Effect of Economic Empowerment on Youth Restiveness in Aba, Abia State, Nigeria (Published)
The study examined the economic empowerment and youth restiveness in Aba, Abia State, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study are to determine the effect of employment, education, recreation and social orientation on youth restiveness in Aba. The study adopted descriptive survey design. This study was conducted in Aba, Abia State Nigeria. The metro population of Aba is put at 1,230,407, according to Google (2024). However, following Ekwueme (2014), the population of the youth in Aba is about sixty (60%) percent of the entire population. Hence, 60% of 1,230,407 (Aba population) is 738,244.2. On the strength of this, the population of the study, which makes up the youths is 738,244. With a known population, the sample size of 400 was determined using Taro Yamane statistical formula. We adopted simple random sampling techniques. Structured questionnaire was the major instrument for data collection. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics such as mean, simple percentage and frequency, and the result shows that all the economic empowerment variables have positive effect on youth restiveness. The four stated hypotheses were tested with multiple linear regression model and the result revealed that, there is significant effect of employment, education and recreation on youth restiveness in Aba, Abia State. However, there is no significant effect of social orientation on youth restiveness in Aba, Abia State, Nigeria. In conclusion, economic empowerment significantly affects youth restiveness in Aba, Abia State, Nigeria. We, therefore, recommended that the government should create jobs to give employment to job seekers as a way of keeping them busy and out of idleness, because an idle brain they say, is the devil’s workshop. Also, entrepreneurship skills acquisition training that produces skilled manpower, innovative and self-reliant citizens should be part of youth trainings than resorting to the palliative and unsustainable approach to attacking hunger, among others.
Keywords: Economic Empowerment, Education, Employment, and social orientation., recreational activities, youth restiveness