The Role of Grassroots Participation in National Development: Lessons from the Kwara State of Nigeria

Constraints to the Development of Community

“…Soon this will be a 'ghost town'! Conclusion, Implications, and Recommendations Theoretically, from the interactional perspective (Kaufman ,1959(Kaufman , , 1985Wilkinson, 1970Wilkinson, , 1991, active participation in community affairs is said to foster a sense of self-efficacy, as local residents express shared interest in their locality and interact with the intent of solving community problems, improving the quality of life, and shaping future well-being (see also Bridger & Alter, 2006;Claude, Bridger, & Luloff, 2000;Kolawole, 1982;Littrell & Littrell, 2006;Luloff 1998;Luloff & Bridger, 2003;Luloff & Swanson, 1995;Murphy & Cunningham, 2003;Swanson, 2001;Theodori, 2005). Empirically, as evidenced by examination of the existing community development-related literature, locality-oriented collective actions do, in fact, more or less successfully influence developments at the community level (e.g., Farmer et al, 2002;Green, 2003;Grisham, 1999;Njoh 2002;Reybold & Herren, 1999;Richards & Dalbey, 2006;Uttal, 2006).…”

Evaluation of community participation in the implementation of community-based sanitation systems: a case study from Indonesia

“…The benefits of recipients' participation in development interventions are often highlighted (Kolawole 1982;Narayan 1995). These involve the advantages derived from learning directly from the project beneficiaries; the economic and efficient allocation of resources with end users; improvement of the technology design thanks to users' involvement in the planning stage; an increase in the systems sustainability by generating structures of ownership; and the potential for positive externalities in further local development (White 1981;Finsterbusch & van Wicklin 1987;Murphy et al 2009).…”

‘And the Oscar Goes to… Daybreak in Udi’: Understanding Late Colonial Community Development and its Legacy through Film

“…The colonial legacy of tripartite ethno‐nationalist sentiment was the principal feature of post‐colonial politics in Nigeria's First Republic, so much so that ten years after Chadwick had left the Eastern Provinces they were engulfed in civil war. The conflict must have eradicated many of the material structures of colonial community development, but the ideas survived and by the 1980s the practices of community participation in rural development projects were once more at the centre of discussions (Adejunmobi, ; Allen, ; Hay et al., , Jones, ; Kolawole, ; Madu and Umebali, ; Muoghalu, ; Vaughan, ). In addition the explicit memory of the community development training schools at Awgu and Man O’ War Bay lives on in Nigeria through the Man O’ War uniformed youth organization and through the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre (a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Youth Development), which trace their roots directly to the centres established by Chadwick (and Alec Dickson).…”