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European Journal of Social Sciences - Volume 2, Number 1 (2006) 1996 and rose steeply, thereafter, reaching an estimated 66.0 per cent in 1999 and almost 70.0 per cent of population in 2003. Life expectancy at birth remained at an average of 52 years while adult literacy stood at 57.0 per cent. The census figures for 1991 clearly indicate that women account for 49.7 per cent of the Nigerian population. Studies have also shown that women are more affected by the growing poverty than men hence, the Nigerian government has introduced a number of poverty alleviation programmes to improve the life of its women (Obadan, 1995; Mongelle, 1995; Atoloye, 1997; Englama and Bamidele, 1997; Bogunjoko, 1999; Fakiyesi, 2001). Notable among these are the Better Life for Rural Women Programme, Family Support Programme (FSP) and Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF). In an attempt to address the poverty issue, successive governments in Nigeria, in collaboration with various international organizations notably, the World Bank, United Nations Development Programmes (UNDP), United Nations Children Educational Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) initiated specific multi-dimensional and multi-faceted programmes to meet the needs of the poor. These programmes focused on employment creation, improved welfare and increased productivity. They include the programmes undertaken by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Employment, Labour and Productivity, which is responsible for the execution of National Employment Programmes (NEP), Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI), Peoples and Community Banks as well as Better Life programmes. The National Directorate of Employment was established by the National Directorate of Employment Act of 1989. The Directorate's main objective, like any other strategies, is the designation and implementation of programmes to combat mass unemployment. This is expected to be carried out by obtaining and maintaining a data bank on employment and vacancies in the country with a view to acting as a clearing house to link job seekers with vacancies in collaboration with other government agencies. In terms of their impacts on the targeted groups, all these initiatives achieved limited success owing largely to lack of commitment, continuity and coordination notwithstanding the huge financial resources committed to them. It was against this backdrop that the Obasanjo Administration, which came into power in May 1999, set up a panel to review, rationalize and harmonize the functions of all sundry poverty alleviation agencies, in order to enhance their effectiveness. The Poverty Alleviation Program (PAP) was, consequently introduced to bring immediate succour to Nigerians living below the poverty line. The PAP was geared towards socio-economic empowerment of the people which was to be achieved through programmes targeting provision of employment opportunities. The schemes under PAP include Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES), Rural Infrastructure Development Scheme (RIDS), Social Welfare Service Scheme (SOWESS) and Natural Resource and Conservative Scheme (NRDCS). The Federal government instituted a fund, to finance such projects as rural electrification, water supply, primary health care, agriculture, food security, education and direct employment of youths. Some of the projects embarked upon have given employment to about 225,000 people representing 0.2 per cent of the population (Taiwo, 2001). Despite the fact that substantial budgetary allocations were made, the impact of PAP was still only little felt. This probably explains why federal government replaced the PAP with the NEEDS in 2003. NEEDS, an acronym for National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy, is a medium term strategy (2003-2007) which derives from the country's long-term goals of poverty reduction, wealth creation, employment generation and value orientation. NEEDS is a nationally coordinated framework of action in close collaboration with the state chapter called State Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (SEEDS) and local government chapter referred to as Local Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (LEEDS) and other stakeholders to consolidate on the achievement of the early years of the present government and build a solid foundation for the attainment of Nigeria's long-term vision of becoming the largest and strongest African economy and a key player in the world. NEEDS is to ensure that the entire poverty eradication institutional landscape 140
International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Volume 2, Number I (2006) is covered. NEEDS as policy statement is very clear and simple; it is aimed at developing human resources for higher productivity and self-sufficiency and eradication of poverty from the lives of every Nigerian citizen (NPC, 2004). The overall objective of establishing all the above-named structures and indeed NEEDS is to ensure that all poverty alleviation and employment programmes are implemented, coordinated and sustained such that the set targets are met. Also, there is a dire need for a structured framework for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the employment and poverty alleviation programmes put in place. Thus, the question that readily comes to one's mind is whether NEEDS has met its targets. Indeed, the question of whether the goals of NEEDS programme have achieved has to be examined now and if not, what should be done. Yet in other words, how effective are NEEDS/SEEDS/LEEDS in solving unemployment and poverty problems in Osun state of Nigeria? What gap is left to be filled by NEEDS? In order to provide appropriate answers to the questions raised, the paper examines the impact of poverty alleviation and employment generation of NEEDS/SEEDS/LEEDS policy on target groups since its inception in 2003. The large population of Nigeria, growing urbanization, unemployment and poverty suggest the need for speed in evolving and implementing knowledge-based actions to avert the full blown of the epidemics. Thus, an important part of effort to combat unemployment and poverty epidemic requires quantitative investigation of the impact of NEEDS/SEEDS on the target groups. The prevalence of poverty and unemployment in Nigeria is becoming frighteningly high and thus a topical issue contemporarily. In essence, the paper is considered pertinent in light of the currently launched NEEDS in the country. The paper, therefore, assesses the impact of employment generation and poverty alleviation programmes of NEEDS strategy on poor people in Osun State of Nigeria. In order to put the discussion into proper context, the paper is organized into five sections. Following the introduction, section 2 focusses on background information of the study area (i.e., Osun State of Nigeria). Section 3 discusses the methodology adopted. While section 4 analyzes the results of survey, section 5 concludes the paper with appropriate recommendation. Background information on osun state: Geographical and demographical profile: Osun State was created on August 27 th , 1991 from the old Oyo state. The State lies approximately within latitudes 6 o 55 and 8 o 10 North and longitudes 3 o 55 and 5 o 05 East, and covers a total landmass of about 7,997.55 square kilometers. The area is underlain by rocks of the Basement Complex. Two specific rock groups are prominent. These are the migmatite complex which outcrop in Ilesa and Ife area and the metasediments found in Iwo and Ikire areas. The land surface of Osun State is generally undulating descending from an altitude of over 450 metres above sea level in the Osun and Ijesa areas, to 150 metres above sea level and below in the southern parts. These characteristics give rise to two main physiographic regions: a stretch of the Yoruba highlands to the north and the undulating lowland to the south. Prominent high ranges are found at Ilesa, Igbajo-Okemesi, Elu and Oba. Many rivers drain the state. The most prominent of these is Osun from which the state derives its name. Other major rivers are Oni, Shasha and Oba. The soils derive from the local geology and belong to the group of ferruginous tropical red soils. They are generally deep and of two types namely deep clayey soils formed on low smooth hillcrests and upper slopes, and the sandier hill wash soils on the lower slopes. The clayey soils are well drained and best support cocoa and coffee cultivation. The other group of soils are more suitable for cultivating local food crops such as yams, cassava and maize. Soil degradation and erosion are generally not serious but considerable hill wash occurs along hill slopes. Originally, virtually all parts of the state are under a rich low land tropical rain forest vegetation. Tracts of this original vegetation can still be found in forest reserves to the south. However, to a large extent, the vegetation has given in 141
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References [1] Abiodun J.O. (1981)
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