Constraints to Participation in Youth Empowerment Scheme of Oyo State, Nigeria (Published)
The study ascertained the constraints to participation in the Youth Empowerment Scheme of Oyo State. Data for the study were obtained from ninety youth participants in the Scheme using multi-stage sampling procedure. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, means and ranks. Results indicate that the average age of participants in the Scheme was 29 years and 56% of the respondents were females; 51% of them were married; and 91.6% were functionally literate. Findings also show that the most common benefits from the Youth Empowerment Scheme were: instilling honour and integrity in the participants, improving the participants’ literacy rate, reducing participants’ economic dependency and enhancing participants’ abilities to support others financially. Received monthly stipend lower being lower than Government-approved amount, transportation problems and insufficient information on the Scheme’s objectives were the main constraints to youth participation in the Scheme. The relevant governmental and non-governmental agencies in Oyo State should endeavor to provide timely and relevant information on the Scheme to enhance increased participation of youth in the Scheme. Also, monthly stipends given to participants of the Scheme should be increased to attract more youth to the Scheme.
Keywords: Constraints, Oyo State, Participation, Scheme, Youth