LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Community development as a concept can be said to be as old as the period man became settled. Hence in his attempt to live a sedentary life, he began to think out ways to better his lots and that of the community he belongs to the point one is trying to highlight here is that the moment man started living in the community no matter how small or large, the development of the society or community becomes paramount in his mind. According to Abbot, in Ogunna (2007) the concept of community development is theoretically a very old one. The Athenians were able to build the acropolis through communal labor. The age of Pericles for instance was regarded as the golden age of Athens because this period, saw greater attention being paid to the economic and cultural development of Athens. In the east-central State of Nigeria where our location of study belongs, many communities had in the pre-colonial days constructed roads and bridges, cleared village paths provided themselves with a clean water supply and built market places through communal labors. However, recently, the creation of Local Government which is Government at the grassroots level has made community development take another shape. This task of community development is saddled by both the community and the government. Based on these the study is consumed with steps the local government takes to play this role.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Irrespective of the fact that Local Government has largely been conceived as the Government at the grassroots, and so being about needed enlightenment and development in the rural areas. It is important to have in mind that despite all these, the Local Government is still faced with the problem of interference by the state in the running of the Local Government it also experiences the problem of poor quality manpower and the problem of finance.