Behaviour and How Conflicts Develop

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Table 4.5 showed the corps members‟ responses to the multiple choice questions on the Scheme and its objectives. The Table indicated that corps members had very high knowledge of the NYSC Scheme and its objectives with 74.7% (average score of all the corps members‟

scores} Item 1, with correct responses 551 (64.67%) indicates that the corps members have high knowledge about the number of objectives of the Scheme.

(b) Do corps members’ ages, academic qualifications, professional qualifications and gender, jointly contribute to their knowledge of the NYSC Scheme and objectives?

Table 4.6: Joint contribution of the four independent variables (age, academic qualification, professional qualification and gender) on corps members’

knowledge of the Scheme and its objectives using Regression Analysis

R R² R²Adjusted Std Error of Estimate F (4, 15) Sig.

.547 .299 .287 2.744 35.92 0.000

Predictor: (constant) age, academic qualification, professional qualification and gender

Table 4.6 presents the multiple correlation (R) of the four independent variables with knowledge of the Scheme‟s objectives in corps members (0.547). The adjusted R² which estimate the variance accounted for by the independent variables to the dependent variable measures is 0.287 which translates to 28.7% contribution of the independent variables to the Scheme‟s objective and R² = 0.299. These results indicate that 28.7% of the variance observed in the scores of corps members on the knowledge of the NYSC Scheme and its objectives is due to the joint contribution of the corps members‟ age, academic qualification, professional qualification, and gender.

(c) Which of the four predictor variables are most influential in the explanation of the scores of corps members in the knowledge of the NYSC Scheme and objectives?

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Table 4.7: Age and gender as the most influential in the explanation of corps members’ knowledge of the Scheme and its objectives using Regression Analysis

Dependent Variable Unstandardised Coefficient

Standardised Coefficient

T Sig.

B Std. Error Beta

Constant 13.506 2.744 .921 .000

Age 0.554 .059 .490 .461 .000

Academic Qualification -4.58E-02 .040 -.063 -1.127 .260

Professional 6.570E-02 0.023 -0.014 .285 .775

Gender -1.152 .329 .159 .497 .000

Review of the beta weights in Table 4.7 shows that Age (β =0.490, t(852) = .461, p<0.05) and Gender (β = 0.159, t(852) = .497, P<0.05) are the most influential in the explanation of the corps members‟ scores in the knowledge test. The table shows that both academic and professional qualifications do not contribute meaningfully to the explanation of the corps members‟ scores.

Discussion

Statistics showed that corps members‟ knowledge of the Scheme‟s objective is very high with 74.7% when their average scores were computed. The impact of knowledge gained by corps members through special trainings organized for them resonated during the 2011 general elections. The success of the election has been attributed to the selfless sacrifice, honesty, loyalty, dependability, reliability, judgment, and the dogged commitment of the corps members used during the period. This was corroborated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC, 2011) when it stated that the corps members were used for the exercise to restore sanity in the electoral system and conferment of credibility on same.

Age, gender, and qualifications of the corps members jointly influence their knowledge of the NYSC Scheme and objectives. Ukueze (2007) stated that age affects every area of human performance. Therefore, it has become necessary to examine the extent to which age affects the attitude of corps members towards the NYSC Scheme. The review of the beta weights show that age (β =0.490), t(852)=0.461, p< 0.05) and Gender (β = 0.159, t(852) = .497,

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P<0.05) are the most influential in the explanation of the corps members‟ scores in the knowledge test.

From the responses of corps members during the key informant interview, it was evident that they were familiar with the objectives of the Scheme as they were aware that the Scheme has eight (8) main objectives with the enabling principles to ensure their achievement.

The majority were able to enumerate between five to six of the objectives of setting up the Scheme amongst which were (1) to contribute to the growth of national economy (2) to foster the spirit of national unity across geo-political divides (3) to bring about discipline, industry and loyal service to the nation (4) to improve socio-cultural blend (5) to encourage youths to acquire skills for self-reliance (6) to develop the sense of corporate existence and destiny for Nigerian people.

The events following the civil war in Nigeria, both in political, economic and social spheres necessitated the creation of this Scheme to address the obvious gaps and distrusts that engulfed the nation. Principal to the objectives are: (i) rebuilding mutual trust among the ethnic nationalities by as far as possible, assigning youths, jobs in states other than their States of origin; (ii) National integration through the equitable distribution of members of the Service Corps and the effective utilisation of their skills in areas of national needs; (iii) inculcation of the spirit and tradition of industry among the youths; (iv) to contribute to the growth of the national economy, (v) To develop a sense of corporate existence and common destiny of the people of Nigeria, and so on. From the various responses, during the key informant interview, it was observed that male corps members were more conversant with the Scheme and its objectives than their female counterparts. While more male corps members were able to enumerate between 5 and 6 objectives, the female corps members oscillated between 4 and 5.

This buttresses Ahmed (2012) observations that male corps members seek information than their female counterparts. Also, age, academic and professional qualifications, and gender played significant roles in the knowledge of the NYSC Scheme and objectives. The younger corps members spoke more enthusiastically and emotionally about the Scheme during the Key Informant Interview, while the older ones were driven by what they stood to achieve on personal grounds. The older corps members said they were more interested in settling down for their future career and home front than wasting time on service, while the younger ones were enthused with service before furthering their education. Those with additional qualifications –

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either Master‟s Degree or Professionals – enumerated more points of the objectives of the Scheme better than first degree holders. Ekundare (2001) affirmed this, that personal factors such as age and gender could determine the attitude towards a programme like this.