Beyond the Moral Panic: the Good Governance Option to Youth Essay Example

has been significantly impacted by various factors such as state failure, governance crisis, deterioration of government institutions, poverty, corruption, and the collapse of ethical standards in the country. These negative effects have particularly affected the youth, resulting in a worsening socio-economic situation for them. This has led to issues including poverty, unemployment, drug abuse, family breakdown, crime, violence, frustration, and despair. Previous policies created out of moral panic rather than effectiveness have attempted to address these problems.

The text explores the causes of worsening socio-economic circumstances faced by young individuals in Nigeria, with a particular focus on policies driven by fear of negative youth reactions to their unfavorable situations. It suggests that resolving this issue depends on good governance, emphasizing the importance of active involvement of young people in policy initiatives, accountability, transparency, and effective provision of services. The paper consists of six sections: an introduction, a discussion on the concept of youth, an analysis of Nigeria's economic crisis and its impact on young people's socio-economic conditions, an exploration of institutional responses and the consequences of marginalizing youth, an examination of the option for good governance, and a summary presenting the study's findings. Defining and understanding "youth" remains a subject of ongoing debate and controversy among scholars, development practitioners, NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations), Development Organizations, International Organizations, the public, and Governments who define it differently depending on specific contexts (Mkandawire 1996).

The term youth is sometimes used to specifically refer to individuals aged 15-24 years as a means of easy comparison based on available data. However, this narrow designation is often insufficient when considering young people and their circumstances on a country-by-country basis. Another definition of youth in

discussions about government policy is based on a sociological perspective, seeing youth as a transitional phase from adolescence to adulthood, from dependence to independence, and from being recipients of services to becoming contributors to national economic, political, and cultural life. According to Kenniston (1971), youth is a period between adolescence and adulthood in the post-modern era. Berger (1972) believes that anyone who feels youthful and exhibits qualities such as spontaneity, impulsiveness, and energy can be considered a youth.

Many African countries typically define adulthood as reaching 21 years old, although some have been working towards lowering this age to 18 (Curtain, 2000). However, in several countries such as Mali, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Senegal, and Guinea, the ability to enter into a legally recognized marriage is a crucial factor in determining adult status within rural African communities (Abdullah, 1999).

Regardless of their age, unmarried individuals are referred to as 'children', while married individuals are considered 'adults', even if they are young. Various international organizations have sought to establish standardized age groups for youth programs. The United Nations defines youth as those aged 18-24 years, the Commonwealth uses an age range of 15-29 years, and the African Union utilizes 15-34 years. In Africa, many countries have adopted either the United Nations or Commonwealth definitions, with a common youth category age range of 15-30 years. Nigeria's National Youth Development Policy defines youth as citizens aged 18 to 30 years old.

This paper defines youth as individuals under the age of 30, since those over this age are not required to participate in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program.

Nigeria’s Economic Crisis

The impact of nature on the socio-economic situation of Nigerian

youth. In Nigeria's early years of independence, the agricultural sector had a significant role in the economy, contributing 65% to GDP. However, with the discovery of oil and subsequent oil boom in the 1970s, revenue from crude oil skyrocketed from $367 million in 1969 to $713 million in 1970 and an astonishing $1337 million in 1971 (Mimiko, 1998:170). Consequently, crude oil became the backbone of the economy. By 1973, earnings from crude oil reached $2878 million and further jumped to an unprecedented $8513 million in 1974 (Ibid). The increase in oil revenue led to increased government intervention and provision of social services. As a result, many public projects were undertaken without proper analysis of their long-term financial viability.

During the late 1970s, the government played a significant role in the economy, especially through the indigenisation decree which aimed to boost local involvement. However, this led to many companies falling under government control. The government primarily focused its spending on recurring expenses and managing a large bureaucracy, with defense being a major area for capital investment. Unfortunately, declining commodity prices in the international market and lower oil prices negatively affected Nigeria's foreign earnings. Consequently, a disproportionate percentage of limited foreign exchange had to be allocated towards supporting the growing government expenditure. To manage this situation, the government had to operate with a deficit budget and increase borrowing since revenue from the oil boom was insufficient.

