ABSTRACT
Our research topic was Youth Empowerment Programme for Capacity Acquisition and Poverty Reduction in Calabar South Local Government Area within the period 2010 – 2017. The main aim was to find out whether the programme of youth empowerment has provided capacity acquisition to reduce poverty among youths in Calabar South Local Government Area. The research methodology employed was descriptive. It was a survey research. A total of 300 questionnaire were drawn as sample for the study. The study adopted infrastructure theory “propounded by Pierre Richard Agerior as the appropriate theoretical framework and the hypothesis formulated was on youth empowerment programme and capacity acquisition. The result from the questionnaire and finding from interview method show that the relationship between empowerment programmes and capacity acquisition is very important because youths need the ability to locate, identify, value and acquire external knowledge that is critical to its operation and that possession of entrepreneurial skill is necessary in empowerment programme. Empowerment programme has a positive impact on providing basic education to equip youths in Calabar South, empowerment programme has a positive impact on the socio-economic lives of youths in Calabar South, and empowerment programme has a positive impact in generating employment opportunities. Based on this, the study recommends that the youths of Calabar South should be more participative in government programmes so as to reduce poverty collectively, entrepreneurial training should be emphasized so as to enable the youths create wealth and in turn employ labour in the course of reducing unemployment, also, the government and the available youth empowerment establishment should collectively provide means of educating the public on how vital youth empowerment is in the battle against unemployment and poverty.