Poverty Alleviation Programmes and Sustainable Youth Empowerment in Nigeria

This research is an analytical scrutiny of the nexus between poverty alleviation programmes and the empowerment of Nigerian youths for productivity and entrepreneurship from 1999-2015. The research paper looks into the goals and objectives of the various programmes designed by relevant government’s institutions from 1999-2015 to eradicate spiraling poverty by absorbing the youths into lucrative economic activities. Having relied on content analysis and review of government data, the research is able to chronicle the factors that have contributed severely to the growing poverty index and human capital depletion in Nigerian ecosystem. However, the research analysis points to the implementation paradoxes that have beclouded the human empowerment programmes in Nigeria. The paper consequently concludes that poverty alleviation programmes in Nigeria have fallen short of empowering the youths for productivity and innovation. It further concludes that, in spite of the resources devoted to implementing poverty alleviation programmes, youth’s unemployment and manpower dissipation are still spiraling in Nigeria. It is therefore recommended that appropriate policy measures and programme re-modification are imperative for youth engagement and empowerment in Nigeria.