The government incurred debts, depleted foreign reserves, and defaulted on external commitments to finance its external and fiscal imbalances (Olaiya and Awe, 2004:20). Nigeria's debt hindered its access to foreign capital, causing foreign banks to withhold letters of credit due to accumulating trade

arrears. The country's persistent balance of payments deficits reached a critical level in 1982 (Jimoh, 2004:109-130). To address the situation, the Shagari administration implemented the Economic Stabilization Act of 1982. However, these measures were essentially an intensification of existing import and exchange controls (Jimoh, 2007:5), which failed to resolve the crisis. In December 1983, the military ousted the administration. The new regime attempted to strengthen the austerity measures by implementing a wage freeze for public sector employees and significantly cutting public spending on infrastructure.

This, however, did not alleviate the crisis. Capacity utilization continued to decline, resulting in numerous factory and plant closures. Additionally, domestic savings and investment decreased while external debt service requirements reached as high as 34% of exports of goods and services in 1985 (Olaiya and Awe, Op. Cit). By 1985, the distortions within the economy had become severe and diverse.

The exchange rate remained significantly undervalued, with prevalent budget deficits and stricter import controls. In 1986, the Babangida administration introduced the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), encompassing trade liberalization, currency devaluation, wage freeze, review of government spending (reducing subsidies for essential services), commercialization, privatization, and interest rate liberalization. Despite these measures, the economy did not experience substantial improvements as many sectors, such as manufacturing, performed poorly. For instance, the manufacturing sector accounted for only 9%.

According to The Guardian (1993:20-21), the percentage of the GDP from 1981 to 1986 showed a decline, reaching 6.1% during the period of 1987 to 1992. Additionally, it was observed that within the same period of 1987 to 1993, there was a closure of 700 manufacturing companies out of the 1500 belonging to the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN) due

to the negative effects of the Structural Adjustment Programme (Mimiko, Op. Cit: 31-33). Moreover, the investment as a percentage of the GDP decreased from 12.0% in the years 1981 to 1986 to 6%.

According to the SAP years of 1987-1991, there was a 0% rate. However, as of June 1992, capacity utilization was recorded at 34.51%, which shows a decrease compared to the 42.4% rate in 1989 (Ibid). Interestingly, instead of decreasing, the fiscal deficit has actually been observed to increase consistently in relation to the reduction of the government budget deficit.

In 1988, the fiscal deficit stood at N12. 2 billion. By 1990, it had increased to N23. 5 billion and further rose to N35. 3 billion in 1991. In 1993, it reached an all-time high of N101 billion. The official rate of inflation also surged from 7.4% in 1990 to 44.

According to Tell (1993:13), Nigeria experienced a significant increase in its external debt in 1993, going from 6% in 1992 to 100%. It is important to note that the country's debt situation worsened during the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP). Specifically, Nigeria witnessed a rise in its external debt from $18.9 billion or 23.4% of GDP in 1985 to $28.9 billion or 113%.

The Guardian (Op. Cit) reported that the GDP percentage in 1992 was 2%, while the external debt ratio increased from 147% in 1985 to 232% by 1993. Moreover, there was a significant rise of about 1,440% in the overall debt profile between 1986 and 1992. Additionally, the internal environment faced challenges as domestic debt rose from N27,952 billion in 1985 to N175.

In 1993, the total amount reached 20 billion. Despite the SAP years, these

crises persisted and worsened due to state failure and governance issues. This led to the decline and almost complete collapse of public utilities in Nigeria. Olowu (1996) commented on the overall state of public services in the country, stating that Nigeria's public utilities as a social sector have essentially collapsed.

The education system is considered unreliable, with uncertainty about the status of public schools. State hospitals have shifted from medical care centers to consulting clinics and now act as options for those near the end of life. Neglect and lack of maintenance have greatly deteriorated the scarcity of water, roads, highways, bridges, seaports, and airports in the country. Power supply has become inconsistent, and many people regularly complain about the quality of services provided by NITEL and NIPOST in the communication sector.

