CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
The rural development constitute strategic sector in every nation’s economy and their rapid development and modernization have gained the attention of policy makers and government all over the world. This is because a sizeable majority of the population lives therein, therefore, the future of most countries especially the developing ones depend largely on it. Schumacher (1983) defined rural development as developing the skill of the masses to make them self-reliant through instructions which supply appropriate and relevant knowledge on the methods of self -help.
Ekpe (2006) viewed rural development as the provision of physical infrastructure. The logic that under-girds this conception is that, the provision of such basic amenities like schools, hospitals, recreational facilities, good road network, electricity and pipe-borne water (portable water) are capable of transforming the rural communities and thus make them attractive for habitation. This is contended to be the most functional way of reversing rural Urban Migration.
However, available literature on rural areas reveal that population is the main characteristic that differentiates rural from the Urban areas especially in the developed countries. Onibokun (1987) had in a policy paper on rural development revealed that rural population constitutes 70-80 % of the entire population of some countries particularly in the third world nations. Based on this single characteristic which is inadequate. Using the census figure 0f 140 million according to the national population census of 2006, over 70% of Nigeria are in the rural areas .population cannot be the only determining factor for a rural area in Nigeria because there are some features that unmistakenly tell people when they are in a rural area (Ladi et al, 2009).
On the basis of this, what constitutes rural population or environment is instructive in this regard. Idike (2000) observes that the main features of rural areas are depression, degradation and deprivation. Many rural populations are immersed in poverty so palpable that the people are the embodiment of it. According to him, in many rural areas in Nigeria, basic infrastructure, where they exist at all, are too inadequate for any meaningful development. Physical infrastructures like motorable roads are often lacking. The villagers and their livestock in many rural villages depend on shallow wells or guinea worm infested ponds for their water supply. The villagers most of whom are farmers, work the land from sunrise to sunset to provide food that are cheaply bought up by middlemen (who can risk playing the usually deplorable roads) for resale to the city dwellers at very high profits.
Elaborating further, he said, in and around the villages one readily comes across children with distended tummies and spindly legs who are obvious of a better milieu from birth these ‘living that are better dead’ infants, toddler’s, youth etc. are Malnutritioned and they have no access to those amenities that make like worthwhile. Many rural communities in Nigeria have built schools through self-help efforts but most of the schools lack necessary teaching aids like science equipment, sitting and writing desks etc. Qualified teachers refuse serving in most of these areas because they are considered inhabitable for human beings without basic social amenities.
The above assertion is not only valid and tenable, it would be out off place to say that what constitutes rural population or environment is less than that.