YOUTH EMPOWERMENT, SELF EMPLOYMENT AND ENHANCEMENT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated youth empowerment, self employment and enhancement of entrepreneurship in Rivers State, Nigeria. Two objectives and two research questions were used for the study. This research utilized a descriptive design. The population figure consisted of 2,601,772, which included all young people in Rivers State. A sample of 400 was established using the Taro Yamane formula. The research utilized a combination of primary and secondary data. The questionnaire was the instrument used for the study. The instrument was face validated by professionals in the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Choba. Furthermore, the reliability value of 0.92 Correlation Co-efficient was obtained for the study. After gathering numerical data, the researcher used percentage to analyze the bio-data of respondents and the research questions of the questionnaire obtained from the field. The findings of the study indicated that acquiring skills is crucial for empowering young people to become self-employed. Among others, the findings of the study also showed that Skill development not only fosters job creation among youth but also increases their chances of gainful employment and encourages interest in entrepreneurship. With these findings, the study recommended among others that the Rivers State Government should partner with schools such as the Rivers State Polytechnic, Rivers State College of Arts and Science, and a range of vocational training centres to provide skill development initiative entrepreneurship programmes such as Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA) and the Songhai Initiative in order to improve youth empowerment and employment in the State.