THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

Rural communities in Nigeria are plagued by attendant underdevelopment characterized by abject poverty and lack or inadequate social amenities such as health facilities, good roads, portable water, schools, shelter etc. However, successive governments in Nigeria mapped-out several programmes in order to bring about rural development but to no avail owing fomarity to lack of involvement of the people concerned in such programmes. It is against this background that this paper examines the role of community development in promoting sustainable rural development in Nigeria. Community development entails the provision of infrastructural facilities to the people. It is a programme that covers areas of development such as agriculture, social welfare, youth programme, education, health, etc. and emphasizes on the involvement of the community members in development process which is why it is referred to as a programme of the people by the people and for the people. The paper recommends, among others, that Community Development workers should be adequate and be given relevant training to augment their professional skills.