Impact of N-Power Social Investment Programme (N-SIP) on Youth Unemployment in Toro Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the impact of N-Power social investment programme (N-SIP) on unemployed youth in Toro Local Government Area of Bauchi State. The objectives of the study included determining the impact of N-power on the capacity building of youths, and the challenges in the implementation of the programme. This population of this study was four thousand three hundred fifty (4,350) beneficiaries of N-power while 200 N-power beneficiaries were sampled, using a simple random sampling technique. A survey research design was adopted for the study. An Impact of N-Power Programme Questionnaires (INPQ) was used for data collection. The data collection instrument was validated by experts in Research Measurement and Evaluation while the reliability index obtained after the pilot study was 0.81. The research questions were answered using mean while the hypotheses were tested using a t-test and ANOVA at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that N-POWER has significantly led to more job creation; the possibility for a post-N-POWER employment for the beneficiaries is high; and youths, through the N- Power, have acquired specialized skill (s) for capacity development. The findings also revealed that the challenges facing the implementation of the N-power are: Poor organization of the verification exercise; low remunerative offered to beneficiaries; disproportionate between the resident and deployment locations of some beneficiaries; and poor supervision of beneficiaries. Based on the findings, it was recommended, among others, that the remuneration of beneficiaries should be reviewed upwards to boost the level of job motivation and work productivity. Also, the government should seek private-sector partnerships for financing and training of the beneficiaries.