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AN ASSESSMENT OF JAMA’A DIALOGUE FORUM AS A PARTICIPATORY PLATFORM FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN NIGER STATE, 2008-2012
Abstract:
This dissertation assesses the use of People‟s Dialogue Forum (Jama‟a Forum) as a platform for participatory community development in Niger State. The fact that communicating and implementing community development from the top-down is one of the challenges that can affect participation, ownership and sustainability of community development projects. Thus, Niger State government in an effort to ensure that the people enjoy the dividends of democracy and to make the people have a sense of ownership of community projects came up with a community dialogue forum strategy. This dialogue forum was established to enable government exchange ideas with people on what their needs are and how government can help in achieving them. This study paid critical attention to why most developmental projects implemented in the state are not sustainable, despite the fact that the stakeholders had adjudged the forum to be a laudable people‟s participatory platform. Through the use of both quantitative and qualitative research methods and tools, this study discovered people‟s participation was denied at projects implementation stage, as government dealt directly with selective representatives (symbolic representation). People were only allowed to participate in discussions and suggestions at the forum‟s meetings, but were not involved at the projects‟ implementation stage. Consequently, this resulted in a decline in people‟s participation and a loss of interest in the Forum‟s community development projects initiatives. Furthermore, most of the community projects implemented are not the most pressing needs of the people because they were not empowered to own the process, as such; the process lacked higher community development initiatives, ownership and sustainability. Participatory Communication Theory (PCT) and Community Development Theory (CDT) were deployed to underpin this study. For data collection instruments, the Questionnaire, In-depth Interview and the Documentary Observation methods were used to gather responses from the respondents in the adopted communities in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State. Based on the findings, the researcher proposes that the entire planning and implementation of community development projects and initiatives should be left for the people to decide, while government plays supportive and monitory roles. In this way, a community centered and sustainable projects will be achieved by government through people‟s efforts and voluntary actions.
AN ASSESSMENT OF JAMA’A DIALOGUE FORUM AS A PARTICIPATORY PLATFORM FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN NIGER STATE, 2008-2012
