Perceived Employment-Creation and Poverty-Reduction as Correlates of Peace-Building among the Youths in Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria: Implications for Social Welfare Counselling

The study examines employment creation and poverty reduction as correlates of peace building among the youths in Ibadan. The study utilised descriptive survey design. The survey sample size was 250 youths who were randomly sampled from tertiary institutions and job seekers’ bureau in Ibadan. A self-constructed and validated questionnaire, “Perceived Employment Creation and Poverty Reduction for Peace” (PECPP) was used to assess the relationship between the independent variables and dependent variables in the study. A piloted split-half reliability of the test was found to be 0.72 in’ this study. Three null hypotheses were tested. The data collected were subjected to Pearson Moment Correlation and Regression Analysis so as to determine the correlation among the variables. Findings reveal significant relationship between perceived employment creation and peace building among the youths ( r =0.396, p = < 0.05); there is significant relationship between perceived poverty reduction and peace building (r = -.198, p = <0.05); also the ANOVA result shows there is a significant effect of the independent variables on the peace building (F(4.117)=12.627, p ). It is recommended that social welfare counsellors should guide both parents and students in the students’ choice of courses; the students should be opened to training in entrepreneurial skills and the government should still put more efforts in job creation.