Local government and rural development in Bendel state Nigeria : constraints on local involvement and effectiveness

Iyoha, Friday Ebose (1992) Local government and rural development in Bendel state Nigeria : constraints on local involvement and effectiveness. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Abstract

The thesis examines the constraints on local authorities' rural development efforts in Bendel State with an emphasis on ordinary people's views. It considers the literature on theories of local government and on theories of development, decentralization, participatory development, as well as the evolution of local government in Nigeria. The study also examines the literature on approaches to rural development and argues that development efforts are hampered by the negative effects of the federal government's imposed structural adjustment programme (SAP); the size of local authorities; the culture of resistance to development; the policy powerlessness of local authorities; and the lack of popular participation. These factors were considered as the basic hypotheses which explain the poor record of development in rural areas. A case study method was adopted in studying five local authority areas: Agbazilo, Etsako, Okpebho, Orhionmwon, and Owan. The survey data and the interviews of key local authority officials revealed that the structural adjustment programme has not resulted in an improvement of the rural dwellers' socio-economic conditions, but has hindered local authorities' development efforts. The study considered the problem of central government control and found that local councils are rendered powerless by the centre through delays in budget approval, unilateral dissolution of councils, and the conversion of local bodies into implementation committees. The present study found that ordinary people and local officials showed resistance to development in their refusal to sacrifice personal properties, a high expenditure on unproductive burial rites, and a refusal to use new markets. Resistance was also attributable to failure of local authorities to involve the people in project planning and implementation. The study argues that in rural areas with poor infrastructure and communications a large local authority reduces the pace of development. Given the peasant subsistence economy of the study area, it was no surprise, that local officials shared similar views with the ordinary people. The study's main contribution to research in this area is that the views of local people and officials are crucial to a proper understanding of rural development efforts.

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