The crisis of governance in Nigeria has led to widespread corruption and the erosion of moral and ethical values, impacting all levels of society. Corruption takes various forms, including government contract inflation, fraudulent activity, falsification of accounts, academic cheating, bribery, and manipulation of justice. Collusion with multinational companies also occurs in sectors such as over-invoicing, foreign exchange manipulation, hoarding, and smuggling (Political Bureau, 1987). By the late 1990s, corruption had become deeply ingrained in Nigeria's transition to a democratic governance system. As a result, government affairs and public life suffered from inefficiency, dishonesty, mediocrity,
incompetence,and waste. These crises gave rise to social issues such as poverty,
unemployment,political instability,
crime,
conflict,and the erosion of family ties (Political Bureau, 1987). This unfavorable socio-economic environment particularly affected the majority of the population,
including young people.

The poverty rate in the country has consistently increased over the years, from 17.7

million in 1980 to 34.7 million in 1985, 67.1 million in 1996, and over 70 million in 2004 (Omotoso, 2004; Oyeranti and Olayiwola, 2005). Among the youth population, more than90 percent of approximately26,630 thousand out of an estimated total of about28,821 thousand were recorded as living in poverty in2003 (Youth Response,2003:9).

The UNDP and ILO conducted studies on unemployment in Nigeria, utilizing a composite rate of both unemployment and underemployment. These studies discovered that approximately 21.9 percent of Nigeria's labor force was facing issues with unemployment in 1998 (Okafor, 2003:2). Moreover, the youth unemployment rate was estimated to be four times higher than the national average (Egulu, 2004). According to data from 2008, it was projected that around 21 million Nigerian youth were without employment opportunities (Makinde, 2008).

The ramifications of this widespread unemployment and deepening poverty have significantly contributed to the erosion of traditional values and social institutions (Mlama, 1999). Additionally, rapid urbanization and rural-urban migration have weakened traditional kinship structures, resulting in parents' diminished capacity to provide for their children. Consequently, many of these children are compelled to engage in menial activities such as begging, scavenging, prostitution, or resorting to crime as a means of survival.

Furthermore,the decline in quality infrastructure and morale within public schools has also played a role in exacerbating the socio-economic conditions faced by the youth.Additionally, in Nigeria, the educational curriculum at secondary and tertiary levels focuses mainly on acquiring theoretical knowledge rather than practical and vocational skills. As a result of this deficiency in the education system, many graduates lack the necessary skills beyond basic literacy and numeracy when entering the job market. Consequently, they are ill-equipped to face the challenges

of an predominantly stagnant formal sector.

The implication of this is that many young people now view formal education as 'useless'. This perception is reinforced when they witness their peers and family members who finished school earlier remaining unemployed and idle at home for extended periods. As a result, there has been a rise in the number of young people, particularly boys, dropping out of school. Nigeria has implemented various strategies to address the dire socio-economic circumstances of its youth, as documented in existing literature.

Prominent among these measures are: The National Directorate of Employment (NDE). It was established in 1986 to cater for unemployed youths by providing training, finance and guidance. The main programmes under the NDE are:

1. National Youth Employment and vocational Skills Development Programme (NYEVSDP). This programme consists of the national open apprenticeship scheme and the waste-to-wealth scheme designed for primary and secondary school leavers. Others in this category include the disabled and school-on-wheels schemes, meant for disabled youths in the rural areas.
2. Small Scale Industries and Graduate Employment Programme (SSIGEP). Underneath this programme are schemes such as the graduate job creation scheme, mature people scheme and school leavers’ loan scheme, designed for graduates, retrenched and retired school leavers.
3. Agricultural Sector Employment Programme (ASEP). The programme contains two schemes meant for school leavers and graduates of agricultural science. They are graduate agricultural loan scheme and school leavers’ agricultural scheme.
4. Special Public Works Programme (SPWP). The schemes under this programme include labour intensive projects, such as road construction and maintenance and environmental

beautification schemes, meant to target graduate and Non-graduate youths alike.

