An Assessment Of The Role And Challenges Of Non-Governmental Organizations In Rural Development In Nigeria (Case Study Of Selected NGOs In Benin City)
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The following are the objectives of this study:
- To examine the roles of non-governmental organizations in rural development in Nigeria.
- To examine the challenges of non-governmental organizations in rural development in Nigeria.
- To determine the solutions to the issues of rural development in Nigeria.
CHAPTER TWO
Literature review
Conceptual Review
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
An organization is a collection of people working in a coordinated manner to achieve a common purpose. There are many types of organizations, which may be classified as either for-profit or not-for-profit (non- profit), large or small.
Non-Governmental organizations are organizations that operate across national boundaries, that have a membership composed of private individuals, and that do not answer to any government. In essence, NGOs are organized interest groups that operate single or in combination with one another to promote their causes. Globally, there are well known NGOs such as Amnesty International, Green Peace, Red cross, save the children, CARE and Oxfarm. There are also Community Based Organizations (CBO), City wide Organizations and National NGOs.
Rural Development
Development is a widely participatory process of directed social change in a society, intended to bring about both social and material advancement (including greater equality, freedom and other valued qualities) for the majority of the people through their gaining greater control over their environment. Hence, development is a constant process of transformation. It is a dynamic concept denoting a state of ceaseless change.
Rural Development is the improvement of the living standards of the low-income population living in rural areas on a self-sustaining basis, through transforming the socio-spatial structures of their productive activities. In essence, rural development implies a broad based reorganization and mobilization of the rural masses so as to enhance their capacity to cope effectively with the daily tasks of their lives and with changes consequent upon this.
Problems of Rural Development in Nigeria
According to Adeyemo (2003:134), development is a broad term which indicates improvement and this improvement may be perceived from income, state of health, human reasoning, physical and social as different from the former state. Any human society is not static but dynamic in terms of the ways of life and adopted technologies. However, the rates of development differ from one society to another and from generation to generation.
Similarly, development may simply be understood as the unending improvement in the capacity of groups of individuals and societies to control and manipulate the forces of nature as well as themselves (and where necessary, other individuals and societies for their own material benefit and ultimately for the benefit of humanity at large. It is the process of actualizing man’s inherent capacity to live a better and more fulfilling life. (Girigiri, 2000:111)
With the meaning of development clarified, one can now move on to examine what rural development means. World Bank (1975), asserts that rural development is concerned with the modernization and monetization of rural society, and with its transition from its traditional isolation to integration with the national economy. Todaro (1977:249), asserts that rural development encompasses:
- Improvement in levels of living, including income, employment, education, health and nutrition, housing and a variety of social services;
- Decreasing inequality in the distribution of rural incomes and in urban-rural imbalances in incomes and economic opportunities; and
- The capacity of the rural sector to sustain and accelerate the pace of these improvement.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
In this chapter, we would describe how the study was carried out.
Research design
The study has a research design which is mainly used in order to achieve the objective of the study. A survey method was used, a descriptive survey research design, which is designed to have a sample of respondents taken from the study population in the survey. Primary and secondary sources of data collections were employed; and in analyzing the data, a descriptive approach was adopted.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, the data collected for the research work were presented and analyzed, and the study made use of questionnaire.
CHAPTER FIVE
Conclusion and Recommendations
CONCLUSIONS
The problem of poverty in Nigeria is compounded by the unacceptably low value of the Naira in the world currency market. The massive devaluation of the Naira has rendered the currency almost worthless. The low value of the Naira leads to high cost of imported industrial input which leads to capacity underutilization and high cost of locally manufactured goods which in turn leads to low demand on the part of the poor masses, which leads to huge unsold inventories and depression in the industrial sector which limits their ability to expand and employ more workers, a situation that leads to unemployment. It is a vicious cycle. The Federal government should encourage exports and discourage the importation of all but necessary items. This would help shore up the value of the Naira and enhance the purchasing power of the average Nigerian.
One maddening irony about poverty alleviation in Nigeria is that it is people who do not need poverty alleviation that are charged with that task. It seems that poverty alleviation programmes actually end up making the rich richer and poor poorer. In other words, the poor have been marginalized in the implementation of policies ostensibly meant for them. In the Babangida years, Better Life for Rural Women Programme provided first ladies and other powerful women opportunity to showcase their latest fashion acquisitions. Much money was wasted sewing uniforms embroidered with the pictures of first ladies. A lot of money was also wasted on unnecessary foreign trips. The recently rested Poverty Alleviation Programmed (PAP) was also subject to abuse and corruption. For poverty alleviation efforts to succeed, this profligacy should stop. The poor have to be involved in projects meant for them. As a publication puts it: The people best placed to tackle poverty are the poor themselves”
The best way to ensure that the poor are directly involved in poverty alleviation programme is by making the programme community-based. Apart from making the poor involved, community based poverty alleviation programme would help to check corruption because in Nigeria’s rural communities virtually everybody knows everybody. If a person embezzles money meant for poverty alleviation the entire community could apprehend him. Similarly by invoking the wrath of the village gods against theft of poverty alleviation funds, rural communities would help to deter corrupt practices and ensure that funds allocated poverty alleviation are used for the purpose intended.
RECOMMENDATIONS
I agree with Lai Olurode’s assertion that poverty alleviation should not be unduly politicized. To quote him
“In a study of three local governments undertaken by us, we observed that the unemployed are being recruited through the local branches of the PDP in Iwo, Aiyedira and Ola-Oluwa Local Government where 245,120
and 111 (beneficiaries) had been placed in various offices in the Postal services department, INEC, NITEL and National Population Commission Office, hospitals and agricultural departments. These are offices where there already exist over staffing resulting in idleness) the new employees are paid N3, 500. A number of these people were employed before and so regard their new work as a sort of party patronage”.
- From the above, it could be seen that overpolitisation of poverty alleviation programmes undermines efficiency. To this end, one would recommend that government at all levels should be less partisan in executing poverty alleviation programmes. There should be a distinction between the government and the ruling party. Once a leader is elected, he becomes a servant of not only his own party but of his entire constituency. In essence, poverty alleviation programme should be spread to accommodate all the poor irrespective of party affiliations.
- Similarly, poverty alleviation programme should be decentralized. Olurode (2000) argues that local governments are sidetracked by the Federal Government in the execution of poverty alleviation programme. This practice is not good enough. Granted that poverty is a national problem in Nigeria, the fact is that poverty alleviation programme should take into account local peculiarities. For example, poverty alleviation facilities provided for riverine communities in Lagos, Delta, Rivers and Cross Rivers may not be relevant to drought stricken communities in Northern Nigeria. Delegating some aspects of poverty alleviation programme to state and local governments would help to accommodate local peculiarities and ensure greater results.
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