THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL INVESTMENT PROGRAMME IN GOMBE STATE

The challenge of poverty remains a major issue affecting the development of Northern Nigeria and the Nigeria State in general. The problem of this study was to evaluate the impact of social investment programme in Gombe State. The main objective was to find out the nature of social investment programme implemented in Gombe State, and to find out the impact of the programme on citizens of the state. The methodology adopted for this study was survey method. Data from a sample of three hundred and two respondents were collected through questionnaire and In-depth Interview. The study found that, the poverty level in Gombe State Nigeria is high, and the main cause of poverty in the State includes: the absence of welfare and social investment by previous governments, low level of opportunities, and poor attitude of laziness and lack of productivity of the young people and to an extent low level of education especially technical and vocational education for self-reliance. The study also found that there is a high level of uncertainty among beneficiaries on the sustainability of their economic state at the end of their engagement as beneficiaries of the NSIP because they are cut off from payment schedules. The study recommended that the government of Gombe State should improve the people’s income by embarking on serious macro-economic policies that can affect the whole population. There is need to create more jobs, facilitate industrialization, mechanized agriculture to boost and improve economic activities that will improve people’s income.