The People’s Bank of Nigeria (PBN), established in 1989, is a scheme designed to encourage savings and credit facilities for the underprivileged in rural and urban areas. It is complemented by the Community Banks (CB), established in 1990, which provide banking facilities for rural residents and micro enterprises in urban areas. Additionally, the Family Support Programme (FSP), established in 1994, aims to assist families in rural areas.

The text mentions various intervention programs related to different areas such as health care delivery, child welfare, and youth development. One of these programs is the Family Economic Advancement Programme (FEAP) which was established in 1997 to improve the lives of rural dwellers by providing credit facilities to support the establishment of cottage industries in rural areas. Another program is the Niger-Delta Development Commission (NDDC), which was established in 1999 for oil-producing states and aims to provide employment opportunities for youth, as well as undertake developmental projects. Poverty Alleviation Programme (PAP), established in 1999, focuses on job creation for the poor. Additionally, the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) was created in 2001 to provide jobs and credit facilities for poor and unemployed individuals in both rural and urban areas. NAPEP consists of four schemes: Youth Employment Scheme (YES), Rural Infrastructure Development Scheme (RIDS), Social Welfare Services Scheme (SOWESS), and Natural Resource Development and Conservation Scheme (NRDCS). However, this study will mainly focus on the Youth Employment Scheme due to its direct impact on youth socio-economic empowerment.The Youth Employment Scheme (YES) encompasses various aspects such as capacity acquisition, mandatory attachment, productivity improvement, credit delivery, technology development, and enterprise

promotion.

The main programmes that will be implemented are:

• The Capacity Acquisition Programme (CAP) focuses on training, apprenticeship, investment inducement seminars, exposing participants to various applications of science and technology, and adapting simple technologies for exploration and exploitation of available resources.
• The Mandatory Attachment Programme (MAP) is designed to attach graduates who have completed their mandatory National Youth Service but have yet to secure full-time employment, even after undergoing NAPEP’s capacity building courses. Participants will receive on-the-job training and exposure to skills in their respective fields. They will receive a monthly stipend of N10,000.
• The Credit Delivery Programme (CDP) aims to provide the minimum required credit to graduates from other YES programmes, enabling them to set up, expand, or upgrade their businesses. Despite government pronouncements on the precarious socio-economic situation of Nigerian youth, evidence shows that these actions have had limited outcomes.

Analysts argue that the government's attempts to address this problem have largely been guided by a vision that fails to meet the livelihood needs and expectations of young people (Momoh, 1998; Nweke, 2005;).Instead of addressing the underlying issues, the policies regarding disaffected youth are highly politicized and based on stereotypes (Yinusa, 2005; Schnurr, 1998). These initiatives often stem from a "moral panic" caused by fears of how young people react to limited opportunities and income, which authorities interpret as pathological behavior (Chigunta Op.Cit:15). The general perception is that youth are immature, impatient, inexperienced, and greedy, making them unsuitable for positions of responsibility. As a result, many initiatives treat youth as subjects rather than active participants, leading to their marginalization and exclusion from policy discussions. This lack of involvement leads to duplicated programs,

poor coordination, institutional rivalry, and conflicts among agencies involved. Additionally, the inadequate funding for these programs prevents them from being sustainable and ultimately leads to their failure. Given these sub-optimal outcomes, the good governance approach becomes essential in addressing the socioeconomic challenges faced by youth.

Governance can be understood in terms of three major components. First, it refers to the form of political authority in a country, such as autocratic or democratic, presidential or parliamentary. Second, it addresses how authority is used to manage resources, both human and material. Third, it focuses on the government's ability to fulfill its functions in a fair and efficient manner, while upholding democratic ideals like accountability, transparency, integrity, and responsiveness through citizen engagement. According to the World Bank (1992:3), governance involves "the way power is exercised in managing a country's economic and social resources for development." It encompasses the interactions between structures, processes, and traditions that determine how power is wielded, decisions are made, and stakeholders have influence (Plumptre and Graham, 1999:3).

