The Changing Political Role of Youths in Oil Producing Areas of Delta State

This paper focuses on the factors and forces responsible for youth political ascendance in the oil producing areas of the Niger Delta region, with particular reference to Delta State. To enable us achieve this, we used the questionnaire, Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and the Key Informant Interview (KII) techniques, coupled with the secondary method of data gathering to collect data for this study. In the final analysis, we discovered that the youths in the oil producing communities of Delta State have changed from that of merely implementing policies and decisions taken by the elders of the various communities to that of taking active part in the formulation and implementation of these decisions. We therefore, suggest that the youths should continue to be recognized in political and leadership structures of the various communities.