*THE ROLE OF EDUCATION IN MANAGING SOCIAL VICES AND YOUTH RESTIVENESS:.* Case study Delta State University.

 

By
*Prof.  Dr.  Ikezahu Osagie Success. PhD.*
*Abstract:*
This article examined the role of education in managing social vices and youth  Restiveness in a globally depressed economy. Incidence of social vices such as examination malpractice, indecent dressing and prostitution, political thugery, drug addiction, cultism, bombings, kidnappings, rape andarmed robberyarediscussedinthepaper.Italsodiscussedconditionsthatarelinked to social vices and youth restiveness including poor governance, violence, repression, corruption, inequality and exclusion which may affect quality, relevance, equity and management of quality education. Academic research papers revealed that if secondary male enrolment is low, youth restiveness, especially in low income countries with a youth budge increases. The interface between incidence of social vices, youth restiveness and quality education in a globally depressed economy is highlighted in the paper. The paper concludes that if government and relevant stakeholders make efforts to provide quality education to its citizens, social vices and youth restiveness might be reduced. The article recommended thateven in a globally depressed economy, educational provision should always be placed on first line charge. It also recommended that government, Non-governmental Organizations and other relevant stakeholders should make education accessible to all irrespective of social status. All levels of educational systems should be given good attention as no level should be seen to be inferior to the other as both complement one another in terms of quality and cohesion of the educational system.


*Introduction:*
Education is a tool used to develop the individual so that he becomes useful to himself, his family and the society generally. Okwori and Ede (2012) define education as the transmission of relevant knowledge into the learner to enable him to effectively adjust to his environment and live a useful life. Education enables the possessor to live a useful life by contributing to the development of the society.
Educational management is a concept that deals with putting educational system under formal control by formulating policies and implementing same to achieve the desired goals and objectives. Babalola and Isuku (2008) state that educational management is a concept that goes along with the quest to put the formal education system under control, regulation or supervision.

Social vices are deviant behaviours such as illicit sex, drug addiction, evil or immoral behavior such as murder, examination malpractice, thuggery and such other criminal tendencies. Restiveness on the other hand is a condition where one is unable to stay still, or unwilling to be controlled most especially because one feels bored or unsatisfied with the state of affairs. Youth restiveness istherefore a condition in which youths are seemingly uncontrollable because the state of affairs in a nation or society are unsatisfactory. A globally depressed economy on the other hand is one in which inflationary trends are on the ascendancy, money is chasing few goods in the market.

Since the return of Nigeria to democratic rule in 1999, the country has been facing national security challenges across the six geo-political zones. Incidences of bomb blasts, oil pipeline vandalism, kidnappings, armed robbery and political assassinations are added dimensions to the security challenges which are stretching the nation to its limits, sometimes constituting a great threat to the very fabric of its existence (Abimbola & Adesote, 2012).
Incidence of social vices and youth restiveness are linked to inadequate education service delivery. In Sierra Leone, the cause of insurgency and youth restiveness is linked to denial of education to a section of the country (Education International, 2010). The poor and the uneducated revolted against the repressive regime in North American continent of the British monarchies, leading to the declaration of independence and the revolutionary war (Young & Gray, 2011). Genyi and Euginia (2013) state that peace and security of Nigeria has been seriously compromised because of the inability of government and other relevant stakeholders to provide quality education to some sections of the country. Human restiveness occasioned by Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen clashes with sedentary farmers, kidnappings, targeted assassinations, arson and such other social vices are stretching the nation beyond its elastic limit. Without good education for all and sundry, the nation may be dragged to the precipice beyond which there could be chaos in the country. Education is therefore the only instrument that can be used to bring about national cohesion and integration that will lead to national development.


Social vices are fast becoming national and global trends. Social vices cut acroass but not limited to examination malpractice, indecent dressing, prostitution, political ethnic nationalities, races and even religious cleavages. Some of the social vices include:
Thuggery, cultism, drug addiction, targeted assassinations, armed robbery, pipeline vandalization.

variance to social norms and values which include beliefs, attitudes, honesty, customs and traditions, ideals, skills and taboos which a society cherishes and passes on.

