INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

The roles and contributions of youth organizations (male and female members) in Nigeria to national development as well as community development cannot be overemphasized. There is need to strategically and effectively engage the youths and their organizations in programmes and activities that would bring about  sustainable  development in the various communities they find themselves. Youth  comprises  of  persons between the ages of 18-35 years who are the citizens of the federal republic of Nigeria (Nigeria Youth Development Policy, 2001). The term youth according to Nigeria Youth Development Policy (2001), is a period of transition from the dependence of childhood to adulthood independence and awareness of interdependence as members of a community. In line with the above assertion, the United Nations (2001) stated that age  is the easiest way of knowing who a youth is, particularly in relation to education and employment starting on the basis of  their premises,  they see  youth as a person between  the ages where he/she may leave compulsory education and the age at which he/she finds his/her first employment.

Operationally, youth (male and female) can be seen as an adult that has reached  their maturity age and who can take responsibilities on things that concern him/her. Therefore, youths are the economic pillar of the country; hence, there is serious need to make them participate in the planning and implementation of community development projects in Nigeria with particular reference to Abia state. A well organized youth association or organization, according to Nneka (2005), was established in 1920 in Oklahoma City, USA with a body known as Boys’ Work  Committee.  Although  the  Rotary Club International Youth activities were presumed to have started earlier in other countries of the world. Oklahoma experience clearly awakened the spirit of youth activities which brought a pattern widely copied throughout the world.  The  pre-  occupation was to prepare the youths to be good productive citizens in the communities in which they lived. Many young people, aged 15 to 24, who live on the earth today,  are  living healthy lives, studying, working, volunteering and playing positive roles in their communities, yet all too often, they are portrayed in a negative light. Adults  are  encouraged to invest in the young today so that they will have the  skills and  resources  they will need in future. Such thinking obscures the fact that young people are already making solid contributions to others-tutoring younger children,  protecting  the environment, starting their own businesses and leading new initiatives to improve their communities. Yet these contributions are frequently overlooked, with young voices going unheard. Even more regrettably, the vast potential for young to further contribute to their communities goes largely untapped. This paradigm  emphasize that  youths  are assets to  the community, and active agent of change who can contribute their energy, idealism and insights to a community’s growth and progress.

In August 6, 1964, voluntary youth organizations merged to form the national youth’s council of Nigeria. There are about 144 youth organizations in Nigeria and only

37 are registered and approved by the Federal Government (Nationalyouthcouncilofnigeria.com, 2014). The organizations have different goals and roles to play. In Abia State, the expected and actual role of youth organizations in the development of the community into which they are born are to plan and execute projects that would also improve life at the local community level with the available sourced resources. They plan projects such as construction of feeder roads,  establishment  of  cottage industries, rural water projects, small scale businesses, building of bridges and culverts etc. They get these projects implemented or executed through the assistance of wealthy individuals in their community or government and non governmental agencies. In most cases, they lack the financial outlay to implement these projects given their financial stature as youths. They solicit assistance because these projects’ execution or implementation involve huge amount of money that may not be at the disposal of the  youths to carry out these projects.

Youths also partake in decision making and identification of needs in the community, encouraging the community for self-help, engage in general sanitations and other rural economies and social/civil roles which aid development of the community in particular and the nation in general. According to Deckor and Nnodim (2005),  the  expected roles of youth organizations in the community include  the  need identification  and self-help. Need identification is to help the people identify their problems and guide them to proffer solutions to those problems which come as a result of proper planning and implementation. The community itself has to learn to realize and express its particular  needs for development while planning must be based on the needs at the grassroots rather than on programmes laid down from the centre. While self-help is  to  encourage  the  people to exploit the advantages of the available resources which also include self growth and participation.

The concept of participation makes a man a subject rather than an object of development (Ekom, 2002). It also guides the people to appreciate that success can be achieved when they participate willingly in their own affairs. According  to  Mofuru  (2003), active participation of youths as agents of  community  development  brings  positive change, leading community initiatives, operational small businesses and re-  shaping of political processes. Hence, youth participation in community development has brought about so many self-help projects without necessarily depending  on  the  government to initiate or even provide those projects. In  view of this, Adekola (2007),    like other experts in the development sector claimed that government alone  cannot  meet  all the development needs of the people and to make  grassroots development fast, all  hands, especially of the grassroots people must be on deck for development matters. It then becomes imperative to assess the extent of youth participation in planning and implementation of community development activities with special  reference  to  Abia  State.

In the area of assessment, William (2004) maintained that it has to do with determining the level of attainment reached by individuals or organizations in the achievement of the stated objectives. Thus, assessment ensures that programmes or  projects, goals and objectives are met through proper planning with goals  and strategies  and practice of plans.