigeria as a country is richly endowed in both material and human resources, in spite of this, majority of the people still suffer under abject poverty. Also despite various programmes undertaken by successive governments to alleviate poverty, poverty tends to deepen and expand over the years. As the government strives once again to make a fresh start at turning the table of pervasive poverty and enhancing the well being of the poor populace, especially the youth, hence this research has been largely rationalized by the motivation or desire to fill in the gap in knowledge. Since the socio-economic development of any nation is measured by the general welfare, the standard of living of the citizen as well as the youth empowerment, thus, the prospect of poverty alleviation initiatives is no doubt bright and would be successful as long as the leadership is willing to change from traditional approach, which so far favoured implementation of lofty programmes.

1.5 HYPOTHESES
The researcher formulated the following hypotheses to guide and be tested in this investigation:-
(i) The level of youth economic empowerment will reduce poverty situation and improve the
living standard and quality of lives of youths in Ado L.G.A
(ii) The adequate equipment of the institution and qualified manpower will affect the youth
positively.
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Our task is to provide a systematic and scholarly examination of the relevance of the programmes in local government administration. For the purpose of this study our unit of analysis will be Ado Local Government Area of Ekiti State with the headquarters in Ekiti. The area consists of 13 district areas namely:- Kujama, Nassarawa, Gwagwada, Kakau, Matagyi, Buruku, Kasaya Chikun, Narayi, Yelwa, Kuriga, Kamazo, and Gayan. (office information chikun L.G.A) Ado L.G. Area is one of the Local Government Areas in Ekiti State and therefore found suitable as a case study in analyzing and understanding national problems. It has a well-developed system of administration in Ekiti State.

Secondly, we shall examine the operation of poverty programmes from 1999 to 2014 i.e. its implementation and effectiveness as well as its impact and relevance to the youth.

1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
In a study of this nature, there is no doubt that the researcher will be confronted with some problems, which may affect the outcome of the research. There is no doubt that the findings and views expressed cannot by any means be exhaustive nor is there any pretension that they are going to be fool proof. In the course of their study we had the following limitations: - One of such problems that may affect this study is inadequate data. As a matter of fact, there may be dearth of data in this area of study. In fact, no human being has all knowledge except the Almighty God. Precisely, because from a few available articles, may therefore difficult for us to gather data, which would have immense help for critical analysis.

Secondly, objectivity may also be a limitation to this study. In social science, it is difficult to subject any study to critical and empirical analysis in order to be free from emotion and sentiments. But in the spirit of objectivity we try to distance ourselves from phenomenon under study.

Thirdly, at this time of economic crunch and political confusion it will not be out of place to say that financial constraints will serve as a great limitation to this study. This may hinder information and the research’s area of coverage.

Fourthly, the attitude of some staff in the local government and the institutions could affect information gathering especially sensitive once and those that we demand their opinion about their authority for fear of being intimidated. As common with studies of this kind however, there are bound to be overemphasize and underemphasize in some of the answers given.

1.8.0. SOURCES AND METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS.
Research methodology is the procedure of seeking knowledge, having deeper exposition of the problem under study. This consists of both primary and secondly sources of data.

1.8.1. Source of data:
Primary source: The primary source of data involved the administration of questionnaires on the trainers and trainees (beneficiaries) and non-beneficiaries within the area under study. This involved also face-to-face structured interview granted by some officers of NAPEP in the area and personal observation.
Secondary source This is the examination of Official document of the L.G Council, NAPEP blue print, textbooks, Journals, newspapers, Magazines, published and unpublished and local and international economic development report.

1.8.2. Population and sample size: Chikun Local Government Area is made up of thirteen (13) district areas or towns. Four (4) towns were randomly selected to represent the population of area under study. The population of the four (4) towns is based on the 1991 population census figures given as 91, 692. The four (4) areas are Kujama, Television, Gwagwada and Gayan. The basic characteristic of the people in the areas is homogeneity in nature hence cluster sampling was used. 340 respondents were drawn from the four (4) district areas. The sample size of the study is 340. The sample drawn from each of the towns is a function of the ratio of the town population to the total of the four (4) towns multiplied by the total sample size. Below is the presentation for ease of appreciation

TOWNS POPULATION SAMPLE SIZE
Kujama 24, 812 24, 821 / 91693 x 340 = 92
Television 21, 575 21, 575 / 91693 x 340 = 80
Gwagwada 24, 271 24, 271 / 91693 x 340 = 90
Gayan 21, 035 21, 035 / 91693 x 340 = 78
Total 91, 693 340

1.8.3. Method of data analysis: Descriptive statistical techniques such as simple percentages tabulations were used to analyses the data, so as to make the analyses more comprehensible

1.8.4. Questionnaire administration: In the course of data collection, we find it necessary to employ the following:

Questionnaires. 340 Questionnaires were administered to the beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries at the four (4) district areas used as our population. 92 to Kujama, 80 to Television, 90 to Gwaguada and 78 to Gayan. Structured and unstructured questionnaires were used with open ended, multiple choices and explanatory answers.