*The Interface between Youth Restiveness and Quality Education in a Globally Depressed Economy*

The bombings, kidnappings, pipeline vandalism, armed robbery, targeted  
assassinations, rape and other forms of criminality in the six geo-political regions of  
Nigeria are emerging acts of youths restiveness. Some commentators view this disturbing  
trend to political dissatisfaction, ethno religious differences, perceived societal neglect  
and abject poverty in the land. Niger Delta and South East youths are responsible for  
kidnappings and destruction of oil installations just as the activities of Boko Haram in the  
North East are a serious national concern. There is an emerging trend of ethnic militia or  
private armies that are a source of terror in the nation.
Through the oil boom of the 1970s to date, human trafficking, prostitution,  
kidnapping, and criminality in general have flourished in alongside continued high  
unemployment (International Crisis Group, 2010). Because the oil wealth seems to flow  
to the powerful and elite, social services, public safety programmes, and education are of  
very low quality or non-existent and Nigeria ranks among the World's poorest  
populations with 75% of the population living on $1.25 per day (Thomson, 2012). The  
poverty rate in the Muslim North is 72%, in the Christian South - 27%, and in the Niger  
Delta - 35% (Johnson, 2011). For the majority outside of the establishment, there is no continuous access to safe drinking water, shelter or employment (O'mede, 2011) and life  
expectancy stands at 46.5 years of age (Bureau of African Affairs, 2012).
Another predicament is that two thirds of Nigeria's population is under the age of  
30 (Thomson, 2012). A country with a high population, combined with high  
unemployment is surely at risk of youth restiveness and high incidence of social vices.  
Nigerian youths are living under disease conditions. Nigeria has the second highest  
HIV/AIDS burden in Africa and the highest tuberculosis burden in the world (Ploch,  
2011).
Within a given context, education can be an instrument for construction or  
destruction depending on the kind provided. Education can help produce the benefits of  
inclusive and constructive integration of individuals and communities, socially, politically  
and economically which can contribute to prevent social vices and youth restiveness  
(Dupuy, 2008). Social vices and youth restiveness are associated with a combination of  
economic, governance, security and social conditions that can have unpleasant influence  
on quality education and its provision. At a very minimum, these factors impinge on basic  
service delivery. Of the 72 million children of primary school age estimated to be out of  
school globally, over 25 million are found in countries with high incidence of youth  
restiveness (UNESCO, 2010), Millions of youths and adults find themselves with few  
meaningful opportunities to access education in a globally depressed economy. Even  
when education services are made available, the dynamics of the 'who', 'what', 'how' and  
‘why’ associated with their delivery can further complicate and negatively impact the  
quality of what children and youths experience in the classroom (Dupuy, 2008). There  
are conditions that are linked to social vices and youth restiveness - including poor  
governance, violence, repression, corruption, inequality and exclusion - may affect  
quality, relevance, equity and management in ways which not only reduce education as a  
tool for social cohesion but reverse development gains and further entrench or  
exacerbate economic, social or political stability through youth restiveness.
The impact of education on social vices and youth restiveness can be seen at  
macro-level in some case studies. Macro-level evidence shows a link between education  
and the causes of social vices and youth restiveness particularly at the nexus of poverty,  
crime wave and youth restiveness. Greed and grievance literature links social vices and  
youth restiveness to poverty: Academic research on the causes of youth restiveness  
demonstrates compellingly that countries with low income per capital are at increased  
risk of civil conflict (Rice, Gaff & Lewis, 2006). Two dominant explanations exist about the  
link between low income per capital and youth restiveness - the first emphasizes  
opportunities for rebellion, while the other focuses on state capacity for which education  
plays a role in each of the explanations. Collier & Hoeffler (2004) offer argument  
concerning the role of education in the relationship between poverty and youth  
restiveness. They find that a 10% increase in enrolment rates in secondary schools can  
reduce the average risk of youth restiveness by three percentage points, and that male  
secondary school rates are negatively related to the duration of youth restiveness (Collier  
& Hoeffler, 2004). According to the authors, as educational attainment rises, the potential  
income that rebel recruits would have to forgo in order to join a rebellion rises, making it  
less likely that rebellion will occur.
Regarding state capacity, it can be seen that a state's failure to provide access to  
quality education created youth restiveness. Thyne (2006) states that people should  
expect a poorly funded system of education to generate poverty and inequality each of  
which has been found to increase the likelihood of social vices and youth restiveness.
Thyne argues that primary enrolment rates are a strong proxy for equitable educational  
investment. His study revealed that an increase in primary enrolment from 1 standard  
deviation (SD) below the mean to 1 SD above results in a 73% decrease in the predicted  
probability of civil war onset. This means that if increased and sustained investment in  
education with increased enrolments become a priority for conflict prevention, there is  
the likelihood of significant reduction in youth restiveness. A strong quality education for  
both males and females is an antidote for social vices and youth restiveness.
In the context of who is enrolled and at what level of education is also significant.  
Research suggests that in many contexts, those who join rebellions are overwhelmingly  
young males who have not received education; the hypothesis is that this group is easily  
manipulated by propaganda and finds the power of possessing and using arms alluring  
