Youth empowerment is a process whereby young people gain the ability and authority to make decisions and implement change in their own lives. In Nigeria, youth empowerment occurs in homes, at schools, through youth organizations, government policy-making, reality Tv Shows, and community organizing campaigns. Youth empowerment ranges from economic empowerment to social, Ideological, educational, technological and political empowerment. The term “youth empowerment” combines two important words (“youth” and “empowerment” which must be defined differently.
The United Nations, for statistical purposes, defines ‘youth’, as those persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years. While the Webster Dictionary (1998), defines empowerment in three ways “(1) to give official authority or legal power to; (2) enable; (3) to promote the self actualization or influence. ” The strategy proscribed by the first definition can be quite effective provided that the party being empowered already has the competencies needed to achieve the desired outcome.
The strategy does not work well when it is plugged into a framework of youth development in which empowerment itself is being used as a strategy for developing competencies in youth. , youth empowerment does the following for African youths: The ability to make decisions about personal/collective circumstances, The ability to access information and resources for decision making, Ability to consider a range of options from which to choose Ability to exercise assertiveness in collective decision making, Having positive-thinking about the ability to make change, Ability to learn and access skills for improving personal/collective circumstance.
The Term Paper on Youth empowerment through quality education
Youths are considered very important in the development and transformation of any nation. For the youths of any nation to live up to expectation, they must be empowered. That is why youth empowerment through quality education cannot be overemphasized. This paper considers quality education, its importance to youth empowerment and in what ways it empowers. The paper recommended proper ...
Ability to inform others’ perceptions though exchange, education and engagement. Historically speaking, it is not clear when the term ‘Youth Empowerment’ entered into the Nigerian socio-political and economic vocabulary. The term perhaps, resonates more as an attempt by stakeholders to draw attention to the ecological degradation and economic ‘powerlessness’ of those living in the oil rich Niger Delta area of Nigeria. The Niger Delta youth adopted militant approach to fight for resource control in the region. The Federal Government responded by arresting what they perceive as youth restiveness in the Niger Delta, and hus, introduced various program targeted at diverting the attention of the youths.
This might have influenced their use of the term ‘youth empowerment’ as a new vocabulary in governance. In the words of A. Emielu (2008), the concept of youth empowerment in the Niger Delta area could be seen more as a negotiated relationship between government agencies and the ‘restive youths’, born more out of fear of destabilizing the national economy, than by the need to develop the creative potentials of the Nigerian youth.
A State Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy was launched by the State Government in 2004 as a plan of action aimed at tackling the problems of development in Taraba State. The essence of developing the plan was to reduce poverty, generate employment, create wealth and re-orientate the value system in the State and pave way for sustainable development over a short to medium term from 2005 to 2007. Therefore This research seeks to examine the evolution of youth empowerment in Taraba State with emphasis on young people both in rural and urban areas of the state.
The Term Paper on State and Local Government
What is Federalism? The United States has one of the most complicated forms of government in the world. With many levels and subdivisions, this form of government is called federalism. Within the United States, federalism is marked by a continuous change in the system of connections between the national, state, and local governments. At times, the different levels of government act independently ...
If empowering young people means creating and supporting the enabling conditions under which young people can act on their own behalf, and on their own terms, rather than at the direction of others, this study therefore sets out to present a historical analysis of what the Taraba State government has been able to provide since its creation in 1991 to empower the youths.