1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS
To enhance a common understanding of the concept used in this study, we cannot but delve a little bit into some conceptual clarifications. In doing this we will endeavour to be as down-to-earth as it is technically possible in the definition and use of terms. Since the purpose of any research enterprise is to solve societal problem, the society should be guided on how to understand the language employed.

1.9.1 Poverty: Harry Johnson defined poverty as a situation when the resources of individuals or families are inadequate to provide a social acceptable standard of living (SPECS, 2001) In other words, individual living below the conventional poverty line demarcating the poor from the non-poor. To our own study, poverty can be defined as the condition where a person is unable to satisfy the most basic needs and elementary requirements for human survival in terms of food, cloths, shelter, good healthcare, transportation, recreation and affordable education (SPECS 2001).

1.9.2 Alleviation: Relieve from a burden which is impinging on the comfort of man, alleviation from health problem, illiteracy, from poor feeding, clothing etc. 1.9.3 Programmes: A plan or set of strategies, activities and projects proposed to be put in place to serve a set of related problem to which human, material and financial resources are committed in order to achieve its objective.
1.9.4 Youth: This is seen as young people considered as a group, the nation’s youth, the youth of today, youth employment. (Hornby, 2000). Also youth is the period of life during which the growing individual make the transition from childhood to adulthood. Encyclopedia American P. 175). To this study, youth can be seen as the people who fall within age of 18 and 45 years.

1.9.5 Poverty Alleviation Programme: A democratic society cannot be built when a large number of people are so poor that they are denied their choice due to lack of opportunities to live a tolerable life. Hence poverty alleviation programmes are programmes established by government (Federal, State or Local government) to eradicate of minimize poverty. It is aimed at monitoring and coordinating as well as assisting government in eradicating poverty to avoid duplication of efforts and resources.

1.9.6 Local Government: This is the government at the grass-root level, which is nearest to the people. It has been defined by the United Nation office of Public Administration as a political subdivision of a nation or (in a Federal system, State) which is constituted by law and has substantial control of local affairs including a power to impose taxes and to 21 enact law for prescribed purpose or otherwise locally selected and also they have the power to make bye law (U.N.O, 1961).22.


REFERENCES
United Nation Organization (1961): Quoted in the Summer Conference in Local Government in Africa, (Cambridge,), Pp11
M.M. Hassan (2002): Managing the Finance of a Local Government in Nigeria (Journal of Professional Administration) July – Sept. Pp6,7,8
Nkom, S.A (2002): Rural Development as Spinning Board of Poverty Alleviation in Nigeria, Paper presented at the second annual public lecture of ABU Alumni Association, Port Harcourt chapter.
Bardham, P. (1966): Research on Poverty and Development: Twenty years after Redistribution with Growth: In Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics. World Bank Washington DC. World Bank (1996): Poverty and Welfare in Nigeria. Makarfi A (2004):
 “Makarfi Larment Growing Poverty Inaugurated SEEDS Committee” Arewa Business, May 17 Johnson G. H (1966): Unemployment and Poverty in Low Economic Concept and the Social Question.
Fishermaed, Poverty Amid Affluence, (NewHaven, Yale University Press) Office of NAPEP: (2001) Operation Guideline for the State Poverty Eradication Council (SPECs) and the State Coordination Committee (SCCs) 23
Hornby AS, 2000 Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary. Sixth Edition, New York, Oxford University Press.  Encyclopedia America Pg 175 UNO op cit 1961
Sule Magaji, 2005: Weekly Trust Newspaper Leed Comment: The Mystery of Poverty Eradication (August 9-12,) pg 33 and 35.
Adeoye S; 2005. “How to end Poverty, Youth Unemployment by Nnamani”; The Guardian, August 2,
M. M. Hassan, Op Cit 2002 Abdullahi; (2002): NAPEP; Implementation Progress Report: Background, Structure, Advancements and Problems. Office of information; Chikun L.G. Area, Kujama, Kaduna State.

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