Community Development in Nigeria: Prevailing Orientations Among Local Government Officials

Abstract

Despite the expanded scope and capacity to promote self-help and development activities which local governments in Nigeria have been granted since the 1976 local government reform, many local governments have compiled disappointing community and rural development performance records in the immediate postreform period, i.e. 1977-1980. Results of a questionnaire administered to 399 local government officials from the northern States of Nigeria in 1979-1980 indicate that they possess attitudes which have constituted a major barrier to popular direction at critical points in the rural and community development process. A majority of the sampled officials are generally predisposed toward preserving administrative control over development efforts. Most hold the view that the public should not participate in the planning of community development programmes and that officials should determine the goals and framework for collective action at the local level. Moreover, a majority of the respondents sanction withholding information which is crucial for effective involvement in project formulation and evaluation from the local populace. Notes, ref.