ASSESSMENT OF NIGERIA’S RURAL DEVELOPMENT POLICY FOR SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
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ASSESSMENT OF NIGERIA’S RURAL DEVELOPMENT POLICY FOR SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
Abstract
Policymakers and development professionals continue to face challenges in rural development, particularly in emerging countries. Since 1960, policies, programs, and ideas have been developed and implemented to improve the overall socioeconomic well-being of the rural poor. Historically, various policies and programs have had varying degrees of success and failure.
The study uses survey research to critically evaluate policy documents, theoretical models, and government initiatives at all levels (federal, state, and local) and their implications for rural development.
The study’s findings reveal that, while many policies, programs, and theories have been proposed and implemented, they have tended to benefit the political elite and their cronies at the expense of people for whom the policies and programs were intended.
To a considerable extent, these policies and initiatives have increased the wealth of policymakers, while most programs have been abandoned or are no longer sustainable.
Based on the findings, we advocated an alternate strategy to rural development, namely a participatory method filled with features of conscientisation.
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Until recently, rural development in Nigeria received little attention or recognition. Many of her measures focused on transforming the urban landscape and the fortunes of urban inhabitants.
Policymakers and development specialists have realised that national development cannot be true development until the vast rural parts of the country are developed and brought into the mainstream of development. Only then can we talk about true development.
Since the colonial period, Nigeria’s rural sector has been socially and economically disadvantaged. Furthermore, the gap between rural and urban communities has continued to increase at an alarming rate.
Invariably, the peasant population, which makes up the majority of rural areas and produces much of the agricultural products on which the nation relies, appeared neglected by the government, resulting in the well-managed problems of rural-urban drift, declining agricultural production and its attendant food shortage, unemployment, urban congestion, and overburdened facilities (Ottong, Ering, and Akpan, 2010; Saheed and Okide, 2012).
However, in Nigeria and most Third World cultures, there has been a rising awareness over underdevelopment issues, particularly those affecting rural communities.
The concern is the need to maximise yields from natural and human resources by exerting control and influence over all components of such resources in order to realise maximum benefit from development activities. Ebong (1991).
According to Abasiekong (1982:9), developing countries (like Nigeria) are more convinced than ever that in order to secure their countries’ overall development, rural areas must be reformed and integrated into their societies.
In recognition of this fact, programs aiming at improving rural areas have been declared and implemented by governmental authorities at various levels (federal, state, and municipal) and communities, notably since the 1960s.
The rural population has reacted in diverse ways, and both policies and people’s reactions have had significant locational and spatial ramifications for the rural development environment, according to Ajaegbu (1976).
Nonetheless, such audacious efforts have had little effectiveness in addressing poverty, unemployment, and inequality in rural Nigeria. Nor have government policies and initiatives at many levels been able to reverse the trend of rural-urban shift. This study examines Nigeria’s rural development strategies and the implications for rural development.
In other words, the study examines the primary tactics, techniques, or ideas used by Nigerian governments to modify the rural environment and assesses their practicability in terms of social change and enhancing the socioeconomic well-being of the rural poor. Nigeria is largely a rural society, with the vast majority of its population living in rural areas (Ele, 2006; Nwuke, 2004).
Indeed, approximately 70% of Nigerians live in rural areas (Aboyade, 1976). These rural areas are geographical areas that are located outside of the densely built-up environments of towns, cities, and sub-urban villages, and whose inhabitants are primarily engaged in agriculture as well as the most basic forms of secondary and tertiary activities (Adebayo, 1998; Ezeah, 2005).
In fact, a rural area, as opposed to an urban area, refers to the countryside where the majority of the population engaged in primary production activities such as agriculture, fishing, and livestock husbandry (Ele, 2006). Indeed, agriculture employs 90% of the rural labour force, either directly or indirectly (Nyagba 2009).
Nigeria’s rural sector plays an important role in the country’s socioeconomic growth. According to Nyagba (2009), rural areas are the most important segment of Nigeria’s population. For example, the rural sector is the country’s primary source of capital formation and a key market for domestic manufacturing (Olatunbosun, 1975).
In fact, rural areas engage in primary economic activities, which serve as the foundation for the country’s economic development. (Abah, 2010). Given the importance of the rural sector to the national economy, promoting its growth should be a top priority for government and public administration.
This is vital since it will strengthen the sector’s ability to contribute to overall national growth and development. Unfortunately, over time, Nigeria’s development methods and efforts have been more urban-based or concentrated, resulting in a relative neglect of rural areas, as indicated by the seeming lack of essential infrastructural facilities (Abah, 2010).
Indeed, as Okoli and Onah (2002) write, Nigeria’s rural areas are characterised by a lack of human requirements, as seen by the near absence of some essential facilities, as well as degradation and hardship. In this regard, Ezeah (2005:3) comments that Nigerian rural areas are neglected, while social facilities are equally inadequate in some urban areas.
The situation in rural areas is considerably worse, with many towns without basic services such as excellent roads, markets, power, piped water, and so on.In the same line, Abonyi and Nnamani (2011: 255) write: “Today, rural poverty endures in Nigeria despite the prosperity provided by the country’s oil wealth, as seen by the difficulty many people face in meeting their basic needs for food, water, and shelter.
Lack of these basic demands has kept rural development in Nigeria at hostage.” Indeed, Abah (2010) stated that the most visible manifestation of Nigeria’s underdevelopment is in rural areas, and that the dismal status of the Nigerian rural sector is emphatic.
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