The Impacts of N-Power Programmes on Poverty Reduction and Youth Empowerments in Nigeria (A Study of Eket Senatorial District, Akwa Ibom State).

Abstract:

This study employed survey design to investigate the impacts of N-power Programmes on Poverty Reduction and Youth Empowerments in Nigeria with special interest in Eket Senatorial District of Akwa Ibom State. Specifically, the trends and effects of N-teach and N-Agro on poverty reduction and youth empowerments were examined. The instruments for data collection were questionnaire and structured interview questions. A simple random sampling technique was adopted to select six hundred (600) N-Power beneficiaries from the three federal constituencies that made up Eket Senatorial District as sample size for the study. The method of data analysis was both qualitative and quantitative, where comparative and descriptive methods were adopted along with Students t-test. The stylized facts illustrated that although the N-power programme has offered the beneficiaries a token of income, the income was grossly inadequate. The low income and inability of the beneficiaries to acquire basic goods and services for survival with dignity signified that the youths were not financially empowered, hence, poverty persisted. Also, the empirical evidence revealed that the p-value of 1 was greater than the significance level of 0.05 with a degree of freedom of 10, as such; the null hypothesis was accepted that no significant difference exists in poverty and youth empowerments between the periods of N-power and the period before the N-power programme. The paper recommended that government should increase the Stipend to the new minimum wage, avoid delays in monthly Payments of Stipend and, ensure a transition plan for the beneficiaries after their training.