APPLYING SYNERGY TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITIES
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APPLYING SYNERGY TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITIES
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Because of the way the government operates, life in Nigeria today is stressful and perplexing. In many aspects, how a community succeeds economically, politically, and socially is determined by its administrator’s creativity (thinking up new things), innovation (performing new things), daring, and vision. Nigeria will only flourish if rural communities develop. And this will only happen if the administrators are dedicated to the growth of the communities.
Anyone interested in learning why Nigeria is not progressing as quickly as it should should visit any of the local government areas. Almost everything is devoid of life. Because monthly allocations to local councils are not appropriately utilised, the people are supporting a variety of development initiatives (community hospital, road building, rural electrification, water projects, and so on).
Local governments, at least in theory, deal with grassroots politics (law and order, basic sanitation, building and maintaining local roads, delivering water, running local schools, providing inhabitants with skill training and jobs, and so on). Community development, on the other hand, is defined as “the process or effort of building communities on a local level with an emphasis on development programmes aimed at improving the quality of life of the people in the community.”
Are Nigerian local government administrators carrying out their duties? If not, what are the impediments?
Local governments are meant to be national growth engines. A sleepy rural hamlet transforms into a bustling metropolis, thanks to the local leader. When people in industrialised countries grow tired of loving in cities, they go to rural regions where living is less demanding.
In Nigeria, however, the opposite is true; living in a rural community is tough since nothing works as it should. Local government administrators contribute to the problem. They, like their colleagues at the federal and state levels, are bogged down in the pursuit of personal objectives at the expense of greater community interests.
As previously stated, life in the countryside is a little more challenging than life in cities, partly because some council managers lack the necessary skills and understanding. An administrator should grasp what community development is and what it takes to revitalise a struggling community.
An administrator directs and decides the pace of community development in the same way that a company manager defines what should be produced. However, a person cannot give what he or she does not have.
Administrators must be able to develop and analyse social and economic data in order to establish and implement excellent policies. Although data collecting and analysis are important issues in Nigerian official institutions, they are even more so in the local communities.
The significance of reliable data cannot be overstated. In particular, demographic data assists in determining a community’s purchasing power and market size, as well as providing investors with information about an area’s economic health.
In Nigeria, local government administration is riddled with contradictions and organised chaos. The system has elected and appointed local government chairmen and administrators, and some states are establishing development centres’ in local government districts.
All of these are conduits for public cash to go to state governors’ friends. As previously said, some of those in charge of these ‘looting carters’ are severely lacking in the ability and understanding required to build a community. You can’t give an invertebrate a backbone; one of these officials in Imo state, who displays himself as a “Dr (and other bogus titles),” doesn’t even have a high school diploma.
What kind of leadership would a community receive from such a deceitful and empty individual? Rural towns have entrepreneurial prospects, but often lack the necessary infrastructure to attract entrepreneurs and investors. To attract new investment and support economic growth and development, a town must have basic infrastructure, strong leadership, and an environment conducive to human habitation, because poor environmental conditions cause health problems and have a negative influence on property values. Local government managers should adjust the way they do their tasks to improve their “bad image.
” For example, they (together with its authorities) should inform property owners that many million-dollar residential and commercial structures in Nigeria do not have access roads. The government (local, state, and federal) should also identify (zone) residential and commercial zones, set building standards (there has been a recent series of building collapses), and ensure adequate enforcement. People are known to dwell in business zones, build structures without permission, and families are affected when disasters hit.
A community need financial resources for development. Nigeria’s lopsided federalism is a barrier to growth. As a result, Nigeria should be restructured into a truly federal state, allowing communities to handle resources in their jurisdiction. Local government administrators should devise efficient means of raising funds (for example, through property taxes, company and personal taxes, and so on).
Instead of going through the states, the federal government should ensure that monthly funds to local governments reach them directly. It should give annual grants to communities for development purposes, as well as loans to serious individuals and businesses to allow them to participate in the economy (mismanagement of rising unemployment, poverty, and crime).
As a result, the government should guarantee that any monies granted for community development are used appropriately. Because local communities are the engines of national growth, they should be controlled by “transforming leadership” – leadership that capitalises on man’s need for meaning, leadership that instills institutional purpose, and therefore leadership that gets things done.
