Extent of Participation in Traditional Recreational Activities of Ugwueke Community in Bende Local Government Area, Abia State

Abstract

Recreation is an activity one voluntarily engages in during his/her leisure time due to the satisfaction derived from it. This study investigated the extent of participation in traditional recreational activities of Ugwueke community in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State. Researchers adopted descriptive survey research design. A sample of 396 members of the community was used for the study. Researchers-designed questionnaire with a reliable index of 0.71 was used to elicit information from the respondents. Frequency and percentage were used to answer the research questions while Chi-square was used to test the null hypothesis at .05 level of significance. The findings from the study revealed that only 38.02 per cent of the participants in Ugwueke community participated in Ibo Uzo to a high extent, while 51.97 per cent participated to a very low extent. Also, 36.5 per cent of the respondents participated in Ikwota iyi to a high extent, while 41.86 per cent participated to a very low extent, while 34.84 per cent of the respondents participated in Mgba to a high extent, 32.24 to a moderate extent and 21.32 to a very low extent. Participation in traditional recreation were statistically dependent on age (ᵪ2 =10.41, p = 7.815). It was concluded that the community should be educated on the need to involve everyone in recreational activities and therefore recommend that there should be forum for workshop and seminar to enlighten them on the need to involve everyone in recreational activities.