ABSTRACT

The study was aimed at assessing the extent to which community resources are
utilized in the implementation of community development projects in Nsukka
Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. To guide the study, five
research questions were formulated with the intention of assessing the types of
community development projects that are implemented utilizing community
resources, the extent of utilization of physical, human and institutional resources
that are utilized in the implementation of community development projects in
Nsukka Local Government Area, and the extent to which factors militate against
the effective utilization of community resources in the implementation of
community development projects in Nsukka Local Government Area. Also, four
null hypotheses were tested at .05 level of significance and used to guide the
study. Descriptive survey research design was used. Simple sampling technique
was employed to compose a sample of 285 respondents from a population of
964 members of the registered community development associations in Nsukka
Local Government Area of Enugu State. The instrument used for the study was
a 45-item UCRICODEPQ structured questionnaire. The instrument was face
validated by three experts; one in measurement and evaluation and two in
community development, all from University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Its reliability
was ensured using Cronbach alpha estimate. Reliability co-efficient of 0.81 was
obtained. Frequencies and percentages, weighted mean and standard deviation
were used in analyzing the collected data. A criterion mean of 2.50 was used in
judging the responses as to whether they were accepted or not. Copies of the
instrument were administered to the respondents through direct delivery
technique. Findings of the study revealed that community physical, human and
institutional resources were utilized to a moderate extent in the implementation
community development projects. All the four null hypotheses were rejected
showing that there were significant differences in the mean ratings of male and
female members of community development associations on the extent to which
community physical, human and institutional resources were utilized in the
implementation of community development projects in Nsukka Local
Government Area of Enugu State. Based on the findings of the study,
recommendations were proffered which included that both state and local
governments should come to the assistance of the various communities by
conscientizing them on the need to involve everybody in the implementation of
community development projects, and that Enugu State Government should
build-in core leadership programme in the community development
programmes through education empowerment.

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE i
APPROVAL PAGE ii
CERTIFICATION iii
DEDICATION iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v
TABLE OF CONTENT vi
LIST OF TABLES ix
ABSTRACT xi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1
Background to the Study 1
Statement of the Problem 8
Purpose of the Study 10
Significance of the Study 11
Research Questions 12
Scope of the Study 13
Hypotheses 13
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 15
Conceptual Framework 15
Concept of utilization 15
Concept of community development 18
Concept of community resources 24
Theoretical Framework 38
Modernization theory 38
Management by objectives (MBO) model 40
Socialist theory 43
vii
Review of Related Empirical Studies 44
Summary of the Reviewed Literature 53
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHOD 56
Design of the Study 56
Area of the Study 56
Population of the Study 58
Sample and Sampling Technique 58
Instrument for Data Collection 58
Validation of the Instrument 60
Reliability of the Instrument 60
Procedure for Data Collection 61
Method of Data Analysis 61
CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA 63
Research Question One 63
Research Question Two 64
Research Question Three 67
Research Question Four 69
Research Question Five 71
Test of Hypotheses 73
Summary of Major Findings 81
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS,
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 85
Discussion of the Findings 85
Educational Implications of the Study 95
Conclusion 98
Recommendations 99
Limitations of the Study 101
Suggestions for Further Research 101
viii
REFERENCES 103

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Community development is a process of promoting better living for the
whole members of the community with the active participation and on the
initiative of the community. Oreh (2001) observed that community development
is a process undertaken by people themselves, with or without support from an
external body to improve their well being. This implies that both the
government and/or the people can undertake the initiation and implementation
of community development projects. Therefore, no matter who initiates or
implements the projects, the aim is to make life more meaningful for the
community members. As such, community development combines the effort of
the community members with the effort of the government or cooperating
outside body to improve the living condition of people thereby encouraging
development of various human potentials within the community (Chukwuezi,
2000).