The text discusses the role of government in dealing with public issues and the potential contribution of other entities. It allows for contemplation on strategies that a society may adopt when the government is unable to address problems. It also suggests that groups in society may have a stronger role in problem-solving, leading to improvement in market-oriented systems within a specific socio-economic context (Bratton and Hyden, 1992). This involves advocating for accountability and transparency from those in authority and promoting opportunities for increased participation. In traditional terms, accountability refers to being held responsible for actions or behavior. According to Robertson (1993:3), accountability is about ensuring that those who hold

power, whether as governments, elected representatives, or appointed officials, can demonstrate that they have exercised their powers and fulfilled their obligations appropriately.

According to Morphet et. al. (1967:513), accountability is primarily concerned with assessing the validity and appropriateness of goals, measuring progress towards achieving those goals and objectives, identifying factors that have helped or hindered progress, and finding ways to make improvements. Mehrens and Leyman (1973:632) define accountability as the process of setting accurate goals, evaluating the degree to which they have been achieved and their cost, presenting and explaining this information to the public, and taking responsibility for any perceived shortcomings. Mclean (1996:1) describes accountability as the requirement for representatives to answer to those they represent regarding their use of power and fulfillment of duties, responding to criticisms or requests, and accepting some level of responsibility for failures, incompetence, or deceit. In his discussion of the horizontal dimension of accountability, Waldrauch (1997:1) emphasizes the capacity of governmental institutions, including courts, electoral tribunals, anti-corruption bodies, central banks, auditing agencies, and ombudsman, to monitor and prevent abuses by other public agencies and branches of government.

Guillermo O’Donnell (1997:3) defines accountability as the presence of state agencies that have the legal authority and capability to take action, ranging from routine oversight to criminal sanctions or impeachment, in response to unlawful actions or omissions by other state agencies. The Institute on Governance (1998:2-4) takes a different approach to accountability, moving away from traditional blame-focused analysis of administrative errors. Instead, they see accountability as a positive concept, stating that since officials only have knowledge or control over a small portion of decisions made at various levels, accountability is a relationship, not

just a consequence of failure. They emphasize that accountability involves more than just identifying someone to blame for negative outcomes; it also involves setting clear goals or performance standards.

Organizations and institutions arrange themselves based on proper standards and behavioral norms. This includes the values and norms of individuals (Ibid). The aforementioned statement emphasizes the increasing significance of informal controls in achieving accountability. These controls primarily involve promoting specific values within the public service, such as communication, consultation, sharing, learning, leadership, culture, ethics, commitment, and trust.

According to Paul Thomas (1998:7), achieving accountability in the modern administrative state heavily relies on the subjective sense of responsibility among public servants. The concept of accountability is rooted in the widely shared belief that humans are prone to error and therefore need protection from their governors' hazardous behavior (Fontana, 1997:1). This necessitates public officers and institutions to subject their activities to scrutiny by the public, as well as the organs and institutions responsible for carrying out such scrutiny (Akinseye, 2001).

Put simply, accountability is based on the acceptance that all public servants hold their positions and their associated responsibilities as trusts for the people, who are their masters (Akpan, 1982:43). Consequently, those expected to provide services must be accountable to the people for both their successes and failures. Similarly, those entrusted with the management and use of public funds must also appropriately account for their actions to the public. This aligns with Smith and Hargue's (1971) assertion that the principle of accountability stipulates that the government must ensure public funds are utilized for their intended purposes and without personal gains for any private individuals beyond fair compensation for their services.

To

achieve this, there is a need for: a. More accountability to elected superiors b. Increased obligations towards community groups; and c. Stronger dedication to ethics and a higher level of moral values (Adakai, 1998:113).

Transparency, on the other hand, mandates that governments consult widely to determine citizen interests.