CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Rural development in Nigeria, and in Enugu State in particular, has deep roots. People have always worked to improve their surroundings, first by meeting basic needs for food, clothing and shelter, and later by building roads, markets, village squares and schools. In Nigerian communities, self-help is a long-standing tradition. Before colonial rule, every member of the community belonged to an extended family, an age grade or a guild and had a part to play in community growth, and age grades and town unions built and maintained markets and roads, kept streams clean and mediated disputes (Aguene, 2024). The community development model of rural development has therefore been applied for a very long time, before the colonial period, during it and up to the present (Aguene, 2024).

Over time, the responsibility for public services has passed largely to government, and individual involvement has become a matter of voluntary effort carried out through town unions, community development associations, cooperative societies, women's organisations and youth groups (Aguene, 2024). The role of self-help has also been debated. Nnoli (1980, as cited in Aguene, 2024) saw it as a last resort forced on rural people by government neglect, and Graf (1980, as cited in Aguene, 2024) argued that colonial authorities promoted community development as a way of keeping local areas underdeveloped. These views show that self-help cannot be a substitute for sustained public investment.

Governments have launched many programmes to develop rural areas. They include the Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI) established in 1986, which achieved a great deal in rural road construction, and later initiatives such as the Better Life for Rural Women programme, the National Poverty Eradication Programme and the Agricultural Development Programmes (Aguene, 2024). In Enugu State, the government has adopted counterpart funding, under which communities that identify a project and pay part of its cost receive government support, and in 2018 it gave each community N10 million under a 'one community, one project' approach. Aguene (2024) notes that only organised communities can benefit from this arrangement.

Industrialisation is an important part of rural development because it creates employment and income locally and gives farmers a market for their produce. Evidence from Edo State shows that small-scale industries had a serious impact on employment and household income in rural areas, although they were constrained by weak management skills, poor record keeping and limited access to finance (Oboniye, 2013). In Enugu State, communities have pooled resources to establish a garri processing industry among other projects, and the Fadama III additional financing from 2015 extended support to cassava and rice value chains in the state (Aguene, 2024).

The need for rural development is evident in the national poverty figures. The 2022 national Multidimensional Poverty Index found that 63% of Nigerians were multidimensionally poor, with poverty far more common in rural areas, where 72% of people were poor, than in urban areas, where the figure was 42% (National Bureau of Statistics, 2022).

Despite these programmes, many rural communities are not yet fully developed. The literature points to a problem of implementation. Aguene (2024) argues that top-down strategies have not had a sustainable impact, because rural people were not involved in decisions and their priorities were therefore not known, which left them with little commitment to the projects. A study of Ezeagu Local Government Area likewise found that rural communities were burdened by infrastructural and service deficiencies while the local government struggled with institutional and systemic failures (Ugwuozor et al., 2022). This study examines the strategies adopted by government and community-based organisations for rural development in Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Government has initiated many programmes aimed at rural development, among them the Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure and the Better Life for Rural Women programme, and community-based organisations in Awgu Local Government Area have also worked to improve their members' standard of living. Even so, rural dwellers remain poor. Aguene (2024) attributes this to strategies that did not address people's needs because local people were not involved in designing, implementing and executing projects. In Awgu Local Government Area, there are cases of abandoned projects, which suggests that the efforts made have not produced true and sustainable development. The problem addressed in this study is therefore the strategies adopted by government and community-based organisations for rural development in Awgu Local Government Area, which have not yielded the desired results.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of the study is to assess strategies for rural development in Awgu Local Government Area, Enugu State. The specific purposes are to:

1. Ascertain the objectives of rural development in Awgu Local Government Area.
2. Identify the types of rural development projects carried out in the area.
3. Find out who participates in rural development projects in the area.
4. Assess the efforts of government in promoting rural development through industrialisation in the area.
5. Determine the strategies used to implement rural development projects in the area.
6. Examine the problems that militate against rural development in the area.

1.4 Significance of the Study

There is growing emphasis on the part that community-based organisations can play in achieving true and sustainable development in Enugu State and Nigeria generally. Scholars have suggested shifting from top-down government approaches to bottom-up, community-driven strategies, which give control over decisions and resources to the real agents of change in rural communities, such as traditional organisations, peer groups, women's groups and cooperatives (Aguene, 2024). The study should encourage rural dwellers who belong to community-based organisations and show which strategies work best. Its findings will also guide government and other agencies when assisting communities, give development workers information on the strategies grassroots organisations use, and provide material for future research on rural development strategies.

1.5 Scope of the Study

The study covers the objectives and characteristics of rural development, the types of rural development projects, the participants in these projects, the efforts of government to promote rural development including through industrialisation, the strategies used to implement rural development projects and the problems that militate against them. It is limited to Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State.

1.6 Research Questions

The following questions guide the study:

1. What are the objectives of rural development in Awgu Local Government Area?
2. What types of rural development projects are carried out in Awgu Local Government Area?
3. Who participates in rural development projects in Awgu Local Government Area?
4. What contributions has government made to promoting rural development, including through industrialisation, in Awgu Local Government Area?
5. What strategies are used to implement rural development projects in Awgu Local Government Area?
6. What problems confront rural development in Awgu Local Government Area?

1.7 Research Hypothesis

HO1: There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of male and female members of community-based organisations on the problems confronting rural development in Awgu Local Government Area.

The hypothesis is justified by evidence that gender affects participation in rural development. A study of 17 local government councils in Enugu State found that women's rights are routinely ignored and that membership of cooperative societies mobilises participation in community development (Aguene, 2020).

References

Aguene, I. N. (2020). The role of women in rural development in Enugu State, Nigeria. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Policy, 9(2), 135–153.

Aguene, I. N. (2024). The practice of rural development in Enugu State, Nigeria. GOUni Journal of Faculty of Management and Social Sciences, 12(1), 173–189.

National Bureau of Statistics. (2022, November 17). Nigeria launches its most extensive national measure of multidimensional poverty. https://nigerianstat.gov.ng/news/78

Oboniye, J. A. (2013). Small scale industries and rural development in Edo State, Nigeria. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 3(9), 25. https://doi.org/10.5901/jesr.2013.v3n9p25

Ugwuozor, I. S., Madubuegwu, C. E., & Udenta, N. (2022). Local government and rural development in Nigeria: A survey study of Ezeagu in Enugu State. International Journal of Academic and Applied Research, 6(6), 44–52.