EDUCATION FOR CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND YOUTH EMPOWERMENT IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Abstract

The society that wishes to grow and develop a brighter future for its citizens must invest aggressively in child education. The strength of a nation lies in the development of children's education and youth empowerment. This could be achieved through the creation of an enabling environment for quality education and value orientation to thrive. Lack of proper and basic education is detrimental to human capital development, a stable economy, and a productive workforce. It is against the backdrop of the need for attention to the education of the child as a national stronghold for advancement that the study examined the concept of education, the Nigerian education system, and child development. The study acknowledges the importance of education in childhood development as a foundation for their future life. It further highlights the need for the government to harness the potential of young people through youth empowerment schemes for capacity building as an antidote to restive behaviour. Although the study identified some empowerment programmes of various government leaderships, the success of such initiatives has always been hampered by the 'Nigerian factor syndrome' which often makes the country vulnerable to youth restiveness. The study concluded and recommended, among other things, that child education should be given priority attention by the government, parents, and other caregivers, while youth empowerment initiatives should be vigorously monitored and given unreserved attention by the relevant organs to ensure safe delivery to the targeted beneficiaries.