THE EFFECT OF CITIZEN’S ENLIGHTENMENT ON COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN DEVELOPMENT IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA (2014-2019)

Ikhianosimhe Benjamin Ako, Olawole Ojo (PhD)

Abstract


The attainment of development that is all encompassing and beneficial to the citizens in a democratic setting is a mutual responsibility that involves active participation of the citizens and government in development issues. However, since the enthronement of democracy in 1999 in Nigeria, citizen’s participation in transformational planning, implementations and monitoring of projects is still an illusion. This has continued to encourage top-down policies that are not only sparsely implemented, but also not satisfying the needs of the citizens. The glaring apathy of citizens’ involvement in development issues in their local government and communities has been traced to lack of capacity, skill, and pre-requisite knowledge for involvement. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of citizen’s enlightenment on community participation in development in chosen local government in Anambra State. The study adopted the cross-sectional survey research design. The population of the study comprised of1779 members of registered community associations who live within the different communities in the chosen local government areas of Anambra States. These local governments are the areas where development agencies carried out citizen enlightenment programme. The study adopted a simple random sampling technique to determine the sample size of 249 for this study. The simple random technique was used to choose one development association with longest period of existence from each community in the three local government areas in Anambra State which were purposively chosen because of the development agencies’ activities in these areas. Validated questionnaire relating to citizen enlightenment and community participation was the instrument that was used for the collection of data. Descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage) was employed for demographic data analysis, while regression analysis was used to analyse the inferential statistics. The results (β= 0.301, t = 4.533, p<0.05) showed that citizen enlightenment had a positive and significant effect on community participation in development in Anambra State. Consequently, citizen enlightenment should be encouraged in order to drive the participation of citizens in the development of their communities.

Keywords


Citizen’s enlightenment, Community, Participation, Development, Anambra State.

Full Text:

PDF

References


Achal, V., Mukherjee, A., & Zhang, Q. (2016). Unearthing ecological wisdom from

naturalhabitats and its ramifications on development of biocement and sustainable cities. Landscape and Urban Planning, 155, 61-68.

Adeyeye, A. (2014). Social Contract Theory and the Problems of Contract Vitiation in Citizens and Constituted Authority Relationship: A Case Study of Political Dissidents and Ethnic Militia in Nigeria. Journal of Good Governance and Sustainable Development in Africa (JGGSDA), 2(3), 24-32.

Agu C. (2015). Democracy, Election and Political Participation in Nigeria: 1999-2011. Journal of Policy and Development Studies, 9(5), 110-119.

Ajibola. A., Loto, M& Enilolobo O. (2018). Poverty and Inequality in Nigeria: Implications for Inclusive Growth.Nile Journal of Business and Economics. http://journal.nileuniversity.edu.ng/index.php/NileJBE/

Albiston C. (2018). Democracy, Civil Society, and Public Interest Law. Wisconsin: National Science Foundation.

Alyafei A. (2017). Community Participation in Sustainable Urban Development: An Applied Approach to the Impact of the New Barwa City and the Neighbouring Areas. European Journal of Social Sciences.55(3), 333-344.

Amakihe B, Ako I. & Fasanu G. (2017). Citizen Participation and Local Government Responsiveness: A Comparative Analysis of Nigeria and United States of America. International Journal of Progressive and Alternative Education (ASPROAEDU), 4(1),411-428.

Arinze-Onyia, S., Modebe I., Aguwa E., & Nwobodo E. (2015). Assessment of Knowledge and Factors That May Predict Willingness to Volunteerism: A Pilot Study of Community-Directed Distributors in Anambra State,18(1), 61-67.

Babajanian B. (2014). Citizen Empowerment in Service Delivery. ADB Economics Working Paper Series: Manila: Asian Development Bank

Bappi, U., Singh D, & Dahiru K. (2017).Issues and Challenges of Community Development in Nigeria: An Assessment of Gombe State Agency for Community and Social Development Project (GSA-CSDP). AGU International Journal of Research in Social Sciences & Humanities. (AGUIJRSSH), 5, 408-423.

Chukwuemeka, E.,Ugwuanyi, B., Ndubuisi-Okolo, P. &Onuoha, C. (2014). Nigeria Local Government: A Discourse on the Theoretical Imperatives in a Governmental System.An International Multidisciplinary Journal, Ethiopia 8(2), 305-324

Claes H. & Hooghe M. (2008). Citizenship Education and Political Interest Political Interest as an Intermediary Variable in Explaining the Effects of Citizenship Education.Paper presented at the Conference on Civic Education and Political Participation, Université de Montréal. Available from:file:///C:/Users/user/Desktop/citizens%20engagement/community%20development%20folder/eperical%20and%20civi%20interest.htm [accessed Nov 11 2018].

Clark H. (2011).People-centered Development. New York: United Nation Development Programme.

Eddington D.,& Ambrose k. (2010). Civics & Citizenship Education: Professional Learning Package.Australia: Educational Services.

Eleberi G., Mbadiwe-Woko E. & Owede K. (2014). Adult Education and Community Development Programmes as Vital Tool for Transformation of Rural Communities in Nigeria. Journal of Education and Practice,5(24), 7-12.

Fashola T. (2017). Enhancing Community Participation and GovernmentResponsiveness. Nigeria: Christian Aid Nigeria.

Gargiulo, M., Chiodi, A., De Miglio, R., Simoes, S., Long, G., Pollard, M., . . .Giannakidis, G. (2017). An Integrated Planning Framework for the Development of Sustainable and Resilient Cities – The Case of the InSMART Project. Procedia Engineering, 198, 444-453.

Ikyembe B. (2015). Assessment of Rural Enlightenment and Socio-Economic Development Programmes of Government Radio Broadcasting Stations. In Kaduna State.A Thesis Submitted To The Post Graduate School, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. In Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements For The Award of Master of Library And Information Science

Mark, B., Cheugn L. & Hui D. (2017). Community Participation in the Decision-Making Process for Sustainable Tourism Development in Rural Areas of Hong Kong, China.www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability.

Musah A.,& Fuseini M. (2014). Civic Awareness and Engagement in Ghana: The

Curricular Implication.European Scientific Journal 10(4), 250-268. Available from: file:///C:/Users/user/Desktop/citizens%20engagement/community%20development%20folder/eperica%20enlightenment%20and%20community%20development.htm [accessed Nov 11 2018].

Nabatchi, Tina (2017). Engaging citizens: A game changer for development. Worldbank´s group Mooc online lectures on Strategies for Recruitment and Participation. https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-Nimegeer, A., Farmer, J., Munoz, S. A. and Currie, M. (2016) Community Participation for Rural Healthcare Design: Description And Critique of A Method. Health and Social Care in the Community, 24(2), 175-183.

Preston R., Waugh H., Taylor J. & Larkins S. (2014) TheBenefits of Community Participation in Rural health Service Development: Where is the Evidence? Available at: http:// eprints.jcu.edu.au/5316/1/Preston_Preston_Rural_health. Accessed 12/07/2018.

Wasilwa C. (2015). Effect of Community Participation on Sustainability of Community Based Development Projects.Kenya: LinkedIn. PP.

Yang, B., Xu, T.,& Shi, L. (2017). Analysis on Sustainable Urban Development Levels and Trends in China's Cities. Journal of Cleaner Production, 141, 868-880.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2021 Ikhianosimhe Benjamin Ako, Olawole Ojo (PhD)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ISSN (PRINT):    2682 - 6135

ISSN (ONLINE): 2682 - 6127

 

 

   

 

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.