Appraisal of Youths’ Involvement in Social Conflicts and the Implications on Nigeria’s Image and Tourism Development

Abstract

This study undertook a critical appraisal of the correlation between the intractable social conflicts like the Boko-Haram and the Niger Delta crises, where youths are the key players, on the international image of Nigeria and tourism development in the country. It is motivated by the avalanche of media reports that the country’s image is being seriously battered abroad by these internal social problems. The specific objectives sought were to: ascertain the correlation between the Boko-Haram crisis and the nation’s image ratings abroad; the Niger Delta crisis and the nation’s image ratings abroad and their impacts on tourism development in the country. Survey design was adopted in the study, where electronic questionnaires (E-questionnaire) via the Internet were used to gather the primary data. The data so sourced were statistically presented/analyzed with Likert’s 5-points scale, Spearman’s correlation coefficient and Friedman chi-square. Results obtained show that both the Boko Haram crisis and the Niger Delta crisis have adverse impact on the country’s international image and tourism development, consequently on youths’ unemployment rate. It was then recommended that proactive public relations crisis management strategies should be used in nipping such crisis in their buds in future.

Keywords: Boko Haram crisis, Niger Delta crisis, National Image, Tourism Development.