(Collier, Lani, Havard, Hoffler, Rey-Querol & Sabanis, 2003). Dixon (2009) finds that the  
highest correlation between youth restiveness and education indicators is a decrease in  
risk of youth restiveness. Barakat and Henrik (2009) confirm that low secondary male  
enrolment increases youth restiveness, especially in low or lower middle income  
countries with a youth bulge. Thyne (2006) also finds that secondary male enrolment has  
the strongest marginal effect when values are very low which supports Collier and  
Hoeffler's (2004) rebel recruitment argument, suggesting that secondary male enrolment  
is more relevant than primary enrolment and secondary male and female enrolment  
rates.
Post secondary school enrolment is not as important as secondary school  
enrolment in reducing youth restiveness. Post secondary school enrolment is not  
strongly correlated with a decreased probability of youth restiveness as secondary school  
enrolment, and increasing adult literacy and expenditures on education only has a  
marginal effect on youth restiveness (Tebbe, Breazeale, Commins, Kalista, Pigozzi,  
Winthrop & Graff, 2014). The authors maintain that educational expenditures are often  
distributed unequally to the university level, which disproportionately helps the wealthy,  
especially in poor countries as the poor can hardly afford the cost of university education  
for their wards. This implies that at the tertiary level of education, increase in education  
expenditures could rather foment youth restiveness because they perpetuate existing  
social and economic inequality.
Quality of education services plays a role in social vices and youth restiveness with  
access to various types and levels of education as a critical component in this interface.  
Access as a quantitative measure that encompasses enrolling in, regularly attending and  
remaining in the education system until a certain phase of schooling has been completed,  
has-proven itself as a contributing structural factor both exacerbating and mitigating  
youth restiveness (Dupuy, 2008). As Dupuy describes, there is now an extant body of  
evidence demonstrating that the lack of access to education contributed to the outbreak  
of conflict in places including Rwanda, Kosovo and Sierra Leone by serving as a grievance  
among fighting parties (2008, p.33). The case of Liberia serves as an example where  
patterns of mass exclusion from the formal education system of indigenous children,  
comprising the bulk of the population, were widespread in the century prior to the  
outbreak of conflict in 1989 (Tebbe et al, 2014). Exclusion in education across gender,  
income and geographic lines, - reflected broader patterns of social, economic and political  
exclusion in Liberian society which entrenched grievances contributing to civil war.
Education is considered as a public good to be provided by the state. As such,  
education systems have the symbolic value of (re) establishing state legitimacy in the  
eyes of the population given their role as a site for daily interaction by the population
...with the state and as a barometer of the state's commitment to its people (Dupuy, 2008
;  
Barakat, Karpinska & Paulson, 2008).
Education can impact behaviour and attitudes in youths in diverse ways. Schools  
and classrooms can provide the space in which people of different origins can be brought  
together and taught how to live and work together peacefully (Thyne, 2006). For  
example, participatory processes both in classrooms and within school management  
practices have potential to build practices of cooperation and reciprocity both within and  
beyond schools (Wedge, 2008). Additionally, the content and methods of imparting  
education have a role in mitigating youth restiveness-peace education can have positive  
effects on students' attitudes and teachers have the ability to impart values of tolerance  
of cultural differences and acceptance of diversity as well as fostering critical thinking  
and interactive skills among learners (Wedge, 2008; Barakat, Karpinska & Paulson,  
2008). Education systems, and schools themselves, serve as locations where combined  
interests and objectives from a wide range of groups are addressed in attempts to  
establish agreements on the details of schooling and also common understanding of  
citizenship that the school system promotes (Thyne, 2006).
Conclusion  
Education even in a globally depressed economy can be used as an instrument to  
link to livelihoods, economic opportunities, mobility and enhanced standard of living.  
Quality education delivery can be used to avoid entrenching disparities and development  
of grievances which are factors for social vices and youth restiveness. If the result of  
education cannot meet these expectations it calls to question the quality, relevance of  
education provided and the segments of the society receiving such education.
Suggestions
1. Even in a globally depressed economy, educational provision should always be placed  
on first line charge. This position is imperative because education is an instrument for  
national and international development.
2. Government, Non-governmental organizations and other relevant stakeholders  
should make education accessible to all irrespective of social status.
3. All levels of educational system, primary, secondary and tertiary schools should be  
given good attention as no level should be seen to be inferior to the other as both  
complement one another in terms of quality and cohesion of the educational system.
4. Universal Basic Education system is funded by the Federal government of Nigeria,  
states, World Bank and other donor agencies. The tertiary level of education is  
supported with a special intervention fund, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund  
(TETFUND). The secondary level of education is left only in the hands of various state  
governments in Nigeria. This lopsided intervention funding excluding secondary  
schools should be addressed.
5. The Universal Basic Education Commission is in charge of basic education in Nigeria  
while National Universities Commission regulates activities of universities in the  
country. No such body has been created for secondary schools. This imbalance should  
be looked into. This may enhance quality education delivery at this level of education.