AMNESTY PROGRAMME AND THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN BAYELSA AND RIVERS STATES

Abstract

This study assessed the effects of amnesty programme on the socio-economic and community developmental of Bayelsa and Rivers States. Two specific objectives guided the study and one substantive hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance using the multiple regression analysis. The study adopted the mixed survey research design. The study participants included 793 adults aged between 18 years and above, who were selected through the multi-stage sampling procedure. A researcher-developed questionnaire was used to collect the quantitative data while Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and Key Informant Interview (KII) were used to collect the qualitative data. The quantitative data collected were analyzed descriptively and the study hypothesis was equally tested using multiple regression analysis, while the qualitative data were analyzed using the manual method of content analysis. The findings of the study revealed that amnesty programme have not made the expected impact on the socio-economic and community development of Bayelsa and Rivers States. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that the amnesty programme projects should be monitored by the agencies of the Federal Government, to ensure effective and efficient implementation as well as help to discourage diversion of funds