From the fore-going, the community members can articulate their feltneeds
and actively participate in development process in order to bring about
positive change in their community. This is because community development
involves a comprehensive effort at overall human development rather than the
piece meal approach pursued by the community or the government. Community
1
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development leads to unity among people living in a community for sustainable
development. It ensures that various related disciplines collaborate together to
carry through developmental projects. The approach to community development
is of immense benefit since the totality of human actions is not neatly separated
in such dichotomous disciplines rather there is over lapping of boundaries.
Community development, according to Onuigwe (2008) is a developmental
process embracing the effort of community members, self-help groups, nongovernmental
organizations, collective thinking, collective action and
participants. Community development projects cannot be undertaken by one
single person. It involves different groups of people in the community who will
help in one way or the other to ensure that things work out well in other to
achieve their stated goals. The implementation of community development
projects in a community cannot be successfully executed without the effective
utilization of community resources.
Community resources, according to Mkpa (1990) mean the facilities
within the community which can be used to promote community development.
Eze (1999) affirmed that there are three major types of resources that exist in a
community. They include physical resources, institutional resources and human
resources. These resources help in one way or the other in the implementation
of community development projects. Okwo and Ike (1995) stated that most of
the communities are naturally endowed with wealth of resources to enhance
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community development projects. This means that there are available resources
in the community which help to promote community development projects.
The physical resources are usually referred to as natural and material
resources (Aina, 1982). The physical resources refer to those resources that are
found within the environment and can facilitate or enhance community
development. Examples of natural resources include forest resources, energy
resources and water resources, while examples of material resources are
artworks from indigenes, resources from communal land, and materials from
hand work.
Institutional resources, according to Mkpa (1990), involve the practice of
pattern of behaviour that serves the need of which the community has developed
a strong faith in as a desirable pattern of life. There are different types of
institutions. They are economic, social and religious institutions. Economic
institutions refer to institutions like market, factories, banks where financial
transactions take place e.g. factory tributes, bank loans, market tolls, payment of
land use, lease. Institutional resources contribute immensely in the
implementation of community development projects. In case of bank,
community members obtain loan from the bank and use it to engage themselves
in some economic ventures that will yield money for them, to solve their
personal and community felt-needs/problems. The community realizes a lot of
money from market tolls which is one of their major sources of revenue for
community development projects. According to Madu (2004), a social
4
institution refers to marriage, kingship, age grades, voluntary organizations and
town unions. The social institution that is very important to community
development is self-help institution like umuada, age grade, religious
organizations and market associations.
These institutions contribute immensely in implementing community
development projects in the sense that some social associations have singlehandedly
carried out some projects in the community. Such projects include
building of hospitals, schools, boreholes, maternity homes, electricity, among
others. They help in maintaining law and order in the community. Under social
institutions, communities get proceeds from hiring of their community chairs,
canopies, and civic centres. Also, donations from community members living
abroad are of great importance to community development projects. Religious
institutions, according to Mkpa are also sources of community development.
They are organizations that are primarily related to spiritual/religious needs.
Social services such as provision of welfare services by churches, donations
from church organizations are some the ways through which religious
organizations help in implementing community development projects.
These resources in the community help in one way or the other in the
implementation of community development projects, especially in Nsukka
Local Government Area. Oduaran (1994) emphasized that there are internal and
external sources by which a community can generate money which will help
them in the implementation of community development projects. In many
5
communities, the internally-generated sourced resources are utilized. They
include:
1. levies on the community members
2. voluntary contributions by community members.
3. support of wealthy community members.
4. sales of communal lands (if any).
5. contributions from children abroad.
6. proceeds from community income-generating projects e.g. garriprocessing
mills, rice mills, among others.
These internally-generated resources help the communities to use their own
resources in the implementation of community development projects.
