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Assessing the Challenges of Local Government Participating in Rural Development in Nigeria

Fidelis A. E. PAKI PhD, Epoweide Isaiah Koko, PhD

Abstract

This article discusses the challenges of local government participating in rural development in Nigeria. In carrying out its constitutional mandate, local governments perform various functions in such areas as providing primary, adult, and vocational education; construction and maintenance of roads, streets, street lights, and drains; providing and maintaining health services, rural electricity, rural housing estates, recreational facilities, and water supply, cemeteries, burial grounds, and regulating slaughterhouses, markets, motor parks, and public conveniences, etc. As a result, local governments are faced with certain challenges. Secondary source materials were utilized. The findings show that the challenges of local government participating in rural development include the issue of local government autonomy, excessive control by higher levels of government, weak resources base, lack of qualified personnel, and corruption and financial wastage. It was therefore, suggested that the challenges faced by local governments in effectively participating in rural development should be properly identified, demarcated and streamlined in order to enable the formulation and implementation of possible solutions. Otherwise, the challenges facing local government involvement in rural development might not stop until rural dwellers take control of their own destiny and guarantee that the impoverished majority is included in making decisions that affect their own lives. Word count: 200

Keywords

AssessingChallengeslocal governmentNigeriarural development

References

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