Gender and educational exposure as predisposing factors of youth restiveness in Kwara state, Nigeria

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Reports of growing cases of cultism, ethnic militia, kidnapping, armed robbery, thuggery and agitations of Nigerian youths on alarming dimensions are seriously becoming a matter of grave concern to all and sundry. The rate at which youths take up arms is quite disturbing as many family become victims of this spate of violent upsurge. PURPOSE: This study investigated the role of gender and educational exposure as predisposing factors of youth restiveness in Kwara State, Nigeria. METHODS: The study presented a systematic analysis, rich theoretical and empirical description of the role of gender and educational exposure in youth restiveness in Kwara State, Nigeria. The sample of this study comprised 450 respondents (294 male and 156 female) from the population of 2,953 batch A National Youth Service Corp members posted to Kwara State in the month of May, 2015. The instrument used for data collection was an 18 item researchers’ self-structured questionnaire titled “Gender and Educational Exposure Youth Restiveness Predisposing Scale (GEEYRPS). The reliability coefficient for the instrument using Cronbach coefficient alpha was 0.78. RESULTS: Results revealed among others the increasing rate of female youth’s involvement in restive acts and ineffective socialisation of today’s Nigeria child towards meeting societal expectations for gender roles as predisposing factors of youth restiveness. Study equally reveal the quality of socialisation education acquired at home and school as a potential predisposing factor of youth restiveness. Significant relationship exists between gender and agitation of restive youths as well as between educational exposure of youths and their agitation. RECOMMENDATIONS: Recommendations include the need for parents to be alive to their responsibilities of inculcating into their children moral values and character training to strengthen their self-control skills and stabilise them against participation in youth restiveness.