The Capability Approach and National Development in Nigeria: Towards a Youth Transition Model

This paper adapts a qualitative-dominant mixed method approach by utilizing policydocuments, semi-structured interviews (SSIs), a focus group discussion, and structuredquestionnaires (SQs) to explore the transition-related bottlenecks that impede capabilitydevelopment processes across the education-work transition pathway, with a specific focuson the national youth service corps (NYSC) route. This paper reveals that youth’s (aged 18-30) ability to navigate the formal education phase, partly depends on multi-stakeholdercontributions that provide support structures to ensure youth obtain a tertiary degree beforethey reach age 30. Successful completion of the formal education phase makes them eligibleto be mobilized into the one-year mandatory NYSC route. While in the NYSC, youthcapability development programmes (YCDPs) ensure that youths are further developed anddeployed to opportunity structures needed to address national development needs. Thechallenge however is that both mobilization processes and deployment policy frameworkscreate restrictive bottlenecks that impede the effective functioning and freedoms for youthcapabilities to thrive. This paper broadly contributes to human resource development practiceby utilizing a youth capability analytic framework to better understand how well youthcapabilities can be further developed and strategically aligned/misaligned in addressingcomplex national development challenges as youth navigate the education-work transitionpathwa