Human resources, according to Aina (1982) refer to human intellect
which is the most important aspect of community resources. Ume (1987) stated
that human resources constitute the ultimate basis for resources. Human
resource is an important factor of production. Human beings are the active
agents who accumulate capital, exploit natural resources, build social, economic
and political organizations and carry out national development. Human
resources are grouped into formal leaders and informal leaders. The formal
leaders in the community are families, health workers, school teachers,
agricultural extension officers, social workers. Also, informal leaders include
voluntary youth leaders, reputed farmers in the community, experienced opinion
leaders as well as skilled people or professionals in the community. These
6
human resources facilitate greatly the implementation of development projects
in various communities including the communities in Nsukka Local
Government Area of Enugu State.
In Nsukka Local Government Area, there are 16 autonomous
communities. Only few of them are found in the urban areas. Others are in the
rural areas of the local government area. Mabogunje (1999) emphasized that
development is essentially a human issue as it is concerned with the capacity of
individuals to realize their inherent potentials and effectively cope with the
change in circumstances of their lives. Therefore, development has implications
for both the rural and urban areas. It is important that none of these two facets of
communities (urban and rural) should be neglected in the development process
as the development of both urban and rural communities is paramount to the
development of Nsukka Local Government Area. There are many factors that
militate against the effective utilization of community resources in the
implementation of community development projects. According to Ugwumba
(2009), such factors include insufficient resources in the community for the
implementation of development projects, negative interference of the
government in the planning and implementation of community development
projects and non-involvement of rural dwellers in the planning and
implementation of community development projects.
However, since the 1976 Local Government Reforms, communities in
Nsukka Local Government Area have tried to some extent to perform or
7
carryout some of the community development activities. Nsukka Local
Government Council has also facilitated the exercise of democratic selfgovernment
close to the grassroots level by encouraging and initiating the
utilization of leadership potentials in the implementation of community
development projects. This has also encouraged the formation of several
indigenous community development organizations in local government area.
Prominent among the indigenous community development organizations is the
Community Development Associations (CDAs). It is located in the community,
as an association that belongs to the community, established by the community
and for the community (Obetta, 2010). The associations usually compose of
male and female of different social, economic and educational status. They
address the issues of primary health care, rural water supply and sanitation,
leadership development, rural credits, eradication of illiteracy, agricultural
projects, rural electrification projects, rural feeder-road and maintenance
projects, and income-generation projects, among others. As the utilization of
community resources is important in the development of community projects,
the formation of community development associations in the various
communities became inevitable.
The community development associations utilize physical, human and
institutional resources in the implementation of community development
projects in the various communities in the local government area of Enugu
State. The utilization of community resources in the implementation of
8
community development projects has a lot of merits. These include acceleration
of community development projects, increase in agricultural productivity and
improvement in the standard of living of the rural dwellers.
Statement of the Problem
The government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, at local, state and
federal levels has not been able to fulfill her obligations to the citizens by
providing the entire necessary infrastructure in all the communities. There was
backward match rather than the forward match in the development of the various
communities, especially, during military regimes. Then, the option left for
grassroots development is the effort of the community development
associations. Recognizing the contributions of community development
associations to community development, government now partner with
them for the development of the communities, both rural and urban.
The community development associations involve the total
mobilization of a society towards a self-centred and self-reliant position with
regard to not only the processes of decision-making but more importantly,
production and consumption patterns. This justifies the formation of
community development associations in the various communities in Nsukka
Local Government Area. The associations study an action and overcome such
limiting circumstances of life as poverty, ignorance and disease. Also, they can
work communities out of their inhibitions into community betterment. They
9
help to produce results that can lead to the satisfaction of the basic needs in their
communities, as well as raise the conditions of their living to acceptable
standards, educationally, economically, socio-culturally and politically by
utilizing effectively the resources in the communities for the implementation of
community development projects. These are the potentials of community
development associations. Yet, as articulate as these potentials could
seem, there is still evidence of abandonment and non-implementation of
numerous development projects set-up in the various communities in the state.
The illiteracy rate is still high and there is also presence of poverty and lack of
political power. This situation is worsened by the fact that since the formation of
these community development associations in many communities in
Nsukka Local Government Area, there seems not to be any evidence to show that
any assessment has been done on the extent to which the community
development associations utilize physical, human and institutional resources
in the community for the implementation of community development projects
in the local government area.
