Towards a Skill-Based Music Education in Reducing Poverty and Enacting Leadership Quality in Nigeria

Poverty and unemployment has been a social ill that has eaten deep into the economy of the nation. This paper examined the cause of poverty and bad leadership traits among Nigerian youths and look at the role music education can play in reducing it. It discovered that the absence of opportunity for works is one of the causes of much of the present social and industrial unrest in Nigeria. It reviewed some selected developed countries where vocational education is an investment that is giving good yield. The paper concludes that the inability of our educational system to provide the youths with the demands of industries has led to the turning out of restless and disconnected generation of youths. The paper therefore suggests a skill-based music education that can contribute to a modern economy and make Nigerians take its place in the technological society of the 21st century. Based on the findings, it was recommended among other things that, government should provide teaching and research materials for effective teaching and learning of music education in secondary schools in order to inculcate in the students skills, entrepreneurship values and traits of good leadership.Keywords: Poverty, Leadership, Skills, Music Education, Skill-Based Educatio