Background to the Study
Every government has as one of its main goals enhancing the wellbeing of its people. The fundamental principle of welfareism embraces all coordinated efforts made to ameliorate and raise the standard of life of the populace, hence fostering economic progress. Nigeria is a nation with an abundance of natural, human, and material resources. Given political leadership, sound administration, exceptional leadership, and the growth of human talents, these abundant resources are capable of creating a strong foundation for socioeconomic development. Nigeria has a strong chance of becoming a powerful country. As observed by Jikwoyi and Biajin (2019) Nigeria had great hopes for entering a takeoff phase within a realistic timeframe when it gained its independence. The economy was divided among a sizable traditional agriculturally based rural sector and a tiny contemporary urban sector, nonetheless. Urban regions housed practically all of the modern infrastructure and the majority of manufacturing businesses. The bulk of the population resided and operated farms in rural regions with little to no economic or social infrastructure. They also lacked the necessary skills to advance themselves.
Dudian and Ike (2016) assert that the post-independence administration had considerable developmental difficulties. These developmental problems included, at a minimum, the supply of social and economic infrastructures to the overwhelming majority of the population, the management of the enormous human and material resources, and the development of people's abilities to improve their economic well-being. It is important to note that the adoption of a four-year demand management economic policy in the form of the Economic Stabilization Act of 1982, the Austerity Program of 1984, and the National Economic Emergency Measures of 1985 for economic recovery and self-reliance was one way some of these challenges were addressed. However, due to the lack of consistency in prior rules, all had only sporadic consequences. And a two-year Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) had to be implemented in order to widen the economy's base of resources and production, remove distortion, scale back government involvement, foster competition, and create economic independence.
The SAP's short timeline, weak reform sequencing, inconsistent policy execution, and lack of political will on the part of the majority of administration to maintain the current policies were all blamed for its failure to meet its stated goals. It is apparent that the Nigerian economy suffered from deep structural flaws and stayed in a protracted state of disequilibrium due to policy mistakes caused by non-continuity in the previous policies. The urban-based infrastructures were poor, insufficient, and poorly maintained, and the efficiency of incentives was low, leading to an insufficient use of the forces of production. These issues were caused by non-policy programs on the development of people's potentials, initiative, and abilities as observed by Faareida(2019).
The discovery of the effects of the prior policy mistakes made the necessity for policy redefinition in Nigeria even more clear. The need for this policy reorientation arises from the fact that every good government frequently places a high priority on improving the living conditions of its citizens. The problem of rural/urban migration, which has decreased the number of young and vibrant members of the rural community, the reduction of the pressure poor people have on their representatives in government as well as their local council, and other factors led to a shift in emphasis toward policy programs that will develop people's skills, initiative, creativity, and potentials with a view to empowering them to become economically productive and self-reliant.
According to Dudian et’al (2016)., between 65 and 75 percent of people in rural regions live in poverty, and throughout the years, this figure has risen nationwide. Whatever the case, it is for the aforementioned reasons that policy programs on acquiring occupational skills and youth empowerment for self-reliance, self-development, and self-sustenance have emerged as a major issue for all Nigerian governments. Prof. Jery Gana claims that under General Ibrahim Babangida's leadership, this issue becomes a clear preoccupation and truly receives the highest priority ranking. He believed that the country had never previously seen the type of coordinated and all-encompassing fight that the government had ruthlessly waged against rural poverty, against the deprivation of the people, and against the people's helplessness. In actuality, although numerous sectoral policies frequently touched on human development, there was no overarching national strategy on youth empowerment, occupational skill development/acquisition for self-reliance until the mid-1980s. However, efforts have been made to transform these urgent notions of human growth through the acquisition of skills for young into acceptable aims, cogent methods, and effective action for empowerment in Nigeria.
In light of the aforementioned, General Ibrahirn Babangida's administration made "self-reliance" the centerpiece of its policy agenda through the National Directorate of Employment (NDE). As a result, in addition to developing occupational skills and empowering young people, the Directorate was also tasked with "building the enabling environment that will allow the youth to express their creative energy and exercise their initiative in pursuing their developmental objectives (Faareida 2019). As its primary value, the construction of an enabling environment entails mobilizing the populace and establishing "all the facilities for skill acquisition/training the populace needs to pursue and/or realize their developmental objectives." The Directorate kept on with its empowerment and skill-building initiative. However, in keeping with the custom of discontinuity in the previous policies, the Obasanjo government launched the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) in 2002 with self-sufficiency as its main goal. Thus, the main goals of NAPEP are youth empowerment and skill development. The development of vocational skills and the empowerment of Nigerian youth to be self-reliant, self-sufficient, and self-employed in order to improve their socioeconomic well-being are among the main goals and activities of NAPEP. In Nigeria, unemployment and poverty are two issues that the program aims to solve.
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