Therefore, the problem of the study put in a question form is: to what
extent have community development associations utilized physical,
institutional and human resources in the communities for the implementation of
community development projects in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu
State?
10
Purpose of the Study
The general purpose of this study is to ascertain the extent to which
community resources are utilized in the implementation of community
development projects in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu-State.
Therefore, the specific objectives of the study include:
1. to identify the types of community development projects that are
implemented utilizing community resources in Nsukka Local
Government Area.
2. to ascertain the extent to which physical resources are utilized in the
implementation of community development projects in Nsukka Local
Government Area.
3. to ascertain the extent to which human resources are utilized in the
implementation of community development projects in Nsukka Local
Government Area.
4. to find out the extent to which institutional resources are utilized in the
implementation of community development projects in Nsukka Local
Government Area.
5. to ascertain the factors that militate against the effective utilization of
community resources in the implementation of community development
projects in Nsukka Local Government Area.
11
Significance of the Study
The findings of this study will have a number of significance. Practically,
communities will benefit from the findings of this study. First and foremost, the
result of the study will be very useful for future researchers in the area of
utilization of community resources in the implementation of community
development projects. The findings of the study will enable the community to
know the type of community resources that are available in the community
which will help them in implementing community development projects without
waiting for government support.
The result of the study will enable the community to identify the extent to
which these available community resources are being utilized in the
implementation of community development projects in the community. The
result of the study will help the community to ascertain the extent to which the
identified strategies adopted will help in the implementation of community
development projects.
The findings of the study will help the community to understand that
there are merits in the utilization of community resources in the implementation
of community development projects. The result of the study will help the
community to know the conditions that necessitate the use of community
resources in the implementation of community development projects are being
adopted.
12
Finally, the findings of the study will help the community to understand
some factors that militate against effective utilization of community resources in
the implementation of community development projects.
Research Questions
In pursuance of the purpose of this study, the following research
questions were posed to guide the study:
1. What are the types of community development projects that are
implemented utilizing community resources in Nsukka Local
Government Area?
2. To what extent are the physical resources utilized in the implementation
of community development projects in Nsukka Local Government Area?
3. To what extent are the human resources utilized in the implementation of
community development projects in Nsukka Local Government Area?
4. To what extent are the institutional resources utilized in the
implementation of community development projects in Nsukka Local
Government Area?
5. What are the factors that militate against the effective utilization of
community resources in the implementation of community development
projects in Nsukka Local Government Area?
13
Scope of the Study
This study focused on the extent to which community resources are
utilized in the implementation of community development projects in Nsukka
Local Government Area of Enugu-State. Also, the study is restricted to the
registered members of the community development associations in Nsukka
Local Government Area. The study is further restricted to the assessment of the
extent to which physical, human and institutional resources in the communities
are utilized in the implementation of community development projects in
Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu-State.
Finally, the study focused on the assessment of the factors that militate
against the effective utilization of community resources in the implementation
of community development projects in Nsukka Local Government Area of
Enugu State.
Hypothesis
The following hypotheses formulated to guide the study were tested at
0.05 level of significance:
H01: There is no significant difference between the mean rating of the male
and female members of the community development associations on the
extent to which physical resources are utilized in the implementation of
community development projects in Nsukka Local Government Area.
14
H02: There is no significant difference between the mean rating of the male
and female members of the community development associations on the
extent to which human resources are utilized in the implementation of
community development projects in Nsukka Local Government Area.
H03: There is no significant difference between the mean rating of the male
and female members of the community development associations on the
extent to which institutional resources are utilized in the implementation
of community development projects in Nsukka Local Government Area.
H04: There is no significant difference between the mean rating of the male
and female members of the community development associations on the
factors that militate against the effective utilization of community
resources in the implementation of community development projects in
Nsukka Local Government Area.
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