However, the government (both state and federal) should support local area administrators by providing training (via seminars and conferences) in general administration (community development, social service delivery, human resource management, resource monitoring, and so on).
They should empower citizens by establishing jobs for rural residents and improving their living conditions. More importantly, ongoing investment in the upkeep of social infrastructures, which serve as the foundation for economic growth and community development, is required.
(1) Nigerian political leaders should prioritise human development as the foremost national political objective. The human individual is the primary stage of national development. It is regrettable that the average Nigerian is not properly trained, prepared, or groomed to master his or her labour and technical potentials as a full human being.
He or she is not completely trained to employ labour and technology abilities to dominate his or her environment, the land, in order to create a thriving and healthy community, society, and nation. It is tragic if a person is unable to provide for himself or herself the fundamental essentials of life, such as food, shelter, and health care. This failure is mostly due to a lack of understanding of the high value of labour and technical abilities, as well as the goals for which God created man and placed him/her on the planet Earth.
Many people are unaware of who they are, what their labour and technical potentials are, and what their destiny is. Furthermore, many people do not understand the fundamental significance of labour and technology, which are the primary tools for progress and transformation.
The problem of poverty, unproductiveness, and underdevelopment stems from a mistaken definition and understanding of man/woman in himself/herself, his/her place and purpose on earth, and the significance of labour and technology, which produce the economy and create a conducive environment.
In Nigeria, labour and technology have not been completely defined and utilised. Labour and technology are essential aspects of being human. Labour and technology are the economic engines as well as the engines of development and transformation.
Only good and development political leadership can recognise the need to develop a human person to his or her full potential and, as a result, design a strategy for both human and environmental development. Nigeria requires development political leaders who have this understanding and burden for the human person and the environment. Nigerian Political Leadership should prioritise environmental development as the second national political goal.
(2) The Nigeria environment is the second level of development. Political leaders must have a precise definition of the environment, which includes the land, sea, and sky. It also explains how man/woman uses the environment through labour and technical skills. It is critical for political leaders to understand how to exploit the land, sea, and sky for the benefit of humanity. Labour and technical skills are the methods through which man/woman grows, transforms, and organises human beings into a community, society, or nation?
Human labour, technical potentials, and desires must be developed and exploited through functional education, practical training, and the acquisition of labour and technical skills. But what political leadership lacks is a societal vision. Without a clear and compelling vision of society or a nation, both leaders and followers will remain in the dark about how to alter both their people and society.
We need to have a vision of what kind of country we want to be and what kind of community, culture, or nation we want to construct or create. What kind of personality, identity, and destiny do we want to create for ourselves? What kind of environment, neighbourhood, civilization, or nation do we wish to create? Do Nigerians not want to develop? Don’t Nigerians want to be prosperous and healthy? They, of course, do.
However, they lack the necessary resources to develop and improve their own selves, their own people, and their own environment. The simple issue is a severe absence of political development leadership. Nigerian political leaders should prioritise community development and national construction.
(3) National development and country building are the third levels of development. Political leaders must cultivate labour and technical skills that are relevant to nation-building and national growth. To integrate, harmonise, and promote peaceful coexistence across ethnic, tribal, religious, and regional lines, we need human and social skills in building social, cultural, religious, and ethnic bridges.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Nigeria as a country suffers from ignorance and poor government. Many people lack vision and have no actual mission. People are being mislead by a variety of erroneous beliefs, misinformation, and a lack of authenticity in their daily lives. All of these elements impede human development, and a lack of human development impedes innovation and country progress. The question is, what kind of philosophy do Nigerians need to incorporate in order to pave the road for self-realization and self-actualization?
1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The research aims to address the following issues:
1) The need to shift from passivity to activity-oriented ideas.
2) The necessity for everyone to recognise his leadership potential.
3) The necessity for individuals to understand how good moral ideals contribute to national growth.
1.4 AUDIENCE TARGET
1) Administrative Personnel
2) Political figures
3) Scientists
1.5 QUESTIONS FOR RESEARCH
1) What are the roles that individuals can play in the implementation of national/governmental policies?
2) What can people do to become more active and vibrant citizens?
3) How can each Nigerian contribute to the nation’s development?
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